You can play copied games if you have a mod chip installed. Most of the PS2's on the shelves now have the version 6.0 mainboard and to my knowledge they don't have mods that work on it yet. I don't know about the DVD's but I know it won't play burned VCD's.
The XBox mod chips started shipping today. They're a bitch to install compared to the PS2 mod chips. The XBox mods have something like 30 wires that need to be soldered.
i knew with a mod chip that games worked but im just curious to see if someone was willing to risk teh machine to run a burnt dvd,they are just to damn expensive to buy in stores