Rockstar blames Sony firmware for overheating PS3s

by Steven Mostyn - May 19 2011, 07:59

Following on from a raft of user complaints linking overheating PlayStation 3 consoles with crime epic L.A. Noire, videogame heavyweight Rockstar Games has moved to distance its creation from rumours that it causes Sony’s hardware to run hot and/or crash.

According to those gamers who’ve reportedly experienced problems while investigating a series of grizzly murders on the streets of L.A., sporadic overheating and crash issues are rearing up on older 60GB and 80GB “fat” PlayStation 3 units.

However, while Rockstar acknowledges receiving reports of consoles overheating or beeping three times before shutting down, the renowned software studio has placed the blame at the feet of Sony and its recently released 3.61 firmware update. 

“Primary reports seem to be that updating to firmware 3.61 will cause PlayStations to overheat,” commented Rockstar via its official forum. “There have been various reports of this on a few different games now, 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,” it added. “We have confirmed locally that multiple games (Rockstar and non-Rockstar) overheat or freeze only when 3.61 is installed.”

Concerned? If so, Rockstar has said users should contact Sony directly. The studio has also said it will continue testing L.A. Noire across all firmware versions in order to help isolate any troublesome issues.

Update: The above forum statement [seen here in cache] from Rockstar has since been yanked from the Net. While we can only speculate as to the reason why, chances are Sony’s nose was put out of joint by the revelation that “multiple games (Rockstar and non-Rockstar) overheat or freeze only when 3.61 is installed.”

 

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