OK I'm sure a lot of you guys have experienced this to but its gotten to the point for me where I don't even want to waste any more time on the console version.
My problem is simple, EVERY single time I enter the Strip where Tops and the other casino's are my game crashes, and when
I say every single time I'm not over exaggerating, I cant even load my save games any more because of it, game crashes
before the loading screen is even done, and when i enter the strip it will corrupt my save game when the crash occurs.
Bethesda please fix this!

P.S. random crashes in the Strip started to occur after I obtained the weapon "This Machine" not sure if that helps or not, but I'm pretty sure that's not the only factor

I would highly agree with this.

About 10 hours into the game I tried to get into the strip. I was unable. I loaded from a previous saved file and continued playing the game outside of the strip.

I have put in over 50 hours now into the game. I try to go back to the strip at least once an hour and every time it locks up. I have completed a ton of quests outside of the strip and yet I still cannot gain access to the main storyline.

Couple of things.
Follower: Doesn't seem to matter. I have gone in with Boone and Whiskey Rose, Rex, Ed-E, and about every combination of the them including only one follower at a time. I have tried it with no followers and still does the same thing. It doesn't seem to be a follower issue.

Victor: Victor followed me to Camp Hope as I was exploring initially. After we talked he took the route through boulder city and I found his dead corpse at the boulder beach campground. he was killed by lakelurks. I tried over and over to catch up to him and prevent his death, the closest I could come was getting to the battle just in time to see the lakelurks murder him. I do not know if this is what caused the glitch, since victor is suppose to come and visit you once you make it into the strip. Figured I would throw this out there.

Weapons: It doesn't matter what combination of weapons I have on me. I had this happen with nothing but a couple basic guns right off the start, I honestly cannot say how many different weapons I have had equipped when attempting to get into the strip.

Location: I have attempted to enter the strip from the north from Freeside and from the South via the NCR monorail system. No matter what direction I take into the strip, the game freezes. When entering from the monorail a securitron will come up and act like victor, then go back to being a securitron. This also leads me to believe that there is an issue with the game logistics with Victor being dead since he can no longer come in person or assist with later things (like elevator control).

This is a horrible bug that is preventing quite a few of the people who purchased the game from getting anywhere in the story line. I have read up alot and know that I am basically missing out on the main story behind this game because of this freeze issue.

EDIT: yes I have cleared the cache (xbox 360) over and over and over and over.

I agree. This absolutely killing this game for me and it is a major roadblock in completing the game and main quests.

I have the same problem, tho I have found one way around it: I have 108 save games at the moment, my 27th save was inside the Tops Casino, so I tried loading it. It worked and I was able to walk out of The Strip into Freeside, and then back into The Strip without the game crashing.
I'm not really keen on having to replay some 35 hours of the game, considering how far through it I am. Seriously, every mission I have left involves me either killing or talking to Mr. House! I have nothing else to do

I have also tried different follower, equipment and savegame combinations and had no luck. Cleared the cache too. It only works with the one save i have inside The Strip.

if this is the biggest glich your dealing with be happy its gets worse....much worse

I had the same problem until I found that wearing the old cowboy hat you get from mick and ralphs allows me to enter the strip. This was posted on the bethesda troubleshooting site.

The "Wear an Old Cowboy Hat" fix has several threads and is in the read this first thread from the devs at the top of the 360 forums.
Upside to the fix : The Strip works.
Downside : You always have to wear that gooffy a$$ hat while you roam Vegas.

Fix number 2 is to never complete the debt collector quest line. The guy you need to kill/persuade for his hat wears one. Consensus seems to be the loading of the Strip and his hat are intertwined in some way...

Indeed, that hat works for me.

Interesting to note however you only need to wear it on the initial load in of The Strip, after that you can remove the Old Cowboy Hat until you need to load in The Strip again from the main gate. So you don't need to wear it all around town

Iv'e always wore an Old Cowboy Hat when entering or on the Strip.

