Problems with Jaws: Unleashed

[DarkHououmon]

Has anyone had this problem with the Playstation 2 Jaws: Unleashed? I rented it yesterday, but from day one there was problems. The only problem that occured thus far was it took a bit longer for the PS2 to recognize it, but today that has become increasingly harder, taking minutes of wiping it, resetting, and turning the thing on and off, for it to play.

Then not long after playing, when I tried to access the next story level, Hunted, it just froze, in a way. The loader bar will just suddenly stop, or just not appear at all, and when it did load up once, and I pressed X to continue, the screen only showed black with my health, hunger, radar, and charge monitors in the bottom right-hand corner.

I do not think it's a problem with my PS2 because it plays just fine, though if the discs are scratched, it may have a hard time reading it. And this PS2 disc I rented was full of scratches. I am wondering if that is the culprit or if there's a glitch in the Jaws Unleashed game itself.

Anyone else experience this? And if so, any suggestions on what I should do about it?

[Littlefoot Fan]

It's obviously the disc Although I've never played the game, when a disc is loaded with scratches, there can be problems with loading and such. (Had the same problem with my Tenchu 2 for Playstation. Sometimes it would freeze up at the loading screen).

My only advice would be to either try to fix that cd, or just get a new one. It's most likely not your Playstation 2 doing it.

[DarkHououmon]

I can definitely not replace it. It was the only copy 48 Hrs Video has, and there isn't another video store for a couple miles or so.

How can I fix the disc? The only thing I can do with it is put moisture on it, wipe it as hard as I can without breaking it, and hope for the best, but this hasn't had much of an effect on the entering of that one level. What's odd is that it's only Hunted that's giving me problems with loading. I can go to the other previous levels, just not Hunted.

[Littlefoot Fan]

Yea I've actually had this same problem with another game too, Champions: Return to Arms. And it was only in a select few levels. Something wierd would happen where the rest of the level wouldn't load and I would actually just be walking in black.

I don't really know any effective ways to clean a cd. Although I did hear that you can use a toothbrush and actually scrape the first few layers of the cd off with it. Since cds actually have many layers of the same data, you can scratch off the layers that have all the scratches on them. I think you're also supposed to wipe some rubbing alcohol on it before you do that. I've never actually tried it, just heard of it.

[DarkHououmon]

I don't think I should risk that. It's a rented disc and if I break it I have to buy it. If I bought it, then I might break it and would have spent that money for nothing. I'll probably end up taking it back to the store and complain about the horrible condition of the disc. I don't really blame the store; I blame the stupid customers who kept it for longer periods of time, many days late.

[Littlefoot Fan]

Aahh yea, forgot you rented it. Yea, I don't see much you can really do with it. Cds are almost impossible to fix once they start having problems. I've had numerous cds where I've sent them to shops to get them cleaned, and they still didn't work.

[DarkHououmon]

I see. I just wish they would get rid of the faulty disc or replace it with a new one because this is just ridiculous, not able to enter the level Hunted and such.

[Littlefoot Fan]

Do you necessarily have to rent it? Are there any game stores near you or is it just a money problem?

[DarkHououmon]

I didn't have the money to buy it, and I like to rent games first to see if I like them before buying them.

[action9000]

I prefer to rent games first as well, but I have rented Very few games since disc-based game systems have been the norm.  In other words, I have hardly rented a game since the Nintendo 64 died out.

Why?  For the exact reason Darkhououmon is mentioning right now.  People who rent games on discs don't always take good care of them.  I have had to return many a game because it was defective.  The games that Did work usually weren't working 100% and took some fighting with to play properly.  Eventually (around 2002 or so) I completely gave up on renting games, because the discs simply weren't reliable.  
This is why I haven't played many games for the more recent systems.  I don't want to pay to Buy the game, but I don't want the inconvenience of Renting a game and having it not work.  I haven't had a lot of exposure to games that are around, aside from seeing them on the shelf in a store.

You're not alone on this, Darkhououmon, not by a long shot!  I used to rent games all the time, for something new and to decide what was worth buying. Now I basically buy any game that looks interesting and hope it's okay.  I don't like doing that but I'm just tired of dealing with broken disc after broken disc at rental stores.  If there if any good reason I miss cartridge-based games, this is it!  I Never had a cartridge that I rented, not work.  Never.

[DarkHououmon]

Well I have. Cartridges aren't always reliable either. Many times I have had to desperately clean a cartridge to try and get it to work and it doesn't always work.

[Littlefoot Fan]

Well it is a known fact that cartridges lasted a LOT longer than cds do, and loaded faster. But I still wouldn't want them to switch back to cartridges. Cartridges are so...old school

[DarkHououmon]

Seems to be a trend. The older, more outdated something is, the longer they last. The more advanced they are, the shorter they last.