Update: [From the editor] Ahem, it turns out you can get your hands on the demo outside of Japan. It just takes a little ingenuity. And the right information.
We've tried creating new accounts, we've tried using 48 hour trial cards, we've even tried buying subscriptions with our credit cards. We've tried it all and unfortunately we're no closer to playing Resident Evil 5. Yes, Famitsu was right and Major Nelson confirms, a demo for the highly anticipated survival horror game Resident Evil 5 (or BioHazard 5 as it's called in Japan) is available for Xbox Live Gold members on the Japanese marketplace and no amount of scamming the system appears to work. Unfortunately, updates regarding a North American release of the demo are unavailable and it's unclear if the Japanese demo will eventually be made available to Silver users. Or people trying to scam the system.
Resident Evil 5 is scheduled to release on March 13, 2009. Patience, kids. It's almost here.
Reader Comments (47)
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 9:47AM (Unverified) said
I call shenanigans!
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 10:53AM (Unverified) said
just make a japanese silver account, done.
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 11:02AM (Unverified) said
I followed the guide joystiq posted. Im playing it right now. Works fine. And yes im USA.
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 11:52PM (Unverified) said
You're downloading it right now!? How if you live in the USA? Also if you somehow have a Japanese XBL account, may you please tell me how you set it up? I want to play this game so bad.
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Posted: Dec 6th 2008 2:31AM (Unverified) said
This method no longer works. Microsoft caught on and the demo has been region locked. Your only choices now are to burn it to a cd or wait.
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Posted: Dec 6th 2008 3:19PM (Unverified) said
Thanks. I downloaded the files right? well when i went to download the 1st one. it was downloaded well but when I opened it up, it was opened as Notepad. And it will not let me extract it. Anything I'm doing wrong?
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Posted: Dec 5th 2008 10:56AM (Unverified) said
you need a gold account, but joystiq posted a walkthrough that works because i'm downloading it now
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 11:03AM (Unverified) said
X3F are n00bs ;)
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 11:05AM Omega Aero said
I wonder why Major Nelson posts stuff like this. I'm willing to bet that all of two people in Japan read his blog.
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 11:17AM (Unverified) said
Still cant move while your aiming which sucks, with the zombies moving much faster in this game you really need to be able to back pedal or strafe while aiming.
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 11:41AM (Unverified) said
And you'd always be backpedaling and never use the close combat actions. They want you to stop and shoot so the enemies can cover some ground, y'know add SOME challenge in the gameplay.
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Posted: Dec 5th 2008 11:26AM MrMuggs said
All of this development and time and the game controls and mechanics still suck. Typical Japanese game. They have their play mechanics and seem to want to stick with them no matter how bad and outdated they get.
Move. Stop. Shoot. Move. Stop. Shoot shoot shoot. Have they played Dead Space? Left 4 Dead? The game will be okay but I guarantee it will be tedious as hell.
Move. Stop. Shoot. Move. Stop. Shoot shoot shoot. Have they played Dead Space? Left 4 Dead? The game will be okay but I guarantee it will be tedious as hell.
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 11:37AM (Unverified) said
Yeah, because it's not like you couldn't run and shoot at the same time for Lost Planet. >_>
It's Resident Evil, not LP or Gears. It calls for a much slower pace to heighten the tension.
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It's Resident Evil, not LP or Gears. It calls for a much slower pace to heighten the tension.
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 12:12PM (Unverified) said
WTF ryan, do you work for Capcom or something? The stop and go shit just doesnt feel 'real'. If you had a gun and 6 zombies are walking at you, would YOU act the same way?
Immersion, my friend.
I followed the steps to get this demo (which work) and played it. Pretty damn good looking game, as is your partner. o_O
Immersion, my friend.
I followed the steps to get this demo (which work) and played it. Pretty damn good looking game, as is your partner. o_O
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 12:18PM (Unverified) said
Yeah, now if only she had brains to go with her looks.
She's soooo dumb...
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She's soooo dumb...
