As of December 27th, 2008 there were 454 game demos that were available for download on the XBOX 360 live marketplace. There are 164 that are rated E for Everyone, so this can be a good way to get incredibly cheap entertainment for the kids without worrying about any game rental fees or the content of the game itself.
(There are, however, 51 rated M for Mature, so please check the ratings before downloading any game demo if the child is younger)
These are accessed in the XBOX 360 interface in the marketplace tab. With so many of them available, there are bound to be some fan favorites. These are a few of them.
Arcade Favorites
Included in the marketplace free game demos are such favorites as Super Streetfighter 2, Castle Crashers, and Banjo Kazooie.
There are 177 of these game demo downloads in the Arcade category. When the game is pulled up they have the rating, the developer, and the publisher. They will also have the genre, so you can search for not only a name but a type of game.
XBOX 360 Games
In this section are all the retail fan favorites like Gears of War 2, Dead Space, Mirror’s Edge, and EndWar. There are 185 games listed here in the game demos for the XBOX 360 games section. Like the arcade section, these too list the genre, the rating, developer, and the publisher. Keep in mind that these game downloads are typically much larger due to the detail and depth.
Online or Console
Not only are the items available via the marketplace through the console, but also through the XBOX live website. All the items can be “queued” up and they will be automatically downloaded upon firing up the XBOX console the next time for play. This convenience is a huge draw.
Available to All
Many may be under the assumption that an XBOX Live Gold membership is needed to download any of the content available, and that isn’t true. A Silver membership is needed, but they are free with registration.
A Gold membership is only needed if online play in the games is wanted, if downloads are the only item wanted a silver membership is fine. Most of the time, for families, a free silver membership will be fine and will keep the XBOX 360 from getting “stale” by putting new items into the old games via the “Game Add Ons” section or through getting game demos.
For More Free XBOX Live Marketplace
 |
