How much is a defective Xenosaga III worth?

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Peanut932

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I recently bought Xenosaga I-III, and Ep. III is defective. The seller offered a $9 refund. I paid around $40 for the set; looked like a good deal since Ep. III alone can go for $30+. Ep. III isn't playable on my console. The copy I have right now is useless, so it seems like a fair deal. I'll probably send it back & put that money towards a sealed copy. At least I'll know it isn't damaged or anything.

Before I send it back, does anyone think I can get more than $9 for it? The case & manual are in great shape. There are some very minor light scratches on the bottom of Disc 1. The scratches are on the outer edge of the disc. I've seen similar scratches on other used games I own, and they work perfectly. I just don't understand why this particular game doesn't work properly.

The game locks up at the opening, right after the scene where those three guys are inspecting the coffin. The disc looks like it's in good shape, but it always locks up right after that scene. I'm not sure, but I think there's supposed to be some voice acting and/or music during that scene. When the scene starts, some music plays, but it gets cut off abruptly, a few seconds after the scene starts. It's nothing but the normal sound effects for the rest of the scene. I haven't tried Disc 2, since it'll probably just go to an "Insert Disc 1" screen.

I have a fairly new silver slim PS2, and it's played numerous games perfectly. I also have a FFXII disc that's really messed up with scratches on both top & bottom, but it works perfectly. I even ran some tests on Xenosaga III with Nero DiscSpeed, and it seems like the disc is fine. However, I do consider my copy of Xenosaga III defective. For all I know, it could run perfectly on a fat PS2 or whatever. If I do decide to sell it, I don't expect to get full value for it.

From what I've seen, a sealed version of Xenosaga III can go for $25-$40. What would be a good price for a sealed version?
 
I've had this kind of thing happen to me on two occasions before (both RPGs), where the game locks up in the middle of a cutscene even though the disc appears to be in excellent shape. I happen to own two PS2s (both are the fat models), and incidentally, each game locked up on a different console but ran fine on the other one. I don't know what causes it or how to fix it, but it sounds like you're having the same problem. I'll bet that if you sell your copy to someone else, it'll play just fine on their PS2.
 
I have an Action Replay Max Evo that I use to transfer game saves to & from my PC. I tried searching for a save that's at the very first save point, but found nothing. Maybe that way, I can just skip the opening altogether & avoid the glitch.

I'm concerned about buying a sealed version though. If that doesn't work either, I'm out $30 or so.
 
I'd maybe sell it on eBay listed as case and manual only for cheap. Throw the disc in as a bonus, mentioning it could be a flawed copy. Because if you try and sell it as a full game you will just risk bad feedback. Plenty of OCD people might own a disc-only used copy and could use the manual and case.

EDIT: You might be able to fix the copy. Use a white cotton t-shirt and buff the disc. I've had two discs with similar problems. ICO would not run on my PS2 unless I skipped the first cutscene (since I had that option in-game), but would play fine on the PS3. I'm guessing it was a disc reading problem that is specifically what you are experiencing. I also had a copy of Guilty Gear X2 that had skipping audio because of a visible scratch. I managed to fix that disc by rubbing the scratches for maybe 10-15 minutes.
 
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It's fairly likely it's an issue with your PS2, not the game.

Try it on another PS2, if you access to a friend's or whatever, and see if it works on that.

Also trying flipping your PS2 upsidedown while playing and loading it. Seriously, try it. If it works, it means the game is fine but your PS2 is having problems.
 
I have two slim PS2 in my household; one silver and one black. The glitch still happens on both consoles. I even tried the upside-down method with no success. I also gently wiped whatever smudges were on the disc's bottom, but that didn't work either.

I use the silver PS2 the most. I bought it used on eBay last September. I played through several games with no problems (Dragon Quest VIII, Devil May Cry 3, Rogue Galaxy, Fire Pro Wrestling Returns.) I'm currently playing SMT: Nocturne, and it seems fine so far.
 
Resurfacing is something to consider, but do you think it could hurt resale value? Assuming the resurfacing did nothing, someone who's hoping for something salvageable might get turned off by that resurfacing.

One place I heard of that does resurfacing is Game Crazy. I think there's one around my area. Doing it online is another option.
 
[quote name='Peanut932']I have two slim PS2 in my household; one silver and one black. The glitch still happens on both consoles. I even tried the upside-down method with no success. I also gently wiped whatever smudges were on the disc's bottom, but that didn't work either.

I use the silver PS2 the most. I bought it used on eBay last September. I played through several games with no problems (Dragon Quest VIII, Devil May Cry 3, Rogue Galaxy, Fire Pro Wrestling Returns.) I'm currently playing SMT: Nocturne, and it seems fine so far.[/quote]

Is it an earlier model silver slim PStwo? I ask because I believe they had issues with it playing some PS1 AND PS2 games properly.

Have you tried cleaning the laser lens with a q-tip to remove any possible dust from it? That may also be causing the problems.

If Googling your PStwo slim's model # and cleaning the lens fails, then the option that would be easiest that would be left to you is to have the disc resurfaced at Gamecrazy.

However, before you do ANY of that, clean the label side of the game REALLY well, then move it back and forth under a bright light. If you can see any spots where the light is reflected back besides the shinier parts of the label(look in any dull black spots on the label side), then you may have a disc that's missing a piece of the label. Unfortunately, games with ANY part of the label missing may sometimes have problems playing since the data is, I believe, stored on the layer just under the label.

As for resurfacing the game discs, the only really noticable thing about a professional resurfacing job is that the bottom of the disc may have a whitish 'haze' to it. To many people it's NOT noticable, but since I had a couple discs redone over the past 5 years or so, I tend to know what to look for.
 
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- Both of my PS2s are model SCPH-79001.
- The laser lens for both consoles are clean.
- Disc's label side is fully intact; no shiny spots.

I might get the disc resurfaced some time next week...if I can get around to it.
 
[quote name='Peanut932']Resurfacing is something to consider, but do you think it could hurt resale value? Assuming the resurfacing did nothing, someone who's hoping for something salvageable might get turned off by that resurfacing.

One place I heard of that does resurfacing is Game Crazy. I think there's one around my area. Doing it online is another option.[/quote]

Resurfacing it shouldn't hurt the value.

Game Crazy usually does it for free when it's just one disc(at least the stores I go to). Doing it online is usually double or triple the cost compared to Game Crazy, since they charge more & also have to pay for shipping.
 
I just bought another Xenosaga III online. It's just the discs; no case or manual. If this one doesn't work either, then the problem could be my console(s).

Update

I got my other copy of Xenosaga 3 (discs only.) Disc 1 works perfectly on my console. Unfortunately, Disc 2 is not recognized by my console. The Disc 2 that I got from first seller works perfectly. Now I'm suck with two copies that each have a defective disc. This second one cost me $10 shipped. I guess it isn't real bad compared to what this game usually goes for.

This is the only game that I had any major problem with. My console is in excellent condition, so I don't know where the problem is. Since the first copy has a working Disc 2, I guess I'll have to keep it.

I can always resell the two defective discs with the box & manual. I'll just sell the box & manual as the primary items, with the defective discs as "damaged bonus items."
 
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