PS3 firmware 2.35 released, improves stability of 'some PS3 titles' but not GTA IV [update]

43 Comments by Ross Miller May 14th 2008 11:32PM
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Action, Adventure

PlayStation 3 firmware update 2.35 is now available. According to the US PlayStation Blog, v2.35 is "a relatively minor update to improve stability of some PS3 titles." We're willing to wager a handful of stolen cars that "some PS3 titles" is a better way of saying Grand Theft Auto IV, whose compatibility with older PS3 models has become a topic of discussion and a sore spot for early adopters of Sony's console. An alleged Take-Two email yesterday hinted at a Sony firmware update.

Download now and let us know if the game's technical hiccups (for those that had them) have been eradicated.

Update: As noted in the comments of the blog by Sony's Al de Leon, this upgrade does not fix GTA IV. Said de Leon, "I just want to clarify that this upcoming firmware update isn't related to GTA IV. For those of you who may still have an issue playing the game on your PS3, we have identified a solution that should resolve the issue. You can contact SCEA Consumer Services for support."

Tags: 2.35, breakingnews, firmware, gtaiv, sony

Source

(Page 1) Reader Comments

erico316: May 14th 2008; 11:45PM

I never had a problem with gta4 and i got my the first day its came out which is a 60 gigs.

Garrett: May 14th 2008; 11:53PM

GTA IV froze up on my 60GB PS3 twice, but it's held up pretty well over all.

PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!): May 15th 2008; 1:47AM

yea same here. i mean i guess the 3 of us dont represent the entire population but it has been perfect on my PS3. i mean, ive been playing since it launched and just today noticed a little pop-in for the first time. i hope everybody else gets theirs fixed though.

Wes: May 15th 2008; 2:32AM

Joystiq, do you research. READ, READ.

I wish you would read a bit further down the page into the user comments. About 3 comments down in your 'Read' link. It specifically states this is not designed to fix the GTAIV issue. So no, "a relatively minor update to improve stability of some PS3 titles" is not another way of saying GTAIV

"Al de Leon replied on May 14, 2008 at 7:48 pm
I just want to clarify that this upcoming firmware update isn’t related to GTA IV. For those of you who may still have an issue playing the game on your PS3, we have identified a solution that should resolve the issue. You can contact SCEA Consumer Services for support — their contact info and hours of service, as well as more information on this issue, are available in our Knowledge Center (http://playstation.custhelp.com/)."

Your brothers at engadget picked this up. Hmm. Better reading comprehension over there?

j.howlett: May 15th 2008; 12:06AM

i just hope it don't start messing up now. its updated but my 60gig never gave me problems with gta4. joystiq though froze me up. probably those adds eveyone complains about.

hey_big_dck psn:fuliano626: May 15th 2008; 12:17AM

ugh i have that problem also! i hate it. my ps3 60 gig still hasnt frozen on me and i beat the game last week, funny thing though my friend who has a ps3 and a xbox got it for the xbox because of the freezing issue and the game use to freeze on him every time. so he traded it in for a ps3 version well that worked out well ....... until he got to 17 % then it started freezing also hopefully this firmware will help him, please lets all have a moment of silence and prayer for him so that he may beat the game before this gen is over .............................. amen.

GargantulaKon: May 15th 2008; 9:41PM

Did not Rockstar release a patch to fix any issues? The problem should be gone by now. I have not tried GTAIV yet, I but I am going to rent it for $3 next week since the game is all rented out. Hint - For cheaper video game rental prices, visit your local library.

anthonyjh: May 15th 2008; 12:06AM

Haven't had a problem yet.

browntown: May 15th 2008; 12:06AM

GTA has been very smooth on my ps3, 2 freezes in like weeks. Though everytime i go to the network part under stats, if i sort by something it freezes, its annoying, but watever i don't play it online. Its a solid game, sucks for the peopel that are having problems, its sad that they didn't catch the problem during testing.

