Xbox Classics region locked downloads?

With the simple trick of making a silver Xbox Live account in Japan, Xbox 360 owners were privy to advance demos like Eternal Sonata and a chance to try out unreleased games like Zegapain Not. However, even if you have Microsoft Points loaded into a Japanese account you cannot download Puyo Pop Fever or Magatama.

After running through the system update I attempted to purchase Magatama. I haven’t played it before so I was looking forward to giving it a go. I got ready to expend 1,200 Microsoft Points when an error message popped up explaining the download was not available in my region. The same problem occurred with Puyo Pop Fever. I turned off my 360 and tried again, but this time the option to download the games was not present. I was able to download the freebies (themes and icons), but it appears Microsoft closed off a path to downloadable import games.