X360 Shmups & Region free games for NTSC-U Checklist

[bobrocks95]

Didn't realize digital downloads were an option for some of these.

Do I have to buy them through my Xbox 360 somehow? For example, Muchi Muchi Pork & Pink Sweets says you don't need a VPN and are region free, so I go to the page on the Xbox Japan marketplace to buy, but it pops up with a message that the offer is not valid in my region- am I on the wrong page or do I need a Japanese Xbox account signed in as well (that I guess I can then sign into on console)? https://marketplace.xbox.com/ja-JP/Prod ... 02435a07de

Or do I change my account region, buy them, then change it back in 3 months?

[bcass]

You need a Japanese Xbox account signed in.

[bobrocks95]

If the "home Xbox" trick is still a thing, where games are tied to the account you bought them with and whichever 360 is your primary, I suppose I can make a Japanese account and then play the games on my old US account right? Or if not, switch account regions back and forth?

[Jonpachi]

If the "home Xbox" trick is still a thing, where games are tied to the account you bought them with and whichever 360 is your primary, I suppose I can make a Japanese account and then play the games on my old US account right? Or if not, switch account regions back and forth?

Once it's on the console, any account can play it. You just need a JP account to make the purchase.

[bobrocks95]

Cool! Biggest update imo is that Mushihimesama Futari appears to be available digitally on the JPN store now, since it's one of the best Cave 360 ports. Most everything else is covered with a decent port elsewhere (DDP DOJ coming from M2 this year to replace the old PS2 port).

Otomedius Gorgeous is also available but I get the feeling being available digitally doesn't mean it isn't still region locked. I'm still tempted to try but I don't think Xbox has any sort of decent return policy if it inevitably doesn't work.

[dmk1198]

If the "home Xbox" trick is still a thing, where games are tied to the account you bought them with and whichever 360 is your primary, I suppose I can make a Japanese account and then play the games on my old US account right? Or if not, switch account regions back and forth?

Once it's on the console, any account can play it. You just need a JP account to make the purchase.

U need jap Xbox not just jap account I believe

[bobrocks95]

I would think any game that is region free for the disc version would also be region free digitally as well. I was probably gonna get DDP SDOJ, Espgaluda II, Muchi Muchi Pork & Pink Sweets, and Mushihime-Sama Futari, which would all be covered.

Otomedius Gorgeous is the only one I'm guessing still wouldn't work since the disc version is region locked.

[yyr]

Worth a mention: the Xbox 360 Marketplace will be permanently closing worldwide on July 29th, 2024. On or after that date, digital purchases can no longer be made; that affects all of the games mentioned in this thread. (The first page incorrectly states that Games on Demand ended in September 2017, but this is incorrect; that was only true of Xbox Live Indie Games.)

So yeah, last call on all this stuff. We've got just under a year.

[bcass]

There's really no need to panic about this. Modded 360 Jasper consoles are plentiful via eBay and are extremely cheap. The idea that any of this stuff will be "gone forever" is sensationalism.

[sunnshiner]

^

That. Loads of stuff runs in Xenia too.

[yyr]

There's really no need to panic about this. Modded 360 Jasper consoles are plentiful via eBay and are extremely cheap. The idea that any of this stuff will be "gone forever" is sensationalism.

I'm not panicking, just pointing out a fact. And personally, I'm more interested in running these games via legal, off-the-shelf means on the actual hardware vs. hacks/mods/piracy/emulation. The news may be of benefit to others who feel the same way.

The means to legally purchase digital copies of these games is ending on July 29th, 2024. They can still be re-downloaded afterwards, and I'm sure all of it is in the wild, so from a strict game preservation point of view it means very little, yes.

[bcass]

The comments weren't aimed at you, more the media who tend to sensationalise such events.

[bobrocks95]

So people told me earlier that you just need a Japanese account to download the region-free titles... How do I actually purchase them though? The Japanese Xbox site won't take any of my payment methods, and I believe signing into a Japanese account on my US 360 won't suddenly allow me to access to the Japanese storefront, right?

Do I get a gift card and then I can purchase using a pre-paid wallet on the Xbox site with my Japanese account, then sign into it on the 360 and download the title and I can switch back to the US account?

[Kiken]

So people told me earlier that you just need a Japanese account to download the region-free titles... How do I actually purchase them though? The Japanese Xbox site won't take any of my payment methods, and I believe signing into a Japanese account on my US 360 won't suddenly allow me to access to the Japanese storefront, right?

Signing into a Japanese region account allows one to bring up the Japanese storefront. My 360 is Japanese but I'm in the US. I have two accounts, a US one and a Japanese one. If I log into my US account I can view the US storefront. If I log into my Japanese account it brings up the Japanese storefront.

