Offline Mode: Live Arcade?

[CleanSweep31]

For the holiday I was on the road with my 360. Knowing I was goign to be without live I brought my wireless bridge and other networking gear so I could try and get my fix and thankfully I was able to get online for a couple of rounds of Rainbow Six Vegas.

I wasn't going to try so hard but I logged in off line and I couldn't play my Arcade games other than in demo mode! So am I nuts in thinking I should have been able to play in offline mode? I was paning on playing some arcade games and trying to get some of my gamer score up (yes I am a closet gamerscore whore)..._o_

I purchased and downloaded these games so I could play them whenever I wanted, not just for being on live. What did I do wrong? 8)7

[DM2]

I pressume this isn't the console/hard drive that you orignaly purchased the games on. XBL titles are linked to the console and hard drive they were first downloaded to as well as the gamer tag, you can either play them on any account on the original combo or if you are logged into live with the purchasing live tag.

If you have had to get a new console you can try calling microsoft and they may well credit you the points to another account so you can purchase the titles with that account so they will be locked to your console/hardrive.

[CleanSweep31]

If you have had to get a new console you can try calling microsoft and they may well credit you the points to another account so you can purchase the titles with that account so they will be locked to your console/hardrive.

WHAMO! That's the ticket! My little boy wanted to finish beating Feeding Frenzy for me (gotta love that gamerscore) and demo mode wasn't the ticket! I will get on the horn with support and let you know what their resolution was/is!

Thanks for the info! O-)

[CleanSweep31]

After a 25 min call wth Xbox Live customer support I am not a happy camper.

Your downloads for offline play are only linked to your console serial number. I can use the same hard drive on another Xbox 360, but I can only play my games while I am connected online to Live. Even though I have the same hard drive and only one live account I can't use the games in offline mode when I am on my other Xbox360.

What this means to me is that for every game that I buy to enjoy on my 360 on my own will also have to be purchased for my son if he wants to play them even under my gamertag on the Xbox 360 in the family room when I am not logged in.

I understand their reasoning and I accept that it does tell you this in the fine print. It now raises another factor of cost for a game for me when my kids says "hey dad that is cool" I am out another 800 MS Points. I will be very careful what games I download from now on. :-(


*NOTE: I initially purchased a second console because of the 3/4 ring of death that my origional Premium Xbox360 experienced. Now I am waiting for my Premium to come back so I can purchase or re purchase the couple of games that I would be willing to spend the double points on. Maybe I will trade it in for a Wii now...

[Spectro]

I think that the games should be linked to a gamertag, and not the system itself.

[DM2]

You don't have to purchase them. What you can do for your son to play is have yourself logged in on his console at the same time (log in on a second controler) this will allow him to play the full games on his login as live recognises you as owning them. You won't be able to log into live while your son is playing these games, but you could still play offline on your console or on a different account.

[Bub Thunder]

I think I know the answer to this. I had the same problem with about a third of my arcade games and have since found that if you first download the trial version and then purchase the game by unlocking it from within the game you cannot play the games offline. I dont think you can change this once its done either. Just make sure if you already have the trial version to purchase the full game from the xbox live section of the marketplace NOT from within the game this should solve any future problems. Well it did for me.:P

[DenisDenis]

I think that the games should be linked to a gamertag, and not the system itself.

Hey!
XBLA titles are linked to both a Gamertag AND a system.
If you log on a friend's console, you can play your xbla titles full version (of course this console has to be linked to Live to retreive your Gamertag).

Hint: it can be pretty harrassing to retreive your Gamertag at a friend's place - entering all those addresses and passwords... Well note that if you plug a usb keyboard, it works fine (we do it all the time at the studio to create profiles by the dozen).

In the original case what you can do is buy the xbla title on your son's console (the system will allow any Gamertag to access full versions) and when you want to play them, use your Gamertag on your own console (xbla full version are always granted to the original Gamertag).

That was my two cents, not sure I answered the question!!
If not, have a beer and wait for Mad Tracks 8)
Denis.

Ps: you can ask a friends request for our corporate Gamertag, 'Loadinc'.

[Nekro Neko]

Ever since I had a replacement console sent to me, I haven't been able to play any of my XBLA games except Hexic. Problem I have is that at the moment my router is a bit flakey and I need to replace it, but in the meantime I could drop offline in the middle of a game and bam, no longer connected to live and that is hell if I am getting close to 1m points survived on Geometry Wars. Maybe I'll ring MS up tomorrow.

[Curry]

I think I know the answer to this. I had the same problem with about a third of my arcade games and have since found that if you first download the trial version and then purchase the game by unlocking it from within the game you cannot play the games offline. I dont think you can change this once its done either. Just make sure if you already have the trial version to purchase the full game from the xbox live section of the marketplace NOT from within the game this should solve any future problems. Well it did for me.:P
Huh I unlock most of the games from the trial and my GF has no problem playing the full versions?

It's really only because of the linking to console and gamertag :)

[DM2]

to get around the pain of retreiving a live login, you can use a memory card to store your live tag. Makes things a lot easier especialy if you have multiple consoles

[DenisDenis]

to get around the pain of retreiving a live login, you can use a memory card to store your live tag. Makes things a lot easier especialy if you have multiple consoles

DM2 got it right! Again!!!
Cheers,
Denis aka 'DenisDenis' aka 'Loadinc' (got your friends request btw 8))