I accidentally knocked my Xbox360 onto its side as I was messing around with some cables. Just for a second there was scuffing sound where the spinning DVD must have made contact with something. Sure enough the disc stopped reading, and when I looked at it there were a number of circular scratches, a bit like the grooves on a vinyl record. So now I can't play Raiden Fighters Aces
I'm anxious to know if the scratch repair services you see in places like game stores give good results. I cannot be without this game but I'd rather not have to import another copy
BTW, I did try another disc afterwards, and that loaded fine so the DVD drive itself is still OK.
Commons sense says that it is unwise to be fiddling around with a game console when powered up. Always shut it down and disconnect the cabling as so not to make it fall down...by placing your 360 console on it's side is another easy option to consider. Treat your gaming consoles with utmost care and respect and they'll last you a long time... ^_~
You might want to try out the GameDoctor repair kit...it has worked wonders for me with such super fucked-up & scratched-up/gouged-up used PSX game discs...
Or you could try using some disc protection with the "d_skin" protective Game skins that apply to the data-read side of CD-Roms, DVD-Roms, DVDs, HD-DVs, Blu-Ray DVDs, etc. Works like a charm, especially with your import video game discs... ^_~
You might have to bite the bullet and buy another brand new copy of Raiden Fighter Aces if you want such a pristine and unscratched disc...
Or you could just break down and get the original Seibu Kaihatsu SP1 mobo with said SP1 game cartridges of Raiden Fighters, Raiden Fighters 2, Raiden Fighters Jet and Raiden Fighters Jet 2000 and not have to worry about buggy XBox 360 software issues as you'll be playing with the original arcade hardware and software from the get-go...sometimes, it's best to play with the original arcade software and you'll have no issues whatsoever. ^_~
thegreathopper wrote:I once took a very scratched DVD in to a game station they put it on their machine and for £2.50 they made it like brand new.
Yeah - thats my mate's store and they polished up my pre-scratched GTAIV a treat. Worked really well, and I know they use it for all incoming second hand stock.
And don't worry about a lack of common sense. Last week I knocked my 360 down onto my de-bug PS3 from about a foot high. Me and a mate were celebrating the pathetically slow completion of some Airfix model planes by running around with them making plane noises while dancing to Talking Heads. That's definately not something to do with a console powered up.
Thank Christ they're both OK. Me and my mate are clearly not!
Well, cheers for the advice. Regarding console treatment, I'm normally very careful, but I was just having a stressful day and impatience got the better of me.
As for getting the original arcade hardware... I have my reasons for not going down that road. And I've only experienced one issue after quite a bit of play, so I'm not sure the bugs are that bad. They're working on a patch anyway, I think.
Just had a quick search for those d_skins. As I already said, I am normally very careful, but after this experience I think I'll get some!
just for the cpu's sake, i'd recommend keeping the xbox360 laying flat on its side anyway. less chance of it getting bumped over, plus the whole bottom of the console (when standing up) is designed to be a main air intake point. when its standing up, its not getting as much airflow as it could be getting. poor design choice on ms part, especially as you always see them standing up in the adverts.
If the scratch is just on the polycarobate plastic and not on the actual foil of the disc, it is most likely correctable. The problem is that when you scratch the disc it creates an uneven surface and the laser beam that reads the data on the foil is misdirected causing errors when trying to read the disc. The idea is to restore the disc to smooth surface again...
For small scratches, toothpaste or brasso are the normal solutions - put them on a tissue or cloth, then use it to polish out the scratch. It may not appear transparent, but brasso has worked wonders for me.
For a seriously scratched up disc, you'll want it resurfaced. This is probably the £2.50 fix - if you know anyone who works at a movie rental store, they can probably get it done for you.
Well, the shop where I was going to take the disc was closed. I popped into PC World on the way home and I noticed they had a device called Disc Dr for repairing scratches. It wasn't cheap, and I was dubious if it would work, but curiosity got the better of me so I took one home (after paying for it).
It worked! The scratches are still visible, but not nearly as much as before, and the most important thing is the disc plays fine. When I've got more time I might see if I can get it profesionally resurfaced, as I would still prefer the disc to look like new. Oh well, I'm off to play some RFA
