Forums aflame over GTAIV freezing

[UPDATE]: PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 players alike reporting crash problems with Rockstar Games' latest; Sony reports an "extremely low volume" of complaints, promises it is working on a solution.

Last month, the launch of Rockstar Games' Bully on the Xbox 360 was marred by a bevy of crash bugs and other glitches. With this morning's heavily anticipated release of Grand Theft Auto IV for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Rockstar finds itself dealing with still more troubleshooting trouble, as online forums are buzzing with reports of crashes.

Combing through crash threads on the Xbox.com forums, Sony's official message boards, GameSpot, and the NeoGAF forums, it seems that the issues are affecting PlayStation 3 users more frequently, although gamers with both systems are reporting problems. Reports of crashes on the 60GB version of the PS3 hardware are the most common, and tech support advice like deleting and re-installing the game doesn't appear to address the issue effectively.

[UPDATE] When asked about freezing issues, A Rockstar representative directed GameSpot to Sony for comment. Earlier today, a Sony representative replied with the following statement:

"Yes, we are aware of what the message boards and a few of the industry blogs are saying about a 'freezing' issue with GTA IV on a limited number of PS3s. Although we have seen an extremely low volume of contacts to our customer service department regarding such an issue, we want to ensure that every consumer has a great experience on our console and with GTA IV. All parties involved are working to isolate the problem for those few units and identify a solution."

A Microsoft representative has not yet returned a request for comment.

1303 Comments

  • Da_HeAdBaNgA

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:27 pm PT

    olschooldu2 is the only person that has made a comment that made any sense. I don't have neither console and will probably never get one because there have been tooooo many mistakes made by both companies. Whether it was the game itself or the console. Who wants to spend all 300 - 600 on a console to expect it to go to crap 6 - 12 months later. The consumer is the real loser here. No way, I'm not drinking any of this kool - aid!!

  • gellis1981

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:21 pm PT

    endocrine ""For all you 360 owners, how can you even tell if it is the game or the xbox crashing? My xbox crashes on every game randomly...""

    lol....I'm glad my 360 doesn't do that!

  • lamprey263

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:21 pm PT

    mine finally froze once during a load screen, I have the X360 version

  • AlexDemise

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:17 pm PT

    "DPumbliQ I got it yesterday for my 60GB and it has never frozen while I'm playing, only when I left it on for 4 hours it froze But I'm having strange connection problems, sometimes a match works perfectly, lag free and sometimes the game just says "lost connection to 1 or more players, returning to singleplayer", I hope this will be fixed, because I'm almost sure it isn't my connection........"

    ***- I have the same exact problem, except I have the 360 version. Also, like you, I'm positive it has nothing to do with my connection. Hopefully, it's just PSN and XBL goofing up, possibly due to the large volume of people suddenly playing the game online.
    Other than that, though, no crashes or glitches yet. But I do want to see the connection problem fixed asap.,

  • peeweeshift

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:16 pm PT

    the 80gig is the most prevelant for the issue. i have 2 80gigs and it works on neither but i works on my 60 and 40gig. the gta 4 works fine on all 4 of my 360s, i did a test for the neogaf boards. this is not a fanboy comment just a test. i dont know about others having thsi many problems as i thought it was just 80 gigs

  • peon_frenzy

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:16 pm PT

    "This is simply a case of well populated websites catering to their advertising dollar contributing partners,"

    What are you talking about? What does any website have to gain from giving GTA a good review? If anything a bad review would bring in the most viewers because it is nearly all 10/10 ratings. I assure you Gamespot, ign, game informer, or any other publication have no affiliation with take two. Where do people come up with these ideas?

  • burjeffton

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:16 pm PT

    No issues on my 360... Chill out people, it's a huge game!

  • gayguy

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:15 pm PT

    u GTA **** complain too much

  • meluvulongtime8

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:13 pm PT

    no issues on my 60gb PS3 thus far

  • gellis1981

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:12 pm PT

    I bought the 360 version....I've had no problems, no crashes, and no glitches. Must be lucky I guess. Im glad I got it for the 360.

  • Krazy-K

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:12 pm PT

    I have a 80GB PS3 and I have had no problems with my GTA IV......

