Disc Rot

[Hazerd]

http://www.rfgeneration.com/news/Disc-R ... s-1337.php


Was wondering if anyone has any games they have had since new and kept in mint condition, and have any of this?

seems to be a more up and coming subject, i keep seeing more and more about it.

even a Wikipedia page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_rot

[BananaXX]

Everytime I see disc rot written out I always go back and check all my Saturn and Dreamcast games over. I've heard though its not that big of a deal? I'm sure I remembered incorrectly though.

[Hazerd]

Everytime I see disc rot written out I always go back and check all my Saturn and Dreamcast games over. I've heard though its not that big of a deal? I'm sure I remembered incorrectly though.

lol, im checking some of mine with a really bright LED flashlight, nothing worth mentioning so far!

[SkyLlama]

I've never had this problem with any of my video games and I hope I don't. I've got discs that are ancient and still work.

However, Laser Rot on Laserdisc is a whole different story.

[Hazerd]

nope, all my discs are good lol, maybe cause they sit in darkness....

[AgentBurnwood]

^Seems the above posters are fairly fortunate- hopefully. While I've been aware of it, the issue of bit rot is something that I used to be unconcerned with, right up until the day Metal Slug X for the PS1 suddenly stopped working on me mid game. Taking out the disc revealed no scratches or anything immediately obvious, but a quick check online lead me to look for any signs of bit rot, and sure enough, there was a small white-ish bit rot mark that I would have been oblivious to had I not known what to look for. I had purchased that game new when it came out at Funcoland almost a decade before, and finding bit rot develop on it was a changing moment for me as a collector and gamer. I do check for bit rot on any discs I buy in person (online purchases are almost impossible to check) now, and have been amazed at what I've found.

As the comments on the linked to article indicate, there doesn't seem to be any consistency as to how bit rot strikes. I have old music CD's from the 80's and PC CD's from the early 90's that still work great and have no bit rot, but have had to sell off several Dreamcast and XBOX games that developed bit rot. The reverse has also been true for me, but then again I check everything on a (usually) monthly basis. I've even seen one Blu-Ray (a friend's copy of Talladega Nights) with early bit rot. I have decided against purchasing more than a few DVD's and CD-based games because I found bit rot on them, and have held off on purchasing all but a few sealed disc-based games because of the risk of bit rot. Sealed games aren't immune to this, and there isn't any way to even be sure without opening them, as I found out with a sealed disc copy of TIE Fighter I once picked up locally. While the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast seem to be much more likely candidates than other systems to have their games at risk of bit rot (judging from personal experience and from the comments on the article), all systems with disc-based games are at risk.

Don't dismiss the risk of bit rot- from what I've seen this could be one of, if not the, biggest threats to retrogamers- gamers, collectors, and sellers all.

[dsheinem]

^Seems the above posters are fairly fortunate- hopefully. While I've been aware of it, the issue of bit rot is something that I used to be unconcerned with, right up until the day Metal Slug X for the PS1 suddenly stopped working on me mid game. Taking out the disc revealed no scratches or anything immediately obvious, but a quick check online lead me to look for any signs of bit rot, and sure enough, there was a small white-ish bit rot mark that I would have been oblivious to had I not known what to look for. I had purchased that game new when it came out at Funcoland almost a decade before, and finding bit rot develop on it was a changing moment for me as a collector and gamer. I do check for bit rot on any discs I buy in person (online purchases are almost impossible to check) now, and have been amazed at what I've found.

As the comments on the linked to article indicate, there doesn't seem to be any consistency as to how bit rot strikes. I have old music CD's from the 80's and PC CD's from the early 90's that still work great and have no bit rot, but have had to sell off several Dreamcast and XBOX games that developed bit rot. The reverse has also been true for me, but then again I check everything on a (usually) monthly basis. I've even seen one Blu-Ray (a friend's copy of Talladega Nights) with early bit rot. I have decided against purchasing more than a few DVD's and CD-based games because I found bit rot on them, and have held off on purchasing all but a few sealed disc-based games because of the risk of bit rot. Sealed games aren't immune to this, and there isn't any way to even be sure without opening them, as I found out with a sealed disc copy of TIE Fighter I once picked up locally. While the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast seem to be much more likely candidates than other systems to have their games at risk of bit rot (judging from personal experience and from the comments on the article), all systems with disc-based games are at risk.

Don't dismiss the risk of bit rot- from what I've seen this could be one of, if not the, biggest threats to retrogamers- gamers, collectors, and sellers all.

[DinnerX]

As I understand it the data isn't really damaged. Just the reflective layer on top that lasers need to read the disk. The actual data is on the plastic disk and is fine. Surely there must be some way of patching the reflective layer.

[Jamisonia]

This is a huge problem for Laserdiscs. Some manufacterers are just worst at it than others. We would be wise to start to create a database now about what games are rotting, and where these games were pressed like LD enthusiats did. They were able to nail down the timeframe and plant of the worst offenders, than use that to predict the likelihood of other releases to be affected by rot. In the case of LD the worst offender was Sony, which had one plant that couldn't seem to make a rot free disc.

[flamepanther]

Bit rot on CDs is relativity rare. However, I have one piece of advice: mod your consoles and back up your discs!