Will a downloaded Xbox Live Arcade game use saves from the same disc game?

Question

I have the PopCap Hits 2 collection on Xbox 360, but the Xbox sounds like a vacuum cleaner reading that very disc (it's silent with all my other games). I play Plants vs Zombies a lot, and I'm thinking of buying it from the arcade store just so I can play it without the disc. I won't bother if it can't read my current save files though.

Additional info: The Xbox appears to treat the games on the compilation disc as individual arcade games - When I insert the disc each of the games pops up as a separate arcade game in the game list.

Answer 1

You should be able to use the Plants Vs. Zombies save under the following conditions:

1. Go to your saved games view.
2. Scroll down to the P section.
3. You should see an entry for Plants Vs. Zombies.
4. Open it and see if there is a save game there that you own.

If there is a Plants Vs. Zombies saved game, then the downloadable version should recognize the file and load it with no appreciable difference. I haven't heard about any differences between versions, but you should probably try looking around the PvZ Wikia for more info on the file format.

Answer 2

Is the game you're referring to PopCap Hits Vol 2? I can't find anything about a volume 3, and volume 2 does include Plants vs Zombies.

Regarding your question, if you have a game on a disc then buy it from the Xbox Live Store, it will use the same save games as the disc based version. Once the game is on the console, it doesn't know or care where the game came from - it's all the same game.

However, in your case I don't think that will work. Based on the above link PopCap Hits Vol 2 isn't available for purchase from the store. You can buy Plants vs Zombies individually, however as far as the console is concerned that is a different game - while Plants vs Zombies is included in PopCap Hits Vol 2, the console doesn't know that. All it knows is that they are two different games.

So in general, the answer to your question is yes, but in your case the answer is no.

Answer 3

Have you considered simply installing the game? If you hit "X" on the game tile to go to game details and select install, the xbox will install the game to your hard drive and run it from there whenever you play. You will need the disc to start the game and it will continue to spin for a couple minutes but after that you can game in peace.

My disc drive sounds like a chainsaw so I install everything.

Check out this for reference: https://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-360/system/install-play-delete-game