But this has gave me a (maybe stupid idea) if that Hat 'fixes' the Strip problem, then maybe wearing it wont make the entire western part of the map crash for me...

I agree with the Strip issues. I am able to access over 50+ locations with no problem, however the minute I enter the strip again, I get a black screen. I have to reboot. There are quests I cannot complete until this is fixed. In the meantime I am just plugging away at everything else but eventually I will be highly disappointed if it does not get resolved. After rebooting, the auto save file is always corrupted too. I am a huge fan of Bethesda and have faith in them. While I am upset and set back by these glitches I am also reminded of how this company provides us with hours of game play and games that are well worth our money. Elder Scrolls, Oblivion, Shivering Isles and Fallout all offer the best RPG experiences. Recall the "Ring of death" issues?? Well, you can't expect a gaming empire like this to never have any issues especially since they are pushing the boundaries with new graphic technology and such. Just be patient and get through what you are able to. Join this forum and make your issues known. Patience is a virtue.

=^_^=
xbox live: cYbErTeKie

I noticed last night that Caleb's body is still in The Strip, I wonder if I place an "Old Cowboy Hat" on his corpse, if they'll make it so I don't have to wear one into town anymore....hmmm, guess I got something to test tonight.

They haven't even acknowledged the bugs related to The Strip. Don't expect it to ever be fixed.

We're dealing with some of the most lazy, arrogant people in the industry here.

I wouldn't put it that way lol, Bethesda has made what like 4 game of the years xD. There a great group of game creators, and I'm sure it will just be a matter of time, hopefully they'll fix it with either a new patch or a DLC release, which i hope is soon there are a few of locations on the map that have entrances but cannot be accessed. For now I guess I will just have to get an Old Cow Boy hat, I play primarily in 1st person anyway so it doesn't really bother me.

Oh a bit off topic but has anyone else gotten the Gamestop pre-order, you can mod the Weathered 10mm pistol but it appeared as a big red triangle with an exclamation mark in the middle when equip, right now it has a laser sight on it, dont know if adding a silencer will help, but yeah

Update: The "Old Cowboy Hat" trick... worked....

Thanks for the awesome feedback, and now I can actually see the strip for the first time.

so i had the same problem when entering the strip my xbox would freeze up..... BUT I FOUND A WAY AROUND IT... in camp maccarren there is a monorail that runs rite into an ncr building in the strip only catch is you need to be dressed as an ncr person or else you will be fired upon, worked for me i hope it works for you.

Ill try the cowboy hat trick... This really svcks though... This is a non live game. I know people who do not have internet, and sure as hell do now browse game forums... Even a patch wouldnt work for those people...

Bethesda... this is an epic fail... A non xbox live game that requires xbox live to patch.

Ok so which is it? I found the "desperado Cowboy Hat". and it does not work

WTF? This says the patch is out for 360... Where?
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1125221-please-read-from-the-teams-at-obsidian-and-bethesda/page__view__findpost__p__16574523

Ok lol found an Old Cowboy Hat. It worked. Thanks!

DON'T RELY ON THE COWBOY HAT THEORY. IT IS NOT ACCURATE FOR ALL USERS. I tried the hat and it does not work for me.

I get the same gltich friend everything in the game works "sort of" I get the odd freeze or my arms appear above my head in first person now and again which make no physical sence ha ha, but the main one is the strip glitch I might try the cowboy hat thing to see if it works. I love Bethesda they make ACE! games but these glitches are quite annoying, I am also aggravated about the lack of news from bethesda about their or obsidian's progress on the "Magic" update/patch which will apparantly fix everything or atleast I hope they are actually working on one as I think New Vegas is Awesome! if they do not fix this game they will be besmirching their own name, though knowing Bethesda I am sure they are working on it. still I will wait for the update though they best hurry the hell up with it ha ha.

I believe it. I haven't had mine crash every single time but I've had it crash a few times as I was walking up to the Lucky 38 and out of the Lucky 38. It's pretty frusturating actually.