Thanks for all the help Bighap, Jay Boy, Ottoman, and Charlie_ps2!
Why not swap the Magic 2 for a Magic 3.1. Then it'll boot without the Gameshark.
Would if I could, Charlie_ps2
I just spent the bulk of my savings on a 5.1 home stereo a couple months back, and my wallet is still in intensive care. If I spend anymore, my account might actually hit the three-digit area. The only solution within my budget right now is a Gameshark 2.
Besides the financial factor, my Magic 2 works perfectly with all the other games, so it'd be silly to get a new modchip just because of one game. And it will probably be years (even a decade) before they start using DVD9 format on many other game titles--many games still don't need that kind of data capacity (touches wooden desk, then kneels down to pray).
By then, we'd probably have graduated to PS 3's
Anyway, thanks again!