So back when I was living in Canada, I had an xbox but did my gaming using a US xbox live account, and I bought games locally (region didn’t seem to be an issue as I was in North America, not sure), or off xbox live. I didn’t renew my live membership/buy live points using a credit card (which I assume would fail due to address checks, not sure), but instead used Paypal which was linked to my Canadian bank account.

The reason I did this I cannot for the life of me remember.. It may have been due to more content on xbox live US, or cheaper games. I continued doing it out of habit.

Anyway I am deleting my gamertag and starting fresh with a new one. Coincidentally I am also new in Australia and planning on staying for a while, and just got an xbox as well. I want to make my xbox account the “right” way as once you gain achievements/make purchases/put money into an account, it’s basically locked there and starting afresh may have financial consequences or just be a royal PITA.

Here are my options… I’m not sure if they’ll work or not and whether or not I’ll run into issues down the road…

1. Use US live account, go through external sites (US Live, eBay, Paypal, etc) to recharge/buy games
Pros: Including transaction/currency conversion/shipping costs for the above services, games may be cheaper overall compared to AUS Live/Aus brick & mortar
Cons: US content on home screen, Region issues (Will US Live-bought games work on Aus console?

2. Use AUS Live account, recharge the normal way
Pros: No compatibility/playability worries, local content on home screen/stores, no-hassle payment
Cons: Games (Live and Brick & Mortar) comparatively expensive, but can borrow/lend games to friends
Workarounds for price: Import games/discount gaming sites/region free games

Right now I’m going for the option 2, opening an AUS Live account. The only downside is games are expensive here, but I can either wait for prices to drop, import, or buy off discount websites. I see no hassles at all because everything is local - payment, game shopping, trading games will be no issue at all.

Although I am still exploring the US live account option. The only upside is the cheaper games. Downsides are aplenty, including steps needed to get on live/make payments, although I suppose this could discourage impulsive spending.

The biggest downside I can think of is the deal breaker. It’s also hypothetical, I have no idea if it actually is an issue which is why I ask here. So here’s my questions:

If I buy games off the US Live store using my US account, will they be playable on my Australian xbox?
If I buy US disc-based games, will they work on an Australian xbox? (I presume not due to region issues, although I have no experience)

oi, lend us ya lighter

There definitely is region locking on some Xbox 360 disc games, though a lot are region free. I don't know how prevalent it still is these days. You should be able to find a reasonably comprehensive list on which ones are and aren't out there somewhere.

I've purchased quite a few things via a US Xbox Live account on an Australian Xbox 360 in the past (to get earlier or cheaper content) but I always just did that by buying MS Point cards from online retailers (some would just email you the redeem code). XBL deals in regular dollars now, so as far as I can tell they've just renamed MS Point cards to regular gift cards at places like http://www.maximuscards.com

I dunno what you're talkin about, you're f***ed in the head mate.