PS2 Contra Shattered Soldier disc won't work please help

Hi. I'm not sure if this is the best place for this, but I thought I would give it a shot.I have two fat PS2 consoles. On one console, Contra works about 70 percent of the time. On, the other console, it won't work at all. It will recognize the disc and start to boot the game. After the Playstation 2 logo disappears, the screen goes black, the disc stops spinning, and it's just stuck like that.I know blue discs can be trouble on old PS2s, but I have another blue disc game, Silent Scope 3, and it works every time. The Silent Scope 3 disc is all scratched to hell, but the Contra disc has barely a mark on it.Like I said, Contra works most of the time on one console, but not the other. This seems like I shouldn't be complaining, but I want to sell one of the consoles. I want to keep the one that won't play Contra because it is in really good condition, the other one is pretty beat up.Does anyone have any tips as to how I can get Contra to work on this console?

Your optic might already be weak. It might be best to install a HDD through the expansion bay, and convert the CDs into ISOs.

Will any IDE HDD work? Or do I need something specific?

Yes, IDE HDD will work. SATA too if you have an adaptor.Read Method: Click Here

I have two other games that just won't play on this PS2. Resident Evil 2 and Capcom Vs SNK Pro. They are PS1 games, but I do have other PS1 games that work just fine.What I have noticed so far is that Contra Shattered Soldier, Resident Evil 2, and Capcom Vs SNK Pro are all nearly perfect, new looking discs. Some of the games I have that run just fine look like they have been run over in rush hour traffic.As far as Blue discs goes, I have Time Splitters and it works just fine. I don't think I have a problem with BLUE discs. I think I have a problem with NEW discs.