Rockstar's new 'possible' fixes for GTA 4 freezing issues

Ok.. My experience so far on my launch version 60GB PS3 with GTA 4 has been extremely frustrating! I pre-ordered my copy of the game from GameStop and received it on 29-April. Of course, I was just as excited to pop it in my PS3 as every other gamer in the world but unfortunately the first time I popped it in, it froze almost immediately! I saw the copyright information, then I saw the two Rockstar logos, it said "Installing game data" and at about 50%, it froze! I then deleted the data that had been installed and gave it another go and guess what, it FROZE!

I tried this about 20 times and made it through the copyright information about twice! Going by tips from other gamers online, experiencing similar problems, I deleted the game data again, and tried one more time... The install made it all the way through! At this point I was getting excited, however, that excitement faded quickly when the first cut-scene came up, or should I say, DIDN'T come up! All I got was audio, then when the audio was through, it was completely frozen... I gave up, put it aside of the night and went through all the same issues again today! I then went into GameStop and exchanged the game for a new copy, seeing as most people out there are having at least a little more luck than me... It actually helped considerably.. It went right through the copyright screen, the logos, and the install went just fine, however the game still froze when the cut-scene launched.

I then called Rockstar and they took a bunch of my information and gave me a couple tips. The kind young British lady that I was speaking to told me to erase the game data and save data and install again. She also told me to be sure to turn off the PS3's screensaver and select only 720p from the display list (I was running it in 1080p initially.) She also told me to sign out of the PlayStation Network on the XMB and go to Settings-->Network and disable both the internet connection as well as the Media Streaming server. Last but not least she told me to reset the PS3 to the factory default setting (other than the display which was now set for only 720p and the internet connectivity.)

I followed all of her instructions and for the first time I got to see more than a black screen with audio during the first cut-scene! Unfortunately it still froze about halfway through the scene, but it did look promising. I took a break after that and now I am posting this experience... I have yet to be able to get any actual gameplay in (although, if I push X quickly enough before the cut-scene launches I do get the game to load to the first mission but it freezes before I can even hit the gas pedal.)

Feel free to give some of these ideas a shot and see if you get any more luck than me.