Xbox 360 Store to close July 2024

[Bear78]

@bobrocks95
Raiden Fighters Aces' digital version has since been delisted ages back. Both its JP and English versions.

I never figured out for sure if Otomedius Gorgeous is region-locked or not...

It's region locked according to this: viewtopic.php?t=23501

Not only that, but its DLC (for example: Otomedius Gorgeous), even the free ones, requires a JP Xbox 360 to download them. Trying to use your JP X360 account on either a US or PAL region X360 to even download the free DLC catalogs, for example, will not work, I've already tried, lol. (Not sure if it'll count after you already "purchased" them to even re-DL them on a US or PAL region X360, cause I've yet to try that, but I'll have to report back on that, chances are, it'll still probably be region/hardware locked.)

I think the way it worked on 360 was it was an IP block for the DL? It's a lot of work, but I *think* you can setup a proxy / VPN bridge to trick your 360 into getting a Japanese IP and then you might be able to DL it.

[NeoStrayCat]

I think the way it worked on 360 was it was an IP block for the DL? It's a lot of work, but I *think* you can setup a proxy / VPN bridge to trick your 360 into getting a Japanese IP and then you might be able to DL it.

I don't think it was an IP block. (If it was, then I would have had the JP X360 not pick up the free DLC to DL at all.), but yeah, I heard to bypass trying to DL certain digital versions that are either region or IP blocked, a VPN might be needed with a JP IP.

[Atariboy]

Looks like rather than fix it properly, they simply just returned Space Invaders IG to the normal price on the 360 storefront.

https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-us/prod ... 0258410a4d

Since I bet that it can now be purchased from the 360, it's indirect confirmation if I'm right that indeed the pricing disparity between the current storefront and the 360 storefront breaks the ability to purchase a game from the latter. Hopefully they at least compromise and discount this on both storefronts simultaneously for a week to work around the issue and honor the sale they announced.

I'm glad that this one is at least backwards compatible. I can be patient and wait to see if this gets fixed. And if it isn't able to be bought at the announced sale price, since it's not going to be going away in a few weeks (barring a surprise delisting) I don't even have to rush to get it.

While I already had 95% of what I wanted to get on 360 digitally thanks to nearly 20 years on the platform, getting caught up with that last 5% is beginning to add up to a fair chunk of change in recent weeks. So this $10 game (in reality, a $19 game since much of the game was sold as DLC add-ons) can wait for a bit if need be.

[Sima Tuna]

There are a lot of M2 Sega ports that will be lost, like tears in the rain.

3DS store closure meant we lost the Streets of Rage portable M2 ports. Now we'll lose the other ones. Daytona gonna be RIP. Say goodbye to M2 Golden Axe 1-3. Mystara too. I noticed Capcom delisted one of those Final Fight ports for 360 a while ago.

[Atariboy]

Daytona USA HD wasn't actually M2, iirc (although it sure was good enough to have been a M2 production). But regardless, it sadly got delisted in early 2023.

If it was still available it would actually remain available as will a lot of the Sega stuff, thanks to much of it being in the backwards compatibility program. The M2 Sega Vintage Collections like the Streets of Rage or Golden Axe ones aren't going anywhere for instance (although the one with Super Hang-On, Revenge of Shinobi, and Alex Kidd that I think was sold as "SVC: Alex Kidd & Co" strangely got delisted back when I think Daytona USA did).

You can even buy them off the modern Xbox storefront and as long as you use the same Xbox account on both the new system and the 360, they will be added to your 360 download history when purchased after next month. That lets you get a digital BC game on to your 360 even when you can't buy the game from the 360 itself starting next August.

One thing I'll give Sega credit for with Daytona USA. It had a very long run of availability. With the International Speedway Corporation license, I don't think most ever expected it to stay available for well over a decade and instead expected a short run like Afterburner Climax got. I can't imagine that very many Xbox 360, Xbox One, or Series owners missed out on it in the end.

