CD Based Games vs Time

[briskbc]

I've heard how cd's can degrade over time to the point where they will stop working.. I believe someone here called it data flaking. I don't know much about this subject so I have a few questions and think a discussion on this would be interesting.

First off. Is this the fate of every cd produced and what would their life span be. Is this starting to show up in some of the first generation of cds produced (music or games).

Second. Will this matter. After say 20 years or so the games wson't be played that much. Granted it will partially depend on how our hobby grows. Right now I think most of us play the games in our collection but if it goes mainstream they could be viewed like stamps (for example) and just put on display.

I bring this subject up because it is easier to collect the more modern games and ot find them complete. they also take up less room than most of the cart based games (complete). Anyway, your thoughts would be appreciated.

[Ed Oscuro]

Right now I hear that current DVD games are often manufactured so poorly that yes, they will degrade. Apparently it's mostly a matter of quality. That said, I've never had a CD-ROM go bad on me, and I have no clue what percentage (though I think it is a percentage) of game titles would supposedly be affected.

(picks up old CD-ROM on shelf from 1995 with sweaty hands)

Yet another reason to love cartridges.

[NE146]

Back them up :P

[jonjandran]

Everywhere I looked said that a CD will last a MINIMUM of 100 years.
So I'm guessing by then the systems will be more of a problem than the CD's.

[Jorpho]

I think a lot of EEPROMs would probably start going bad by then, too.

In theory, dye-based CD-Rs won't last more than a few decades.