Download an Xbox 360 Game
The internet has changed the way we get games. No longer do you have to drive to the game store at your mall, jockeying for parking and fighting the crowds. Most games can be downloaded from the comfort of your own home, and you don't even need to get off the couch. You can also download backup copies of games you already own in case your disc gets damaged or lost. See Step 1 below to learn how.
Contents
Steps
Purchasing a Game From the Xbox Games Store
- Open the Games section of your Xbox 360 menu. This will show the Games Marketplace, along with a few select Featured Games. Highlight "Browse Games" to peruse through the selection of games available to purchase and download.
- Selecting "Browse Games" will open a new screen. Along the top, you can see the different categories of games. "Featured" are the newest releases, "Arcade" are smaller games for low prices, "On Demand" are full-length Xbox 360 games, and "Indie" are games made by independent developers.
- Each category has further ways to browse, such as by genre or popularity. You can also browse all of the games A through Z.
- Find a game. Browse through the catalog until you find the game you want. Not all Xbox 360 titles are available for download. Titles that are not available will need to be purchased as a physical disc. When you've found a game you want, press the A button to select it.
- Check your space. Downloaded games take up space on your Xbox 360's internal hard drive. The amount of space required for the game will be shown on the details page when you select it.
- To check how much free space you have available, press the Guide button to open the main Xbox 360 menu. Navigate to the Settings menu and select System Settings. Click Storage and check the amount of free space available for the Hard Drive.
- Purchase the game. Back in the marketplace, click the Purchase option for the game you want. You will be taken to the payment screen where you can set your payment method. Xbox will try to use any funds that are already on your account. if there isn't enough available, you will need to enter a credit card to make the purchase.
- Click "Confirm Download" to complete the purchase after reviewing your payment information.
- Many games have demos available that allow you to try it out before you buy. These demos may be as big as the actual game, so be aware before you start downloading.
- Wait for the download to complete. Once you make the purchase, your game will begin downloading to your Xbox 360's hard drive. Depending on the size of the game and the speed of your connection, this may take a while. You will be notified when the download is complete.
- You can turn off your 360 while the game is downloading and it will automatically resume when it is turned back on again.
Downloading Games from Other Sources
- Mod your Xbox 360. To play games obtained from other sources, you will need a modded Xbox 360. This is against the Terms of Service for Xbox 360, so mod your system at your own risk.
- Downloading games that you do not own is illegal in most areas, and this guide is intended only for legal backups of games you own.
- This guide will get you started on modding your 360.
- Download the game of your choice. Games are downloaded in ISO format, which is an image of the original disc. You can find game files on popular torrent sites. See Download-Torrents for details on downloading torrent files.
- Sometimes games are compressed before being torrented, so you will need to Open-RAR-Files after downloading.
- You will need a torrent client such as uTorrent or BitTorrent to download a torrent file. These clients are free.
- A quick Google search for "torrent tracker" will give you a variety of sites to search for your game on.
- Be sure to read the comments for the torrent before you download it to ensure that the file works for others and that there are no viruses attached.
- Download ABGX360. This program will "stealth patch" your downloaded games, allowing you to connect to Xbox Live and play online.
- Once ABGX360 has been downloaded and installed, run it to begin patching the game.
- Browse for the ISO file that you downloaded in the Input section of ABGX360.
- Click the AutoFix tab and change it from Level 2 to Level 3.
- Click the Misc tab and set your console's region code. Make sure that you select the region you are connecting to online.
- Click Launch at the bottom of the window. A new screen will appear with details about the patching process.
- If the game fails the verification process, DO NOT play while your console is connected to Xbox Live or you WILL get banned.
- Burn the game. Once the patching is complete, a new DVD file will be created by ABGX360 that sits alongside the ISO file you downloaded. Open a burning program such as ImgBurn and burn the newly created DVD file to a blank DVD.
- You will need to manually set layer breaks for the DVD. Open the ImgBurn Settings menu by clicking Tools → Settings. Find the Layer Breaks section, set it to User Specified, and type in 1913760.
- Lower the Write Speed of your burner to help ensure that there aren't any errors when burning your game. You should also only use high-quality blank discs, such as Memorex or Verbatim.
- Make sure to burn the DVD file to the disc, not the ISO file. The DVD file will automatically load the ISO file during the burning process.
- Play the game. Once the burn process is completed, insert the disc into your Xbox 360. Remember, if it did not verify ion AGBX360, ensure that your Xbox 360 is not connected to Xbox Live. Once you insert the disc, you can play the game as if it was a real copy.
Warnings
- Downloading games you do not own is illegal. This guide is for making legitimate backups of games you own.
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