question about Xbox Live Arcade games ...

[purbeast0]

My friend bought a banned Xbox360 from someone for really cheap cause he oesnt care about playing on live.

So he brought his HDD over to my place this past weekend and bought 4 xbla games under his profile on his xbox live silver account onto his hard drive.

When he brought them home to play em on his 360, it will not let him play them in any mode other than trial mode.

Does anyone know why this is happening or if this is normal? Or is there anyway to fix this? I told him to call MS and tell them but he's being a baby about it.

 

[imported_hopeless]

I'm not sure but I think that arcade games are linked to the xbox that was used to buy them. They can be used on another xbox but you have to log into live on that xbox to play them.

 

[bl4ckfl4g]

Yep that is the case. The games are linked to your xbox and your gamertag.

 

[Aikouka]

They aren't locked under purbeast's gamertag, they're locked to his console. They're locked to his friend's gamertag, but you must be online for that to function properly! You either have to (1) be on the console the game was purchased on (2) be logged into XBL on the profile/gamertag that the game was purchased on.

He fails #1 because he's on his own machine, not purbeast's machine. He fails #2 because he cannot log into XBOX Live.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: Aikouka
They aren't locked under purbeast's gamertag, they're locked to his console. They're locked to his friend's gamertag, but you must be online for that to function properly! You either have to (1) be on the console the game was purchased on (2) be logged into XBL on the profile/gamertag that the game was purchased on.

He fails #1 because he's on his own machine, not purbeast's machine. He fails #2 because he cannot log into XBOX Live.

wow if that's how it works that truly is lame as all hell.

 

[bl4ckfl4g]

Originally posted by: Aikouka
They aren't locked under purbeast's gamertag, they're locked to his console. They're locked to his friend's gamertag, but you must be online for that to function properly! You either have to (1) be on the console the game was purchased on (2) be logged into XBL on the profile/gamertag that the game was purchased on.

He fails #1 because he's on his own machine, not purbeast's machine. He fails #2 because he cannot log into XBOX Live.

Yeah sorry. I made that confusing. They are linked to the gamertag that bought them and the xbox they are purchased on.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: Aikouka
They aren't locked under purbeast's gamertag, they're locked to his console. They're locked to his friend's gamertag, but you must be online for that to function properly! You either have to (1) be on the console the game was purchased on (2) be logged into XBL on the profile/gamertag that the game was purchased on.

He fails #1 because he's on his own machine, not purbeast's machine. He fails #2 because he cannot log into XBOX Live.

wow if that's how it works that truly is lame as all hell.

It's so you don't download them on your friends Xbox and then have the full version on both consoles. I do think there should be an option to change the "home console" of games.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: ObscureCaucasian

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: Aikouka
They aren't locked under purbeast's gamertag, they're locked to his console. They're locked to his friend's gamertag, but you must be online for that to function properly! You either have to (1) be on the console the game was purchased on (2) be logged into XBL on the profile/gamertag that the game was purchased on.

He fails #1 because he's on his own machine, not purbeast's machine. He fails #2 because he cannot log into XBOX Live.

wow if that's how it works that truly is lame as all hell.

It's so you don't download them on your friends Xbox and then have the full version on both consoles. I do think there should be an option to change the "home console" of games.

well all they have to do is link them to a gamertag and have it so you must be playing under that gamertag to play them. or bind them to a hard drive or something.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Hard Drive binding would be a much better idea than console binding. The problem with gamertag binding would be you could recover your gt on your friends box, and then he could always play as long as he was offline. Then you could go home and recover your gt back on your box and then the game would be accessible in 2 locations.

 

[ric1287]

Originally posted by: ObscureCaucasian
Hard Drive binding would be a much better idea than console binding. The problem with gamertag binding would be you could recover your gt on your friends box, and then he could always play as long as he was offline. Then you could go home and recover your gt back on your box and then the game would be accessible in 2 locations.

nope, doesnt work like that. Once its 'recovered' the other versions of the GT are disabled. A GT can only be active at one time on one machine.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: ric1287

Originally posted by: ObscureCaucasian
Hard Drive binding would be a much better idea than console binding. The problem with gamertag binding would be you could recover your gt on your friends box, and then he could always play as long as he was offline. Then you could go home and recover your gt back on your box and then the game would be accessible in 2 locations.

nope, doesnt work like that. Once its 'recovered' the other versions of the GT are disabled. A GT can only be active at one time on one machine.

Yep, I tried that when I got a 2nd 360 for the bedroom. Was easier to just move the hard drive back and forth and put my son's gamertag on a memory card. Otherwise, you have to go through a long 10+ minute process to activate your gamertag when you switch consoles.