  • peon_frenzy

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:11 pm PT

    well I just played for about 2 hours and I logged in to PSN before I started to test this idea that the freezing has something to do with that, and now after a total of +8hrs havent had a freeze or pause or anything. btw I have a 60gb from January 2007.

  • Phantom_Leo

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:10 pm PT

    I have a 60 gig, bought march before last. I have had 5 complete, had to shut the system off lock-ups. I have re-installed, switched discs, shut off online notification and the message ticker on the PS3... My system is not dirty or over-heated and this is the ONLY game I have had this problem with. This game was not thoroughly quality assurance tested and DOES NOT deserve the '10' it received. This is simply a case of well populated websites catering to their advertising dollar contributing partners, and, quite frankly, it makes me want to sell my PS3 and not own ANY disc based consoles anymore.

    I just KNEW once consoles went online and hard drives were introduced, it would signal developers to put out unfinished products and put out patches whenever it was convenient for them to do so. They have my money and I have a broken game...

    Gimme a GBA or a DS where problems like this are seldom seen, and I'll be content...

    SO. VERY. ANGRY.

  • Fusible

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:10 pm PT

    That sucks I have a 60gb PS3 and I was about to buy another copy for it, since I got the 360 version first. But GS didn't have anymore PS3 copies, that sucks now I have to wait for a patch.

  • Ryuketsu2043

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:07 pm PT

    I haven't had any problems on my 360

  • tiggerboy

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:05 pm PT

    I havent had problems with either system.......

  • Kravyn81

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:05 pm PT

    80 GB PS3 here. No probs whatsoever.

  • wallywallas

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:04 pm PT

    Yup, i have a 60gb launch ps3, and it did freeze up on me after about 3 hours of gametime,and i had to reboot. And everytime it autosaves it does freeze for about 1 second.

    I haven't even tried online yet, we'll seee what happens when i do.

    BTW, the game does deserve a 10 from what i have played it. But i do hope they come out with a patch if it becomes necessary.

  • doomfacer

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:03 pm PT

    my 360 version comes good but my brother's ps3 version didnt arrive yet so no comments about ps3 yet. lol

  • TheJackal_basic

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:02 pm PT

    I have an 80GB PS3 and GTAIV has only frozen on me once. But it did lockup. Somethings in the game are a little glitchy, but for the most part the game is amazing. Framerate does dip sometimes, and setting contrast/brightness is hard on my tv because I can't even read what the cell phone says.

  • SporkFireXPS

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 2:01 pm PT

    "SporkFireXPS , you forgot to include with the 360 that it has better online as well"

    How does it have better online with GTA?

  • bizuit

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:58 pm PT

    SporkFireXPS , you forgot to include with the 360 that it has better online as well

  • SporkFireXPS

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:55 pm PT

    GTA4

    PS3: Less texture pop-ins, slightly better fps, less jagged edges, faster loads/less frequent.

    Xbox 360: Future DLC

  • olschooldu2

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:54 pm PT

    I thought these forums were here to help and not criticize or question one's honesty? I've seen complaints about gta4 on BOTH CONSOLES and on several forums, so for all those who are bashing the people who are having the freezing/crashing issues..get off of it!! If it was 2 or 3 people having the same problems then maybe it would be 'user error' or something like that. But this seems to be happening to a lot of people on both sides of the console war which makes this a serious issue because who wants to rush out and be one of the first to own/play a game, and then get home, put it in and it freezes up without you even being able to play it for 1 hour before it crashes?/!! Gamers everywhere have been waiting and waiting for this game to hit the market, epecially after it's release date had been pushed back, and now, to have waited and anticipated this long, only to have these issues occur right out of the gate SUX BIG TIME!!! I myself havent bougt the game yet and i own the ps3 and the 360 and to be honest, i'm a little skeptical about buying it now until i see what R* is going to do about it and how they are going to treat all of the loyal gamers who've bought every game of the gta series. To all the gamers that's dealing with these issues, i feel 4u because no one wants to spend $60 on a game that doesnt work. To those that arent having these issues, consider yourself lucky and it is very possible that some games/discs can be defective and others of the same name won't be defective. Just hope that you don't get halfway through the game or even close to completion and your's freezes up and/or crashes..now THAT would be priceless!!

  • cravinmild

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:53 pm PT

    have the 60gb and have had mabey 7 freezes so far. the longest lasted 10 sec but no reboots. This game rocks. Can't wait till multi player is fixed.

