Nyamlin

ZanderNubular

Regarding lockup of the game immediately after the first cutscene on PS3 60gb models (as well as at other times and/or on xbox)

How many of us are there out there who still can't play this game? Is it 10 or 10,000?? Does anyone know? For what it's worth, I've started an online petition so that someone can really get a feeling for whether this really is a big problem or not at all. If you're still unable to play, I encourage you to sign it.

[www.petitiononline.com]

emotif

Here is the FIX...DISABLE YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION via PS3 console.

Tada...however, this sucks as I wish to play multiplayer some day (which is FREE on PS3!)

imajamoke

Sandra told me first off that Sony, Rockstar and Take-Two are all fully aware of the existence of the problem. She also confirmed that indeed, there is nothing wrong with my console (60 GB Release model), as a few quick questions regarding its functionality revealed that the problem is not with the hardware. This is confirmed, per Sandra #47020 of SCEA.

Are you with me so far? Great. There's more.

Sandra also indicated matter-of-factly that although they are acutely aware there is a problem, because almost NOBODY is calling SCEA (Sony) to report it, they still haven't definitively identified the source of the problem. Everyone is calling Rockstar and Take-Two screaming for blood when they need to be calling Sony and giving them the details. She indicated the quicker more console owners start opening trouble tickets, the quicker Sony will be able to narrow the problem down to the source. You can quote her on that too. She indicated that they understand our frustration, but that until it's properly reported to the right people, speculation will continue to run amuk and it will just take them longer to identify the problem and put out a fix.

So here it is folks, everyone needs to call SCEA (Sony) at 1-866-345-7669 and report the problem to the Technical Support Department immediately, if you haven't already. They are anxiously awaiting our calls, and after learning all of this, I completely understand their frustration as well. They want to help, but they need us to REPORT THE PROBLEM DIRECTLY TO SONY so they can get a fix out quicker. I want to experience this game just the same as everyone else.

To the XBox360 owners who are also experiencing problems, I'm sorry I can't address your particular issues, but I would strongly urge you to call Microsoft and report it, as I suspect that they are probably experiencing the same problem.

dorelliun

/hope I don't eat my words when I pick up my copy after work today... ;)"

Well, enjoy those words, with mustard. Your assertion that you have perused the content of 135 posts only to conclude that there's only one occurrence and that the bottom line is that its all made up? Is that what we're supposed to derive from your post?

I certainly hope not. Given the statistical age of most PS3 owners being in their mid-thirties, you aren't earning any nods in your favor. You just look completely ignorant.

The facts are these: Patch 1.01 was intended to address a completely separate issue on the consoles, and that was relating to multi-player connectivity and crashes. It has absolutely nothing to do with the "type 2" freezes, which currently remain a complete mystery to the collective geniuses at Rockstar, Take-Two and Sony. The most sensible assertion I've heard so far relates to problems with the emotion engine on the older model PS3s, but without an official statement from Rockstar, we may never know.

My situation is congruent with most of the other issues being reported: 60 GB PS3, Launch Model, game won't run without freezing no matter what is done. Every other game for the system works fine with no problems whatsoever.

So yeah, the problem is a rather odious one, and hopefully they will plug the hole in their "expertise" soon.

dorelliun

CharlieInSeattle

SuparnaMoira

schap

XeniaAmphion

shawofelders

Dopeboy

ValdemarTurner

obren1977

DavinJudo

epic_14

ersatzniceguy

blueflashinglights

elsuperbalu

PierreRucker

LesPaulJr

It's not the hardware its not the software it's The Media! In other words one of the disc production factories produced a FAULTY BATCH.

gohag549

ShyamalCallidice

12kuck06

SunilaMedea

Roommate: "lol gta crashed ten minutes after starting"
Me: "I was just reading about that online"
Roommate: "So dumb"

-a bit later-

Roommate: "Yeah, it keeps freezing. Done and done."
Me: "So much for GTA4"

Tzepish

[boards.gamefaqs.com]

good luck, hope it works for you guys

RKO-LegendKiller

At this point, I don't think it's related to length of play (memory leak, overheating, whatever). It's just ultra-random. I'm glad I'm not the guy who has to debug this... oh, wait, I have to debug my own crappy code. Nevermind.

lowe0

urban0ne

7 discs
98 re-installs

over 2000 freezes

this blows...oh well Socom comes out in September

MrCOPE

Tzepish

urban0ne

I actually hadn't put even 2 hours into a GTA game since the overheard 2d game way back in the day. I watched friends play 3, and VC, and SA but never played them myself. Can't wait to get some multiplayer in.

