Official XBLA Thread

[Daitokuji]

Last night my friends and I wanted to play Double Dragon for xbox live. I bought the game many years ago and didn't pay attention when my friend loaded it up. When he finished the first level it asked me to unlock the full game. Well long story short the game is no longer on the market and I don't have the ability to play the full game anymore. Can anyone else that has double dragon try this and tell me if this is true for them? I contacted microsoft and they refunded me the 800 points, but what really pisses me off is that from what seems that we don't actually own the games that we downloaded and when they pull them they also pull your ability to play what we've already paid for.

[James]

And this is how piracy gets justified.

Seriously, you'd be totally justified in pirating the hell out of that game, if you had a modded 360. If you wanted MS points instead of a game you'd have just not bought it to begin with.

I'm also curious if downloading a game that can't be bought even counts as piracy, now that I think on it.

James

[Daitokuji]

I bought the game back in 2007. Played it on and off since then. I should be able to play it forever IMO.

[Mzo]

Last night my friends and I wanted to play Double Dragon for xbox live. I bought the game many years ago and didn't pay attention when my friend loaded it up. When he finished the first level it asked me to unlock the full game. Well long story short the game is no longer on the market and I don't have the ability to play the full game anymore. Can anyone else that has double dragon try this and tell me if this is true for them? I contacted microsoft and they refunded me the 800 points, but what really pisses me off is that from what seems that we don't actually own the games that we downloaded and when they pull them they also pull your ability to play what we've already paid for.

When you switch Xbox systems you have to transfer the licenses over to play any XBLA game you might have owned offline. If you're signed in to the account that made the purchase and are online, it shouldn't be a problem. This is how XBLA games have always worked.

Just tested this by elbowing my way through area 1. Game works fine.

[TobalRox]

Yeah, Double Dragon (and various other games that have been pulled like the Doritos games and Speedball) all still work just fine if you own them. As mentioned when you buy a game it is tied to that system and your name. If that system has changed you have to transfer the license otherwise the game only works when signed into Live. At worst you could always try to "redownload" from your download history, it doesn't disappear from there.

[James]

I've been spoiled by Steam. My games, tied to my account, and that's the only restriction. It's a simple system that makes logical sense.

James

[TobalRox]

I've been spoiled by Steam. My games, tied to my account, and that's the only restriction. It's a simple system that makes logical sense.

James

Well, XBLA games are tied to your account, you just need to be logged in and it will work. They just have an added layer of the system too because not everyone plays online all the time.

[Diff-chan]

You don't need to be logged in, though.

It was bad back in 07 or so, when people were getting new systems every 6 months and there was no license transfer tool. All those issues were resolved.

[Pineapple]

I ran into the same problem with the first Sonic game. Got a couple achievements for it, so it's clear I bought it while online and played it, but for more than 2 years it lets me play the first level then says I need to buy the full game. Contacted Microsoft and they say I need to go to x website and redownload and do this and that, none of it has worked, system still thinks it's a demo.

[Pineapple]

Went and tried DD and found the same error, said its not available anymore. Transfered liscenses, uninstalled, found it in my download history and redownloaded, plays just fine now. And by just fine I mean its as bad as its always been.