Unplayable game - what recourse do I have?

I’ve been playing this game “MLB2006” for Playstation2 for a while now. I’m in the middle of a record setting season as the Mets, and I’ve just finished the All-Star game. When I go to play the next game, MLB freezes (while trying to simulate the other teams’ games.) It’s happened in the past and I had some tricks for getting around the crashes, but now the game seems to have become basically unplayable (at least in franchise mode) at this point. The tricks don’t work. I’ve done some reading and found out that this is a common problem with the game, and not a result of a scratched disc or anything like that.

First, does anyone know how to get around this?

Assuming the game is unplayable and its a built-in defect, what recourse do I have (without a reciept) to get either my money back or a functioning copy of the game? Or am I just SOL?

Just a WAG, but I returned books without a store receit. The clerk comfirmed that copies of these books had be sold recently, and gave me store credit.

I hear it is diffrent for VG stores, however. Return a defective game, keep insisting that yes, it is defective, and get a new copy of the same game.

Have you searched on game message boards to see if there is a known issue with the game?

I think you are screwed. Console games are almost never updated to fix bugs. What you have is what you get.

You might write a letter of complaint to Sony and the game’s publisher. All console video games are supposed to be thoroughly tested before release so that games with severe bugs do not get put on the shelf.

There is probably nothing the retail store could do for you (due to their strict return policies on games), but complaining to the manufacturer of the game would be your best bet for some compensation.

Take it to Wal-Mart, assuming that they sell this game. They will ask you for your ID, but otherwise, there’ll be no problems. Stipulation, not that it’ll matter: You will only be able to return it for a copy of the exact same game, and they’ll then open that game in front of you, so that you can’t later return it for a different game.

chaoticbear, ex WM customer service drone

A brief search on Google reveals quite a few players and testers who experienced a variety of freezing problems. At this point, I would suggest complaining to the manufacturer, unless you can find some evidence that an updated version of the game has been released.