How likely is the Purple Nines glitch?

I dunno about "guaranteed" on other platforms...but it definately happens on the PS2 every time that I've checked for the glitch. It appears any time the "new game" option is used on a memory card that has -ever- had a game with D-Ice's missions completed stored to it...even if that save slot was deleted and/or overwritten.


Glitch avoidance:
On a PS2 save block that's never had D-Ice completed in any of it's 10 slots, start a new game and complete the intro mission (driving to your safehouse and then to Luigi's club). Save the game in any of the slots and never overwrite it. Load this slot instead of using the "New Game" option from then on (saving to a different slot). None of the "daughter" save slots from this master save slot will have the glitch.



To check if a given save slot has the glitch present (i.e. if you are unsure if a completed D-Ice game was ever written to the block before the current game was begun), go to the street near the Shoreside safehouse. If there are no random gang members walking around with purple jackets (w/white stripes) within a few minutes, the glitch is present in that save file.


To get to the Shoreside safehouse when the Callahan bridge is still destroyed or the lift bridge is still inactive:
Park an ambulance on either raised sidewalk in the road tunnel that's currently blocked with the blue barrier. Get out and jump up onto the ambulance...you will become stuck in the ceiling as you walk onto the back of the vehicle. Hold the controller toward the center of the tunnel and press sprint+jump (should only take a few tries), and you will fall up onto the top of the tunnel. By sprint jumping on the raised portion, you can easily clear the blue barrier. Then just run to Wichita Gardens or the Airport and jump off the tunnel when you get close.

NOTE: when the Callahan bridge is still destroyed, the blue barrier does not prevent you from driving through the tunnel to Wichita Gardens. It's recommended to check the entire save block by using the "New Game" option, then using the ambulance trick to get over to Staunton (then drive in the tunnel to Wichita Gardens).

You can use the above trick to get many things completed early in the game without cheating ;)


It's also possible to just jump (on foot) from the broken girder that hangs below the Callahan bridge to the other girder...where you can go through the tunnel from Staunton, etc.

Using either method, it only takes a few minutes to check.



If the glitch is present, you can either:
A) Forget about completing D-Ice's missions in the future (since these are not required for storyline completion anyway).

B) Delete the entire save block (all 10 slots) from outside the game (PS2's browser menu) and start over with a new block. This is the only solution if you want to attempt 100% game completion (unless a save slot was a daughter save from an unglitched slot, or if the slot in question already has D-Ice missions completed).



As a rule of thumb...you should only use "New Game" option ONCE - with a memory card that does not yet have a GTAIII block. Save the game to a slot...creating the virgin block...and never overwrite that slot (you still have 9 others you can use).