Don't you guys worry

[soop]

That your CD games might start to break down at some point in your lifetime?

I have fewer CD games than most, and I love Hucards, but for those with a large collection, the thought that at some point, likely within their lifetime, those games will suddenly become unplayable must be chilling.

And the PC Engine, being the first console to have CD games is gonna be the fist one to hit.

I can also see it going 2 ways:  Firstly, everyone starts trying to sell off their collection to try and offset the loss, more games on the market and the fact that people know the games are on their last legs means we all get a copy of Dracula X for $5.

Or, the people that take good care of their games wait until they have the only surviving copy of Majong Gakuen Mild, and it's suddenly worth a fortune.

Of course it's not gonna happen quite like that, there are probably games which have been mistreated dying already, but yeah it does worry me.

[futureman2000]

I'll bet that the pool of collectors will die before the software does.

[Necromancer]

No, I'm not worried about my CDs spontaneously combusting or any such silliness.

[Arkhan]

CDS ARE IMMORTAL.

[SignOfZeta]

Properly manufactured CDs that haven't had the shit kicked out of them are more or less eternal. Since PCE games were made well into the CD era and made in Japan, I'm not worried at all. Ditto for HuCards.

There are several types of media I am worried about. Game systems like GBA and Neo Geo Pocket use flash exclusively and...I don't have a lot of faith in flash.

The big one for me though is Laserdisc. Early US releases are already rotting pretty bad. Later US releases are also terrible. For the moment the mid period (maybe 1988-1995) seems fine and pretty much all JP releases as well. The thing is, LDs rot because the glue causes the reflective layer to oxidize. We know this happens very quickly when the disc is a piece of shit from the factory (ie: late period Columbia Tri star or Discovision releases) but we don't yet know if this isn't also happening to EVERY disc, just at a slower rate. Only time will tell. In another 20 years we'll either be fine or completely without any LDs.

[SuperPlay]

A little off topic however I can concur with Laserdisc rot.  I still have around 200 disks in my collection and a lot of these are now showing signs of rot.

For anyone else interested in Laserdic the following site rates the rot chances.

http://www.lddb.com/

[vestcoat]

Going back to the OP, no.  I think our CDs will be fine if they're treated gently and stored at room temperature.  I'm more worried about first-party control pads.  I'm seeing the rubber breaking down in a lot of controllers for 8- and 16-bit systems.

[RegalSin]

CD's have burn holes in them, that goes threw layers, and layers. The best way to keep your CD games in check is, to keep them in their cases, and not out too long.

I am getting tired of all of this anti-cd and bit-rot nonsense. These are only specs based off production, made to scare the consumer into buying into downloadable content. TAPE is a far better storage material, and long lasting as somebody said in a documentary. We should still be using tape for our Videos, and even videogames as well. Even records are long lasting. They say the same crap about books. I have books from 1940's that I read still, without breaking apart.

Reality check is that most materials made today are crap compared to materials used before. I have been copying CD's for a very long time, and I have noticed ( like coins ) the cds have become very smaller, thiner, and easier to bend.

All of these things they mentions is from mishandling by consumers, and harsh conditions. The entire western society is heavy influenced  because of the religious ideas. Like how our weekends surrounds the sabbath, or the idea of new.

My old boss from the first job I got by myself said it best. Maintain, maintain, maintain. By that he means if you take care of something it will
last a real long time. That is all anybody has to do with anything. So stop worrying.

Just worry about how future generations are going to be sports playing arseholes who spends their free time trying to slove the worlds problems, working on vehicals, and flying machines. The least amount of entertainment they will have is teather and crap Wii virtual.

If it wasn't for the whale eating Nipponese, being creative. that is how the entire world would have been like. Stuck in the atari generation forever.

Another thing to think about his how all of the early products ( even during the 1980's ) was made to last, and be used for a very very long time. There are transforming chairs from the 1800's that still works the same as they did when they were new. Swords and guns that are constantly kept in shape, passed down from generation of warhawk, to generation of enthusiast.

So stop worrying. If you are so worried then write to the makers of the games to make a second release, for the system. For collecting purposes.

[spenoza]

A lot of CDs manufactured in the early to mid-90's also have an increased chance of oxidation (aka CD rot) due to poor quality pressing. I have a Dream Theater CD on which I can no longer play the outer-most song. If PCE CDs used poor pressing houses those problems could exist for them.

[nat]

I've never had a professional pressed CD succumb to any sort of degradation or breakdown. On the other hand, most CDRs that I burned 12-15 years ago have started to deteriorate with what looks like small, pinhead sized burns in the reflective layer. I keep all my CDs (CDRs included) stored away and clean, so I can only assume what's happening with my old CDRs is some kind of natural process.

The professionally pressed CDs I own from 20-25 years ago still look and play as if they were brand new, though. I have always (and will continue to) live under the assumption that all my music and video game discs will long outlive me, unless I start seeing evidence to the contrary.

[Arkhan]

Japan doesn't use poor pressing houses.  Lets be realistic here.

[SignOfZeta]

I've had one bad CD ever. It was Information Society's "Hack". Thats it though. I have a SHITLOAD of CDs, btw, going back to 86/87, something like that.

I've recently been watching a lot of my Laserdisc collection and I have almost no rot. My copy of The Jerk is really bad. It actually locks up in my newest player. I also have two discs purchased recently, Super Atragon and Crusher Joe, US versions, that have minor rot. One of these is from ADV (virtually every LD they released is rotted). The other is from Animeigo, although a later release. None of my imports, the bulk of my collection, are rotted. My oldest Japanese LD is Unico and the Island of Magic. I'm actually not sure when it was pressed. It I think it was around 1985. There is a problem with very bright areas that looks like rot, but this only happens in my old player which might just have a weak laser or something. There is no sign of this problem in my newer player.

The reason why LDs rot is because they are two discs glued together and the glue oxidizes the alluminum. If your LD is going to rot it was decided when it was (poorly) made. There is nothing you can do to stop it. CDs aren't made this way though they just laquer over the alluminum so this problem is non-existent on quality pressings. Similarly single platter LDs (8" and CDVs) don't rot. Well, that's not %100 true. A lot of Euro CDVs (maybe all of them) rot, but that's because they were produced by a half-assed factory. In fact, I think all Euro CDVs were made in the same facility.

There are no "holes burned" into standard CDs. The only burning is on the master. The production discs are stamped and then coated with two layers. Also, CDs aren't thinner than they used to be, you're just thicker.

[SuperDeadite]

Old floppy disk games are my worry.   I have a few dead MSX 3.5 and X68k 5.25 disks.  I've never had a dead FDS game yet though, knock on wood.

[nat]

That's true. We've reached a point in time where floppies are starting to drop like flies. Some of these things were manufactured as far back as like 1980, in certain cases it's amazing they still work at all. I have lots of 5.25" Apple // disks and a good number of them are no longer any good.

[grahf]

I've personally bought two copies of Cosmic Fantasy 1 that had "CD rot". You can see what looks like a water stain if you hold them up at the right angle. It's not the same as Laser Disks, but it does happen to poorly made disks.

But besides that, I really do worry about all of my CDs. It's not that they're going to deteriorate, but rather that they can be destroyed with a single accident. It only takes one deep scratch to kill them. People with children be afraid!!