2KSports tech support: Make like MacGyver
by Ken Weeks 
{ Apr 16th 2006 at 2:00AM }
2KSports has come up with a fix for the freezing issue in Major League Bugball 2K6. No, it's not a downloadable patch. That would be too next-gen. Instead the "dedicated 2KSports QA team" has devised a pair of "work-arounds" that seem better suited for MacGyver than gamers expecting actual tech support for their $60 purchase:
1. Remove or disable the HDD
or
2. Load three different Xbox 360 games to the main title screen of each game then load Major League Baseball 2K6 on Xbox 360. All three Xbox 360 games must be completely different before loading Major League Baseball 2K6.
While we realize that these measures may seem unconventional, our 2K Sports QA Team has tested both methods and both will remedy issues that are causing the Major League Baseball 2K6 "freeze" issue on the Xbox 360.
Unconventional? Maybe we should try duct tape and chewing gum wrappers. Anything to spare 2K the trouble of de-bugging their product before it's on the shelves.
I suspect this attempt at customer service is going to leave freezing baseball fans cold. Since MacGyver was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid, I whipped out my pocket knife and came up with my own ad hoc solution that's guaranteed to work better than the aforementioned homebrew crap:
1. Take your copy of MLB 2K6 back to the store.
2. Demand a refund.
3. Don't buy another game from 2KSports until they get their act together.
[Thanks Murph]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Daniel Lawson @ Apr 16th 2006 3:44AM
This is hardly something to get so upset over... you had to do this with Marrowind on the Xbox and a few other games that sometimes would install the cache wrong. I'm sure they are working on the fix now, but I'm sure most people have 3 games besides this and putting them in will hardly be a effort of Hurculean perportions. While I do think it's kind of messed up you have to do it, if it fixes the problem then there really isn't anything wrong with the workaround and it's hardly on the MacGyver level.
Donutta @ Apr 16th 2006 5:13AM
You're a bit fucked if you don't have 3 Xbox 360 games, aren't you?
Dirk Dorkelson @ Apr 16th 2006 5:43AM
I heard it works best if you use NBA 2K6, NHL 2K6 and NCAA 2K6 as the three games.
StratTastic @ Apr 16th 2006 9:18AM
The fix doesn't work. People without hard drives lock up as well so it's not a cache problem.
Pixelantes Anonymous @ Apr 16th 2006 10:24AM
So their solution is to buy MORE 2K Sports games? That is one creative marketing strategy.
Allow me to fart in 2K Sports' general direction for that advice though.
Jan @ Apr 16th 2006 11:18AM
Funny to see you telling people not to buy MLB 2K6 or any 2K Sports game while at the same time there's an MLB 2K6 add right next to your post. ;)
murph @ Apr 16th 2006 11:24AM
they left out workaround #3 - blow on the cartridge :)
my copy of MLB works fine (knock on wood). i love 2KSports' games for their gameplay, but their QA and GUI departments need some freakin' help. have they never heard of $%@&! autosave??
murph @ Apr 16th 2006 11:25AM
oh - PS - my friend had freezing problems ONLY went he tried to get online. make sure your VIP Profile is NOT the same name as your XBL Profile. this fixed it for him.
nojok3 @ Apr 16th 2006 11:32AM
StratTastic the problem only occurs to those using the hdd or a memory unit. If you don't have one of those, you don't freeze. I guarantee this
StratTastic @ Apr 16th 2006 12:08PM
Sorry, man, but check 2ksports.com and xbox.com's forums. People without the HDD freeze as well. I wish you were right so I could enjoy the game.
ozzzy @ Apr 16th 2006 2:07PM
My guess is that QA and production were kicking and screaming about this issue. Someone in upper management made them release this game to meet their obligations to retailers and the MLB.
Management and reviewers who did not mention this issue are at fault.
Just don't buy the game until they release a patch which I'm sure they are feverishly working on.
Reality Check @ Apr 16th 2006 4:52PM
Supremely retarded.
No software product in the world ships without bugs. But you never ship a product with a major crashing or freezing bug.
Hard to believe someone gave this the stamp of approval.
John @ Apr 16th 2006 7:55PM
I think they are developing and testing these games without the HD connected because they were told by MS to assume that not everyone has it. Then when the code is run on a system with a HD attached it's not working right.
Dirk Dorkelson @ Apr 16th 2006 8:14PM
That post about the three games that work best was meant to be a joke, #5.
badbob001 @ Apr 16th 2006 8:57PM
Remove the harddrive? Load three games before hand? Sounds like they just want you to clear the cache. Would oblivion's hold-A-button-while-booting the game method work:
"Oblivion uses the Xbox 360 hard drive extensively to cache (copy and reuse) game data. This is done to optimize all loading the game does. It has been found in rare cases on some Xbox 360s that the cached data can get overly fragmented. This exhibits itself by the game taking a long time to load anything from menus, dialogue, sounds, objects, levels, and more.
To solve this problem, reset your Xbox, and hold down the A button as the game is booting up. If any button is held while Oblivion is loading, it will clear its hard drive cache, and create a new one."
C. Grant @ Apr 16th 2006 11:19PM
"6. Funny to see you telling people not to buy MLB 2K6 or any 2K Sports game while at the same time there's an MLB 2K6 add right next to your post."
At this point I'm supposed to say something about how editorial isn't sold for ad revenue, and separation of this and that... but it seems pretty unnecessary. ;)
spoo @ Apr 17th 2006 12:59AM
I had problems with NHL on the 360 freezing up after every game. I am glad I rented instead of buying.
If this happened to an EA Sports game this would have 200+ anti-EA posts on every gaming board on the interweb.
tom @ Apr 17th 2006 11:09AM
I love ea, this is the worst baseball game ive ever played. This is the worst xbox360 game i have bought. I really feel ripped off by this game and will never buy a 2ksports game again. ea's mvp games are more fun, i dont care so much how it looks, i hope they add mvp2005 to the backwards list so ill have a good baseball game to play!
jron @ Apr 17th 2006 11:21AM
Hey Ken, did you read their page at all????
""""""
2K Sports is still finalizing a solution to alleviate the "freeze" issue on Major League Baseball 2k6 for Xbox 360 that some of our consumers are experiencing. We should have a downloadable patch available once it has fully tested to first party compliance standards.
In the meantime, our dedicated 2K Sports QA team has tested and confirmed two work-around methods for those consumers who are experiencing the "freeze" issue:
"""""
Way to not mention that they are working on a downloadable patch, whether it is a lie or not.
Way to spin things.
Ken @ Apr 17th 2006 12:54PM
Me, spin a story to rake an inexscusably sloppy product over the coals? Never.
jron @ Apr 17th 2006 1:04PM
haha. forgiven. :-)
otz @ Apr 17th 2006 1:05PM
*LOL* murph -- 0lD$k00l!!~!~!!
munkih8er @ Apr 18th 2006 6:50PM
So...because you personally don't like a product, it gives you the excuse to deliver apparently false information - specifically implying that a patch won't be made - in something filed under news? You do realize that the alternative would be for 2Kgames to say "Yeah, we have found ways to work around the issue, but screw you and wait for our patch," right?
Le sigh. It'd be nice of you to admit that you obviously didn't research or think about this story at all, but why bother? This post is IGN worthy. And you'll probably take that as a compliment.