Good luck to all of you!

MantisDragon

flagen

v12qborony

kylo4

Some tips:

If you're getting a freeze within the first few minutes of the game, delete the install data and reinstall.

If you're getting lock ups a few hours into the game: Try playing whilst signed out of the PSN, standing the console vertically, or with autosave turned off.

And for the love of god, if your system freezes up and you see the HDD light blinking for your hard drive, don't cut the power! That's the reason PS3's are bricking.

wiizybaby

Launch PS3 60 GB, froze on opening cut scene, deleted save file and data file, reinstalled, worked ok but froze during driving after about 2 hours of play. Haven't played again yet.

Heidern

Anyone got any ideas? Rockstar are you reading this? I want to play the most expensive game ever made today.

Barbara

shas8300

However, I fixed it. I ejected the disc, put the 360 upright, and re-inserted it and rebooted.

Not only have I had no lock ups since, but things load faster. WTG, Microsoft... your crappy hardware strikes again!

Ishmae1

Those can impact the ability for the LASER to properly focus on the right layer or the media in general.

I had significant problems with my Mass Effect disc until I eventually cleaned it enough times that I cleaned whatever was causing the problem off.

adinnieken

stereoa

johncatral

cfranchuk

ac2basis

Zombie Bear

g8trtim

VarickPrice

My mate has a 360, and his froze... then he RROD'd

clarkec321

Hopefully everyone having issues can get them resolved quickly :/

Hubert Humphrey Methadone

bblinkn182

Tried deleting the game profile and game data then a reinstall at least 5-6 times (with little variations) with no success. I even disconnected my network cable (got desperate) with no success.

If there's no solution by the end of the week, I may be tempted to buy a HD and try that theory out. Barring that, I'll get the 360 version.

bobee

First of, great game. Second, I sympathize with everyone experiencing these issues.

I got a legal copy of the game running the PS3 (40GB version) and i have had a few lock-ups and freezing issues during missions and driving. I have played through 30% of the game and the issues come and go. Sometimes the game picks up playing again and sometimes i have to reboot the system. At least i can play...with a certain amount of paranoia of course (ruining the experience).

I wasn't able to get on playing multiplayer either with the already mentioned error: "Cannot connect to game provider..." It's a shame, though i am not surprised.

Let's all hope these issues are solved in the near future.

Peace!

Oxygene

Squard

ganzhimself

enewtabie(Future LittleBigPlanet Master Creationist)

everfluid

Sasquatch

Camann

You can flat return GTA 4 under the 90 day return agreement read in the back of the manual, so at least you're covered on that end for the next 88 days or so.

Good luck with everything, and I hope it turns around for ya.

SpeedNut

I had to physically shut off the PS3 with the power switch on the back for the first lockup, and the second lockup cleared itself after about 30 seconds or so.

jaypee68

After the first install I played the game for about 30-40 minutes before it froze - forcing me to turn off the ps3 at the back switch as it would not shut down any other way.

Since, I have tried to re-install various times without any luck - and without the installation fully completing.

That is until this morning...
Before i went to bed last night, a little disheartened to say the least, I unplugged the ps3 at the mains, removed all cables from the back, and took out the GTAIV disk.
Then this morning, I successfully managed to install the game, and get to the safe house without issues. The game saved, and I promptly went on my way.
Not wanting to do missions fo fear of more freezing, I just decided to walk around the starting area, beat up a few people etc.
I walked around care free for about 25-30mins before I decided to steal a car...

And that's where the problems began again. As I sped along the road, i noticed that the scenery wasn't loading properly, buildings weren't properly textured, and the ground wasn't loading properly. I then froze again.

I hard-rebooted, removed the disk, shut down the ps3 and removed the cables again. I left it for 20mins and as before got back into the game (loading at the safe house)

Again, i could walk around freely, and only when i went to drive a car did the game freeze.

Hope it's sorted soon as I really want to give these couple of glitches the benefit of the doubt.

aemskelley

It'll play though cutscenes, play the entire game forever I imagine - as long as I never save.

Very sad.

Also, is it just me or this game really really really 'soft'. They've applied what appears to be some crazy ass level of blur shader filter to hide jaggies....

RogueSquid

For everyone saying its PS3 only, hate to tell you but it's happened to 2 copies I've had for my XBox so far.

Gutted :(

evilcrawlingi

Grandad

Insomnia Bob

With that said, I have an 80GB PS3 and there are problems on it. The first cutscene paused slightly and whenever there is lots of chaos like in a police chase or explosions the game would pause for 2-3 seconds. It was as if the HD couldn't buffer the level fast enough and so it froze. I didn't think I had an HD problem since I could play 1.5 GB demos without a hitch.

