I was walking around in what I believe is the Nevada Highway partol center and inside the prison cell, the screen turned black and I was returned to the PS menu (where I can view photos, click on the game, go to the PSN, watch videos, etc.) . I've never experienced this with Fallout 3 and I just got this new 160gb PS3 slim on Saturday. It's been an otherwise flawless experience and I had been playing for about 3 hours straight when this happened. I was freaking out at first, thinking my brand new PS3 got the YLOD just like the one it replaced. Anyway, I'm not sure if this problem is due to my PS3 or the game. Any assistance in solving this would be greatly appreciated. Also, it's an excellent game. I'm loving it and the story really has me drawn in. I just wish it wasn't 10:30 PM on a school night and I wish I didn't have homework. I'm going to be thinking about playing this all day throughout school tomorrow.

What you described happened to me many many times while playing Fallout 3 with my 60GB PS3 (which YLOD after 3yrs 7months - this past June. I currently have a 120GB slim) - can't comment on FONV since I don't have my copy yet. Thanks for the heads up though.. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for this when I get FONV

Did your old PS3 YLOD anytime soon after that started happening to you? Also, was there any pattern to it, such as it only happens around/after playing for x amount of hours without taking a break? As I said, other than this issue, the game runs really well, for me, at least.

My 60GB YLOD'd just over 6 months after I finished FO3 GOTY (that would've been late November last year). As for a pattern why the game would drop back to the XMB - unfortunately there was no pattern... it could do it after a couple of hrs of play or 10hrs or more and yet sometimes it did literally after a couple of minutes.. and of course there was no indication that it was going to do it. I could be in the middle of a fight, talking to a NPC or just walking along and BANG -- back to the XMB.. Now one time I do remember that the whole screen flashed around the edges of the TV screen for a sec or two before dropping out of a game.

Hopefully, it won't happen to you again.. remember to save and save often.. would be maddening to have been playing for 3hrs or more - forget to save and then drop back to the XMB.

Luckily, I do and did save very often. I feel very uneasy if I don't save every 5-10 minutes. Does anyone know what causes the problem, though?

just making sure i'm not missing something here...has this happened to you more than once? based on your description it seems like it's been only once, in which case i would say there's really no need to search for a fix.

It's only happened once, but I'm afraid of it happening again. Why did it happen even once?