A Potential DRM Solution

There is a general disdain in the 360 community over Microsoft's handling of Digital Rights Management. Why? Well, say you buy an XBLA game on the 360. It ties your download to the serial number of your console so you can play it offline. Then, you get the three red lights, and your console gets replaced with another - this one has a different serial number. Your downloads merely think that you have just gone round a friends - they don't update the fact that your old console broke.

This has been an issue for sometime now. In order to play these downloads, you'd have to be online, connected to Live (Gold or Silver, doesn't matter). Your family could only play those XBLA games if you were signed in too.

Now, there is a potential solution, thanks to Deaconblade! It does mean losing all your saved games, but check the full article here:

http://www.unscripted360.com/2008/02/08/drm-follow-up-tip

This tip will help those of you who don’t know that you’ve been updated. For those still in a DRM punked status, I’ll keep investigating to see if something more can be done. Now let’s get on to the tip shall we.

DRM Tip (for those trying to access Arcade titles offline and can’t)

-Log on to Xbox Live with the same Gamertag you initially downloaded the content to
- Go to your Systems Blade > Memory > Games
- Locate the Arcade games you can not access offline and delete them including saves
- Go to your Marketplace Blade > Account Management > Download History
- Search for the same content in your history and download it again

This may not work for those who a) have not had your console serial # properly updated or b) if the content is no longer in your Download History. I know a few users who tried this after last weekend’s show (including myself) and it took care of the problem. So give it a shot.

So, there you have it. Enjoy =D