This problem is very annoying and detracting from the great gaming experience. It's just so disappointing. Since when is it acceptable to release a game that freezes? Or a console that makes games prone to freeze? PS3 users have seen it with portions of Uncharted Drake's Fortune, Heavenly Sword, Warhawk and now the biggest and most anticipated game of the year grand theft auto IV. This is simply unacceptable.

I'm someone who very Playstation and Sony brand loyal. The only system I had last generation was a PS2 and I've bought 68 games for it. But each and every day I come to dislike the PS3 even more. It's just a reality that it is not the PS2 and probably won't be. I'm finding I'm leaning towards the 360 more and it shows...my games on 360 outnumber the PS3 28-7. It doesn't help that this issue, coupled with the other grand theft auto online server issue just makes the system seem like a burden to use.

I, like you you Insomnia Bob, am considering just taking my losses and from now on buying games only on 360, starting with exchanging grand theft auto IV.

I had originally written this out and when I went to post it had logged me out, so this is the do over, but I said all I wanted to say. I'm just so disappointed in this console, and I feel it more because I am such a huge PS2 fan.

They better patch this soon.

kylo4

igamer45

I've got a 60GB PS3. Bought it used at Gamestop a while back. Mostly, it sits on the shelf unused. Or the wife boots it up as a DVD/mp4 player. The last game I played on it for any length of time was Folklore, which I Gamefly'd. I had no trouble with that game, or Turok, or any of my PS2 titles.

I've had a crashing problem before, with Warhawk. Once in a while, it was just crap out and die, shut itself off. Mind you, this was usually after a few hours of play.
But I get GTA IV home after going to the midnight launch, and after the 3.4GB install (!), the first cutscene begins.

It didn't even make it all the way through that before crashing. I tried again. Again, died before the end of the cutscene.

I figured it might be overheating. Somehow. So I went to Walmart, bought an Intercooler. I hooked it up to my now cold PS3, turned it up to full blast, and booted up GTA IV. This time I made it through the cutscene, but it crashed before I could make it out of the parking lot.

I tried again an hour later. Skipped the cutscene, made it to the first safehouse, and it crashed after another (much shorter) cutscene. But at least I'd made it to the first save point!

In this manner, I spent the better part of yesterday night playing GTA IV 5 minutes at a time. And, bear in mind, there's like a two minute load screen when you first start the game. Not that bad when you're playing for an hour or more, I'm sure, but in my situation...

I called up Take 2's support number. The guy on the phone was polite, if not terribly helpful. He suggested I uninstall and reinstall the game. I've yet to try that, but I doubt it's going to help me. I called Gamestop, and they'll swap the disk out for me, but only for another PS3 copy. Again, probably not going to help, but at this point, I'm getting desperate.

So, as I see it, my particular problem is either one of two things:
1. My PS3 has a glitch in one of it's GPUs, which causes a crash when some part of a game's code bumps into it. So far the only games that have done that have been Warhawk, and GTA IV. (Most multiplatform releases I've been getting on the 360, so I have no idea how bad this problem might be.)
2. GTA IV doesn't play nice with the 60GB model, a theory which is given some momentum by the posts here. I hope that's the case, because it means I'm not in the market for a new PS3.

Either way, it sucks ass, and for the time being, I have a nice new $60 GTA paperweight, to compliment my $600 PS3 paperweight. The response from both Gamestop and Rockstar has been "we're very sory, but you're fucked", and the response from Sony has been "pay us some money, and we might be able to fix it". Obviously, I'm not happy. I might end up just cutting my losses with the PS3 all together after this.

I'm done ranting, for now. But I will leave you with one final thought: Just because it hasn't happened to you DOESN'T mean it doesn't happen. GTA IV (and Halo 3, and Super Smash Bros, etc) sold a unholy amount of copies at it's launch. The fact that reports of glitches and failures don't mean the game is bad, or buggy. When you get a couple million people to go home and play the same game, at the same time, SOME OF THEM are going to see glitches.
For some, their system is bricked. For others, a previously undiscovered software glitch is the problem. And some are just plain unlucky. But don't jump on here and discount the problem as non-existent because your copy doesn't work. I can't believe I actually have to explain this to you people. What are they teaching you kids in school?

