I just had a thought, I'm not sure if it's been said or if it would help. Perhaps Beth could release some sort of options menu that could minimise what's in the game. So you can remove useless items, or even useful items that you'll never use or perhaps could do without. It could be just a massive list with check boxes. E.g.
[]Jugs, plates, etc.
[]Food
[]Iron weapons
[]Iron armor
[]Alchemy ingrediants.
[]Crabs
[]Deer
It could be split up into different pages, e.g. Monsters, Misc Items, Armor and Weapons... Then there could be another option that perhaps locks some or most NPCs into their houses, another that'll reduce the amount of bandits, bears, etc,. that you encounter or that the game loads at any specific time.
Sure, it might sound stupid to dumb down the game like that. But if there's no other option, wouldn't you atleast like the option to play the game? Of course Beth should still offer a refund. They should send a message to anyone on the PS3 who LOADS the game saying they should seek a refund if they are unhappy with the product.