Console Games (Nintendo, Sony etc.) and Arcade Games/xbox360 issue with one game

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Expert: Helen Joan Casper - 9/24/2008


Question
Hi Helen,

I have an 11 month old xbox 360.  Never had any problem with it.  I recently got a new HDTV with multiple HDMI ports, so decided to connect the Xbox to the TV with a HDMI cable.  I had lots of video issues with the console after making the switch (long blank pauses) on multiple games.  Tonight the video went out during a big cut scene while I was playing The Force Unleashed .  I quickly unplugged the HDMI cable and plugged the RGB cable back in.  The Xbox360 rebooted and now I cannot get this game to play.  During startup the Xbox freezes during the splash screen if The Force Unleased is in the disk drive.  The console boots just fine if I put a different game in.  If I then swap the "good" game with The Force Unleashed, the game never boots.  The console freezes such that I cannot even power the console down with the remote.  I have to power the console off from the front panel.  Have I damaged the stored game on my hard drive?  Something else?  Any advice on how I can get this game to work again will be much appreciated.

Thanks,
David

Answer
Unfortunately, it does sound like a file for the game has become corrupted. I recommend going through and uninstalling the game from your Xbox (making sure all saved games are deleted), reboot your Xbox, and then reinstall/start over. I know first hand how frustrating this is, however The Force Unleashed certainly gets a lot of play/replay in my house (and we only have the demo) so hopefully you'll still have fun getting back to where you were.

It also sounds like your 360 is having issues converting to the HDMI. I recommend sticking with the RGB to make your game play go smoother (though it sounds like you already came to that conclusion as well).

Best wishes and if that doesn't work, please let me know so we can continue troubleshooting!
Helen =)

Console Games (Nintendo, Sony etc.) and Arcade Games

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Helen Joan Casper

Expertise

Ever since I played "Pong" in the early 80's, I've been a video game aficionado. I can answer hardware & games questions about PSP (PlayStation Portable), all PlayStation (1,2,& 3), Wii, Wii Fit, GameCube, Nintendo DS, Nintendo (NES), Super Nintendo, Gameboy/Gameboy Advance, and antiquated systems (ColecoVision, Atari, Sega, etc). I can answer hardware questions about all systems (including PS1 - PS3, Wii, NES, SNES, PSP, DS, GBA, GB, Xbox and Xbox 360). I can also answer PC game questions, especially CounterStrike: Source, Vampire: Bloodlines, Half-Life 1&2, Portal, Team Fortress 2, and all Sims & Sims 2 questions. I am ESPECIALLY knowledgeable in Square-Enix (formerly SquareSoft) games such as ALL the Final Fantasy games (I can even tell you really obscure things about these games). If I haven't played the game yet I will research it and help you find the answer, renting the game if necessary. I can even answer questions dealing with the consoles themselves (hardware questions). I cannot answer questions about Action Replay. I cannot answer questions about football, basketball, or wrestling sports games. I also have very limited knowledge about Xbox & Xbox 360 games unless they are cross-platform. If it is an independent game that has not been widely published and/or a game only released in some countries, I may not be able to help with it either (sadly!)

Experience

I currently am employed as a supervisor for a large, national video game retailer. I am also an expert here in games/roleplaying games, weddings, childbirth, and doulas. My husband is a computer programmer and one of the forefront coders for CounterStrike: Source scripts & mods. He has his own forums for coders/scripters at Mattie.Info. I have been an expert here since 2000 (under the name of Helen Chipman) and also volunteer on numerous other game-related websites and forums.

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