Rockstar has issued a blog post on their customer support website to let PlayStation 3 owners know that the latest firmware, version 3.61, is apparently causing “overheating” and “red light” issues.
“We have received some reports of PS3s overheating while playing L.A. Noire or beeping three times before shutting down/turning themselves off, mostly on older 60GB and 80GB fat models,” says the publisher.
“Primary reports seem to be that updating to firmware 3.61 will cause PlayStations to overheat.”
This isn’t limited to just Rockstar games, or indeed even L.A. Noire specifically. “There have been various reports of this on a few different games now,” says the blog, “all reporting their PS3s turning off or ‘Red Lighting’ after having installed 3.61.”
“This can range from games randomly freezing to PS3s turning off anywhere between 30 mins use to 2 hours. We have confirmed locally that multiple games (Rockstar and non-Rockstar) overheat or freeze only when 3.61 is installed. ”
Rockstar say they recommend contact Sony directly to report any issues, but confirm that they are “continuing to test L.A. Noire on all firmware versions.”
Our version of the game, which was running on 3.61, didn’t crash at all in the few hours we’ve played it so far.
Update: looks like Rockstar might have jumped the gun a little – they’ve retracted (removed) the original post and replaced with it one that suggests Xbox 360 owners might be experiencing crashes too.
That said, a support operative in the comments does reiterate the publisher’s original sentiments. “The issues of PS3s overheating appears to be due to the latest Sony firmware update,” it says. “We recommend contacting Sony if your console is shutting off during play.”
Our guess? It’s the game itself, not the firmware. We’ll see tomorrow when hopefully this is all cleared up.
matthangzhou
Hmmm must be a rockstar thing. The last game that sent me ps3 into fits was Red Dead Redemption. Got it last summer when the temperature was hitting 40 degrees over here and you should of heard those fans on my poor machine. This summer could be the last!
Awayze
*fan
PS3 only has one big fan.
yogh_wayne
Well done, R*. Just when Sony is about to recover from the PSN-hack crisis, they come up with this unfounded crap.
yzfmike
Every time there has been an update that says it has bricked a 60 gig console it has never happened to mine. I swapped in a Samsung 500 gig drive in, two years after I bought it. My power core has given up, but the ps3 always ran with no issues till that happened, minus a YLOD because I didn’t clean it good.. I bought the first shipment of ps3s that came out after the release in Nov 2006. Maybe it has something to do with the redesigns of the Mobo that Sony did.
moshi
Can’t wait to play LA Noire later then.
October91
mine did after a half an hour! damn on a rockstar game too! any coincidence? i also got a overheating warning message popup :O
October91
^not to mention im using an earlier 80gb FAT model… thats got to be more than a coincidence? its never happened before..
InternationalGamer
I wonder how can software update affect a hardware problem.
Kev
My launch day 60Gb fat boy is still working fine …. as a door stop that is!
And no problems with the slim since the update, although I’ve not been playing a lot. Hopefully LA Noire will be dropping on my mat soon and then we’ll see …
hobgoblin
Looks like Rockstar are issuing a patch for the game (assume it’s for 360 and PS3, can’t follow the link though due to being at work).
http://support.rockstargames.com/entries/20126677-what-to-do-if-you-are-crashing-or-freezing-in-l-a-noire
KeRaSh
Doesn’t say anything about a patch. It’s just a bunch of things you could try out to see if it’s the disc, the console or the PSN that causes the problem.
hobgoblin
Really?
Found this in the 360 forums, not sure where they got it from then:
“Rockstar says that the first patch is on its way:
“The first patch is on the way shortly and addresses a large variety of general game stability issues as well as specific problems.””
support.rockstargames.com/…/20126677-what-to-do-if-you-are-crashing-or-freezing-in-l-a-noire
KeRaSh
Now I see what you mean. I didn’t scroll down through all the comments. The very last comment is from Rockstar stating what you said.
KeRaSh
Been playing Batman: Arkham Asylum for hours since I updated to 3.61 without any problems. If the problems are linked to L.A. Noir I might give The Witcher 2 a go before I get into Noir.