A number of gamers are reporting that the Xbox 360 version of the game is causing major freezing issues and the ' Red Ring of Death' for a minority of consoles. A thread which is running over on Xbox.com reveals the full extent of the problem.

" If you guys actually read and check Rockstar' s official GTA IV forums, you' ll find out that they are aware of the freezing problems for PS3 and 360. Their current workaround is: " Delete your saved game, and start over." " said one member.

Further investigation by another member lead to this:

" As it stands, there’s no fix. But we did some research and believe we have the answer as to why this is happening.

Rockstar, in their very finite wisdom designed the game to have no loading times. That’s great, except for the fact that GTA IV now overloads the cache and causes a lock-up (freeze). So now, instead of saving load times and providing a seamless experience, Rockstar has forced some machines to crash while attempting to load from the cache.

The solution: Rockstar needs to release a patch that limits the strain on the RAM right out of the gate. Can they even do this? Who knows? They haven’t managed to make a game that doesn’t freeze in two years. Unless you count the mega epic “Table Tennis”."

Another member has reported other issues with the game as well: " Im having a freezing issue but another issue aswell. When I put the game in my disk stops spinning, makes scratching noises, and then works for 5 mins or freezes right away. Ive replaced the disk 2 times now and each disk has the same problems. But its just GTA not any other disk i have. This happening to anyone else?"