PS2 disc read errors, and throbbing rage

Evil Multifarious

I just bought a copy of Virtua Fighter 4, a blue-backed disc, and it doesn't work on my fat old PS2. Gives me a disc read error every time. The disc itself is pristine, and all my other games work fine. However, my disc tray makes a horrible grinding sound when it extends or retracts, and games take much longer to start up on their own; it's usually faster to go to the memory card/disc screen and select the disk.

Any suggestions on how to make this game work? I am incredibly irritated, even though it was only ten bucks.

Scosglen

A trick that I've had some success with playing Blue PS2 disks (which are actually CDs) and PSX disks which won't run properly on a PS2 is to take two pieces of inch to inch and a half-long or so scotch tape and place them just at the very edge on opposide sides of the central disk hole. They must be placed as close to the hole as possible and be as parallel as possible, forming a rough "H" shape with the tape and hole. Obviously the tape goes on the TOP of the disk.

Supposedly the idea behind this trick is that some CDs will not spin properly in the PS2's disk tray and as a result they will 'wobble' as the drive tries to speed up, making an unpleasant noise and making the disk not read. The tape is supposed to add extra weight/traction do the disk so that It balances out when spinning.

ViolentChemistry

Rubbing alcohol + cutip + lense. Doesn't work many times, though, eventually the laser will just actually be too burnt out to do shit right. I recommend picking up a slimline at some point to be able to continue to play your old games.