  • Jcrozzizzle24

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:51 pm PT

    I have a 60GB PS3 and it did freeze on me one time last night, and there were about 3 other occasions were it froze for a full second or two and I thought it was going to freeze up completely but then it continued on. But it's almost hard to say if this is an issue because we all know this game is pushing the system very hard and after I picked this game up at the midnight launch I put about 16 hours into over two days at just two different sittings. I think 1 freeze up is very acceptable for pushing the system that hard for that long. But apparently some others are having many more freezes and that would be annoying.

  • Superdude475

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:50 pm PT

    I have it for 360 and no crashes yet

  • Leick3

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:50 pm PT

    lol i have never heard of a single problem with the wii ever. I think big technical glitches should affect a games score. That being said this is a great game but they ignore these basic issues. Thats is just giving a middle finger to all their customers

  • BloodLoss

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:49 pm PT

    I haven't had any problem with my copy of the game.

  • SporkFireXPS

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:47 pm PT

    I have a 60GB PS3 and have been playing GTA4 since Monday night. I have not encountered one freeze/crash.

  • _guenter_26

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:45 pm PT

    My brother got his today and it is running smothly.(360)

  • Hicks_1

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:44 pm PT

    I want manhunt 3 perfect for the 360

  • ictorres07

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:42 pm PT

    Played for about 6 hours straight. No problems here. I have a launch 60 GB PS3.

  • GreyHairedGamer

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:41 pm PT

    And this game got a 10? Sounds like the ratings reflect the game atmosphere shady and greased.

  • Gifted_One

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:38 pm PT

    People. Give us all a break. Obviously, more people are going to not have the problem than those who do. It's almost irritating to see people posting they don't have problems. Say something if you do. Not if you don't. Maybe if Rockstar would spend more time debugging their games rather than putting them out "too soon" than people wouldn't have these problems. Two games back to back with the same problem tells you they don't spend enough time with the debugging process.

    Point is... 1. It is a hassle for Rockstar and consumers alike to have to deal with this issue if it was worked on more thoroughly to begin with. 2. Report if you have a problem. Not if you don't. 3. Go Obama! lol

  • Grodus5

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:36 pm PT

    I wonder exactly how many people are having this problem, and how often it happens (like if it crashed once will it crash as soon as you restart). I will recite the all famous line from Castlevannia: "I'm interested in this"

  • carljohnson3456

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:35 pm PT

    "acerazer Good thing I received the subpar 40 GB PS3 last christmas, which seems to have no problems with this. Or maybe it's just that no one has a 40GB..."

    lol Yeah right.

  • Icehearted

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:34 pm PT

    May or may not have been said, but I have the Xbox 360 version and I played it for about 6 hours yesterday, and in that time the only glitch I has was when I started stabbing a drug pusher on a beach. He was dead, and Niko kept stabbing at him and wouldn't stop. Nothing I did seemed to help so I just loaded my last save and took it out on dockworkers and old people.

  • acerazer

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:28 pm PT

    Good thing I received the subpar 40 GB PS3 last christmas, which seems to have no problems with this. Or maybe it's just that no one has a 40GB...

  • da_chub

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:26 pm PT

    I still dont understand the reason why people spend so much money and wait so long for this series, as good of a game as it might be, i would rather play a game that doesnt die on me in the middle of a fire fight.

  • esb1118

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:24 pm PT

    This is why I don't get games the day they come out or hype the shat out of them. Hopefully by summer they'll have a patch, that's when I was planning on getting it anyway.

  • -Unreal-

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:22 pm PT

    I played the 360 version from 11am to 5:30 am the next morning and had no crashes at all.

  • Mosannam9696

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:21 pm PT

    I played this game for about 20 hours straight yesterday and I havent had one problem on my ps3. im guessing that this problem isnt as bad as they are making it seem as usual.

  • kemar7856

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:21 pm PT

    wow rockstar so lazy did'nt the bully have the same issue

  • Siz2005

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:21 pm PT

    Did not effect me in person, althought i have the 60GB PS3

  • microsoft4life

    Posted Apr 30, 2008 1:15 pm PT

    Zoomer did you not see that it said it was more frequent with the PS3? "it seems that the issues are affecting PlayStation 3 users more frequently"

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