Disc scratches causing problems after giving feedback. Am I screwed?

 So I recieved a copy of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and it seemed to work fine at first.  The disc appeared fine, but being a black PSX disc, scratches are harder to see than usual.  I was playing it in short spurts for a while, some time after giving my feedback, and it seems the audio now skips, and the game freezes at certain points, not allowing me to advance a few hours in.

It's been probably a good month since I got the game, so I'm just curious if it's possible to change feedback after so long.  This was a pretty expensive game, so I'm rather disappointed with my inability to play it.  It'd be nice if there was a way to get refunded the points for a new copy of the game, but somehow I'm guessing return policies like that don't exist online.

Yeah, unfortunately after that long it's going to be hard to prove that it was the seller's fault that the disc is scratched. You may be able to salvage it with a disc refinishing service though...

Already tried it down at GameCrazy.  Unfortunately now the music just skips at different intervals and the freezing points still exist. 

Wry Guy:

Already tried it down at GameCrazy.  Unfortunately now the music just skips at different intervals and the freezing points still exist. 

Live and learn. I guess now you know why it's important to carfully inspect (in good light) and test your games before you leave feedback. I usually give each Goozex game a spin for about 20 minutes (longer if I get hooked) before I declare it working or not. For PC games that I'm not ready to install, I just browse the contents and make sure my PC can read the disc.

Invest in a Disc Doctor and run the disc through it multiple times. If you are going to trade through this site it would be a wise investment anyway. The other thing that you should do when you receive a game, is to hold it up to a light, with the bottom facing you. If you see light through it, it will not play. That little design on top is actually where the data is stored. If that is the case it doesnt matter how many times you run it through a disc doctor, it will never work properly.

What system are you playing the disc on?  Some PS2s can be sensitive to even the most minute of scratches.  Try the game on another system, adjust the laser, or clean the laser....but all in all, live and learn.  But as others have suggested, this is not an impossible situation as black PS1 discs are reparable. 

I tried it on multiple PS2 consoles (slimlines), and I've been stopping by GameCrazy and telling them to give it the thorough treatment on my way past.  I don't really care if they kill the disc by doing so, since obviously I have nothing to lose trying to repair it.  So far I've seen a slight improvement, but the game will still freeze and stop me from playing at certain points.

If you have access. Might try a fat PS2 or even a PS1. I know my roomie was having issues with FF9 on his slim line. I believe those only have software emulation for PS1 games but I am not completely sure. 

so is the answer that i'm screwed?  I received a game tonight that I played for 30 minutes and left positive feedback, but it now freezes every time at the same point.  It always hangs at 26% when I try to install to the 360 hard drive as well.  The guy warned me it was scratched, but it is now unplayable.  I tried cleaning it, but no change.  Goozex, what can I do?  Is a few hours after leaving feedback different than the OP's question being 1 month later?

mikehogl:

Is a few hours after leaving feedback different than the OP's question being 1 month later?

Possibly, but the only way to know for sure is to email the G-Team.  (It's harder to get a positive reversed than to get a negative reversed.)  If you don't get it reversed, call it a learning experience and take preventative measures next time (like installing to the hard drive before leaving feedback).

Good luck.

naytk:

mikehogl:

Is a few hours after leaving feedback different than the OP's question being 1 month later?

Possibly, but the only way to know for sure is to email the G-Team.

I would say a few hours after would be a much more reasonable request - the odds are, in the few hours, you didn't have time to scratch it yourself - whereas after a month of ownership you could easily argue that they're new scratches.

Like he said, email feedback, but I would say your situation is much more solvable. Don't get your hopes too high though.

What game is it mikehogl...is it Call of Duty 4?  That game wont install on my 360 even though it does not have scratches, in addition it would freeze all the time at a certain point and the only solution was to restart the campaign.  360s are also finiky machines.

Fight Night 3...the disc has a lot of minor brush scratches that usually aren't a problem, but there's a circular one around the disc that's probably causing the issue, according to the top google search result for scratched dvd repair:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/67659/how_to_fix_a_scratched_dvd_with_items.html?cat=2

Yah that circular scratch is your problem, if you can buff that out it will most likly play without a hitch. 

A few hours should be much more reasonable.  The Goozex staff tends to be very understanding about this sort of thing.

I actually still have that messed up copy of Symphony of the Night, but I found a site I intend to send it to some day.  Maybe someone else has some use for it as well, it looks pretty good:

http://www.skippydisc.com/pgs/Home.php