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 12:50PM (Unverified) said
wtf man this is resident evil not halo you are not a supper soldier who can run and headshot al the badguys in a room in 3 seconds
and to you cuestion I would act that way.
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and to you cuestion I would act that way.
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 12:52PM (Unverified) said
@ dabilee01
Haha. Good one! just goes to show how realistic games these days are I guess.
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Haha. Good one! just goes to show how realistic games these days are I guess.
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 1:37PM (Unverified) said
I don't work for Capcom, I just understand why RE is the way it is.
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Posted: Dec 5th 2008 2:22PM (Unverified) said
but your shooting zombies! and you complain that it is not realistic?
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Posted: Dec 5th 2008 12:34PM UK31337 said
Haven't played it, but based on what I've read elsewhere I'd like to thank you all for not all going WAAAAHHHH USA SHOULD HAVE IT FIRST!11!11ONE
Oh yeah, and aim while moving, especially running? You can do that in real life, but can you do it accurately? Likely not.
Oh yeah, and aim while moving, especially running? You can do that in real life, but can you do it accurately? Likely not.
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 12:41PM (Unverified) said
Can't you just create a Japanese account, like you can on the PS3? I'm not trying to be a dick or anything, I just was wondering why this is so restrictive...
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 12:42PM (Unverified) said
I'm tempted to do this... but I can't seem to think of a good name to use! Hmm... this may take some thought!
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 1:01PM (Unverified) said
For those who want steps and don't like google;
1. Go here: http://www.passport.net/
2. Sign up a new account, Click
Sign me up for a free MSN Hotmail e-mail address
3. Pick JAPAN for your country
Pick Tokyo-to as your Prefecture
150-2345 for your zipcode
4. Keep going, and then have it set you up with a @hotmail.com address.
5. Go to your 360, and create a new profile. Log in using your hotmail address on your 360, and it should set it to Japan.
6. Continue accepting whatever, and technically, if this is your first time with Japan account, it will offer some kinda sepcial, or something, I forget (sigh, bad memory) just continue through and accept anything but don't buy the japan gold membership
7. Go to the market, go to new additions, and look through the vertical options, you will see a cover of res 5 in the demo highlights
8. demo is around 500mb
9. play, and get angry at the controls and stupid AI, but enjoy the game.
The game can be played on any account after the download is complete, but you need to have a gold account to play online, however, the game supports 2 player local co-op.
1. Go here: http://www.passport.net/
2. Sign up a new account, Click
Sign me up for a free MSN Hotmail e-mail address
3. Pick JAPAN for your country
Pick Tokyo-to as your Prefecture
150-2345 for your zipcode
4. Keep going, and then have it set you up with a @hotmail.com address.
5. Go to your 360, and create a new profile. Log in using your hotmail address on your 360, and it should set it to Japan.
6. Continue accepting whatever, and technically, if this is your first time with Japan account, it will offer some kinda sepcial, or something, I forget (sigh, bad memory) just continue through and accept anything but don't buy the japan gold membership
7. Go to the market, go to new additions, and look through the vertical options, you will see a cover of res 5 in the demo highlights
8. demo is around 500mb
9. play, and get angry at the controls and stupid AI, but enjoy the game.
The game can be played on any account after the download is complete, but you need to have a gold account to play online, however, the game supports 2 player local co-op.
Posted: Jan 6th 2009 6:49AM (Unverified) said
dude THANK YOU!!!! it works but just so u know its call "biohazard" lol i wonder y o well im downloading it now i hope it works.....+ if u make a japan acc u get a free gold member.
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Posted: Dec 5th 2008 1:11PM (Unverified) said
Just got done playing through both levels of the demo, not bad, real short though. There is a .rar file floating around the net of the demo, just download it and burn it to a CD and then go to played games and it should show up. That's how I did it, no modding or new accounts needed.
P.S. Fun thing, as soon as I got on the demo I got a message from a random guy asking me where I got the demo from.
P.S. Fun thing, as soon as I got on the demo I got a message from a random guy asking me where I got the demo from.
