shmups.system11.org

There's a thread on 2ch dedicated to Games on Demand. One of the posters is really into it.

http://toro.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/famicom/1324457609/

[タイトル]　Bullet Soul
[タグ]　香港
[VPN]　不要
[ローカライズ]　あり
[価格]　1680MSP/HK$159.00

Apparently, Bullet Soul can be purchased from the HK store without a VPN, if you're within Japan. I wonder if some HK Games on Demand titles have no region restrictions.

I'll attempt to buy it from the states without a VPN.

Curious about this. I tried on my HK account but it requested I change my dashboard into Chinese... so I did. With a tiny bit of trial and error, I was presented with the same Paypal error that I receive on my local account.

To buy the US GoD release of DeathSmiles II (using paypal) I had to credit my linked UK paypal a/c before it would let me use paypal to buy it. I don't know if it's because my paypal region didn't match the gamertag region (I was signed-in on my US gamertag).

*edit*

It just let me buy it without problems using my linked UK paypal a/c (using my bank as credit as the paypal a/c had no credit in it). Downloading now.

OK, it downloaded and works without any problems. To summarise, I am in the UK using a JPN 360 and bought the game (from the Asian Marketplace using my Asian gamertag) using my UK paypal a/c that is linked to my Asian gamertag.

I successfully added my local credit card to my HK account, but Paypal still doesn't work.

Here is a list of HK GoD titles (just google translate it or something). Are these prices accurate? $159.00 HKD is only about $26 NZD. For Virtua-On Force, that seems ridiculously cheap.

Annoyingly, all the games I want require VPNs.

Those prices are correct. The Asian Marketplace has always been cheaper than most other regions. My Bullet Soul purchase came to just £13, and that's after paypal's dodgy exchange rate conversion. To be honest, that's about what the game is actually worth IMO.

So I'm under the impression that buying Virtual-On Force through the Asian marketplace is an incredible idea, what with the savings and all. Are the steps involved in actually buying it all that difficult? If I understand things correctly I'll need to make an Asian XBLA and attach a PayPal account to it since I'm in the US. Then, to actually purchase it I will need to use a VPN and maybe put the funds in my PayPal account ahead of time, right? Is there anything else that could snag me during the process? If the whole thing takes me more than four hours to set up then it's really not worth it unless I manage to snag some other good, cheap GOD releases.

Is the online play for Force still active? I've heard the JPN/ASIA versions are perfectly compatible for multiplayer, which is pretty awesome and is another good reason to purchase it.

That seems about correct. However, you might not need to credit your paypal account prior to the purchase and you might also not need to use a VPN. You can find this out pretty easily as if you need to use a VPN, it won't let you purchase it before the download can actually begin. If you do end up needing to use a VPN, you only need to use the VPN at the start of the download and the end of the download as those are the points that the IP check occurs. This is useful for larger downloads as downloading via the VPN will be slower than downloading directly through your standard connection.

Oh snap, Elixir's link is working today and apparently Virtual-On Force is in fact not region-locked. Looks like I just need to make a Hong Kong account and attach PayPal to it. Only other issue is whether or not I can have my PayPal account linked to multiple Live accounts. I still need to grab that DFK DLC off the European Marketplace, so being able to switch accounts and pay for things might be a bit useful.

You can have your paypal account linked to multiple Xbox Live accounts, irrespective of region. I have mine linked to my UK and Asian (HK) gamertags.

People with JPN consoles might be interested to know that Radirgy NOA MASSIVE on the HK Marketplace is not IP locked so you can purchase the GoD release via the Marketplace using your linked paypal a/c or an Asian points card. Price came to £17, which is far cheaper than you'll find it 2nd hand.

A question for people who bought the retail release: there wasn't any 1st-print DLC was there?

None.

Split games into 3 categories: retail, games on demand, and platinum.

Eschatos apparently hit the HK Marketplace a couple days ago. No idea if it's IP-locked or region free. Hoping it is because the disc release was region free.

Is the Bullet Soul GOD release really region-locked? Not that I'm that interested, but the disc was region free.

Region locking and IP-locking are two completely different things.

Region locking means that the game is restricted on what region console it can be played on.

IP locking is a mechanism to stop people downloading the game outside the release coutry. This is an Xbox Live Marketplace feature and has nothing to do with the game code. Once you've downloaded an IP locked game, no further IP checks take place.

The GoD version of Eschatos is IP-locked. No idea if it's still region free.

The GoD version of Bullet Soul is not IP-locked and is region free.

I was aware of all that. I should specify that Elixir's original post has Bullet Soul in the GoD section as being region-locked. Could just be an error, I suppose.

