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Forbes: Anthem's Scary Console Crash Shutdown Happened To Me On Xbox!

anthem-review-one-week-later.900x.jpg

As if Anthem needed any more bad news, the latest “it gets worse” craze sweeping the news is that players are getting together and realizing that they are not alone in experiencing one of Anthem’s scariest bugs. It has the potential to not just crash the game, but in doing so, shut off your entire console. And in a few specific cases, some players are reporting they can’t turn theirs back on again after.

One of the most shared threads is from a player who claims the shut-off actually “bricked” his PS4, and that story was picked up by Kotaku yesterday.
I too have experienced this shut down issue, though on my Xbox One X, not PS4. This problem seems to be far more prevalent on PS4 than Xbox, yet I’ve talked to at least a couple other Xbox owners that have seen this too, and I only know what happened to me.

Like the PS4 crash, my crashes on Xbox didn’t just restart the console, they act like someone yanked the cord out of the wall completely. My Xbox is usually on “sleep” mode as in, when it’s off, it’s not really off as you can boot it quickly to get back to what you were playing. But both times when Anthem crashed during a mission and shut off the console, it was off off, as in the entire console had to restart from scratch.
Xbox does not do the disk-checking animation like PS4 does when it shuts off involuntarily, but it was a similar situation. I have literally never seen this happen with any game on Xbox before, and thought it was bizarre, but didn’t think too much of it until I saw what a widespread problem it apparently was.

Marketing deal well spent. ;)

Seriously though, seems to be something that's spreading around and not just on PS4's, I'm sure PC may get some issues as well at this rate.

Also damn Microsoft, you got to like, check the games you're partnering with or something, that's what 3 Third-party deal flops in a row?

Not that it matters, the controversy already likely got EA their money so if the sales crash tomorrow EA likely doesn't care, but they may end up with a similar reputation hit as Bethesda with Fallout 76 which may not be worth it but it's EA so eh.
 

shark sandwich

tenuously links anime, pedophile and incels
What a piece of shit.

PC gamer here. I decided to give the game another shot (still had 5 hours left on my 10 hour trial). The game crashed to desktop twice within a span of 15 minutes.
 

Calibos

Member
What a mess. I just can't even fathom how this game arrived here. It reminds me of Destiny's troubled development rumors, half assed dialogue, empty worlds, and lack of long term content.

One bright spot is that playing this game has made me want to go back and finish ME: Andromeda. Even though that game has issues and bugs, they are nothing like this games. Plus there is actually a hundred hours of content with decently written dialogue, unlike the complete trash that is this games dialogue. So much for Bioware's "A" team....

Might as well say "That Wizard came from the moon!" somewhere in this game.
 
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Tygeezy

Member
EA should put Bioware in the pasture. Those guys are done making quality games. And now they make shitty games that brick your console.
 
EA / Bioware

Flip a coin.
This is on Bioware,EA forced them to use frostbyte engine and maybe the release date,,this engine is not good for RPG and third person,so how they developed the game its on them,they actually said in one stream that EA had nothing to do with the development of the game
 
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Tygeezy

Member
This is on Bioware,EA forced them to use frostbyte engine and maybe the release date,,this engine is not good for RPG and third person,so how they developed the game its on them,they actually said in one stream that EA had nothing to do with the development of the game
Do we really know if EA forced them to do anything? Everything I read said this was Biowares dream game and 100 % them. Also, how do you know frostbyte isn't good for rpgs?
 
Do we really know if EA forced them to do anything? Everything I read said this was Biowares dream game and 100 % them. Also, how do you know frostbyte isn't good for rpgs?
When it comes to the frostbyte engine its true,EA wants all studios to use it,Ammy Hennig talked about this when she was working on that Star Wars project ,the problem with that engine is that its made for first person shooters and it doesn't work well doing something else
 
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Shifty

Member
An unsurprising continuation to the situation.

How long before we get an accompanying article for PC?

Buh buh buh it literally has nothing to do with Anthem!!!!!

Dontero Dontero was going in hard in the paint with that, I guess now we know
Christ, you're on one today aren't you?
 
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Tygeezy

Member
When it comes to the frostbyte engine its true,EA wants all studios to use it,Ammy Hennig talked about this when she was working on that Star Wars project ,the problem with that engine is that its made for first person shooters and it doesn't work well doing something else
How do you know this is true? They have made racing games with it and they have turned out fine.
 

Norse

Member
Sir, can you also page the xbox fans that were shitting on the ps4 in that thread, I would HIGHLY appreciate it.
Got the page but don't know why. I only said that a game isn't going to "brick" them. Crashing is another thing entirely. The bricked ones surely had a hardware issue that finally gave out. Maybe some hdd deaths due to extended use under dust aided heat?
 
