An Overlooked Problem when it comes to CDs and DVD Games

[ronchichio]

I need to take a look at this imported Janet Jackson CD single again as I took these pics about 10 years ago.

[bikingjahuty]

I was playing my recently acquired copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga last night (don't worry, this is not a story about how I discovered disc rot on it lol), and the thought of disc rot came to mind, essentially spoiling the fun I was having with this game. Here I have this ridiculously expensive game and I couldn't help, but wonder if it was doomed to get disc rot or god forbid it already had it. As soon as I got to the next save point I quit and researched the hell out of the issue.


From everything I've read it seems that genuine disc rot is fairly rare, especially in dry climates. Apparently the pin holes that people often claim are signs of disc rot are in fact either manufacturer fault when the disc was pressed or damage to the top layer of the disc. Due to modern error correction tech in most disc lasers, these pin holes are typically of little consequence if any at all, even in key data areas on this disc. Genuine disc rot however (cloudy spots and smudges in the disc, or dark marks) is a whole other issues causes by poor pressing, poor storage, damage, and oxidation over time. Environmental factors often can cause or speed this process up. Despite learning about this and realizing that to my knowledge none of my games have disc rot, there still is one issue that all disc based media will run into eventually.


Nothing lasts forever, and that includes the integrity of the data on the disc or the materials that the disc is made out of. Eventually they do break down, and it is not certain how long this will take for discs that have been well cared for and properly stored. It begs the question of whether or not you want to hold onto your disc based games, which is you live long enough will eventually reach 50+ years old. Whether or not they will last that long is still a mystery since the oldest commercial CDs are nearing 40, however some of these still work despite limitations in quality of both the disc and the process by which they were manufactured. It's something I will probably research some more, but at the moment I'm not terrible worried about the disc rot boogyman despite some people on various online forums, and even various "news" articles making it sound like not a single Saturn or PS1 game will work in 20-years from now. I'm more concerned at this point with the long term longevity of disc based media, which at this point still seems like a big question mark.

[hoshichiri]

There's two important things to keep in mind when dealing with disc rot:

1)You can't stop it. Proper storage can help delay the process, but the cause is typically a manufacturing issue, so it started 'rotting' the day it was made.
2)You probably shouldn't worry about it too much. The amount of time it takes a properly stored disc to break down is long enough that you'll likely be dead before your disc is.

Most games can, if fact, lose parts of their data layers and still run. I bought a copy of Evil Zone out of a bargain bin back in the PS1 days that had a massive gouge around the center ring. You know those 3-prong things they put on pizzas so the box doesn't crush them? Take a metal one of those, put it over the spindle hole, and twist until you have 3 half-inch ruts. That's what it looked like. Being a dumb kid, rather than return it I used my disc fixer fluid to buff out the gouge, then played it. End result? The audio skips sometimes. Even with damage like that, it still ran basically fine. (Meanwhile, my copy of Mark of the Wolves on Dreamcast has a less than 1/8" scratch on the top of the disc & won't even load. Just goes to show how important your label side really is.)

I'd be more concerned with heat damage, quite frankly- all materials expand when subjected to heat, so prolonged heat exposure can make your disc expand, warping the data layer & damaging the disc. (Fun fact: this is also why you can't use high heat with nonstick cookware.) The only game I own that, to my knowledge, doesn't play all the way through is a copy of Kessen 2 that I bought from a flea market. I guess it spent too much time in the sun, becuase it's scratch free & crashes every time the ending cutscene starts. I had to watch it on YouTube. I think extreme cold might have a similar issue, but most humans don't like the kind of cold that could hurt a disc, so it's less common. Just make sure any media kept outside the room it's used in gets a chance to come to temp naturally before use if needed- say you get a game in the mail & it's warm/cold that day. Leave it in the game room a few hours before you play it, to prevent damage from an extreme temperature shift.

my main problem is even when I have heat the CD's still feel cold and then in worse cases It becomes wet inside the case due to the humidity on my home. I live in a high humid state year around and with extreme weather both hot and cold.

You should get a dehumidifier for your game room (And possibly a heater/air conditioner). If you can maintain a dry & temperate space for storage, it should help a lot, even if the rest of the house has the usual extremes.

[wolff242]

There's two important things to keep in mind when dealing with disc rot:

1)You can't stop it. Proper storage can help delay the process, but the cause is typically a manufacturing issue, so it started 'rotting' the day it was made.
2)You probably shouldn't worry about it too much. The amount of time it takes a properly stored disc to break down is long enough that you'll likely be dead before your disc is.

This is what I came on here to say. I've stored all my CD's properly for 30 years and never had a problem. Games no problem as well. However, even under the best condition disc rot (apologies to the overly triggered individual from the last page) will happen eventually. The good news is, that if well taken care of- the media can last your entire lifetime.

Also, ROT is used properly here. Rot is not a strictly biological term. You may prefer words such as decay, but rot is perfectly legitimate.

[Warmsignal]

I know people for some reason feel very strongly about this issue, but my opinion is that the entire thing is mostly a hoax, or just a theory of what seems likely to happen. Sure, there have been cases where a CD stops working, is found with pin holes, or corrosion on it, etc. That's still not proof the disc just rotted due to age. Especially if the disc wasn't yours, and wasn't in your possession during a time when it was pristine and working flawlessly. Who knows what it's been through if you're not the original owner? Most people do not concern themselves with caring for items like these, and do all sorts of careless things with them and to them. Some of those things can have immediate adverse effects, while other things might cause a more prolonged degradation. Like spraying a chemical based cleaner on them, or letting knows what else transfer onto them, starting a breakdown process on the material.

It would take a lot of convincing for me to believe that "disc rot" is anything to be concerned about in the least. Disc reading lasers are far more concerning, as they break all the time on consoles that are not even that old. The discs will outlast the lasers by many years. With each passing console generation, the latest and greatest hardware is dying at a higher rate than ever. The machines aren't going to stay working, there's too many parts in them that are prone to failure. I saw where people are already selling heaps of dead Nintendo Switch consoles, the Switch is not even 3 years old yet. That's something I worry somewhat about. I often worry about my Wii U, because I use it often as a Roku alternative, and put a lot of use into it. It's not a cheap console to replace, and they also fail a lot too.