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.
hazelam
wasn’t there a story like this months ago?
didn’t that one turn out to be just hot air? ^_^
seriously though, i do remember a story like this that ended up going nowhere.
DJ Judas
Wow a R* engine that doesn’t work correctly? I’m shocked!
3shirts
My car broke down while N-Dubz was on the radio. N-Dubz breaks your car!
Bilbo_bobbins
lol brilliant example that.
Broonba
Aw FFS…….just read this while waiting on my copy from the postie.
I’m scared to play it now lol
besidavi
Mine’s just dropped on the mat (complete with free T-Shirt that would rip in two if I tried to put it on)…. and I’ve got an 80gb so I’ll be watching this closely.
Bilbo_bobbins
I believe its the game R* not the firmware. I’ve been playing my other games without a problem. How about you design a game that works
tonyyeb
Played for a few hours last night for the first time in two or more weeks with no issues.
tonyyeb
I should say that none of the games were R* games too.
Tuffcub
Its utter bollocks.
hazelam
don’t beat about the bush there TC, say what you feel. ^_^
3shirts
Maybe he feels bollocks ;)
The Lone Steven
That is a load of tosh.My PS3 is on it’s last legs and according to Rockstar,it should have overheated within a few hours.It sounds like they created a resource hungry game. A poor workman blames his tools. Bad Rockstar Bad.Now go and sit in the gold naughty corner.:OP
freezebug2
Mwuhahahah!, You must all buy a Slimline PS3 now to prevent your Phatty’s overheating, that should cover the ID fraud protection costs.
Seriously though, this is weird as I would imagine that several other released games have utilised more of the PS3’s processing power without showing any of these symptoms, and as far as I can tell the only thing added from firmware 3.60 was the password changing utility.
Awayze
The PS3 fan works by hardware not software so if CPU or gpu were getting hot, the fan would increase in speed.