[game_preservation] Game disc wear questions

[Devin Monnens]

I have been going through all the games in my collection (it's taking a very
long time...) and recording what condition the discs are in. One thing I
noticed as I was going through is some discs have a lot of wear that doesn't
seem related to normal wear and tear as they've been sitting on a shelf
forever. I've gone through over 130 PS1 and 130 PS2 games and another 100 or
so games from other disc-bases systems. So this is a fairly large sample
base. Here are a few observations I've made:

*Scratches*
PS1 and Saturn games are full of scratches. It is very hard to find a game
from this era that is not scratch-free. After going through my XBox games, I
think I realize why: these games have gone through many different users,
many of whom do not take care of their games. The more users a game goes
through, the more wear it will get. As a result, a used Xbox game purchased
shortly after it came out had maybe one user and therefore very little wear.
A PS1 game is 10 years old and has gone through say three to six users.
Couple this with less durable material, and this is why so many used games
are scratched up. (This and just the nature of who the owner was). I am sad
to report some of the discs I bought new show signs of minor wear (minor
scratches here and there :P). Incidentally, Wii Sports is the most scratched
up due to the fact it's stored inside a disc sleeve. This is poor design on
Nintendo's part if you ask me.

Another major cause of scratches is damage to the case. Several of my games
have broken disc tabs (scientific term for the thingies that hold the discs
in place). As a result, they don't sit in the case properly and can get
loose. I will be working to replace these cases. Saturn cases will be the
most difficult, but some PS1 long box cases are impossible to replace unless
you get a new copy: the disc labels are actually glued to the plastic.

*Resurfacing*
It's hard for me to tell if a game was resurfaced if they did a good job.
Most of the cases, I see disc doctors being used, and so there is a telltale
spiral mark on the discs. For others, I was told you can tell if there is a
kind of film on the disc. I don't think it's that important if the disc was
resurfaced if it was done right, but maybe it is to collectors. I guess all
that matters is if the game runs smoothly for preservation purposes.
Unfortunately, good buffing systems cost thousands of dollars, so most
buffed discs don't look like that.

*Dust*
A lot of my discs have dust on them. These are fine particles or a film that
seems to have gotten on the disc. I'm concerned as this might be an early
stage of bit rot, especially because the games have essentially been sealed
in a case. I don't know the cause of this, but I the only thing that seems
to make sense is dust and static from when the game was in the system. I
think dust in the system gets on the disc when it spins up and gets kicked
up by the cooling fan. The plastic is also staticky and so will attract dust
(this happens when we run a disc through the buffing machine at work). Is
there another explanation for this?

My other concern is the Wii because the system uses a disc loader rather
than a loading tray. My PowerBook has problems with its loader - it smudges
the discs when I put them in and take them out. This may be because I'm not
pulling them out EXACTLY perpendicular to the system, or it could be wear on
the case. However, I don't trust loaders for this reason and never will. So
much for the Wii. I do see a lot of dust on the Wii games, and I think this
may be related to it.

*Discoloration*
Several Xbox and 360 games I have have discoloration on the disc. At first I
thought this was related to buffing, but then I noticed some games I'd
purchased brand-new like that. The best I can tell is these are 'errors' or
inconsistencies in the dying and disc manufacturing process. They don't seem
to affect gameplay.

*Bit Rot: Faded Discs*
Ok, this is some serious cause for concern. I have a couple 3DO games that
are showing severe problems of bit rot. They are the SSI games Slayer and
Deathkeep. If you hold these up to the light, you can actually see through
the disc and see the label on the other side. This is very bad news because
it means the laser will eventually shine through the disc. Slayer is in the
worse shape; it came out in 1994, a year prior to Deathkeep. I feel these
are very poorly manufactured discs and so will be looking for ways to back
up the discs. I am afraid they might not last more than five more years. I
haven't checked to see if this is a problem also present on Sega CD or
Saturn discs. It is not a problem affecting all 3DO games because some of
them have opaque backing that may prevent fading. Of course, it is also
possible the discs were buffed... These were purchased used and so their
history is unknown.

-- 
Devin Monnens
www.deserthat.com

The sleep of Reason produces monsters.
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