GTA: IV Game Freezes and Rockstar doesn't know why.

[Digital-Nitrate]

It seems to be an ever going trend that dev's 'release now - patch later' and its quite worrying as people are buying half assed games... you wouldn’t expect this from someone as big as Rockstar!

They must be the biggest idiots alive to have not put one 'ready for production' disc into a console and played it for a bit before they printed millions..... simply insane!

+1 Well said indeed Robin. 👍

On the other hand, it is interesting to read all the ranting by many gamers over game delays, but at the same time they also complain about games being rushed to market. GTAIV is an example of both, as it was both delayed and apparently rushed.

I like to try and put myself in a developers/publishers shoes to better understand their mindset, and I can certainly see the kind of pressure they are under, especially from fans who not only want their games NOW, but want them bug free.

Personally, I'd much rather have games be delayed in order to better prevent things like this and to have a more finished product, but it's pretty clear Take Two and Rockstar were under a tremendous amount of pressure to release GTAIV ASAP, not only from the fans, but from investors weary of an EA take over.

It's easy for us to act as Monday morning quarterbacks, but the likely truth is that there could be any number of valid reasons why this problem slipped through the cracks of Rockstar and Take Two, and that the demand for the game to be released on time was simply too great and any further delays could have seriously jeopardized their position, especially regarding the possible takeover by EA.

The question now is, will the cost to fix these issues outweigh the need to release the game without any more delays?

But they still cashed in. Cha-ching $$$$

I know... half a billion dollars in sales in just one week!

I know several film directors who would gladly give away their left nut, heck, both nuts to have those kind of box office and video sales numbers! This is also why so many high profile film directors are getting more and more into video game development.

 

[Tornado]

especially regarding the possible takeover by EA.

That's why I stopped worrying about it too much. I still find the thing unacceptable, but at the same time now understand that this was an important step in telling EA to go screw.

 

[Joey D]

Wouldn't it just be easier to set realistic release dates for games instead of trying to scramble to meet ones that are to soon? Or instead of making overly complex graphics just focus on making a good game that isn't all shiny. As I've said numerous times, game companies are more about flash then substance...although every once in a while you get a gem.

 

[Tornado]

GTA IV isn't a particularly good looking 360 or PS3 game, though. Besides, GTA IV had already been delayed a couple of times before release, and delaying it again may have led share holders to favor the idea of EA's hostile takeover. I'm personally more comfortable knowing that Rockstar just released the game with some intermittent problems (major ones, for sure, but not incredibly common ones) than EA buying up the whole thing and running it down the toilet like they did with DICE.

 

[Robin]

I heard today they have sold 1 million copies of the game in the UK in just 7 days!

Thats £40 million pounds they have made!

Each disk costs like 20p and then they charge £40 (yes I know dev costs count) but.......

ITS STILL PRACTICALLY I LICENSE TO PRINT MONEY..... A LICENSE WHICH IS NO EXCUSE TO RELEASE SHODDY QUALITY!

Robin

 

[Joey D]

GTA IV isn't a particularly good looking 360 or PS3 game, though. Besides, GTA IV had already been delayed a couple of times before release, and delaying it again may have led share holders to favor the idea of EA's hostile takeover. I'm personally more comfortable knowing that Rockstar just released the game with some intermittent problems (major ones, for sure, but not incredibly common ones) than EA buying up the whole thing and running it down the toilet like they did with DICE.

EA is going to buy everything eventually, so basically we just just prepare ourselves now for the fall of the industry.

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

Is "flash" really more time consuming and difficult to program than actually having to come up with new, unique and or well designed gameplay? I suspect the opposite would have to be true.

I suspect the reason you see a lot of developers showing off "flash" more than "substance" is that they frankly aren't terribly creative and/or know that it's likely going to add several months, even years in some cases, and a much bigger budget to develop well thought out, unique, creative gameplay designs, where as simply improving the graphics is actually relatively easy and fast to do.

Many of EA's exclusive annual sports games are a prime example of flash over substance, and they pump those out each and every year.

I suspect games that emphasize substance require a lengthy development process, and those that emphasize both substance and flash likely require even more.



This is an interesting topic, but perhaps it belongs in a more suited thread?

GTA IV isn't a particularly good looking 360 or PS3 game, though. Besides, GTA IV had already been delayed a couple of times before release, and delaying it again may have led share holders to favor the idea of EA's hostile takeover. I'm personally more comfortable knowing that Rockstar just released the game with some intermittent problems (major ones, for sure, but not incredibly common ones) than EA buying up the whole thing and running it down the toilet like they did with DICE.

100% Agreed.

 

[Robin]

You guys inspired me....

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=106440

Robin.

 

[KieranMurphy]

I heard today they have sold 1 million copies of the game in the UK in just 7 days!

Thats £40 million pounds they have made!

Each disk costs like 20p and then they charge £40 (yes I know dev costs count) but.......

Development costs certainly count because it cost a reported $100 million to develop the game.