Insomnia Bob

N15PCA

Saying that, I have an 80GB PS3 and there are some skips/pauses as if the HD can't buffer it in time which is a major annoyance and I'm considering getting the 360 version instead. The biggest skip was in the first cutscene, so it should be noted that this isn't just affecting 60GB PS3's.

kylo4

It's not enough to stop me enjoying the game but it's unfortunate.

splines

skyhawk21

UndecidedFanboy

Maldron

amodlin

Cronnos

If you don't want the freezing element sign out of PSN or Xbox live :-)

HarshCargo

Mr Fortitude

JPDyno

The 60GB NTSC PS3 and the 60GB PAL PS3 are not the same. The 60GB NTSC PS3 has both PS2 chips, the 60GB PAL PS3 only has one PS2 chip.

The 60GB PAL PS3 is the same as the 80GB NTSC PS3.

adinnieken

Ok I seriously don't think it is a HDD issue I have a semi-launch ps3 (December of 2006) an upgraded HDD to 160 GB, I really really don't think it is a hard drive issue simply because I've uninstalled and reinstalled not to mention disabled every setting that I could imagine, changed the resolutions to minimum and the max to do an extrema test. I can't see why this is possibly related to it. I do think it is a PS3 hardware issue but I don't think it is a HDD, my money is on a bad RSX chip not just because of this but I have visual NOT audio problems on other games (DMC 4 and Assassin's Creed), ironically it works beautifully for COD4, RSV, Ao2, Ninja Gaiden, RFoM, and GT5, not to mention MGO Beta.

Ultimately I can not believe that this is not more reported.

Odin1471

"previously working PS3 now wouldn't" I mean... now wouldn't work. It's implied but it was weird reading it.

And I know you gave data about the 60gb drive already Mok, so 2's mainly for the 20gb and 120gb drives, to find out what they might have in common different from the 60gb drive.

Camann

1) Results of 60gb drive in previously working PS3

and

2) (Only if 1's result was that the previously working PS3 now wouldn't) What types of drives are they? (Company/Model/Cache size... any info you can get about them)

Camann

now patiently waiting to get my fix ;)

gnudna

First Bully, now GTA4.

D00mM4r1n3

YanaToad

His CE version of GTA4 has this game breaking bug on the launch 60g PS3. It plays just fine on his 120g one (former 20g).

He is now in the process of putting his 20g drive into his 60g unit, and going to test it that way. If it works, we'll have at least a handle on what may be going on.

This is very important to me, as I too have a 60g PS3, and will have my GTA4 CE copy tomorrow via Amazon/UPS. If a different HD actually enables the thing to work, I'm not going to complain about having a reason to upgrade my PS3 HD, as I can use the space for "stuff".

I'll do this like live-blogging....

*UPDATE* - HD Swap is completed, firmware upgrade going on as I type this.

*UPDATE* - Installing game now.

*UPDATE* - He's playing through now, results momentarily...

*UPDATE* - I said momentarily, but he's obviously doing /something/ in game, as he's not chatting about it at the moment.....

*UPDATE* - Success! Well, this was loaded from the save-game of his working 20g (120g) PS3. So, he's nuked it, reinstalling from scratch, and going to play though the beginning with a "new fresh" game, and see if that is it.

*UPDATE* - Total Success. With clean install, clean fresh new game. Past the game bug. This is HD related for the PS3. The launch model of the 60g PS3 hard-drive is the issue.

My friend tells me he may try to put the 60g drive into his working 20g (now 120g unit) reformat and try again. But, that isn't going to be tonight.

So, original launch 60g PS3 hard drive is a 5400rpm Seagate and fails. This isn't related to the PS3 /hardware/ and is hard-drive related.

Good information for all, spread it around.

If anyone needs more information, let me know and I'll try and get it and update all.

Mok

Mok

Maldron

thatdidnthurt

DigiMish

Ian-H-08

dss902

Happened to me during the dating mission when I got into the car after bowling. Launch 60gig PS3.

Gannoc

ShakeelaGill

umm microsoft support is superb, i just got off the phone to repair my rrod and the guy was awesome and very funny.

llamaman13

Null-Python

AmeryApplesauce

thaKingRocka

Null-Python

(I bought the 360, and Gamefly'd the PS3)

Xbox I've had no problems.

My PS3 is a 60gb model, but not a launch console.

The PS3 did freeze up, not during the cutscene, but during the first mission. What I did was just do a hard reset and it's been fine so far.

I'm going to stick with the 360 version, but I'm holding on and playing the PS3 version as I'm taking my PS3 to Phoenix to show my parents Blu-Ray on their new 53" Sony LCD, and I'll want something decent to play...

**Interesting fun fact b/w both versions:

When watching TV the PS3 has an extra close up camera angle of the Television that the 360 does not..

