Weird Issue With Namco Museum

[SneakyFoxxo]

I'm not 100% sure where to put this, so I'll post it here. If it needs to be posted somewhere else, please let me know.

 

I'm having this bizzare issue with Namco Museum (2001) where with some games, it will freeze upon, not entering, but exiting a game. This happens with Pole Position and Ms. Pacman. Not sure if it happens with Pac Attack or Pac Mania, I haven't unlocked those yet. For the affected games, it consistently freezes between pushing pause at the main menu of the loaded game, and after selecting exit from that pause menu. It locks the system to the point where it won't respond to the controller, but does allow for disc ejecting to the dashboard. The disc is a bit scratched, but it is in good condition, especially compared to my other games which have a LOT more damage than this copy, and have zero problems.

 

My only idea as to what is going on here is those scratches somehow corrupted the protocol that the affected games use to exit to the main menu. Not sure if exiting mid game has the same effect.

As I eluded to before, none of my other games have any issues loading or playing whatsoever. By that logic, I'm certain my disc drive works absolutely fine. It reads my other games and most of my CD's without any issues.

Do you guys think I'm right in my assessment, or is there something else going on?

I have filmed this issue and I will post it to my YouTube channel on about four days from this post, if all goes well. I will link it somehow if there's enough interest.