You can purchase Japanese X-Box Live point cards from various online retailers and then redeem them on your Japanese account. I've done this in the past to download DLC components for the games I've purchased.

Also, Mushi Futari is kinda weird in that the main game was only released in Japan but the Black Label DLC can be purchased in any region (here's the US marketplace listing for it).

Can anyone confirm if you still need to fake your region IP in order to complete downloads for import Games On Demand?

[bobrocks95]

So people told me earlier that you just need a Japanese account to download the region-free titles... How do I actually purchase them though? The Japanese Xbox site won't take any of my payment methods, and I believe signing into a Japanese account on my US 360 won't suddenly allow me to access to the Japanese storefront, right?

Signing into a Japanese region account allows one to bring up the Japanese storefront. My 360 is Japanese but I'm in the US. I have two accounts, a US one and a Japanese one. If I log into my US account I can view the US storefront. If I log into my Japanese account it brings up the Japanese storefront.

You can purchase Japanese X-Box Live point cards from various online retailers and then redeem them on your Japanese account. I've done this in the past to download DLC components for the games I've purchased.

Also, Mushi Futari is kinda weird in that the main game was only released in Japan but the Black Label DLC can be purchased in any region (here's the US marketplace listing for it).

Can anyone confirm if you still need to fake your region IP in order to complete downloads for import Games On Demand?

Okay, that's pretty straightforward then! I'll give it a try tomorrow. Any recommended sites for yen cards these days? I will test a few import downloads to see if a VPN is needed (though I think it's title specific)

[bcass]

Can anyone confirm if you still need to fake your region IP in order to complete downloads for import Games On Demand?

This was never a requirement for all Games on Demand titles. However, in another thread, someone mentioned that this had been disabled, so IP faking was no longer needed for those titles that checked. Last year I downloaded Pink Sweets, Akai Katana, and Saidaioujou without a VPN and had no issues. The big issue was obtaining a points card. For some weird reason (possibly a scam) many of the sites selling the JPN points cards wanted me to send scanned ID (which I obviously did not do).

[SavagePencil]

When creating a JP account, do I need to use a different email than the one I use for my US account?

Can I do the plus trick to make it think I have a distinct email without having to actually create a second one (e.g., if my main email is abcd@gmail.com, can I create my JP account with abcd+JP@gmail.com)?

[bobrocks95]

Can anyone confirm if you still need to fake your region IP in order to complete downloads for import Games On Demand?

This was never a requirement for all Games on Demand titles. However, in another thread, someone mentioned that this had been disabled, so IP faking was no longer needed for those titles that checked. Last year I downloaded Pink Sweets, Akai Katana, and Saidaioujou without a VPN and had no issues. The big issue was obtaining a points card. For some weird reason (possibly a scam) many of the sites selling the JPN points cards wanted me to send scanned ID (which I obviously did not do).

I tried today, and some Games on Demand titles are DEFINITELY still IP locked- I thought I had set up the account wrong.

I was able to buy, download, and play:
- Muchi Muchi Pork/Pink Sweets
- Virtual-On (XBLA) (probably should've gotten the PS4 collection instead...)

I was NOT able to even buy (got status code 80150017):
- Mushihimesama Futari
- ESPGaluda II (Switch version has an extra frame of lag it seems, but maybe not worth the effort on 360)
- Virtual-On Force

Don't think I tried DDP SDOJ since it was further over on the list and I was thinking in my head it would probably get an improved M2 port sooner than others. Futari and Espgaluda II line up with the OP for this thread as being VPN locked.

I will probably try next paycheck to get those with a VPN setup but there's definitely something still going on with region-locking on the games on demand titles.

Is it normal to not even be able to purchase them though? Don't think I've ever heard of that happening, just the download failing partway through or something along those lines.

When creating a JP account, do I need to use a different email than the one I use for my US account?

Can I do the plus trick to make it think I have a distinct email without having to actually create a second one (e.g., if my main email is abcd@gmail.com, can I create my JP account with abcd+JP@gmail.com)?

Probably need to do a new email, that's what I did. Before buying any gift cards make sure you download the profile to your 360 and that the menu switches to Japanese when you log into it.

[Klatrymadon]

Modded 360 Jasper consoles are plentiful via eBay and are extremely cheap.

This might be a daft question, but is there an equivalent to the Jasper with Japanese 360s, or any particularly bad Japanese models to watch out for, as there were with the PAL ones?

(I have an RGH-modded console and an unmodded Jasper I've owned since release, but a very stupid part of me still wants an online-capable Japanese 360, largely for leaderboards that may not even be functional any more, but also because there a number of games whose DLC I can't seem to link up properly on the RGH.)

Edit: also, yeah, where do you buy Japanese gift cards now? Nobody legit-looking seems interested in hawking them, and there are a couple of region-free games I'd like to grab to replace their physical counterparts...

