Bully for the 360: How Do I Know It's Patched?

March 22, 2008 4:36 PM

I want to play Bully: Scholarship Edition on my Xbox 360. There was just a patch released for the game, but my console is not hooked up to the internet and never will be. How (and when) can I know that the physical copy of the game I buy is a post-patch version?
posted by BitterOldPunk to computers & internet (16 comments total)

I don't think you'll be able to tell from the physical CD or box. But I also think there's no such thing as different versions of the cds - they should all be manufactured from the same master (which wouldn't have a patch).
posted by fredoliveira at 4:46 PM on March 22

Is it playable without the patch? If it's just a relatively minor bug fix, or a change to a feature, it's likely that the physical copy of the game you buy will never be a post-patch version. Updating the physical copy of the disc is extremely expensive and I'm pretty sure is only likely to happen if the game is not playable with the patch, or the error that they fixed is similarly catastrophic (hoses your hard drive or your save file, or something).
posted by pazazygeek at 4:48 PM on March 22

Do you mind me asking why you cannot plug it into the internet for a moment? Are you on dial-up perhaps?
posted by damn dirty ape at 6:05 PM on March 22

Apparently the first release of Bully had many, many problems. I would assume that they would have to sell what they had in stock before they would release a new version. That could be awhile. You don't have to be an Xbox Live member to update Bully. So if you have access to any internet connection you would be able to update it.
posted by notchristopher at 6:10 PM on March 22

damn dirty: Modchip, I'm guessing.

I haven't looked into the 360 modchips, but isn't there a way to disable yours to get on Live? Has MSFT upped their security that much? What about downloading a post-patch ISO?

And if it's not a modchip, why not just bring the thing somewhere and plug it in? It would take a matter of minutes.
posted by jstef at 6:12 PM on March 22

You don't need a mod chip because it's not magically going to grant you internet access. Here's what you do.

1. Find someone with an xbox360 who plays it on-line, doesn't matter who it is. Bring your xbox360 to their house and have them import their gamertag onto your xbox360(they'll know what it is.) If they are skeptical assure them that you will delete it when finished.

While logged in to xbox live with his gamertag, load your game. It will prompt you to download the latest patch, and it might download a patch for your console because there is a new patch for that as well. Both updates should only take a minute maybe two.

2. I strongly suggest the first, but If you absolutely can't find anyone, to do this for you, which I doubt, unless your next door neighbor lives 3 miles away and you are homeschooled(which I also doubt) Then consider taking it in to your local GameStop or video game store. Explain your situation, and I'm sure they could do this for you if you ask them nicely. If you do decide to do this DON'T LEAVE YOUR CONSOLE THERE. Have them do it while you watch, or don't have them do it at all, kapisch?
posted by lildice at 7:18 PM on March 22

why can't he leave the console there?
posted by matteo at 7:26 PM on March 22

You don't have to bring your console anywhere, you can detach the hard drive.
posted by ludwig_van at 9:25 PM on March 22

lildice: "You don't need a mod chip because it's not magically going to grant you internet access. "

They weren't recommending a mod chip, they were guessing as to why the OP couldn't plug it into the net. I'm assuming that he thinks some kind of ban might take place because of the mod chip. (whether or not that's actually true I don't know)
posted by sharkfu at 9:37 PM on March 22

All of the discussion of bringing your 360 someplace is moot (or, as Joey would say, 'Moo' -- y'know, like a cow). This is what makes the hard drive so fantastic -- detach, take it along with a copy of Bully to someone else's 360, and update that way. No moving gamertags, no hand-waving, just plug in and download patch. Yeah, a kind gamestop might do this sort of thing. Hell, I'd do it if you send me the hard drive. Modded or not, the hard drive should still be clean.

Barring this, you might consider contacting Rockstar directly and inquiring about a patched version.
posted by incessant at 9:48 PM on March 22

Barring this, you might consider contacting Rockstar directly and inquiring about a patched version.

Doesn't work that way. Rockstar doesn't have signed Xbox game authoring facilities, and Microsoft isn't going to manufacture a one-off.
posted by Mikey-San at 10:12 PM on March 22

Odds are minimal that Rockstar will release a updated version of the game in the future. Typically the only time any game is released with updates included are things like "Game of the Year" editions that include additional content.

And while you can remove your hard drive and use it in a friend's 360 that's connected to Xbox Live, you do need an Xbox Live enabled account to get the update. You can't do it with an offline account.

Of course, the best option is to revert your hacked firmware to what should be there, stop pirating games and buy them instead, and connect your console to Xbox Live and get all the game updates as they come out.
posted by evilangela at 11:46 PM on March 22

It shouldn't really matter at this point. There are reports of people not getting crashes at all and that it may be that if you're not connected to Live the game works without a hitch (has for me so far).

There are also reports of the patch making things worse for some. There is no changelog for the patch so there is no way to know exactly what it does.

I would simply forget about the patch for now and get the game. It's very playable, and if you ever encounter glitches then perhaps by that time another patch will be out. In certain cases you can actually download the patch and burn it to a CD to update your X360 game, but otherwise you would need to connect to Live.

From what I know, it is not considered risky to connect to Live with a modded x360 as long as you either have no disc in the console or an original disc is inserted.
posted by splice at 5:29 AM on March 23

A mod chip won't affect updating of a game, banned from XBL or not. If you really want the update, just plug the damn 360 in.

And as splice earlier noted, its not risky to play an original disc in a modded console.
posted by mphuie at 12:29 PM on March 23

You cannot download and burn patches for Xbox 360 games. That is specifically for console updates and backwards compatibility updates.
posted by evilangela at 8:13 PM on March 23

Sorry I derailed the thread there, I was just trying to make a guess as to why he couldn't plug it in.
posted by jstef at 10:03 PM on March 24