How do you know this is true? They have made racing games with it and they have turned out fine.
Like I said ,Ammy Hennig spoke about that ,the interview is online,don't know how its called,she talks about how hard is to pitch a single player game these days and a little about the work on Star Wars,and she talks about the difficulty of using the frostbyte engine and that its EA's policy that all internal studios to use it,there are more details in that interview she did,its something about that the engine can't do more complicated computations,and a lot of time is wasted on trying to make that engine work in having an inventory,lvl progression,she goes into more details.
 
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Jigsaah

Gold Member
I don't see anywhere that Anthem is bricking Xbox One consoles. I don't think it's a PS4 problem either, but the sheer bias and vitriol in this thread is disgusting and unsurprising. Marketing deal shaming...I mean how is a company who has no idea how a game is being developed be some how at fault for this? Any marketing deal is a roll of the dice. Microsoft had some bad throws, but to say "Microsoft, you got to like, check the games you're partnering with or something, that's what 3 Third-party deal flops in a row?" is just ignorant.

The same goes for anybody who tried to spin this issue as a PS4 problem. Ignorant.
 

JLB

Banned
Ill say the same thing than in the ps4 thread: this talks really bad about the manufacturers of these consoles. A game wouldnt break a device in any case. Looks like a lack of hw level security sustems.
 
most probably released a year to early because they wanted to release it soon as a service and start making money and then add content..

Over 6 years development? Naah more likely the game was rebooted 2-3 years ago because Bioware was busy making a single player game.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
Ill say the same thing than in the ps4 thread: this talks really bad about the manufacturers of these consoles. A game wouldnt break a device in any case. Looks like a lack of hw level security sustems.

:messenger_neutral: :messenger_expressionless::messenger_persevering::messenger_pensive:.......:messenger_face_steam:If this is the case, then how come none of the other hundreds (maybe thousands) of games that have come out done this to the consoles?

Mods, do I get banned if I tell somebody to shuttup? Hypothetically speaking.
 

Shifty

Member
Ill say the same thing than in the ps4 thread: this talks really bad about the manufacturers of these consoles. A game wouldnt break a device in any case. Looks like a lack of hw level security sustems.
That sounds somewhat far-fetched to me. It's not like Anthem is trying to break out of its sandbox and hijack the console for nefarious purposes.

Unless you mean stuff like thermal throttling / thermal shutdown. That also seems somewhat unlikely though, given that they're standard fare for modern processor implementations.

:messenger_neutral::messenger_expressionless::messenger_persevering::messenger_pensive:.......:messenger_face_steam:If this is the case, then how come none of the other hundreds (maybe thousands) of games that have come out done this to the consoles?
Potential reasons for that were covered in the other thread. Component stress / heating failure over time, unstable new OS-level functionality, and the like. None of it is substantiated of course, same as the claims that the game is the sole source of the problem.

Mods, do I get banned if I tell somebody to shuttup? Hypothetically speaking.
I mean, if you were to say it politely... :messenger_tongue:
 

JLB

Banned
That sounds somewhat far-fetched to me. It's not like Anthem is trying to break out of its sandbox and hijack the console for nefarious purposes.

Unless you mean stuff like thermal throttling / thermal shutdown. That also seems somewhat unlikely though, given that they're standard fare for modern processor implementations.


Potential reasons for that were covered in the other thread. Component stress / heating failure over time, unstable new OS-level functionality, and the like. None of it is substantiated of course, same as the claims that the game is the sole source of the problem.


I mean, if you were to say it politely... :messenger_tongue:

Indeed, i guess somewhat the thermal systems are not that resilient on both consoles. In my experience(xbox one x) i got an error screen playing wolf the new order telling me that the console was going to turn off due to heat.
 

JLB

Banned
:messenger_neutral::messenger_expressionless::messenger_persevering::messenger_pensive:.......:messenger_face_steam:If this is the case, then how come none of the other hundreds (maybe thousands) of games that have come out done this to the consoles?

Mods, do I get banned if I tell somebody to shuttup? Hypothetically speaking.
Relax dude.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
Indeed, i guess somewhat the thermal systems are not that resilient on both consoles. In my experience(xbox one x) i got an error screen playing wolf the new order telling me that the console was going to turn off due to heat.

Well let's first take a look at some other factors. How is you gaming setup. Where is your xbox physically located?
 

JLB

Banned
*Panting* Ok... ok....i think I'm good...thanks for that. *sips some water*

Now....you still didn't answer my question. :messenger_neutral:

I think you missed my point, which is that you cant blame a software piece for hw failures. Even if the game makes that to happen. I expect from a console the same level of resilience as my iphone x. My kid installs thousands of crap games and it keeps working as expected. Sure, maybe that very same game on a cheap chinese android makes the battery to explode in my face, but... can we really blame the game? I dont think so, even if that happens on 5% of them.
 
