Last night the long-awaited Wipeout HD was finally released on the PlayStation Network, and many of us here at Ars couldn't download it fast enough. Unfortunately, the game refused to launch on my PlayStation 3 after the game was downloaded and installed, and a quick search on Google showed that many people were having issues with the game crashing, freezing, or just plain not working.

Last night I was finally able to play by disconnecting the PS3 from my network, and there have also been reports around the Internet that people with large friends lists are also more likely to see problems. Luckily, it looks like things have stabilized today as we have had no issues playing the game, but I'm still getting some complaints in through e-mail. Consider yourself warned.

While these early issues are annoying, and not be able to play online is a giant pain, the game itself is stunning. It's great to have Wipeout back on the big-screen, although we haven't minded the last portable release in the series. The game is worth your $20, but you may want to wait until the issues are ironed out before plunking down your cash.