Does anyone know how much of the sale price of a game goes to the game publishers or developers? How much of that half billion in sales did Take Two actually pocket?

 

[Zrow]

Okay, so my game crashes when I try to talk to Little Jacob on the phone, AND during dates with Michelle. I have the 360 version. It goes back to my console and says "disc read error". Anyone else with this problem?

 

[Mark T]

Whenever I go the bowling alley I cannot start a game. Nothing pops up about pressing L1 to start the game. The guy behind the counter doesn't move or do anything.

 

[HKS-V]

After playing 1,5 hours, my ps3 froze up and killed the blu-ray drive .
I have to send the Playstation to Sony again and wait for 1 month before getting it back.
And then you don't even know if i will happen again.

 

[KENJIusa]

After playing 1,5 hours, my ps3 froze up and killed the blu-ray drive .
I have to send the Playstation to Sony again and wait for 1 month before getting it back.
And then you don't even know if i will happen again.

Come on guys, I say all of us email or call R*, don't let them get away with this.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Sorry to hear your bad luck Pako. I have the 360 version and it has never froze at all in the campaign.
Online I did have it stay on the loading screen a couple times when I was leaving a game but thats expected sometimes when playing online. The single player has been almost flawless in the campaign which is very surprising for a GTA game.
Pako since you also have a 360 why dont you just buy the 360 version?

 

[Pako]

Sorry to hear your bad luck Pako. I have the 360 version and it has never froze at all in the campaign.
Online I did have it stay on the loading screen a couple times when I was leaving a game but thats expected sometimes when playing online. The single player has been almost flawless in the campaign which is very surprising for a GTA game.
Pako since you also have a 360 why dont you just buy the 360 version?

The idea has crossed my mind. I don't know, ever since my first 360 died, I've tried to just buy PS3 games, but I may brake down and just get the 360 version.

 

[KieranMurphy]

I've so far had good luck with the 360 version, only 1 crash so far in 50 hours or so of play, but there's still reports out there of lots of 360 crashes.

 

[Pako]

Email reply on my support ticket. Will try all these steps as written and reply back accordingly.

1) Delete the games install data. This is done via the PS3 options. Scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the 'Game' tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the 'Game Data Utility' Enter this and locate the GTA IV option. Highlight this and press triangle once, from the menu select Delete. This will delete the games install information.

2) Delete the games save files. To delete any save files you will need to do the following. Scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the 'Game' tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the 'Save Data Utility' Enter this and locate the GTA IV option. Highlight this and press triangle once, and from the context menu select Delete.

3) Disable your internet connectivity for the PS3. To do this scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the 'Settings' tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the 'Network Settings'. Now scroll down to the Internet connection option and press x, now select the disable option. Once this has been done unplug the ethernet cable if you are connecting to the internet if using this.

4) Disable the consoles information board. To do this scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the 'Network' tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the 'Information Board', highlight this and press triangle. From the menu select 'Do not display' Press X to confirm this.

5) Disable Media Server functionality. Scroll to Settings, now scroll up / down to 'Network Settings' select Media Server connection. Once this has been done press triangle and change the option Disabled.

6) Delete all of the systems internet cache. To do this scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the 'Network' tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the 'Internet Browser', highlight this and press X. Once you browser opens press the triangle button once, from the new menu highlight the 'Tools' option and press X. Scroll down the menu until you reach 'Delete Cookies' and press X. Confirm the files deletion. Repeat this for 'Delete Cache'.

7 ) Turn off the PS3 screen saver. Use the cross media bar to scroll to 'Settings', select 'Display Settings'. Now highlight 'Screensaver' and set this to 'Do not use'.

8 ) Once this has been done manually restart you PS3 by holding down the power button for 5 seconds it will beep once and then shut down. Release the power button and re-press it and hold for about 5 seconds. The system will then boot and reset all display settings. You will prompted to reset your display settings to how you requrie them.

9) Once restarted please try the game again, you will be prompted to reinstall.

Once the game has started please turn off the following features:

1) The games auto-save. Press Start, Game, and locate the Auto-save option. Turn this off.

2) Turn off the games flicker filter. Press Start, Display and locate the Flicker Filter option. Turn this off.

3) Turn off the controller vibration feature. Press Start, Controls and locate the vibration option. Turn this off.

Now try playing the game as normal. Do you experience any freezing? If so please state exactly where the games is freezing. Try to give as much detail as possible including if the sound continues to play etc.

We also need the following additional information in order to assist in finding a solution to your issue.