Pay_Me_Or_Pay_Me_No_Attention

William Hook

Froze on opening.

skwurl

/just playing around with the cheats

MIGGO

Anyone remember when console manufacturers wouldn't allow ANYONE to release games with ANY bugs in them? We had a whole generation of releases that were absolutely perfect! Then the PS2 came along and "reputable" software house Team17 released "Worms 3D". Crash bang wallop, what a picture. I don't think that game was ever fixed.

The line seems to be that games are now so complicated, we have to expect problems with them. We must also put up with delays while the developers work to fix those problems.

Why is this acceptable? How long should we wait for these patches and why should we nod and bow gratefully when they finally arrive and allow the game to work as it should have done all those weeks/months/years ago when we bought it?

Fistynuts

vamponymouse

rage_krisnha

heisert

maxx1223

My Elite also froze after playing the multiplayer tutorial. I rebooted and tried to load the game and the screen went black. I rebooted a couple more times with the same results. Then rebooted and the splash screen and the dashboard screen had tons of blue horizontal lines about a pixel thick. Tried to load an arcade game and the screen went black. The vid card in my Elite is bad. I think well OK, I have a premium in the next room. Swap it out and put my Elite hd and my profile memory card on my premium so I will have all my saves from four hours of play last night. Load GTA IV, and the screen goes black. I'm thinking maybe corrupt game save, so I put my premium hd back on and load a different profile... still black. Two 360's, neither will play GTA IV and one vid card died trying.

robinandtami

Been playing an hour since then and have had no problems.

SofaKingHI

deepee

Unlike GameTap who, if you have a problem, effectively tell you to fuck off and die. Upgraded to Vista? Die. Upgraded to a 64 bit OS? Oh, super duper die you idiot. I even had their support tell me at one point that my problems with their client on a nice 32 bit XP install (the only OS they ever have any plans of ever supporting in any way for the infinite future according to their support goons) was because I used an LCD TV as my monitor. "External devices can cause conflicts" they kept parroting, trying to get rid of me when the problem was 115% with their client doing some jiggery pokery in the background creating fake devices in device manager and then destroying them over and over (disabling the mystery device makes gametap work, a solution I had to find since they refused to help me)...

See GameTap and other companies? You give shit support, you get BAD WILL.

otakucode

fragmaster

ChewyChew

Go Team Venture

Stormbringer

Ahsayuni

Just in general, it's running great so far - no annoying pop-in, great framerate, brilliant game.

LongDarkBlues

navvywavvy

fosuco

Your trapped because you don't have access to the workings of your gaming machine. I think the console makers became too ambitious this gen. Or maybe it's the devs forcing these issues.

homernoy

ArcherRadassical

The funny thing is that I am already signed in. I returned the game and had it exchanged at a different location. The same problem. I did clear the cache and no fix. This is my 2nd 360 and it was manufactured in July of 07. I hope there is a fix soon. this sucks.

mattthias

My game just froze on my on my 40gig PS3 .... :\

Not during the cut scene...but it froze after changing pants, of all things.

This sucks.

Woodwater

Who am I supposed to call to yell at, because apparently I can't exchange it today as every single Gamestop in NYC is sold out? So angry right now.

Megalowho

you, sir, are bang on the money.

bialia

StonedRosetta

JustFrozen

I gave Rockstar a chance to fix "Bully: SE" for the 360 -- and I haven't had a single problem with that title since the patch, so...

(I still haven't played "Halo 3" because I have a "launch" copy, and Bungie/MS still haven't fixed (in fact, they've barely acknowledged) the occassional cannot-read-disc issue that bricks some 360s...)

Plankton420

9vixie6

nicopolitan

9vixie6

TuxBobble

necrotoxin

dennisj

Face it: Customer service is terrible because companies want it that way.

Comatose Turtle

i completely agree.

i used to work customer service and the amount of reps who didn't care was almost nil. the problem was in the screaming, mentally deficient masses who think that making the most noise will speed up the process.

hint: it doesn't.

Jae

Orionsaint

Orionsaint

It clearly isn't affecting all 60gb PS3s. So that should be made clear. Even bigger it seems to be affecting a very small % of people. Riding the wave of the huge game isn't working isn't really fair.

Every place I've read about this story it comes across that the game is just flat broken.

rochec

Yadda, yadda, yadda, I'm really tired today.

madgunde

kidko

This freezing is really random. I tried again and was able to make it though a mission cutscene without freezing, played some more, made it through a few more cutscene-less missions only to have it freeze during a car chase. Man I want a patch to come out... this is sad.

On the upside, I found that ejecting the disk and putting it back in after a freeze causes a soft-reboot of sorts so I don't have to turn the PS3 off and back on to try again.

Camann