Tesla: May 15th 2008; 12:16AM

I have a 60GB PS3 and haven't had any trouble yet. Halfway through the missions and hours and hours of messing around. Multiplayer works too.

why not the LS2LS7?: May 15th 2008; 12:19AM

Hadn't had problems with GTA IV on my 60GB since the 2nd day I had it. Downloaded update. Noticed no difference.

Is the update for 60GB only? Because it seems like Sony's server wasn't as hosed as it usually is when everyone is downloading an update. Thought maybe that's because it isn't provided to non-60GB users.

Alexander: May 15th 2008; 12:24AM

I've had it since launch and I haven't had any problems thus far. I'm on a 40gb btw.

Lima: May 15th 2008; 12:24AM

I have a 40gb model and i'm just waiting for the update to download now. So no, it isn't just for 60gb models.

Josh: May 15th 2008; 12:31AM

No this update has nothing to do with GTA 4. if you read the comments on the blog, the poster says its not to fix GTA 4 but to contact Sony reps over the issue.

evilchaos: May 15th 2008; 12:51AM

I have a 60gb with gt4, when i got the game on launch i had no problems, but after a couple of days,it started frezzing but after this patch everything seem to be working fine again :)

Rob: May 15th 2008; 1:00AM

i'm rocking the 20GB model but with a 200GB Hitachi Travelstar HDD, never had any problems. =).

JerkfacedFed: May 15th 2008; 1:01AM

Thats truly pathetic, but at least they're fixing it.

Night Elve: May 15th 2008; 1:06AM

Nah! It's not pathetic. Probably SONY is doing Rockstar's work.

Of course is not Rockstar fault that Microsoft & SONY had the fucking great idea of having multiple SKUs.

David Costin: May 15th 2008; 1:06AM

JUST INSTALLED. GTAIV: STILL FREEZING. PS3 60 GB, FEB 2007

NATO_Duke: May 15th 2008; 11:38AM

THANKS FOR THE EMPHATIC UPDATE ON YOUR SYSTEM!

ALL CAPS FTW!

Volomon: May 15th 2008; 1:14AM

People keep saying that "early adopters" are feeling the pain but I've never had an issue with my 60gb.

whistlepig: May 15th 2008; 1:29AM

ughh now i have to wait 10 mins more before i get my pixeljunk monsters fix for the night

GoonieGooGoo: May 15th 2008; 2:24AM

My PS3 hasn't had a problem with GTA IV.....because I got it for my 360......

It would be an interesting statistic to see how many dual console owners got the PS3 version...and why.

Halorin: May 15th 2008; 8:55AM

I have both systems and I got it for the PS3. Main reason for me was that the PS3 was told to have fewer pop-ins and a more consistent frame rate. I sort of prefer the DS3 to the 360 controller, also, so that's why I picked it.

I wish more people had microphones online, but I'm sure the majority of it would be racist insults that I'd ignore anyway for the most part. That's the only downside I've experienced.

Kujel: May 15th 2008; 3:25AM

I don't expect the BS3 version to work properly for at least a few more weeks.

xFenixKnightx: May 15th 2008; 8:49AM

"BS3"

Kujel with the funny PS3 names lol!

How bout Freeztation3? Man I'm glad I got the 360 version. I'm taking it slow. At first I was trying to rush through the game but I was like, for what? Great game, I hope Sony resolves this soon.

Deaddy: May 15th 2008; 4:07AM

Playing on a 60GB purchased in January. Had a picture freeze during the opening intro to the game, but the audio kept going. I hit the PS button a few times and the picture started back up again. Later on I had the game freeze up on the pause screen once and then afterward came down with the endless loading screen that was fixable by signing out of PSN before booting the game. Haven't had any problems other than that, and haven't had to sign out of PSN since then either to get my game to load. Too bad that apparently some people are having it freeze all the time, if they have a solution to this why not just tell us instead of have you call the support number? Maybe someone who has called can fill us in.

tiremfej: May 15th 2008; 4:54AM

Too actually need a firmware update so games will work is pretty strange...I mean RROD is one thing, but to physically have to update a console to make games more stable? Seems kinda weird.

colinbell: May 15th 2008; 6:41AM

Is there any decent estimates on what % of PS3 owenrs are facing problems with GTA4?

koehler83: May 15th 2008; 7:35AM

The blog says people still experiencing freezing at start up actually need to contact Sony for possible assistance on a one-to-one basis... strange.