PS3 version (20, 40, 60, 80gb model)
PS3 Firmware version
How was the latest firmware installed (Off GTA IV disk, from PS3 network, from another game)
PS3 purchase date (nearest Month)
PS3 Controller Type (SixAxis or DualShock 3)
Free Hard Drive Space (GB)
Wireless or Wired network connection
Internet Connection Type (Cable, ADSL, Etc)
HD or Standard TV
Resolution (HD only)
Any other OS installed

Best Regards
2k Games Technical Support

 

[slackbladder]

Very sorry to hear people having this problem. I have GTAIV on the 360 and PS3 and not had problems on either platform except a freeze on coming out of multiplayer on the PS3 version.
The only problem my 360 had was that the DVD Drive failed on it after playing nothing but GTAIV for a week (this is my Elite that I bought last December..poor MS...poor). Just a coincidence I'm sure.
Why it works on some consoloes and not on others I don't understand. I assume people have changed the game disc for another one and had the same problem?
I guess I've been lucky with all my games on both the 360 and PS3 as they've always worked.

 

[Pako]

Well, I can safely say their grocery list of things to do to fix the issue didn't work for me.

 

[FoolKiller]

I don't plat GTAIV and I found this for you guys, just because I'm cool like that.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/05/14/firmware-v235-coming-soon/

stlthriot | May 14th, 2008 at 7:37 pm

I’m guessing this is aimed towards GTA4.

Al de Leon replied on May 14, 2008 at 7:48 pm
I just want to clarify that this upcoming firmware update isn’t related to GTA IV. For those of you who may still have an issue playing the game on your PS3, we have identified a solution that should resolve the issue. You can contact SCEA Consumer Services for support — their contact info and hours of service, as well as more information on this issue, are available in our Knowledge Center (http://playstation.custhelp.com/).

 

[Pako]

Thanks for the tip FoolKiller.

WOW,

Gave SCEA a call and talked with a rep. My Playstation was bought in November 2006, it's well past the 1 year warranty but they are still going to replace the unit free of charge calling it a "Good Will" exchange.

Pretty serious for a game with funky coding to create an exchange of PS3's in my opinion, but am impressed with Sony's willingness to work with their customers. Still not sure if I want to ship it back or just wait and exchange it with Best Buy when more 80 GB versions or 120GB versions are available. Guess we'll see. With a 10-14 day turn around time, I may get the shakes without my BD player.

 

[BMfan]

No freezes here... *knock on wood*

same here-60 gig PS3

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

Well it's been several weeks and countless hours and my 60GB launch has not yet locked up... (knocking on wood as I type this).

However, I see more and more people appear to be having issues, and it doesn't appear to be console specific:

Outrage Over GTA IV Problems On 360
Posted on June 3, 2008 12:39 BST By Rob Rymond

Despite having achieved number one game status in the UK as well as breaking many records across the world, Grand Theft Auto IV STILL appears to be causing some significant problems for gamers despite being released a month ago.


A number of gamers are reporting that the Xbox 360 version of the game is causing major freezing issues and the 'Red Ring of Death' for a minority of consoles. A thread which is running over on Xbox.com reveals the full extent of the problem.

"If you guys actually read and check Rockstar's official GTA IV forums, you'll find out that they are aware of the freezing problems for PS3 and 360. Their current workaround is: "Delete your saved game, and start over.""said one member.

Further investigation by another member lead to this:

"As it stands, there’s no fix. But we did some research and believe we have the answer as to why this is happening.

Rockstar, in their very finite wisdom designed the game to have no loading times. That’s great, except for the fact that GTA IV now overloads the cache and causes a lock-up (freeze). So now, instead of saving load times and providing a seamless experience, Rockstar has forced some machines to crash while attempting to load from the cache.

The solution: Rockstar needs to release a patch that limits the strain on the RAM right out of the gate. Can they even do this? Who knows? They haven’t managed to make a game that doesn’t freeze in two years. Unless you count the mega epic “Table Tennis”."

Another member has reported other issues with the game as well: "Im having a freezing issue but another issue aswell. When I put the game in my disk stops spinning, makes scratching noises, and then works for 5 mins or freezes right away. Ive replaced the disk 2 times now and each disk has the same problems. But its just GTA not any other disk i have. This happening to anyone else?"

The thread which is now 1,800 posts long and has received 65,000 views is yet to receive any response from Microsoft or Rockstar.

We'll be looking into the matter for the sake of those gamers struggling to get it working properly and we will try and speak to someone from Microsoft or Rockstar for more information.

 

[Pako]

Unreal.

I opted to wait for the next batch of 80gb's to hit Best Buy and do my exchange instead of sending in the PS3 to Sony. I'm loving the Bluray every day.

 

[Pako]

Well I did my exchange today as the 80's came bundled with Metal Gear Solid 4. Installing GTA4 now. Crossing fingers and toes.

I'll report details in the PS3 forum, but I got a hellova deal on the exchange....

 

[Alex.]

My game refuses to read 95% of the time now its insanely annoying

 

[Keef]

Woah, woah, woah, I think it's time to dig up a thread.

Just the past few days I've been craving some GTA action. It was spawned by driving around the shop's slow, tippy work van, no less. I passed up on GTA4 when it first came out, and reading this thread for the first time makes me glad. But, I've got an 80GB PS3. Did anyone have this freezing problem on the 80GB? Is anyone still having this problem on their launch systems? Whatever happened to it? Everyone just kinda stopped posting in here.