Spider-Man Friend or Foe Black screen on start up

StocktonamoBay · Mar 18, 2023

Anytime I try to play Spider-Man Friend or Foe on XBOX 360 my Xbox freezes and just sits on a black screen

Does this happen every time on every S console, or does it sometimes work alright?

It happens every time on my S console, and from what I've read on the archived thread (linked above) and posts on other forums, it seems to be a blanket problem for all S consoles. With or without being installed to the Hard Drive.

Is there any similar issues when using a non-S console, or does it work perfectly there?

It works without any issue on my non-S console. With or without being installed to the Hard Drive.

You mentioned a black screen until a pop-up message. Does this spur the game into working correctly after that? Describe the situation as accurately and in as much detail as possible.

Once you select to play the game from the Dashboard or Guide Menu, the screen goes black. While the screen is black, there is no audio, and all controller input is ignored, including the Guide Button. The only option is to eject the disc via console or media remote (brings you back to Dashboard), or simply wait. The screen remains black without audio until a pop-up message appears on my screen (ie. friend signed online, message received, etc.). The pop-up message appears to somehow 'shake loose' the game into playing as normal. Once the game is 'shaken loose', I experience no further issues unless I exit back to Dashboard and attempt to load it again (repeat black screen).

I've tried installing and not installing to Hard Drive. I've tried clearing cache and playing offline (although I don't think the game has any updates). The only remedy that seems to work is the previously mentioned - press the Guide Button immediately before the game loads and the black screen appears. By having the Guide Button displayed onscreen the game will load normally behind the Guide Button, at which point you can exit the Guide Button and play the game normally.

If you have any further question, just let me know. Spider-Man: FoF is a fairly old game, and will probably not be played by many on the newer S consoles. However, my concern is that other newer games may share the same characterisitic causing this 'black screen' issue, and perhaps the root of this issue may lead to other problems in the future if left unidentified.

:)

CarTzy

Hi StocktonamoBay,

Thank you for waiting.

After further consultation and research, we recommend that you speak with our live support. Due to the complexity of the issue, it’s best to work with them as they have the necessary tools to further diagnose the issue and provide you with a timely resolution.

Please follow the steps below to reach out to our live support team.

Please use this link: Contact us | Xbox Support
Scroll down and look at the lower left side if you can see the page matches the country/region you are currently located.
If not, please select the country/region it is showing and select the correct one among the list.
Make sure to use to check the available contact times of the support.
Select the "Contact Us" button
Select the drop-down menu options that will match your concern.
The next window will provide you with support articles based on your request and we recommend reviewing the relevant articles before selecting the "See contact options" button.
On the final window, you will be presented with multiple options. We suggest selecting either the "Chat online" or the "Request a call" options to speak with someone. Be sure to provide as much detail as possible.
If you cannot get connected to the support, please use the Virtual Agent and enter this exact phrase, "Talk to an agent".
Should you encounter same issue and have an error message please let us know so we can forward your findings to the Internal Support Team.

StocktonamoBay

I've done all of the steps. the Xbox only freezes when I attempt to play that game. I've tried multiple copies of the Spider-Man Friend or Foe game for Xbox 360 and each seem to get the Xbox 360 to freeze. I can play any other game without error.

CarTzy

Hello StocktonamoBay,

Welcome to the Xbox Community Forum. Thank you for sharing your concern with us today and we hope that all is well. Let me see how I can assist you with this concern.

In order for you to play backward compatible games on a Series S console needs to be listed here.

Spider-Man Friend or Foe is not listed here making it not playable on the Series Consoles.

If you are having issues for newer games, you may follow the troubleshooting found on the link below:

Troubleshoot game issues on Xbox | Xbox Support

We're looking forward to hearing from you. If there are any inquiries about our description or if there are any misconceptions, do reply to the post.

xela3000

Hi, was this ever solved. I am having the same issue and have looked through tones of different threads and they all talk about either pressing the guide button to try and unfreeze the game or taking the batteries out of your controller and waiting till the game forces itself to unfreeze. Neither have worked for me and I have tried multiple attempts. The dashboard, loading up from the menu, from the game details, none of it works. Kind of insane to me Microsoft can’t fix a game that’s been out for 10+ years & that multiple people have had the same issue for. If anyone has a solution, I would love the help.

CarTzy

Hello StocktonamoBay,

Thank you for your reply, Kindly perform additional troubleshooting below Troubleshoot a frozen or unresponsive Xbox 360 console | Xbox Support.

Spider-Man Friend or Foe Black screen on start up