L.A. Noire Message Board older than one year ago

Since L.A. Noire was released earlier this week on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Rockstar Games has been filtering through reports of freezing, crashes and stories about overheating consoles. For a while, the company was theorizing the most recent PS3 firmware was to blame. That quickly changed yesterday.

There was no real theory floating for the issues plauging Xbox 360 owners, but Rockstar issued a statement today addressing it, pointing the finger at media folk like myself for inspiring mass hysteryia.

"With the launch of L.A. Noire a very small number of Xbox 360 console owners have reported issues with the game freezing or locking up while playing," said the company in a statement. "We posted some troubleshooting tips on our support site for these very few people, a common practice for any game publisher. Unfortunately this was erroneously picked up by some news outlets as a 'story,' reporting that L.A. Noire was causing issues to Xbox 360 consoles - which is categorically untrue."

I don't remember accusing the game--or Microsoft's hardware--of anything devious, only reporting what Rockstar itself was saying on its own support website. Regardless, people are running into problems, which should hopefully be addressed in a patch coming to both platforms sometime in the near future.

"As soon as we have more official information about the first patch and the timing for its deployment, we will post the information here," said a company spokesperson on Rockstar's support website.

Rockstar Games caused a hell of a stir yesterday when it theorized PlayStation 3's latest firmware update, version 3.61, was causing older iterations of the hardware to overheat and lock up L.A. Noire.

The company has just released a joint statement with Sony backing off that claim, however.

"We have received a very small number of customer support questions about PS3’s overheating or shutting down while playing L.A. Noire," reads the statement. "At this time, Rockstar Games and Sony can confirm that neither L.A. Noire or firmware update 3.61 are causing the PS3 hardware to overheat. We are both committed to working hard to find solutions to this and any issues that may arise."

A patch is currently in the works for both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of L.A. Noire, meant to address various complaints of technical issues. As of this writing, there is no timeframe for either patch.

Speaking personally, L.A. Noire locked up my PS3 a few times last night. I've had issues with my 60GB PS3 in the past, though, which I've been unable to correctly diagnose, despite cleaning for dust.

Here's a new one.

Rockstar Games has received enough complaints about L.A. Noire players experiencing lock-ups on PlayStation 3 to, after internal testing, publicly respond and theorize the recent 3.61 firmware's to blame. The studio answer came in response to a question asking about a PS3 turning off while playing L.A. Noire.

According to Rockstar, there are two scenarios: the PS3 shuts down automatically or locks up, requiring the user to turn off the machine.

"We have confirmed locally that multiple games (Rockstar and non-Rockstar) overheat or freeze only when 3.61 is installed," said the company.

I've contacted Sony about the issue but Sony had not responded as of this writing.

"At this time we are recommending contacting Sony directly to report the overheating issue," continued Rockstar. "However, this is not the end of our support; we are continuing to test L.A. Noire on all firmware versions and hardware models to isolate the issues and see what can be done."

In the near-term, a patch is incoming. Rockstar cannot, however, guarantee it will solve the issue.

"We are continuing to take this overheating issue very seriously," said Rockstar.

• Giant Bomb (5/5): "The world already has enough open-world action games, but a game which marries that open world to such a methodical style of gameplay, with a budget this big, is a rare thing indeed."
• 1UP (A): "Despite the shortcomings of the combat, it still doesn't detract from the overall experience of L.A. Noire. By the end of the game, I felt like a seasoned gumshoe with years of experience under my belt. The evidence-gathering gameplay, and conversation-based puzzles requiring actual logic took me completely by surprise -- not just because of how "real" it seemed, but by how entertained I was just doing it all."
• Gamespot (90/100): "L.A. Noire is a unique game with a terrific sense of period atmosphere, absorbing investigation mechanics, and a haunting tale with plenty of moments that would be right at home in a classic film noir. Those smoky nights spent listening to jazz at the Blue Room, and the price you paid for them, will stay with you long after you've retired your badge and gun. "
• Eurogamer (80/100): "But where Ace Attorney carries you through on winning characterization and a swift interface, L.A. Noire's realistic, low-key style gives this process a very different pace and flavor. To begin with, it's disconcertingly slow, but you soon relax into and start to enjoy its steady, methodical tempo."