shmups.system11.org

i saw this on the first page but i wanted to confirm:


"Xbox Gold memberships are region free"


so... if i buy a 12 month gold membership card from walmart... i can use this code on the japanese xbox 360 and play with my japanese xbox 360 gamer tag online?

also if i use my us gamertag on the japanese xbox 360, i can do the same?

i saw on play-asia that they sell japan 12 month gold membership cards. i was wondering if i have to get that instead to play online with my the japanese xbox 360.

sorry for the noob questions. just wanted to be sure.

^ Yes, Xbox memberships have no region locks. Only points do.

I've read the entire guide and most of this thread, but I still have some doubts about voltage and power supplies.

I have an american Xbox 360 power supply. Would it work with an Asia region (not Japan) 360?

Thanks much.

I would think so - the power supply should output the same type of current to the 360 regardless of region (only the input power voltage tolerance would be different). To be sure though, you could check the sticker to make sure they output the same thing, but even if it isn't, you shouldn't be able to hurt an Asian/European device with American/Japanese current.

Well, that's a relief.

Also, just to make sure; an Asian console can play any NTSC-J game, right?

Sorry. I'm aware this thread is about japanese 360's.

Yes, Asian 360s are pretty much the same as Japanese 360s as far as region coding goes.

Also, something I forgot to mention - 360 power bricks are forwards but not backwards compatible - the power bricks for later models don't supply as much wattage as the older ones, so newer bricks can't power older consoles. You'll know a brick is incompatible if the cord physically doesn't fit into the 360's slot.

That shouldn't be a problem, my american power brick is from a Falcon. It'll most likely fit.

Thanks for all the help. Can't wait to start shmupping.

This is great advice, I didn't realize until today that HMV JP shipped over seas. Thanks to a recent bonus I'm soon to be the proud owner of:

X360 JP Arcade
Ketsui LE (less than $40 via Amazon)
Death Smiles IIx LE
DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou
BlazBlue Continuum Shift LE (via HMV)

For all 1 person who can use the Japanese Games on Demand service, Mamorukun comes out on the 29th.

I got my J 360 "Slim" in the post today (nearly bought a J Arcade a week before E3, derp). I was hoping that they would release it dual volt but nope, PSU lists 100-127V, 135 watt. But, I ran out and grabbed a step down transformer and finally got to play Ketsui

Thought I would post up the voltage in case anyone wants to know.

Cool. Anyone wanting a mint condition Ltd Edition should keep their eye on the Trading section, as mine will be finding its way there shortly.

So I still don't really understand this VPN thing. Couldn't someone in Japan simply log in with your details and purchase the game, download it and then you change the password and re-download it on your own console?

Possibly. I don't think anyone has tested that method yet.

I think the main barrier to that method would be actually having someone in Japan that would be able and willing to do this for you.

When buying Japanese points cards from Play Asia, how do you get them to email you the code instead of them sending the card in the post? There doesn't seem to be a way to bypass the postage costs screen, and I would expect not to have to pay any postage when they're just going to email the code.

Are Japanese Live points available in any other amount than 1,400?

I ask because AFAIK the Deathsmiles MBL DLC costs 1,200 and MBL 1.1 costs 250 which comes to a total of 1,450 points, meaning I'd have to buy two 1,400 point cards just to cover it

Prepaid cards also come in 3500MSP size, to the tune of ~5000yen, and codes for some intermediate amounts can be purchased from Japanese convenience stores if you can find someone willing to grab one for you.

In addition to that, you can get the 3500MSP card for about 35 bucks or so (regular 50 bucks) if you use a proxy buying service that will order stuff on Amazon.jp, it'll take a good month to get to you, but it halved the price of Otomedius Gorgeous DLC for me. The trick is just going forward to order more points about a month before a game you are going to buy is released.

I think Amazon.jp limits one per customer at a time however (for that item, as its functionally identical to this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ND ... A3KDKJC7ZW except the last time I checked the JP auction was really really cheap, probably a function of how unpopular the 360 is there,) so it would be worth your time to consider doing that over time. If you can't wait however, definitely try to get a friend in Japan to get points for you. I got 2 1400 point cards fairly early on in my owning a J-360 from a guy living in Japan and it was so much cheaper and faster (because he can just email you the code and throw the card out once he knows the code worked for you) that there is no adjective in the English language to describe how much faster and inexpensive this is over buying points on Play-Asia or the alike. The markup on Play-Asia and the alike is easy to ignore when you're buying a game every once in a while, but on the points cards it literally boils down to highway robbery.

Anyone order JP points through ncsx using a confirmed paypal account recently? I ordered some points and the payment went straight away and now my order is in "shipping" status even though I guess they deliver it digitally. I haven't received an email with the information, though I'd though I'd ask here to see about long it would take.

I've bought points off NCS twice - the first time they emailed me the code but never updated the order status (it still says "Order Received" or something like that in my history), and the second time they emailed me the code and updated the order status to Shipped at about the same time.

Strike Witches is out. Nothing else to report.

To be fair that wasn't much to report to begin with. Though to add to it Play-Asia and HMV still have lots of LE's in stock.

To be fair on what? I've always reported when shmups get released.

Anyway, does anyone know when XBLA updates every week, for the Japanese store? I'd like to add it to the thread.

Lol. That wasn't a shot at you Exlir, it was a shot at how crap Strike Witches is. As in it's been recieved so poorly on these forums that it's release isn't important enough to be news.

What would be the ideal monitor for Japanese 360 shoot-em-ups? I'm talking best quality picture and everything. Would I need VGA? SCART? I've heard mixed opinions on both so I'm quite confused as to which is a better choice.

HDMI is the best quality picture period, but usually only comes on HDTVs that may introduce lag while being played. Computer Monitors are cheaper, usually don't have lag (or less than one frame if they do), and if they support an HDMI+HDCP input they can display your consoles just fine.

VGA comes in before SCART, and I'll tell you why in a second. VGA is always RGB and the Microsoft VGA cable is of extremely high quality. My monitors (I have two of them) that I connected my 360/ps3/computer to usually display a slight amount of color blurring between pixels on their VGA connector. My Xbox 360 does not exhibit this behavior as much. The downside here is VGA cannot be connected to Arcade monitors unless you have one that is 31khz (or higher) capable. If you do, theres a handful of models that hate the Xbox 360.

SCART comes in dead last because it has too many options. Assuming you have an RGB capable SCART connector you could still be screwed and get a YPbPr signal which can horribly distort Green. For that reason alone, VGA will trump SCART because you will ALWAYS get STRAIGHT RGB no matter what.

If you want the ports to look as close to the PCB versions as possible, you go the RGB Scart route on a CRT or a dedicated RGB monitor that has RGB Scart. If you want the HD modes to look their best, you use HDMI on a HDTV. IMO.

If you go with Scart, make sure to get the Microsoft Advanced Scart cable, as it's apparently much better than 3rd party ones. Also, stay away from component (at least if you play on a plasma) as this is laggy as hell.

Yeah, RGB is an analogue signal, so poor quality cables will give you poor quality pictures. RGB is especially susceptible to signal degredation over longer cables, so go for the official one rather than a cheaper 3rd party effort.

Thanks guys. I think I'll end up getting both SCART and HDMI cables.