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 8:14PM mikemyerz666 said
you go to my xbox then games library and it should be the only title in japanese
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Posted: Dec 5th 2008 1:19PM Softserve said
The Xboxplanet site mentions this, but you can only get a free Gold account so many times. I imagine a lot of people have done this a few times already... They're basically out of luck.
Personally I can wait.
Personally I can wait.
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 1:53PM Valkyrie83 said
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 1:56PM mattrob24 said
I followed the instructions, but the "Biohazard 5 demo" download errors out at 98-99% every time. I've look through my game library, but it's not listed, so I can't even delete the data to start the download from scratch. Any ideas?
Thanks.
Thanks.
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 2:01PM djenkins83 said
I love you more than Jesus puntang!
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 3:18PM KFed said
I already had a japanese account. Said I need xbox live gold to access. set up a second account, told me the item wasn't available in my region. set up a third account, same thing. YES, i chose Japan as my locale, YES, i entered a valid postal code and prefecture. I don't know why this isn't working. Has anyone successfully went through the steps and succeeded after noon pacific time. i wonder if microsoft has locked this up already?
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 6:58PM (Unverified) said
The same thing is happening to me. But I have been able to download from the Japanese store before just fine, I have actually even bought things with an American credit card too. I'm wondering if the demo may be down now, even for people in Japan. I'm going to try downloading it playing it from a burnt CD. Supposedly this will work since it's a demo, no modded xbox needed and it is legal.
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Posted: Dec 5th 2008 3:20PM Mazrael said
stop or shoot.. geez.. least it doesn't have that dumb girl getting in the way..
why not allow for movement when shooting, Left 4 Dead has the right idea, but is a little too arcade, but enjoyable all the same.. why not have a play off between movement & accuracy.. crouching/leaning over cover having the most accuracy.. vs .. running for the bus just wasting bullets.. makes more sense to me.. make use of the analogs
why not allow for movement when shooting, Left 4 Dead has the right idea, but is a little too arcade, but enjoyable all the same.. why not have a play off between movement & accuracy.. crouching/leaning over cover having the most accuracy.. vs .. running for the bus just wasting bullets.. makes more sense to me.. make use of the analogs
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 3:24PM (Unverified) said
Nope...it's region locked now! Dagnammit!
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 3:42PM JoeJoeJoeJoeJoe said
None of the methods posted above no longer work as of a few hours ago. Seems like Microsoft finally caught on, and are now determining location based on IP instead of the information provided during the sign up process.
Nice try though.
Nice try though.
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 10:05PM dabilee01 said
got it! thanks, dude.
to everyone else, this does work. burn the "content" folder to the cd and put it in. go to your game demos and it should automatically come up.
the loading time is a little ridiculous, but once you start playing, it's smooth as butter.
and i'll say it again...your partner has a nice PAIR.
to everyone else, this does work. burn the "content" folder to the cd and put it in. go to your game demos and it should automatically come up.
the loading time is a little ridiculous, but once you start playing, it's smooth as butter.
and i'll say it again...your partner has a nice PAIR.
Posted: Dec 6th 2008 2:22AM (Unverified) said
Just tried it. The new Japanese account works. I have gold for a month, but the downloading permission is still based on my IP and so it says "This content is not available at your current location". So, burning the demo to CD is what I'll do.
Posted: Dec 7th 2008 6:01AM (Unverified) said
I need a crosshair! It's hard to aim accurately with a litttle laser dot and Ammo or lakc of has also been a problem. Other than that this game is fun and looks great.
Posted: Dec 10th 2008 3:47PM (Unverified) said
Anyone else now locked outta the online/co-op feature?
Posted: Jan 1st 2009 8:03PM (Unverified) said
Just tell me where to download the demo!
Posted: Jan 23rd 2009 9:19PM (Unverified) said
ok first of all i am a Ps3 user.. and guy i am not here to flame.. simply gona say this i have tried and seen run & shoot in rl it is nowhere near as good as stop &shoot you have a much better aim when steady and if you run you would probably hit 1/6 shots lol so yeah i know this is just a game.. but imagine you missed 5/6 shots it would hurt your ammo supply. and we would still die in the end.




