Does it not recognize them? Like the disc is not even spinning? If so there is a insanely easy fix. It's one of the easiest systems to take apart. Tightened 1-2 screws on the inside and it fixes it.

Pretty sure my PS2 units still work fine. I have a fat and slim. However, I never used them that much.

My phat PS2 never had a problem despite the abuse it went through.

My childhood PS2 fat still runs without any hiccups whatsoever.

I went through 3 PS2s due to disk read errors. For a while, I was able to prolong the life of the consoles by opening and cleaning them, but overtime it got to where that did not work.

My two phat PS2s had the biggest problem with disk read errors, and was a wide spread issue (even more than RRoD). Being that it happened years after the console was bought and the net was still a baby, people seemed less concerned about it as an overall issue. In my experience however, it was a major issue. And yes, I baby my electronics so neglect was not a factor.

I believe the slim model did not see this problem near as much, if at all however. Mine never had issues, but by then I was moved on to PS3.

Never had a problem with even running a plethora of 3 dollar pirated games/dvd's bought in Brazil at that time. The same for my PS1. My PS3 had a yellow ring of death problem though, really sad, it was that very early version that runs ps2 games.

You shouldn't use your Gamecube games in your PS2.

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OT: The disc drive on my launch day PS2 eventually gave out completely so I did replace it with a PS2 Slim.

My PS1 got its laser fucked so I had to replace it once. Zero problems on subsequent generations.

I must have gotten lucky with mine. I got the Gran Turismo 3 A Spec bundle when it came out in 2001. Played my PS2 a ton in the 7th gen. Never had any disk read errors. And still haven't encountered them in the few times I've powered it on in recent years. I kept my PS2 vertical mainly during that gen, but horizontal now due to my current gaming set up in a completely different house. The only thing that has given me problems is the audio can be terrible if the AV cable isn't in a very specific position. But that can be cheaply and easily replaced. Just something I never bothered with since the issue only crept up years later when I wasn't using it as much.

I've never had this problem with my PS2.