PSA: Xbox 360 Marketplace shutting down on July 29

[Spider-Dan]

For those who haven't yet heard, Microsoft is shutting down the Xbox 360 marketplace ("Xbox Games Store") on July 29, 2024.  This means that after that date, you will no longer be able to add new Xbox 360-compatible content to your Microsoft account (though you will still be able to buy compatible Xbox 360 content for play on Xbox One or Xbox Series via the Microsoft Store).  Microsoft has also confirmed that you'll be able to download updates and patches for games even after the 360 store is closed, and that online functionality for Xbox 360 games will continue to work as long as the original developers and/or publishers continue to support it.

If you have a 360, I'd recommend logging in and downloading as much of your already-owned content to your hard drive as you can.  You can find a handy list of everything you own by going to Settings -> Account -> Download History.  Every entry is content already associated with your account; if you click on it and it says Play Now, it means that content is already downloaded to the current hard drive, but if it only says Download Again then it means that it is not.

Some relevant links...
Video of free 360 games/DLC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLIEy_IPQWE
List of digital-only non-backward-compatible 360 games (including bolded games that are also exclusive to 360):
https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1hxTr0R6EO--X34hqIt3i7fJJge6AU6ReG3z2JVSLVzY/mobilebasic

An added note for fans of Rock Band: you can still buy DLC songs, even though the in-game Rock Band Store hasn't worked for years.  You need to go to the following page and log into your Xbox account:
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-us/Product/Rock-Band-3/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80245410914

You can then scroll through all the DLC songs in reverse order of release and buy them from that page, at which point they will download to your 360.

To save you some time, here's the full list of DLC songs:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_downloadable_songs_for_the_Rock_Band_series

Songs released before 10/26/2010 work with all versions of Rock Band, while songs released between 10/26/2010 and 10/5/2015 will require Rock Band 3 on 360 or Rock Band 4 on XB1, and songs released after 10/5/2015 are Rock Band 4 only.  (In case you were wondering, 360 instruments require an adapter to be used on XB1, and the adapter sells for ~$300.)

Finally, if you're intending to buy some more digital games before they're gone, I have some good news for you: many 360 games are currently on sale with discounts up to 90%.  Here's a list of games already discounted:
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2024/05/14/xbox-360-price-reductions-available-now/

Microsoft has confirmed that there will be two additional rounds of sales on June 18 and July 16.

[Dave Gray]

I know we spoke at length about this over the phone, but I'm kinda unclear.  If I already have "rights" to the content, what is the value of downloading it?

Can't I download it again later, so long as I have the rights?

If not, isn't a harddrive failure all but imminent at some point and I just lose everything?

[Spider-Dan]

After July, you'll still be able to re-download content on your account, but at some point that may go away (as it did with the original Xbox).  So it's a good idea to get as much of your content as you can now, so you aren't left scrambling later.

HDD failures are possible, but not super likely.  Your content should be relatively safe if your console is stored properly.

[Brian Fein]

I guess I'm a little unclear...  If I have upgraded to a console beyong the 360, do I care about this?

[Spider-Dan]

Not unless you still own a 360 (or might want to in the future).

[Dave Gray]

I am working on this now and the process is wonky and general unfriendly.  It works, but takes a few steps and you have to have an active CC on file, even though you're buying free things.

Even then, the website has 404 errors, the search doesn't work.  Care hasn't been paid to this system in a while, it seems.

[Spider-Dan]

One problem I ran into when buying some Rock Band songs: after about ten $1.99 purchases, my bank flagged the card for suspicious activity and I couldn't buy anything else.  I didn't have that particular card set up to text my phone for fraud alerts, so I didn't find out what the problem was until checking my e-mail later that day.  I still couldn't buy anything (after verifying the previous activity with my bank), so I ultimately just added a different card and monitored the fraud notifications from the start.

[Dave Gray]

Thanks for this update.  With a little bit of dilligence (I didn't go crazy and sign up for a bunch of fake email addresses in other countries), I grabbed a few new full release and arcade titles.  I may never play them, but I claimed them, and I bet they'll end up on the Series X marketplace at some point, anyway.

Several of them, I already had.

Spider was telling me about Steam Deck and the concept of a Steam Box or Console, which has me intrigued.

[Pappy13]

Spider was telling me about Steam Deck and the concept of a Steam Box or Console, which has me intrigued.

Not sure why you wouldn't just go with a gaming PC? You seem like a pretty intelligent guy Dave and you've already pointed out some possible perks for going PC for gaming. The cost of PC gaming has really become pretty competitive with consoles and with the additional benefits that a PC provides over a console seems like a no brainer for anyone that spends a decent amount of time on the internet. I don't think a console or Steam deck for instance is a bad choice, I just don't really see it as a better choice than a PC for gaming at this point. To me it seems to be the choice of those who are afraid of PC gaming for one reason or another or really value the mobility aspect but honestly I think that's an irrational fear for most and not sure that the mobility aspect would be something you would really take advantage of (I could be wrong). Everyone should own a PC in my humble opinion, why not make it a gaming PC if you're a gamer? You basically just need to add a graphics card if it's a fairly new PC which is about on par with the cost of a console.

[Dave Gray]

It's semantics, I guess, but I want to play in my living room, in a recliner, on a controller.  If that's on a PC, so be it. 

But I spend all day on a computer screen at a desk and I don't want to do more of that in my free time. 

A steam console seems to check both of those boxes.  It's a PC.  It's only a console, so much as that it's designed to mimic the functionality of a game system as opposed to a full PC experience.

[Pappy13]

It's semantics, I guess, but I want to play in my living room, in a recliner, on a controller.  If that's on a PC, so be it. 

But I spend all day on a computer screen at a desk and I don't want to do more of that in my free time. 

A steam console seems to check both of those boxes.  It's a PC.  It's only a console, so much as that it's designed to mimic the functionality of a game system as opposed to a full PC experience.

Fair enough. I can see that.

[Dave Gray]

This day came and went.  I did my part to download things.

[Spider-Dan]

So it turns out that the 360 Marketplace closure isn't quite as final as expected.

For any 360 game that is supported on Xbox One or Xbox Series through the Backward Compatibility program, you can still log into the current Microsoft Store and purchase it on your account, then download it on your 360 by going to Account -> Download History.  This also applies to DLC for those games.

This video goes over some of the details:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YITD1PFbuY