PlayStation 2

[Trumpess]

Is it just me or are the quality of the game discs slipping?
The amount of games my kids have to be resurfaced is annoying.

Can you openly purchase a decent resurfacer so you can clean your scratched discss yourself?
At $8 a pop I'm thinking it would be worth it for me to buy one.

Oh and on a different topic concerning games, have any of you got games your PS2 cant read let alone play?
We were told it was the game itself - like the game has way to much info for the PS2 to read??

[EJK]

I don't know about resurfacing. I have bought mine last last year Christmas and even now I don't seem to notice any slipping.

And most of my games play very well. I don't think you'll ever need to "upgrade" like the PCs. However yes, one game Killzone does lag whenever theres a big explosion, but it's not as bad as my PSP game Midnight Club. Now that really lags, like playing a decent game on a crap computer. It's unplayable.

[Owl]

Wouldn't disc condition be an issue of "being looked after"?

[Trumpess]

Wouldn't disc condition be an issue of "being looked after"?


I suppose it would Owl.
However I have taught my kids from day one ... disc to PS, and when finished they put it straight back in game cover.
This they have followed, otherwise there would be no PS to play lol.

There are circular marks going right around the discs, and I gather this is from the disc spinning inside the PS.

I know quality of disc is assumed by cost paid for disc, there are some shity discs out there for cheap price, but was wondering if the quality of disc has slipped anyway for the price we pay for them.

[Trumpess]

.... but it's not as bad as my PSP game Midnight Club. Now that really lags, like playing a decent game on a crap computer. It's unplayable.


Thanks for the tip EJK ... my son has just got a PSP.
Most shops have a policy of non-returnable games once opened.

By chance it wouldnt be the console itself causing the issues?

[Mr. Peanut]

I reckon you should get two free rentals for every DVD that skips.

It's ALWAYS on an interesting bit too :eek:

[EJK]

Thanks for the tip EJK ... my son has just got a PSP.
Most shops have a policy of non-returnable games once opened.

By chance it wouldnt be the console itself causing the issues?

I doubt it. Well fairly PSPs are designed to compete against Gameboys not consoles, so don't expect very good graphics from the PSP.
Hence the PSPs have low tech CPUs and memorys, which doesn't suprise the slowness and the loading time for some games. However Midnight Club seems exagerated by adding more details and quality, which makes it next to impossible to play (if you have the same personality as I).

Seems I am not the only one whos complaining about the delay and the slowness


Why am I talking tech here in this review before saying one word specifically about Midnight Club 3, the highly-anticipated PSP version of Rockstar's renown racing series? Because more than any game on the system so far, this game pushes and pulls at the system, bending it over and twisting it around to try to perfectly recreate the deep-as-a-thong-string gameplay of the console blazer by Rockstar San Diego (formerly Angel Studios).


Is it overly harsh to pound on a game for having dreadful loadtimes? Let me put it this way. The game's clock said I spent 15 hours playing. Assuming that in-between time isn't counted in that figure, and figuring an average of 15 minutes between reloads (saying that sometimes you have to spend a good deal of time racing one opponent in one race, but other times, you blow by the competition in two or three minutes), that means that those minute-long loads added up to an entire hour this weekend of just waiting to play this game. One hour of staring at a black screen with a spinning wheel on it.


So back to the Playstation 2, I too put the game into it's original casing every time I finish playing. So maybe there is some kind of an object/ bulk in the console?

[speights_bud]

You might be able to take it down to video ezy and provoke them to put it in their awesome little whirly machine, got a mate who used to work there and i saw some pretty munted disc's come outta that machine looking like new

apologies in advance if you already tried this

[limbimtimwim]

There are circular marks going right around the discs, and I gather this is from the disc spinning inside the PS.The PS2 should not touch the disc surface to read them. It's faulty if it does.

Also never move a CD or DVD player when it is in operation, that can cause a circular scratch too.

[Devil]

The PS2 should not touch the disc surface to read them. It's faulty if it does.

Also never move a CD or DVD player when it is in operation, that can cause a circular scratch too.

Yeah what he said.
Apparently the xbox360 is particularly bad regarding bumps and vibrations causing serious disc damage.