Interestingly, it's still on the PS3 store the last that I saw which indicates it wasn't even the Daytona USA branding behind the delisting. A lot of that mass 360 delisting back in 2023 doesn't seem to have been content that actually had licensing expiring. And much of it like the Final Fight release that you mentioned, Alex Kidd & Co, and Daytona USA were in the backwards compatibility program and shouldn't have been completely nuked. If they were going to wind down the 360 storefront with a series of mass purges like appeared the plan 18 months ago, it should have never affected BC 360 content on the XB1/Series store.

Outside of long delisted content with expired licensing like Sega Rally Online Arcade, Outrun Online Arcade, Afterburner Climax, and such, Sega did a very good job of allowing their digital 360 content to join the BC program (even the long delisted standalone Golden Axe arcade port that was superseded by the M2 collection years ago got the BC treatment). Only a few strange omissions like the still available 'Games on Demand' release of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (discs of course also don't work) or XBLA Space Channel 5: Part 2 missed the cut.

[Moroboshi876]

HI! I'm new here and after reading all your useful posts I still have some questions and doubts about shmups on Xbox 360 that are going to disappear maybe forever.

I've checked and I'm more or less able to find lists of digital Japanese Xbox 360 games that are compatible with a PAL Xbox 360, and how to enter the Japanese store from a PAL Xbox 360.

What I'd like to know and can't find is:

1. How to get yen currency in 2024 for those purchases

2. Which are the Xbox 360 digital japanese (and PAL compatible) shmups that AREN'T available on newer hardware nor are going to be rereleased anytime soon. I'm willing to spend money on these, probably not on sale, but only if there aren't more convenient and legal ways to get them.

Can you guys please help me with this?

Thanks a lot!

[sunnshiner]

If ever there was a reason to get yourself an RGH 360, this is it.

[spmbx]

I've connected the 360 again to check out some stuff. Since it's most practical to connect it to a CRT in my current setup i connected it though RGB Scart and i noticed there is a surprising amount of games that don't properly work on it. They will basically display in letterboxed widescreen on my 4:3 tv with black bars on top and bottom, which is pretty lame for most content. One of the things that didn't properly work are some M2 developed "sega vintage collection" titles which was a disappointment.

[bobrocks95]

So any M2/Sega releases that *will* be gone? Capcom did delist Final Fight but you can get that on disc in the Capcom Arcade Collection or some generic title like that for a reasonable price (for now).

All I've actually bought so far is Futari Black Label... I have a couple trashy Games on Demand I was going to get (Onechanbara, Ninety-Nine Nights II, and Otomedius Excellent, since disc prices have skyrocketed on them) but that's all I've got on my list so far...

[dmk1198]

If ever there was a reason to get yourself an RGH 360, this is it.

I love mine yes

[Atariboy]

So any M2/Sega releases that *will* be gone? Capcom did delist Final Fight but you can get that on disc in the Capcom Arcade Collection or some generic title like that for a reasonable price (for now).

Not sure if you're asking specifically about just M2 developed 360 games for Sega (only the five Sega Vintage Collections, with all five being backwards compatible and 4 of the 5 still available and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future) or instead are looking for Sega releases in general as well as what M2 did for companies other than Sega (with Capcom Arcade Cabinet my favorite example).

For Sega and not counting delisted games that were never expected to be made backwards compatible, the list is short for XBLA Sega games that have missed the XB1/Series cut. I believe that it's just Ecco the Dolphin, Space Channel 5: Part 2 (also available as part of the Dreamcast Collection disc), and Renegade Ops. None of the three were done by M2.

Of those three, Ecco the Dolphin isn't a big loss (although a great game and one that isn't available on XB1 or Series systems, it's got that forced blur filter that was popular with emulated classics at the time). Space Channel 5: Part 2 though is well worth the $5 on the 360 storefront. Not sure about Renegade Ops which I never looked at until just now. Intrigued though by screenshots.

