Cluckin' Bell!!!!!

I was getting pretty hacked off with GTA IV and my 360 a couple of weeks back. I would switch on the 360, sign into XBL, select GTA IV and wait for the game to load. The thing was that sometimes it simply wouldn't load. The screen would just freeze and the console would lock up. I'd have to either eject the disc to get back to the blades or switch off the cream coloured plastic bucket and start again. Sometimes the loading sequence would stop at the disclaimer screen and sometimes, more annoyingly the game would load and I'd start to play. 15 or maybe even 30 minutes game time later it would all freeze up. Incredibly annoying when I was in the middle of a mission, having not had had chance to save yet, or if I was on my way to meet a virtual friend. The virtual friend doesn't know that I stiffed him because my Xbox crashed. They'd think I was off living it up with someone else instead of them and they'd put a black mark against me in their little friendship diary.

This problem was routine every time I played GTA IV for a couple of weeks. I was so used to the problem occurring that I wouldn't start any missions or anything else integral to the story until the game froze once and I'd restarted. The fault never manifested itself more than once a session.

Thankfully I no longer have to shout "Cluckin' Bell" every time I play. I have found a solution that has eliminated this problem. If you're experiencing a similar issue listen up! You should listen up too Rockstar because something isn't right! I discovered the "fix" one day because I'd taken GTA IV out of the drive. I opened the tray, inserted the disc, closed the tray and the game booted up. I played with no problems at all. Since then I began opening and closing the tray to load the game every time I want to play and it works. Every time. No lock ups and no freezing. And do you know what? I have no idea why!

Come on over to the Gameov3r FORUM for solutions to all of life's problems*



*not entirely true.