US Points codes

[robrymond]

Just wondering if I purchase some US Points for the marketplace, can I redeem them on my US Silver account on the console?

And if they can be redeemed, does download content and Live Arcade games work with the english gamertag?

[Spatial]

WARNING: LONG, COMPLICATED ANSWER APPROACHING!

Yes you can redeem the points and spend them via Silver. Though you'll need a valid US address if you're going to try and use a Credit Card, but even if that works (and it's a pretty big `if`) MS won't like it should they notice. It'd be classed as credit card fraud and they'll ban your Live profile for breaching the T&C's.

Safest bet is to get a US pre-paid points card from somewhere - that's all relevant for what comes below, because if the account gets banned then you loose the ability to sign in and all your content with it.

Don't quote me for certain on this next part though as it was ages back when I first tried this - it did work and may still, but equally they could have changed things since then?

You should be able to play the downloaded content on another profile, providing that it's being played on the console you first downloaded it to.

That means if you're 360 goes tits up and the profile and hardware don't match anymore you might not be able to access things. You might be able to reassign it to another system using the DRM tool but I have no idea if that would work (and you can only do that once ever 12 months so if something really unfortunate happened you could find yourself locked out).

EvilBoris did cleverly come up with a work around to this though. If you're connected to Live and sign in with the profile that paid for the download and then also sign in with the profile you want to play it on (using a separate pad) both profiles should have access to the content.

For example I was able to download Geo Wars on one profile and then play it on any other profile, providing the original one used to download it was signed in too.

[robrymond]

Thanks for that

Basically, I wanted to grab one of those cheap US points cards that Jasper sells (the Xbox Live sub guy!). Both profiles are on the one console, I have two pads as well.

Do you think it's an inconvience having to sign both profiles in and play a game? For example if I brought Braid for 1200 Points, does that mean everytime i have to have the two controls working and on?

And how does it work for in-game content, say PGR4 expansion. Basically am I over-complicating things for the sake of saving a few pennies?

[Spatial]

It will work for in game content as I did it with the first G.R.A.W.

Again don't quote me on this, but you might not need to have the two controllers to start (providing you're always connected to Live when you try to access the content). That should only be needed if your system goes belly up in the future.

I did find it a real potch in the end. Not so much for in game stuff, but it was for something like Geo Wars where you might only want to have a quick blast.

My main profile is US and in the end I decided I'd rather stump up the extra cost of US pre-paid cards than have to faff about.

[VR46]

And how does it work for in-game content, say PGR4 expansion. Basically am I over-complicating things for the sake of saving a few pennies?

Yes, you can get 2100 UK points for 13.97 from Tesco's online.

[robrymond]

Yes, you can get 2100 UK points for 13.97 from Tesco's online.

Cheers, might be a better idea then really! I despise the whole points system; miss the days of spending ?3 on a PGR2 booster pack and not having points! But heh ho, must live with it for now...

Thanks for the advice both

[robrymond]

Ordered 2 x 2100 cards for £26 + 7% quidco cashback! Not bad