And speaking of delisted games, I wonder why the standalone Streets of Rage 2 from the earlier days of XBLA missed the cut for the backwards compatibility program. While superseded and quite logically delisted when the far superior M2 collection was released on the 360, that didn't stop the similarly delisted arcade Golden Axe from being made BC.

I'd never fire up either blurry mess when I have the Sega Vintage Collection counterparts available on the same hardware, but I'm always a little curious when I see something that from my point of view isn't consistent with what's made BC and what isn't (like Discs of Tron being made BC but not Tron, despite all the same rights holders and hitting XBLA at the same time; Or why Space Channel 5 Part 2 missed the cut while all the other Dreamcast ports that Sega did at the same time ended up BC).

[bobrocks95]

So any M2/Sega releases that *will* be gone? Capcom did delist Final Fight but you can get that on disc in the Capcom Arcade Collection or some generic title like that for a reasonable price (for now).

Not sure if you're asking specifically about just M2 developed 360 games for Sega (only the five Sega Vintage Collections, with all five being backwards compatible and 4 of the 5 still available and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future) or instead are looking for Sega releases in general as well as what M2 did for companies other than Sega (with Capcom Arcade Cabinet my favorite example).

For Sega and not counting delisted games that were never expected to be made backwards compatible, the list is short for XBLA Sega games that have missed the XB1/Series cut. I believe that it's just Ecco the Dolphin, Space Channel 5: Part 2 (also available as part of the Dreamcast Collection disc), and Renegade Ops. None of the three were done by M2.

Of those three, Ecco the Dolphin isn't a big loss (although a great game and one that isn't available on XB1 or Series systems, it's got that forced blur filter that was popular with emulated classics at the time). Space Channel 5: Part 2 though is well worth the $5 on the 360 storefront. Not sure about Renegade Ops which I never looked at until just now. Intrigued though by screenshots.

And speaking of delisted games, I wonder why the standalone Streets of Rage 2 from the earlier days of XBLA missed the cut for the backwards compatibility program. While superseded and quite logically delisted when the far superior M2 collection was released on the 360, that didn't stop the similarly delisted arcade Golden Axe from being made BC.

I'd never fire up either blurry mess when I have the Sega Vintage Collection counterparts available on the same hardware, but I'm always a little curious when I see something that from my point of view isn't consistent with what's made BC and what isn't (like Discs of Tron being made BC but not Tron, despite all the same rights holders and hitting XBLA at the same time; Or why Space Channel 5 Part 2 missed the cut while all the other Dreamcast ports that Sega did at the same time ended up BC).

I'm more just pouring over anything that may be gone soon and any recommendations people have, so I appreciate the detailed post. At the very least both of those are still available on PC for the time being.

Hard to narrow things down to any particular person's "ideal" list. I think some sites have filters available but I'd want "Any recommended 360 game not available on PC or backwards compatible with a later Xbox, that was either digital-only or has an expensive physical version" which is very specific and means I'll probably just wait for the last sale to go live and pour over the entire storefront on the console again and do a lot of googling.

[Steven]

At this point we should probably compile our own list of stuff that

isn't available physically, including DLC
isn't on Xbox One/Series
isn't on PC
is on PC/Xbox One/Series but is still better/best on 360

[Bear78]

At this point we should probably compile our own list of stuff that

isn't available physically, including DLC
isn't on Xbox One/Series
isn't on PC
is on PC/Xbox One/Series but is still better/best on 360

I posted this back on the first page but some of that can be answer here:

It's going to be pretty much anything on this list that will be going away: https://www.trueachievements.com/not-ba ... ible/games

As for digital only titles, you can use this list and these filters to get that:

https://www.trueachievements.com/games.aspx

Filter Platform as Xbox 360 (no back compat), Availability as Listed Only, and Dist. type as Digital only

[TransitionalBird]

Space Invaders Infinity Gene's price has been reverted. "Editor’s Note (July 10): We removed Space Invaders Infinity Gene from the lists below. It was incorrectly included."
However, it has been made free to own for Game Pass users. So if you don't have that, maybe you will be offered the $1 for 14 days deal like I was and can get it that way, for 50c less than originally promised.

