A number of GTAIV owners are discovering that their beloved software is prone to locking up. Yikes!

The problem is certainly snowballing right now and, by all accounts, affects the PS3 version more than the Xbox 360 game. Things mostly start to go south shortly after the game starts up, which, of course, is adding insult to injury for PS3 owners who will already have had to endure a lengthy pre-install. Meanwhile others have witnessed the full horror of the lockup only after several hours of gameplay. We’re not sure which is worse...

But let’s not all start to panic. The scale of this problem is most likely way out of proportion to its actual occurrence – a little grumbling can sure go a long way on the web, especially where fanboys are concerned. Moreover, though, with GTAIV being manufactured in such gargantuan quantities it’s pretty much certain that a few bad eggs will have slipped through quality control. That’s what we’re hoping anyway, as a more widespread fault is unthinkable for such a high profile release.

Whatever the case, if you’ve been afflicted Rockstar’s advice is to delete any save game data, reinstall the game and keep your fingers crossed. Failing that you’d better hope you haven’t shredded the receipt. Hmmm...