Thoughts on resurfacing Turbo CD games

[vestcoat]

An investment is generally something that is going to increase in value. With video games that isn't necessarily the case, it could well be worth less than you paid for it if you decide to sell it in the future.

If value is even a factor, it's an investment. Too many people buy stuff because they think it's valuable.

I want to make sure that I'm not going to get 3/4 of the way through a game and then start having glitches due to scratched disks and such.  I'm really completely unfamiliar with how much 'damage' - scratches, scuffs, etc... a normal Turbo CD game can take while retaining the ability to play fine with no problems.

The Turbo is OK with scratched CDs. IME, scuffs and hairline scratches are no problem at all. Skipping audio has been never been a problem. I don't have any discs with deep scratches. My only problem disc is Psychic Storm - one of the later levels won't load because of a top scratch on the silver above the inner ring.

The only CD system I have to compare the Turbo to is a 3DO FZ-10, which is MUCH better. I have discs that look like they've been chewed by dogs play fine in that thing.

[wilykat]

Video games > Gold

Every good reseller knows this. 

QFT

Too bad eBay is full of seller who aren't good and expects to get over $100 from a loose, dirt-common game.  Or a VGA graded game for the price of a Ferrari.

I remember when eBay didn't have buy it now feature. Of course seller could have auction with ridiculously high starting bid or impossibly high reserve.

[Black Tiger]

If If value is even a factor, it's an investment. Too many people buy stuff because they think it's valuable.

I gladly pay up to hundreds of dollars for games that I want to play a legit copy of. But I never expect or even hope that they will hold their "value" (to other people). Most PCE/Turbo games I have bought have dropped in value by 90+%. I paid $100+ for many games that now sell complete or even new for <$10 and I couldn't be happier. Whenever I see a pricey game that I paid a lot for steadily drop in price, I get excited. I don't shout "NO! My investment portfolio is ruined!"

Whenever I buy a game, whether I pay $5 or $500, it essentially becomes worthless dollar-wise to me. Because I don't buy games at reasonable prices to resell. I only buy games for myself to keep and play. If down the road for whatever reason I decide to part with a game, I don't whip out an investment list to base its value around what I once paid. I just figure out what a fair current price for it is and sell it for at least slightly less than that.

[Drakon]

For me whatever people are asking for a game I sit down and think "will I get 90$ worth of fun out of this game?" and if the answer is "yes!" then I'll buy it.

[RegalSin]

Oxygen and light is not our friend, in preservation. That is what I understand.

[Bernie]

Its you again......

[xelement5x]

Oxygen and light is not our friend, in preservation. That is what I understand.

That's what I'm going to tell my kids when their Grandpa dies.  Short, sweet, and straight to the point.

[8bitForLife]

well a couple of my games got scratchs on them from my rx its totally resurfacable. I am not a slob or anything just accidents  from me opening the top of the system before it was done spinning.  I have been thinking of sending my 4 games to http://www.ebay.com/itm/271009578318?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 its an ok price.

[blueraven]

I only buy games in good shape and treat them properly, and as such have never needed such a service.  Much like any other CD, though, resurfacing works fine if the disc is not too badly damaged and it's done properly.

Yar.

[SignOfZeta]

well a couple of my games got scratchs on them from my rx its totally resurfacable. I am not a slob or anything just accidents  from me opening the top of the system before it was done spinning.  I have been thinking of sending my 4 games to http://www.ebay.com/itm/271009578318?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 its an ok price.

If you open a Duo while it's still spinning the only thing that will get scratched is the hub, and there isn't any data there.

Are you saying the discs won't play now? Or are these scratches just cosmetic? If the game still plays I wouldn't change a thing. If the games don't play properly then something else happened besides opening the door when the disc was playing.

[esteban]

TANGENT, OF SORTS:
I have Dungeon Explorer 2 (US) with a gouge in it. One of my favorite songs (cave drippy water song) just screws up ~60 seconds into the song and creates an ugly digital scratch/pop as the CD player corrects itself.

This makes me sad .

The disc is otherwise pristine.

I will gladly swap discs with anyone willing to do so.

I wish I wasn't 100% serious about this.

[MottZilla]

People were commenting that CDs will out live you. While that depends on your age, for younger people that is not necessarily true. Yes people tout CD-ROMs as having such a long life-span but there are CD-ROMs that have already failed. And they all will fail eventually. And depending on how old you are, and how old a particular disc is, you may out live it. And how well made the disc is and how well stored and handled it has been all play a factor. But even if you store it and treat it like a champ it may still fail on you one day. So don't go overboard worrying about it.

I agree that you should only resort to resurfacing if a disc is not playing correctly or at all. And that you should seek professional help and not try to get a cheap fix.

[vestcoat]

People were commenting that CDs will out live you. While that depends on your age, for younger people that is not necessarily true.

Could you please link some sources?

[MottZilla]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD_rot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD_bronzing

While I've not heard about any mass problems with any game CD-ROMs, these discs are not never ending. Eventually the reflective layer could get exposed to oxygen and begin to suffer from oxidation. Then it will eventually be useless. How that happens, who knows. You very well could find that a particular CD-ROM lasts 100 years after being pressed. But those are all estimates obviously as the format has not existed that long. We do know that heat and humidity are bad. Oxygen probably too. So if you store all your discs in a cool, dry, oxygen free room, you'll be in good shape. Really my point is just that you shouldn't worry too much about it as eventually the disc may stop working despite your best efforts to avoid any scratches or extreme temperatures.

[SignOfZeta]

Yeah well...I've got a few CDs that are almost 30 years old and they are fine. I have about 1000 more that are of lesser vintage and I've not once seen a single issue of bit rot. As far as I'm concerned the shit is good forever.

Laserdisc collectors are quite familiar with rot since LDs are two CD-like discs glued together. Imperfections in the gluing process are what cause oxidation and what eventually leads to rot. Its the reflective aluminum later that oxidizes and this can only happen if there are impurities in the laquer top coat (CD) or glue (LD) that allow the oxidation to continue for years after manufacture. Oxygen in atmosphere as little to no effect since the aluminum in the disc is completely sealed. the Certain types of discs from certain factories are especially prone to rot, and others aren't. Conventional wisdom these days is that if a disc is ever going to rot, the causes for it were in place at the factory. It may take years to manifest, but it the rot was unavoidable from the point the defective disc was make. Aside from extreme heat/cold cases there really isn't anything you can do to cause or prevent rot. I'm inclined to believe the same thing is true of CDs. Additionally, rot in CDs is at least 1000 times as rare as rot in LDs.

If rot was ever going to effect PC Engine games, for example, some of which are as much as 23 years old, we would have seen at least a couple of rotters by now. I've never heard of a single one.