October 15, 2004 - IGN has always been on top of things; that's why we periodically gather a list of the nastiest game-stopping glitches and offer recommendations on how to avoid them. While not everyone is destined to experience the same "bugs", we know how frustrating they can be for the gamers who do face them. Here're some recently reported glitches/bugs to look out for:
Mortal Kombat: Deception (PS2)
The Bug: In two player mode, before the word FIGHT pops out, pull out the second player controller and you can hit that character as many times as you want.
Submitted by Domenic Mallegni
Fable (Xbox)
The Bug: I cannot play Fable in 480p.
The Fix: We received numerous submissions for the fix regarding playing Fable in 480p. It turns out that Fable (and other games listed as incompatible) will play in 480p without any adjustments when using an older version of the Xbox. Most people reported that their version had the Thompson Drive. This is the infamous drive that has caused many users a plethora of disc read errors. This indicates that this fix may be due to users having the older version of the Xbox dashboard. In any case you can check which drive you have with our Xbox drive reference FAQ by Azn_Skater_Boi located right here.
As stated in earlier reports, to fix this problem on newer systems: Open the Xbox tray with Fable in the drive. Go to the video settings on the dashboard and turn 480p off, then on again. Hold both triggers down and click both analogue sticks down and close the tray while holding these buttons.
Submitted by Edrone, Christian, Marvin, Geoff, Dawn, Tommy, Eric, Pootenheimer, Chris, Brian Watson
Star Wars Battlefront (Xbox)
The Bug: This is a reply to the bug that was posted about the blank screen coming up when going into quickmatch.
The Fix: If you wait long enough a screen will come up that says connection to host lost. Optimatch has a tendency to run more smoothly.
Another reader replied: Go to online options and turn off the feature that tracks your connection (the bottom right corner blinking icon of a high speed connection). Turning it off will actually make your game run smoother.
Submitted by Charles Miles
Burnout 3: Takedown (Xbox)
The Bug: In Xbox LIVE sometimes the audio cuts out on players while in the lobby or in game.
The Fix: To fix this problem you just cycle through the audio options by pressing the white button.
Submitted by P-Mac
NHL 2k5 (Xbox)
The Bug: In NHL 2K5 for Xbox sometimes after a face-off the game camera will not change and it will remain in the overhead position over the face-off circle even if the action moves away from that position. No matter what I do the camera will not change and I have to end up turning the game off. Anyone experienced something similar?
Submitted by dfense
Beyond Good and Evil (GC)
The Bug: This is regarding a bug listed in the article "Bug Report" (October 8th, 2004), about Beyond Good & Evil, Cube version and the Wavebird problem. I also had this problem. I had two Wavebirds plugged in and often one would stop working when I was in the menu screens. The button presses worked because I could see the indicator light working but the game wouldn't acknowledge them. So I would grab the second controller and use that. I would often have to switch back later on if I went back to the menu for some reason.
The Fix: This is in response to the bug about using the Wavebird on GameCube for Beyond Good and Evil. You don't have to switch to a wired controller. In fact what happens is that the controller in the second controller slot is the one that commands movements when first starting the game. This happens sporadically, but when it does occur, just turn off the first Wavebird and then turn on the second one and use that to start the game. Once it starts, the first controller begins to work.
Submitted by Javier
Sims 2 (PC)
The Bug: Why can't I use the Build Mode tools?
The Fix: A response from costumer support on the official Sims 2 site: "If you find out that you are unable to do anything in build mode, like build a foundation, walls, windows, Doors, or anything then your Sims2.exe files has been corrupted. This can happen for a number of reasons, one of the most prominent is if you are using a 3rd party "Patch", "Hack", or "Mod" that changes or replaces this file or add additional files to your game.
Unfortunately if you do not have a back up of the files that have been changed you will need to uninstall and then reinstall the game to return it back to normal. We do not Recommend or Support any of these downloads that alter the game in anyway."
Submitted by Guilherme
Primal (PS2)
The Bug: The problem is that all of a sudden, either Jen or Scree will go "out of their virtual reality" and it is not possible to return to normal state. They will walk a few feet above the ground, walk with half of their body below the ground as if it was water, walk through walls and buildings, and other strange visual things will happen - like from outside a building you will see everything that is inside the building but nothing that is outside, or sometimes you walk in the middle of black nowhere, sometimes it is gray nowhere, etc.
When this happens to the character that you currently do not control and you switch characters, you are toast. When it first happened to me, I lost about 4 hours of play due to a save that already contained the bug.
The Fix: My advice is to use two save positions and save often, switching the save positions. Before the save, make sure both characters are OK. When you experience the bug, reset and reaload your last position.
Submitted by Pete
If you've got tips on beating any game bugs then e-mail us about it. Even if you're just offering advice for bugs already covered, your help will definitely be appreciated and you'll be helping other gamers like yourself avoid these pitfalls. If you've been stumped by a particular bug, tell us about it! Shoot an e-mail our way and we'll see if we can help you, or at the least report it and have other people help you out.
