"...if you are one of the rare few who have it"

Right. Anyone who spends five minutes investigating this issue online can see it's pretty widespread. Frankly it's inexcusable to release games that stop working after two weeks. Congratulations on your rigorous QA process. Also, kudos on releasing a game that's actually less reliable than the XBox it runs on. Thanks for the advice! Guess I'll use my NHL 09 disc as a drink coaster while I wait for a resolution to this issue.

Just got off the phone with an EA rep. They seem to be playing dumb about the issue. They do acknowledge the issue but only offer clearing the cache of a solution. They claim they have not heard of anyone having a problem after clearing the cache. If that does not work they blame the xbox even though every other game works fine. When asked "what do i do with a $60 unplayable, unreturnable game?" they suggest going through their warranty process. They will mail out a sealed new copy of the game that i can hopefully return to the store to get my money back. Is this even legal? I suggest that more people bring it to their attention. Here is their number: 650-628-1001. The rep was cool and even gave me a $20 EA gift card for my trouble.

The clear code is Y, X, X, LB, RB, X,X. Your post has the incorrect code.

clearing the cache doesn't work for me either, i'm done with ea games. every ea game that I own has the same problem and i'm still stupid enough to go out and buy thinking this time it will be good. how come other developers don't have the same issue.

i tried it and it seemed to work fine for me

Seriously, though, any time you guys want to send that full refund for a game that doesn't work my way, I'm totally down for that. I'll just be waiting here, you know, not playing the game that is completely rubbish, since any and all solutions EA has posted are completely pointless.

hey EAcrazylegs guess what.... THAT DOESNT HELP. I have been tryign to put up with this crap since i got the game. I cant take it anymore, this is ridiculous its been a month since release and yet no solution was made available cept clear the cache.... WHAT A JOKE it doesnt work i am on my 4th copy of this game and still same error all the time. I have disabled autosave cleared cache deleted the nhl 09 data everything. My friends both have elites and dont have this problem i dont know if the cache is bigger or something but if the 20 gig xbox doesnt have enough cache to run the game consistantly then mark that its only to be played on elites. this game costs 70 bucks with tax and to have to stop every 2 games and restart is a joke. I suggest you fix this VERY VERY SOON or you will be having really crappy sales this year on this game.

I, too, am really excited to be the owner of a broken game that I can no longer play. The fact is, apparently NHL customers of EA Sports are second-class, since the problems with Spore were fixed so quickly. Plus, people who had issues with Crysis? Actually had answers and action taken to help them (link near bottom of here: http://thankseasports.blogspot.com/ ). Maybe if we make a big issue out of this (LIKE IT IS) EA will actually start caring about people who buy their hockey games. Because right now, I feel INCREDIBLY ignored, despite multiple emails to EA support.

I spend $60 on a game and I expect that game to work. The cache clear DOES NOT WORK!!! nor does the turn off AUTOSAVE!!! WHERE IS THE PATCH???!!! so that I can finally play my game that I saved up to buy?

This is absolutely ridiculous, this is the first time I have been prompted to post on an EA thread about and its not for a good reason. This is NOT a rare issue, the game has not even had sufficient time since its release for your company to make such a blatantly fictitious statement, once again we have an example of a large corporation with little to no concern for there loyal customers, useless customer support and a technically deficient product. Its funny how the posts for people playing and enjoying the game are limited to maybe ten comments a thread, while the post regarding this issue is buried in your site and yet still filled with ten pages!!!! and only a few days after the initial release of the game!! there are reports of some people's consoles failing completely after loading up your product, what do you say to those working class individuals who pay your exorbitant salaries? you look at gamers as nothing more than dollar signs, these the people that have supported your company from day one and helped it grow into one of the largest and most powerful publishers in the industry...and what of the people who have loaded numerous copies of your game with the same results? can you still claim this problem to be "rare" ? we are all fully aware of the time and costs of development, as well as the fact that human error, bugs and glitches are sometimes unavoidable. We the loyal fans and consumers are willing to be understanding and give you the opportunity to correct these issues while still remaining loyal supporters of your company and its products, however, when u have a consistent track record of publishing faulty products as well as the down-right nerve to beleive that your blatant lack of concern and your ridiculous notion that some form response almost undermining a valid issue from your loyal customers will pacify us you will certainly reap the consequence of this position on your bottom line in the future.