On another note the list still states that Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition's price is broken, but it appears to be correctly listed for $2.49 now.

[NeoStrayCat]

So..its 7/16, however, don't be too excited, Microsoft shits the bed completely and not permanent price drop anything new other than "Oh, new merch exists, and the X360 blades theme for the X1 and Series console". All they did was consolodate both discount lists into one. -> https://www.trueachievements.com/news/n ... ale-wave-3

I know they can't just literally call every single company (even ones that no longer exist) to just permanent price drop everything from the X360 store, including DLC, but honesly Microsoft, way to drop this "L" hard.

Either way, we have until 7/29 for last minute purchases on the X360 store.

[Sima Tuna]

I'm going to have to go through the list of racing games. I've been playing more of those lately and most of the good racing games are on older consoles. From PS4/Xbone generation and on, license expiration, pay-to-win, mobage, gatcha and DLC overload have ruined the genre.

[Atariboy]

They've sadly clarified that the quiet addition of a handful of Activision titles a week or two back was the 3rd wave of sale additions that were expected today.

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2024/05/14/ ... lable-now/

So don't hold your breath hoping that this was just a mistake and that the announcement of the new sale additions is imminent.

Pretty disappointing. I was hopeful that several of my last round of games were going to get slashed. All three of the Alien Breed games (Team 17 supported the previous two sales with their Worms games), the classic arcade Taito reboots (Space Invaders IG was previously announced before they withdrew it when nobody could purchase it at the sale price), hopefully some DLC (such as all the expansions for Worms 2 Armageddon), etc.

[shmuppy-puppy]

Threads like this one make me so sad.

[Jucksalbe]

2. Which are the Xbox 360 digital japanese (and PAL compatible) shmups that AREN'T available on newer hardware nor are going to be rereleased anytime soon. I'm willing to spend money on these, probably not on sale, but only if there aren't more convenient and legal ways to get them.

Not sure if you count a high price for the physical version as inconvenient, but I'd recommend to anyone that still wants it to get the Muchi Muchi Pork & Pink Sweets collection from the JP store. It's 2700 yen vs. the ~€140 it costs to buy the physical version nowadays.

[dmk1198]

Just found shooting love!!!

https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Prod ... 02544707d1

[dmk1198]

And under defeat!!!!

https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Prod ... een%20mode.

[dmk1198]

Raystorm to!!!

https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Prod ... 02584109bc

[bobrocks95]

Alright friends, I am narrowing down my final purchases, playing some game demos and all that like it's 2009 again.

Someone be honest with me- is any of the Otomedius Excellent DLC worth it? It is a true Xbox 360 exclusive but it seems like the opposite end of fanservice from Parodius. I dunno, my disc is still in the mail...

For DLC we have:

- Stages ($5.99 each)
--- St. Gradius Academy Stage
--- Yebisuboshi Stage
--- Donburi Island Stage

- Characters ($4.99 each)
--- Kokoro Belmont
--- Strarf

- Costumes ($1.99 each) - Supposedly these add new weapons for their characters? Doubt any of them are worth thinking about.
--- Aoba Anoa (St. Gradius Academy Uniform)
--- Diol Twee (Heirloom Dress)
--- Erul Tron (Legendary Pilot Suit)
--- Esmeralda (Restaurant Uniform)
--- Gesshi Hanafuuma (P.E. Outfit)
--- Madoka (Dynastic Dress)
--- Poini Kune (Apron Dress)
--- Tita Nium (Bacterian Force Uniform)

There's also some $5.49 music packs but even I'm not that stupid.

EDIT: Thinking it also makes sense to grab Space Invaders Extreme- the Steam release appears to not have any co-op?

EDIT2: Another discovery for anyone reading- RayStorm HD is in 16:9 and seems to have the features of the PS1 port (13 ship mode, some home arranged mode I think) while the newer M2 port in Ray'z Arcade Chronology just has the regular aspect ratio and may be lacking the console port modes? I don't know much about RayStorm but this may be another unique XBLA version about to disappear.