[Kiken]

I tried today, and some Games on Demand titles are DEFINITELY still IP locked- I thought I had set up the account wrong.

I was able to buy, download, and play:
- Muchi Muchi Pork/Pink Sweets
- Virtual-On (XBLA) (probably should've gotten the PS4 collection instead...)

I was NOT able to even buy (got status code 80150017):
- Mushihimesama Futari
- ESPGaluda II (Switch version has an extra frame of lag it seems, but maybe not worth the effort on 360)
- Virtual-On Force

Don't think I tried DDP SDOJ since it was further over on the list and I was thinking in my head it would probably get an improved M2 port sooner than others. Futari and Espgaluda II line up with the OP for this thread as being VPN locked.

Were you purchasing these directly on the Xbox console? Have you tried logging in through a web browser and purchasing them through the XBox website?

[bcass]

This might be a daft question, but is there an equivalent to the Jasper with Japanese 360s, or any particularly bad Japanese models to watch out for, as there were with the PAL ones?

Jasper models were released in all territories IIRC. There are two iterations of the Jasper model, both being the most reliable iteration of the 360 hardware. Personally, I would avoid all other models, including the final iteration of the 360 hardware - Xbox 360 S, and Xbox 360 E, which are more reliable than all pre-Japser models, but not as reliable as the Jaspers.

(I have an RGH-modded console and an unmodded Jasper I've owned since release, but a very stupid part of me still wants an online-capable Japanese 360, largely for leaderboards that may not even be functional any more, but also because there a number of games whose DLC I can't seem to link up properly on the RGH.)

Leaderboards, and corresponding replay downloads, are all still online. Given that the infrastructure hosting these leaderboards / replays is required for the large number of 360 titles that are backawards compatible on the One, One S, One X, Series S / X models, I don't think these servers will be disappearing any time soon.

[bobrocks95]

G2A worked for me for buying a gift card. PayPal + bank account (debit card didn't work even through PayPal, but that's a region restriction thing with my bank).

We're you purchasing these directly on the Xbox console? Have you tried logging in through a web browser and purchasing them through the XBox website?

It doesn't look like you can use gift card money that's on your account via the website. It just tells me I need to add a valid payment option (only choices in the pop-up are change payment option and cancel):
https://imgur.com/FQtrwac

[Klatrymadon]

Thanks for the info, bcass! I'll keep an eye out for Japanese Jaspers then. Glad to hear leaderboards are still online (I know they are for RSG and the region-free Cave ports, but wasn't sure about the general landscape). I'm sure the Steam port will be here eventually but it'll be nice to have a semi-active version of Shikigami no Shiro III to play, even if my scores aren't very competitive.

Cheers, bobrocks95. Are G2A alright? I've never used them and always assumed they were dodgy...

[bobrocks95]

Cheers, bobrocks95. Are G2A alright? I've never used them and always assumed they were dodgy...

They're definitely one of those key resellers for games that is probably peddling stolen product but if you're careful I think you're generally covered. I specifically bought this card from seller InstantDigitalGaming:
https://www.g2a.com/xbox-live-gift-card ... 0070179015

[Klatrymadon]

Cheers! Can the cards be redeemed in the UK (on a Japanese account) without a VPN? I do this on PS4 without issue all the time but don't want to make a fatal assumption.

[bcass]

You don't need a VPN to redeem JPN cards outside Japan.

[Klatrymadon]

Excellent, thank you!

Edit: just in case anyone has trouble redeeming a code on their PAL 360, I had to do it in a slightly roundabout way. I logged in with my Japanese account details on this page, changed my (Microsoft account's) region to Japan, then redeemed the code on the website.

[SavagePencil]

Is there any difference from the US-released Caladrius and the JP one? I see Cero D vs. T for Teen and not sure if that means there was content changed or what.

Follow-up: is OG Caladrius significantly different from Caladrius Blaze available on Switch?

[bobrocks95]

Excellent, thank you!

Edit: just in case anyone has trouble redeeming a code on their PAL 360, I had to do it in a slightly roundabout way. I logged in with my Japanese account details on this page, changed my (Microsoft account's) region to Japan, then redeemed the code on the website.

For my US system I also couldn't redeem the code on the console itself and had to redeem it on the website while logged into my Japanese account.

Did you have any trouble buying/downloading certain games like I did? I am wondering where I can get a free Japanese VPN from, if such a thing exists.

[Klatrymadon]

Yeah, the Japanese website doesn't show the 5000 yen as a payment option, just my bank cards, which it can't accept. I'll have a dig around on the console and see if I can find the games i'm after there, though I can't read the hiragana.

I have Ginga Force on the same account from a decade ago, but I can't remember how I did it then. MMP is one of the games listed as never having needed a VPN, so I'm not sure what's going on...