I might have mentioned this before but making a Hong Kong account on a PC is pretty simple nowadays. Additionally you guys need to play some Virtual On with me sometime.

IIRC someone mentioned in the Bullet Soul thread that the GoD version was region free, as per the retail release. If it's region locked, it won't let you buy it, same if it's IP locked (unless you use a VPN).

I followed your guide to making a Japan gamertag
i try to pay for xbox live via credit card but it says my billing address is wrong (as its all in japanese) i live in the UK
can someone help me or tell me how to pay via credit card?

You don't.

Really Really <3 the information and guides given on this site.

I'm in the UK (with a UK 360), and I've set up a Japanese gamertag and will get round to downloading Bullet Storm game on demand soon (the demo seemed great).

Is there a list of what games are region free from Games on Demand? and am I right in thinking an Asian/ Hong Kong gamertag would open me up to more region free GoD titles than the Japanese xblmarketplace offers?

I noticed Sonic Free Riders (mediocre Kinect game) was only about £9 from the HK GoD store, which is very cheap, leads me to think there could be some other very good savings for full retail games out there?

I think I mentioned this before, but making foreign accounts has become incredibly easy and no longer requires stumbling through foreign languages or even fiddling with settings on your 360.

Go to Live.com and sign up for a new account. For the sake of compatibility select a country in the region you want. This may be absolutely necessary, I'll need to check again.

Go to Xbox.com and sign up for an XBL account using the Live account you just created. Select the same country you used for the Live account signup. Again, I need to double check this, but select the same country if prompted.

You should now be able to login to Xbox.com using your foreign ID. If there's a problem loading it may boot you to your domestic marketplace, so sign out and sign back in. Under normal circumstances Xbox.com will load the proper Marketplace for you.

The only region that's given me any language issues was the Japanese marketplace and there is no known way to change the language for a Japanese account. Hong Kong, however, supports English.

My HK and EU accounts have PayPal linked with no problems. Japan still seems to lack PayPal support, you can redeem a points card by signing in and going here.

I was able to purchase Virtual-On Force with no problems and DDP Resurrection's Black Label DLC from the EU Marketplace using the Xbox website. Resurrection 1.51 DLC would not purchase on the site but purchased fine on my 360.

I'd be willing to run through the whole process with screenshots if someone else hasn't already done it on some other site. It's certainly a less painful process and it might work for a new Japanese account as well.

So basically I made this post with the intent to inform and ended up making a checklist of things I need to test before I can actually confirm anything. Oh well!

Holy crap, I missed a lot of games coming to GOD.

Are these usually in the $30 price range like DSIIx was? I think I might have to pick up Eschatos at least, since I never ended up wanting to pay full retail for it.

@Elixir

I noticed that list, but is it confirmed if the ones listed in the first 2 categories are region free GoD?
(as in - I can make Hong Kong tag, use the marketplace to buy those games, and I can freely play them on my UK machine with my UK tag?)

I just needed clarification on that before making a purchase. Lost in google translation :\

Seems the HK store is cheaper than the Japanese store too.

The first two categories are downloadable without the need for a proxy. For region, cross-reference with Play-Asia.

So, for example, ENSLAVED is in the first two categories and doesn't need a proxy to download. Checking Play-Asia, it's region-free, so it's possible to download.

Or you could pretty much just trial-and-error it. If it's not IP locked but isn't compatible with your region, it won't allow you to download.

Ah cool, thanks for the help.

I was under the impression that there was a chance it would take my money, download, and then when I go to "play game" it'd say "not available" or something to that extent.

I know where I'll be diverting my game purchase attention for a while now

Be aware that paying for JPN/HK GoD titles with a linked UK PayPal account seems to be hit and miss. For example, I was able to purchase ESPGALUGA II using paypal but not Futari. This means that you might end up buying points (digitally via Play Asia for example) for a game you can't download as you won't be able to test if you can dowload it before you have points on your account.

Yeah good tip, I don't think I'd *try* to download anything that hadn't already been tested.

Although knowing myself I'm sure I'd find something to spend excess points in if that ever happened to me :\

Now I know these words will make you cringe, but say you're a younger import gamer, or one without access to a credit card that your Japanese account likes. You can now bing search your way to all your DLC needs.

Bing Rewards hands out Microsoft points for absolutely loony amounts of bing searches and various clickings that Microsoft directs. The upside to these 100 point codes is that they are region free, allowing you to attach them to a Japanese account or whatever. It's a slow, painful way to build up points, but if you have no other options, or if you're just cheap, you can always pick up a few points for using Bing.

edit: let me know if you want to do this, they have a pyramid scheme set up for this, and it would give me some bonus reward points if someone were to sign up through a reference link.