[imdying]

Most shops have a policy of non-returnable games once opened.They can have all the policies they like, they're still returnable if they don't fit the purpose for which they were intended.

Anyway... the problem at hand... Get your self a boot loader, stick it on a memory card, and get yourself a 3.5" computer HDD, the bigger the better. Now here's the hard part.... to use a HDD with a PS2, you'll need a PS2 network adaptor... They're reasonably rare, as bugger all people used them on the net, and they're not sold anymore, but you'd find one somewhere for sure.

So, that lets you make an 'image' of PS2 games on the HDD, which means you can play them without a disc. Not only that, you can rent them from the video store, copy them, and then return the original disc.

Takes the disc right outta the loop, PC guys have been doing this since ages ago.

Best of all, you can feel really good about ripping off those monopolistic wankers at Sony :yes:

[Trumpess]

Thanks for the tips guys. I was none the wiser and am thinking now its the console :(
Thinking now may be it needs a bit of a service.

The kids have gone for a bike ride down to Blockbuster to get them resurfaced at $8 a pop. Just got a txt from them saying their machine is broken, so have sent them to Video Ezy where they charge $5 a disc.
I now know where they will be going to get them resurfaced and hopefully they will work better than Blockbusters resurfaced discs.

[racefactory]

The console is fucked, or there is something in it. Also try standing the console on it's side or flat down, see it if makes a difference.

[Trouser]

Brasso and a rag gets the scratches out. I spent about 2 hours polishing a lot of cd-roms and they work just fine.

[McJim]

I've always found storing them properly and not touching the surface works really well. None of my DVDs, CDs, or PS2 games ever give me trouble.

[LardEmbargo]

The PS2 should not touch the disc surface to read them. It's faulty if it does.

Also never move a CD or DVD player when it is in operation, that can cause a circular scratch too.

yeah, the circular marks on the disc are from something scratching the surface while the discs are loaded in the machine and spinning, not from your Little Treasures forgetting to look after them :)

could be that the dvd-drive is just generally worn out and needs repairing or replacing. or it might just be crud (fluff, dust, arsefur from the cat etc) in the optics that could be cleaned off.

I dunno for sure, but don't forget that if it's out of warranty, any repair work might start adding up pretty quickly. They'll probably want to charge you like $50 straight off just to open it up, for instance. Ask if it's likely to be worth fixing before they take it away and then bring it back with a bill for about as much as a whole new one would've cost.

[Trumpess]

yeah, the circular marks on the disc are from something scratching the surface while the discs are loaded in the machine and spinning, not from your Little Treasures forgetting to look after them :)

could be that the dvd-drive is just generally worn out and needs repairing or replacing. or it might just be crud (fluff, dust, arsefur from the cat etc) in the optics that could be cleaned off.

I dunno for sure, but don't forget that if it's out of warranty, any repair work might start adding up pretty quickly. They'll probably want to charge you like $50 straight off just to open it up, for instance. Ask if it's likely to be worth fixing before they take it away and then bring it back with a bill for about as much as a whole new one would've cost.


Thanks LardEmbargo.
I will take it in on Monday to get it looked at.
We have had it for about 3-4 years, so yeah could be stuffed or has dust inside it. Its amazing where that stuff ends up.

[Jiminy]

Also try standing the console on it's side or flat down, see it if makes a difference.

What he says.

If it's dirt in the console, would one of those cleaning discs work? Did anyone ever use them? (I never dared)


Oh and on a different topic concerning games, have any of you got games your PS2 cant read let alone play?
We were told it was the game itself - like the game has way to much info for the PS2 to read??

I had issues with GTA 3, and was told to turn the radio off in the game. Much to my surprise, it worked. I guess the radio channels must have taken a large part of the CD surface and would have been the first bits affected by scratches. Nothing to do with too much info for the PS2 to read, though.

[limbimtimwim]

I dunno for sure, but don't forget that if it's out of warranty, any repair work might start adding up pretty quickly. They'll probably want to charge you like $50 straight off just to open it up, for instance. Ask if it's likely to be worth fixing before they take it away and then bring it back with a bill for about as much as a whole new one would've cost.$219 these days too.