Disc Rot

[ryanofcali]

It seems poor manufacturing is key in this problem as well as early technology such as discs from 1990 or before, more a problem for cd's and laser discs than disc based games.

[Soldier Blue]

Just got screwed on a bunch of disc only Saturn games I bought on ebay. All of them have a lot of disc rot. Knew the deal was too good to be true. Oh well. I'll post pictures whenever I figure out how to get it on camera.

Quite tough to get it on camera but here is Dark Savior that I bought. You can see the white pinholes that you can see through.

[Cronozilla]

To be a little positive, I think this could be repairable in the next few years.

The layer that's deteriorating is just a reflective layer, the data is physically pressed into plastic. Theoretically you could resurface the thing. (The label is toast, though. Thankfully, video games don't use double sided discs). Home workshops are becoming more common.

It might not be worth the price, even something really expensive like a Panzer Dragoon Saga might be cheaper to purchase again. But, if someone had this setup, I'm sure something could be worked out to save some of these discs.

As for the current copies people have, it could be worse, at least these are CDs, the data isn't very physically compact on the disc. It'd be a different ballgame if you found PS3 discs with this junk happening.

[Sarge]

Ouch, that sucks. And now I'm paranoid about my games... again.

[CRTGAMER]

Just got screwed on a bunch of disc only Saturn games I bought on ebay. All of them have a lot of disc rot. Knew the deal was too good to be true. Oh well. I'll post pictures whenever I figure out how to get it on camera.

Quite tough to get it on camera but here is Dark Savior that I bought. You can see the white pinholes that you can see through.

Not disc rot, that looks like the label was scratched. Contrary to popular belief, the label side is the fragile side on DVD and CD games, movies and music discs. It is only protected by a layer of paint versus the clear plastic on the read side underneath.

To be a little positive, I think this could be repairable in the next few years.

The layer that's deteriorating is just a reflective layer, the data is physically pressed into plastic. Theoretically you could resurface the thing. (The label is toast, though. Thankfully, video games don't use double sided discs). Home workshops are becoming more common.

Once the label is scratched it usually takes the read material including the reflective layer band microscopic pits with it leaving just the clear plastic.

[nightrnr]

I'm mostly only concerned for my Sega systems. I've run into this with Sega CD, Saturn and possibly Dreamcast (my copy of Power Stone 2 has a suspicious area).

Off the top of my head, I've noticed disc rot on these games.

Dragon's Lair (2 copies, both freeze mid game)
Sonic CD (several copies, but most work fine, no skipping audio or video)
Snatcher ( , likely more due to physical abuse from previous owner; boots, but most audio is messed up; I it bought on the cheap knowing it probably had issues)
Golden Axe: The Duel (3 copies all with signs of disc rot in different areas, and all 3 work from what I've tested)

I'm sure there are some others in my collection, but as someone else posted, it's not worth the stress.

[Sarge]

Yeah, I looked at all my Dreamcast games, and they all look good except for... Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Of course. (Well, there's a suspicious spot on my Plasma Sword disc, and another on the Sonic 2 demo as well.)

Considering I checked 26 games, of which one was a 4-disc (D2) and the other three (Shenmue), I'd say I'm doing mostly okay.

That being said, apparently my copy wasn't affected to the point of unplayability, or I just didn't hit a bad spot, because I just finished off MvC2 in the process.

[Exhuminator]

As CRTGAMER correctly said, those pinholes are not disc rot. They are from label damage. Here are some pictures of actual disc rot:

https://psap.library.illinois.edu/asset ... b4e4e5.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... t_2001.png

https://markpickavance.files.wordpress. ... vd_rot.jpg

The Wikipedia article on this subject is actually a decent read:

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

Other informative links on longevity and proper storage:

http://www.loc.gov/preservation/resourc ... gevity.pdf

http://www.loc.gov/preservation/scienti ... evity.html

http://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/record.html

[BoneSnapDeez]

My games will last forever because I live in the paradise that is Maine.

All yous who live in Texas or Georgia are doomed. DOOOOOOMED.

[Exhuminator]

My games will last forever because I live in the paradise that is Maine.

I just checked Augusta Maine on NOAA. It said the current humidity there is 90%. Humidity is one of the worst enemies of optical media and gaming hardware. Hope you've got some dehumidifiers going on bro.