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lucius

Member
Bioware what happened to you, when the 2 founders left I had a bad feeling. But I kept thinking maybe EA will make things better they can afford to make great Star Wars games again what a waste so far.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
I think you missed my point, which is that you cant blame a software piece for hw failures. Even if the game makes that to happen. I expect from a console the same level of resilience as my iphone x. My kid installs thousands of crap games and it keeps working as expected. Sure, maybe that very same game on a cheap chinese androind makes the battery to explode in my face, but... can we really blame the game?

I see your point but I don't think the game is completely innocent in this regard. What you're saying is that Sony should have had a better system set up because there's 1 game out there that's doing this to their systems. Maybe the certification process should have been more robust to not let a game like this on the system in the first place, but to pretend like the game is not at least part of the problem is nonsense.
 

JLB

Banned
I see your point but I don't think the game is completely innocent in this regard. What you're saying is that Sony should have had a better system set up because there's 1 game out there that's doing this to their systems. Maybe the certification process should have been more robust to not let a game like this on the system in the first place, but to pretend like the game is not at least part of the problem is nonsense.

Indeed, I was going to point that. If im not wrong, games published on both stores should pass QA from Sony and Microsoft to be there.
Also, and of course its just speculation on my end, probably its not just Anthem, but a pattern followed by this game in particular. A pattern that could be reproducible for other games in the future as well. Definitely Sony and MS should go to the root of this issue and provide a solution to avoid scenarios like this moving forward.
 
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Neolombax

Member
Ok thats it. Gonna shelf this game until the root cause is identified and fixed. Its a dwmn shame though, i like Anthem a fair bit.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
most probably released a year to early because they wanted to release it soon as a service and start making money and then add content..
Funny thing is that EA usually spreads out its shooters, but lately they've been clumping them together some reason.

They clumped TF2 and BF1 together, and now Anthem and Apex.
 

Foxbat

Banned
Wondering how many of these XB1X failures are really Sony console warriors just saying "It's not a PS4 issue!!! It's also bricking my xbox, and not just any Xbox.... It's an X."
 

Phobia

Member
Wondering how many of these XB1X failures are really Sony console warriors just saying "It's not a PS4 issue!!! It's also bricking my xbox, and not just any Xbox.... It's an X."

Normally I would call you a conspiracy theorist, but this isn't far off. I have about 60 hours in and its froze a few times, but never locked my system up. I have a 1X. Sony fans somehow feel the need to constantly point the finger at Xbox. I don't get it. I have every system, so one having an issue and another not isn't like some game changing thing.
 
This sounds 100% like the power supply trying to save the console. I'm thinking some kind of shoddy low level code in Anthem causing rapid spike in component power draw and heat that trips out SOC safety measures and thus far exceeds dissipation capacity. Hence the power supply, detecting stupid power draw, nose dives into the ground. In some cases it is too late and the console ends up fried. A few ps4's have already been perma-killed by Anthem. Which makes sense, as all the PS4 models have inferior cooling solutions compared to any of the xboner revisions. The best heat/cooling capacity is owned by the Og Xbox One. It has a sweet heatsink relative to its modest power. But the coil whine is annoying.
 
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The Alien

Banned
Marketing deal well spent. ;)

Also damn Microsoft, you got to like, check the games you're partnering with or something, that's what 3 Third-party deal flops in a row?
Uggghhh. This again?

Marketing deals.....Vast majority, if not all, are signed months before the games ship or are even finished. They push hype, not promise performance or quality.

These aren't 1st party games. Therefore I refuse to hold Microsoft (or Sony) accountable for the shitty output quality of devs and pubs.
 

Dontero

Banned
Buh buh buh it literally has nothing to do with Anthem!!!!!

Dontero Dontero was going in hard in the paint with that, I guess now we know

You still don't understand that games running on consoles shouldn't have right to do anything serious with console itself because basic functionalities of consoles are maintained by bios ?

If Anthem gets to switch off consoles possibly breaking them it means that MS or Sony OR AMD hardware is at fault. PERIOD.
Anthem could call some functions hardware makers didn't predict or just did shoddy work and this is why suddenly Anthem gets rights for rest of hardware.

The point is that developers shouldn't have at any point that right much like you paying bills to bank shouldn't give you access to main account of bank with billions in it.

Sony/MS are completely at fault here possibly AMD but you don't buy console from AMD no ?

What next ? People will be talking that RROD or YLOD were caused by some games and not shoddy designed work that allows for hardware to do that ?
 

vkbest

Member
Sony/MS are completely at fault here possibly AMD but you don't buy console from AMD no ?

Kernel panic is not a hardware problem. The game is not breaking PS4 or XBOX too. People can recover the system using safe mode. So when you have a red or blue kernel panic on Windows because game or software, its your PC a fault system?
 
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