Sony’s responded to the community, stating:

“Hi folks, this is just to let you know that the issues reported in this thread and elsewhere are being looked into. We’re currently trying to establish any common factors for people who are experiencing game freezing so if you are having trouble please be as thorough as possible with regards to your PS3 setup – are you using a launch version of the console or a brand new slim, playing in standard or high definition (I’m not suggesting that these are potential causes, just making the point)… any information you can give may help to find where the issue lies.

One word of advice we’ve had already is to avoid switching off your PlayStation while the game is in black screen as this may be affecting your save game. There have been a few reports of incidents where game saves have taken longer than would normally be expected – and with a black screen present it may leave the assumption that the game has crashed. In these circumstances we recommend you wait at least 5 minutes before rebooting – while it’s highly unlikely a save will take this long, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

While incidents of problems with the game are very low we’re working to ensure that everyone gets the Heavy Rain experience they expect. As soon as there is any further information we’ll update further.”

In other disheartening news, those in Europe who ordered the Heavy Rain Special Edition are being advised not to claim their PSN special edition bonuses just yet. Indeed, there is a problem with the soundtrack that should come as part of the PSN redemption code included in the box. Those in the UK who ordered the Special Edition online will be sent a replacement code for the soundtrack, everyone else is advised not to claim the bonuses until next week.

Going gold means the game’s ready to be burned to millions of Blu-Ray discs to be shipped to retail outlets everywhere.

As far as the demo is concerned, come February 11, every man, woman, child, and half-link, can get his or her hands on a demo for the game.

No word has come our way about what exactly gamers will do in the demo, but ambitious storytelling is the name of the game, so we can expect that? Yeah, probably.

Heavy Rain comes exclusively to the PlayStation 3 February 23.

A new PS3 bundle has been unveiled for France, a Heavy Rain bundle will be released on February 24. The PlayStation 3 bundle will include a 250 GB PS3 Slim and a standard Heavy Rain copy, all for 349 Euros ($498/£304). Check out the bundle below:

Amazon.fr also has listings for MAG and God of War III PS3 bundles, but neither of them are accompanied by a pack shot like the Heavy Rain box above. If a retail box for either title is revealed or if any of these bundles make their way outside of France, we’ll be sure to keep you updated.

“We are currently working on a demo, which is a real challenge,” he said. “Finding one scene that can convey what we are trying to achieve with Heavy Rain is something really difficult.

“If we show an action scene, some players will think that this is what Heavy Rain is all about, and it is the same thing if we show an exploration scene. The problem is that each scene of the game offers contextual game play, which is something very difficult to explain and convey in a single demo. Demos are often a double-edge thing: if you don’t release one, players may think that you have something to hide.”

We wouldn’t be surprised if they released the Taxidermist scene from last year. It has a bit of everything Heavy Rain is trying to convey, without really breaking the story as it’s totally independent from the plot.