[NeoStrayCat]

@bobrocks95
For the Otomedius Excellent DLC, yeah, depends if you want to get them or not. Myself, I have all of them that you listed except the BGM packs. Those are completely optional, however, its just basically another selection to press the A button again before starting the game.

For Space Invaders Extreme, I did look into this, and yeah, the Steam version is single player only, no co-op or online multiplayer (for up to 2-4 players) in that version. Yet the X360 version does have it. There's also a DLC expansion pack which includes both the original and part II (though it doesn't give much context if its just levels inspired by them or they're outright full games inside S.I. Extreme.)

As for Raystorm HD, I would doubt that the XBLA version would be a unique port which includes its own features outside of later collections that includes its own stuff. I've only tried the demo for this version, and that's all I can remember from.

Either way, only just this weekend to go until the X360 store closes.

[Steven]

Oh shit, I just realized this is going to die in like 2 or 3 days, depending on your time zone or whatever. Still have no idea what to get, or if it's even going to be possible to buy anything.

So far, I have the following in mind

Guwange
Mushihimesama Futari Black Label
KOF Sky Stage (I don't expect this to be good, I'm just curious to see how it is)
Omega Five

I think that's everything, unless there is DLC for games that got physical releases that I don't know about, but is there anything else notable that I'm missing? I'm specifically looking for things that don't have a physical version and that also do not have a better version on PC or newer consoles.

Obligatory fuck digital games. I just remembered that I said it on page 1, but in case you forgot, consider it a reminder.

[Sima Tuna]

If Guwange is going away, definitely get it. I doubt Guwange will get reprinted any time soon. The fanbase for that game is very small even by shmup standards.

[Steven]

Guwange is actually not going away since you can get it on newer Xboxes, and I think it's the only CAVE game that is like this, but I'm not planning on getting a newer Xbox, so this is my last chance.

I honestly know nothing about Guwange other than that it exists. Never seen screenshots, don't even know if it's vertical or horizontal, just that it exists and that it's on 360 but is download-only.

Might as well post my complete list of 360 games:
Saidaioujou
Mushihimesama Futari

Yep. That's my entire 360 library, so if there's something important, I certainly hope I don't forget about it before physical prices skyrocket.

[Atariboy]

Guwange is actually not going away since you can get it on newer Xboxes, and I think it's the only CAVE game that is like this, but I'm not planning on getting a newer Xbox, so this is my last chance.

While you're all set, I think that it's potentially of use to others to clarify that this isn't your last chance even if you never own a newer Xbox console.

Thanks to the browser storefront and being backwards compatible, instead of buying that game at this link (which is the Xbox 360 storefront page)...

https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-us/Prod ... 0258410a78

You instead can just buy it from the Xbox One/Series storefront...

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/ ... 488TNPSQ0F

Microsoft's closure FAQ when they announced the end of being able to purchase content off the Xbox 360 storefront, confirmed that backwards compatible purchases made from the newer storefront after July 28th will continue to be added to our Xbox 360 download history. So all you had to do is buy it from your favorite browser after this Sunday and you'd of still been all set.

[NeoStrayCat]

Guwange is not going anywhere, and neither is Omega Five and KOF Sky Stage, as all 3 of those are backwards compatible. The only thing on that list is the unfortunately misnamed Mushihimesama Futari Black Label DLC that's going away. (Good luck finding the install disc that came with the Cave Shooting Collection, as that's the only other way to get the DLC's for JP X360 versions of those CAVE games.)

@Steven
Guwange is a vertical shooter, with its own mechanic that uses the player's shikigami to slow down enemy bullets when its in contact. Has 3 play modes (Arcade, Arrange Blue, and Arrange X360). Arrange 360 is easier to grasp to, since you can fire and move at the same time, and also anything your shikigami comes into contact will slow down bullets everywhere.