Downloading XBLA content and game updates on a console is all great, unless you own a 360 and that 360 happens to die. Though you can re-download anything you've paid for, you cannot access it unless you are online. The DRM (Digital Rights Management) locks to a specific console ID, and when you get a new one the expected ID doesn't match. It goes online to verify your ownership, but when not connected to Live, it only gives access to trial version of the games you've paid for.

Sucks.

Well, at least it did up until yesterday. Having heard the cries of the masses, Microsoft has finally put out a fix for this, and I've tested it.. and it works. It's a bit of a pain to scroll through ALL your download history (for me 562 items) and find the full game downloads and re-download the rights files. But, it does work fine, as my games now work offline just fine.

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