Break out those damaged discs, punish your PS3!

Let's open with a personal story. I loaned a game of mine to a good friend quite a few years back. It was Parasite Eve, which I really enjoyed for various reasons (it actually got me a good grade on a science test because I learned so much about mitochondria and such). And yeah, I know the image is from the second game... it's just a cool one. So, my buddy took it on a trip for some reason. He tossed the discs uncovered in a duffel bag and threw his chain necklace in there too. You can imagine what happened. Scratch city. Unplayable first disc. When I upgraded to my PS2, I got the disc to load, but I couldn't get past the first level without it freezing up (the sewers under the opera house, for anyone who played). Distraught, I've given up, but kept the game just in case I invest in a disc repair system. I might not have to. Onto the news.

An article over at Ars Technica has another personal story for you to read about scratched DVDs on the 360 and the PS3. The writer, Ben, talks about how a disc with a scratch or two seized up his 360, but played without flaw on the PS3. He repeated the process with other damaged goods, finding that whatever the 360 rejected, the PS3 accepted with a loving, warm embrace. Also of note is the quieter playback the PS3 achieves. Seems this is great news! Perhaps the tolerance will also increase damaged game playback? I've yet to try it out on my PS3 since it's still invisible, but if anyone's got a scratched game, whether it's PS3, PS2, or PS -- try it out and get back to us! Good stuff. Thanks for not giving us a cheap DVD-player thingy, Sony.