yakuza - PS2 game hangs?

[young]

i just picked up Yakuza for the PS2 and it sort of hangs in chapter 1 - Collect the Debt. Kazuma and Shinzo(?) are running and the 1st conversation, Shinzo warns to expect trouble, Kazuma's response box comes up but no text is shown except Kazuma's name at the top of the dialog box. i can pause the game, attempt to zoom in/out (and the game says it can't be done at that time), the background voices are active, etc so it's not a complete freeze. no other button seems to do anything including the start button.

anyone have the same issue or have any clue what the problem is? for what it's worth, i did get a launch PS2 so it's very old, but all my other games work fine. this is the first time this has happened.

contacted Sega but all they did was to say to check the faq at gamefaqs... not even sure they read my email.

[SterlingBen]

contacted Sega but all they did was to say to check the faq at gamefaqs... not even sure they read my email.
Did you check the faq at gamefaqs?

[young]

Did you check the faq at gamefaqs?

yes, even before i sent sega an email. there is no troubleshooting faq and the walkthru mentions nothing about any problems.

--
and yes, i did google searches for all kinds of yakuza/hang/freeze/problem/etc permutations as well checked ign/gamespot/sega forums and found nothing that mentions a similar problem.

this thread was my last attempt at an internet solution before i try other things. and it looks like it is indeed a very rare problem.

[SterlingBen]

Restart, Resurface, or Return it