Some Xbox 360 users have been experiencing lock-up problems with Fight Night Round 4, as the game freezes at the introductory “splash” screen and eventually locks up the entire Xbox.

While the Joystiq article I linked to above suggested that the problems lie with “certain files and the HDD”, that doesn’t appear to be the case, as the game freezes even with the hard drive disconnected and a cache-cleared restart; even without a profile loaded.

Obviously, I’ve experienced this problem myself, with both the game’s demo and the final release. While it’s definitely annoying to be forced to so, I have been able to make the game playable by taking the following steps:

1) While your Xbox 360 is powered off, unplug your network cable or wireless adapter from the console.

2) Boot your Xbox 360 and log into your profile. Let the Xbox Live connection attempt fail.

3) Start Fight Night Round 4. The game should load as intended.

4) When the main menu appears, re-connect your network cable or wireless adapter.

5) Press the Xbox guide button on your controller (the big, glowing Xbox logo in the middle of it), and log in to Xbox Live.

From there, the game should work perfectly with all functionality restored.

I have been working with the Fight Night team since before the game launched in an effort to troubleshoot the problem, but this solution is the only one I’ve found thus far that works. If you’re experiencing the freezing problem on your Xbox 360 that renders Fight Night Round 4 unplayable, you may want to give the process listed above a try before you give up on the game entirely. It’s possible that this won’t solve everyone’s problems, but then again, it may solve yours.

While EA Sports has said they’re aware of the problem and that it affects only a small number of consoles, that’s little consolation when one of that small number of consoles happens to be your own. Hopefully, a patch or fix is forthcoming soon, and I’ll continue to follow up with the Fight Night team. Good luck!