SCEA Consumer Services
1-800-345-SONY (7669)
Monday through Saturday, 6:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m., PST
Sunday, 7:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., PST

Richard Mitchell: May 15th 2008; 8:18AM

"we have identified a solution that should resolve the issue. You can contact SCEA Consumer Services for support."

Because having people individually call customer service is *much* better than just making the solution publicly known...

Ninjakamster (PSN: Chin-Poh): May 15th 2008; 8:55AM

Damn it, I need a patch now!

My 60gb PS3 was running it just fine until I finished the first Little Jacob mission and then it would freeze randomly.

Now just last night, it won't even boot up the game! It either gives me a cannot start error or freezes during the intro. Now the game is unplayable.

And when I turn off and on the system, it doesn't detect the disc in the drive and I have to eject it and reinsert it for it to detect!

Is it the disc or a hardware problem because it went from freezing to now cannot even launch the darn thing.

Too bad its my only PS3 game so far, I can't try other PS3 games on it but my PS2 games are still working.

This isn't good at alll!!

deaftly: May 15th 2008; 10:42AM

Sounds like your drive is starting to die sadly

xFenixKnightx: May 15th 2008; 10:59AM

I told your ass to get a 360 =O

NATO_Duke: May 15th 2008; 11:39AM

This sounds like the problem the 360 had with some titles a while back to me.

Ninjakamster (PSN: Chin-Poh): May 15th 2008; 5:39PM

I'll need to get another PS3 game to really check if its the drive.

I have read GTA4 has damaged some PS3s.

Yes, I now wish I had gotten the 360 instead and then get PS3 later. Sigh.......................................I hope this can be fixed. : (

JerJerBinks: May 15th 2008; 11:28AM

Maybe this might address some of the awful stability problems I have had with Oblivion GOTY Edition. Any relief from the freezes I have experienced would be appreciated.

Med Striker: May 15th 2008; 12:03PM

And still no stories on the 360's issues with GTA IV.

Microsoft is starting to just replace consoles that are freezing now. Check the forums, this is as big a deal as the PS3 but no one wants to report on it.

andy: May 15th 2008; 12:44PM

Now when are they going to do something for the 360, which is experiencing just as much if not more freezing problems?
I don't understand why they are just ignoring the 360's problems.

Vince: May 15th 2008; 2:44PM

That aren't piublicly saying is because they are having to replace the units themselves.

Wayne: May 17th 2008; 11:44PM

Nothing's improved for me (I got the 80gb), but now my YDL 6.0 installation is "hiccuping"... LOL

Joe: Jun 2nd 2008; 8:06PM

I have a relatively "old" 60GB PS3 and I have never once had a lock-up, freeze, glitch, or anything. Well, I think I had a problem with a scratched DVD once.. But whatever. Nothing major.

Sucks to be the people with issues, I guess. But it ain't everyone. Maybe my PS3 is more ventilated than others.. It's not crammed into a small space or anything.

At least Sony hasn't had any significant issues with the PS2 like Microsoft did/does with the 360. Overall, most people seem to have no trouble with the machine.

waqar: Jun 11th 2008; 8:43AM

heloo guys im really screwed. i bought a new packed MGS4 and the first time i put it into my 60gb pal ps3 it game me error 2nd time the same thing the third time the game started but at installation it freezed and after that im unable to play gta4 as it did no problems before now i have a system update 2.35 now ps2 cds are playing perfect but my system is not loading ps3 games. I think some software malfunction because its been 4 months since i havce bought my ps3 and have very seldom used it. i really dont under stand why and now i given it for repair hope it does not happen again...ANY one can confirm that nothing is wrong with the lens??

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