Skyrim Playstation 3 Lag Bug Difficult to Patch

Many Skyrim bugs are funny but some are infuriating enough to make the game nearly unplayable.

While gamers know to expect some bugs at launch in Bethesda games, hardcore PS3 players of The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim are experiencing major glitches that nearly cripple the game.  One of the biggest bugs involves lag and framerate issues on game saves 5.5 MB or larger.  For some reason, the Playstation 3 version suffers from this issue while the Xbox 360 and PC platforms do not.  The recent 2.01 patch released last week improved the issue slightly but didn’t come close to fully fixing it.

The bug causes gameplay to become choppy around 30 minutes after loading large game save files.  The video frequently dips to the point where it looks more like a slide show than a game and even when the framerate becomes consistent, it’s usually around an unimpressive 20 fps.  The unfortunate consequence of this glitch coming from the game save size is the players that like and play Skyrim on PS3 the most are the ones that suffer.

Gaming website Eurogamer experimented with the PS3 Skyrim lag glitch by testing various game saves and speculated the problem comes from the way the Playstation 3 handles RAM.  They suspect that because the 1.2 patch improved the issue, Bethesda’s aware of the cause.  However, they also think since the developer did some work on it without fully fixing the glitch, it could be a complex problem that might take a while to fully fix, if they’re even able to.

Hopefully things aren’t that futile and we get quick and frequent Skyrim patches to help the game reach its potential.  There’s an update announced for this week that fixes the bug involving dragons flying backwards.  The PC patch should hit early in the week, with Xbox 360 and PS3 versions coming a few days later.

Playstation 3 players that are hooked to a ludicrous degree can get around the lag issue for now by rebooting their consoles every 30 minutes.  Gamers that aren’t that desperate will just have to wait patiently for news on the matter.  If you haven’t bought Skyrim yet but absolutely must play the game as soon as possible, it’s a good idea to look into the PC or Xbox 360 versions for now if that’s an option.  PS3 owners might want to wait as long as they can to see how Bethesda deals with the issue.  Hopefully we get a fix or at least some concrete information about the problem soon.

Fed Up With Xbox

I have been a long time supporter of Microsoft consoles, ever since I got my original Xbox, but I’m beginning to reconsider.  I’m currently on my third 360, the first had a RRoD that was repaired for free by Microsoft, the second was sidelined by disc read errors. Through all three systems, all old body style, I have had trouble with games randomly not loading or freezing.

Every version of Madden from 08 through 12 has had freezing issues. I will get deep into a season or career and randomly the console will freeze up while loading the menus after a game. Before my disc drive went on my second system, I had trouble loading the game Race Pro. I would have to turn my console on, let it sit for 10-15 minutes to warm up, then load the game. If I tried before that, I would get a disc read error. A few months ago I received Dead Rising 2 from GameFly and the game would not load. At all. I had to return it without even playing it because it would give me disc read errors. Then there was Fable 3. Where I got about 5 hours in and suddenly there was no dialog.  Every person I tried to talk to in game would result in nothing. No audio, no captions, nothing. In other words, I no longer could play it. Now I’m having freezing problems with Forza 4. I bought Forza 4 on Friday and every time I run a race at Laguna Seca, the game freezes as soon as I hit my breaks going into the first corner. So I skipped that race and went to another track and was able to play for a while again. Then eventually I got to another track that started freezing.

I’m sure not all of these problems are due to my consoles. You can scroll through page after page of forum posts about Madden’s freezing issues, and the Fable 3 audio bug is well known, but Fable and Forza are both Microsoft Studios games. These games should have the least problems or at least have their problems fixed the fastest.

Do I dare buy a 360s? And take the chance of spending $200-300 on a new console that might do the same thing?

All I know is I own a PS3, and if given the option, I’ll buy a game on the PS3 before I buy it for 360. I haven’t had any problems with loading, freezing or anything of that nature on my Sony system. Sometimes it only takes a lax in quality to make a longtime supporter to reconsider his allegiance.

(The opinions expressed here are not the opinions of the entire The Preferred Nerd staff)