How long do CD-based games last?

[James8BitStar]

I have had absolutely no success making working backups of my Sega CD and PC-Engine games, so I at least want to know how long each game will naturally last before it just naturally degrades.

So how long will I have to look forward to?

Thanks in advance.

[boatofcar]

We had a thread on this a while back, but unfortunately since "cd," "bit," and "rot" are all under the mandatory 4 characters for search, I can't find it.

[kedawa]

You shouldn't have too much trouble making working backups since there's no copy protection whatsoever on those systems.
Just burn an exact duplicate on the lowest speed possible.

[G-Boobie]

Assuming you don't scratch them, burn them, break them in half, or coat them in some noxious chemical, they'll last until the disc itself breaks down. So, longer than the consoles that actually play them.

Here's the wiki on Optical Media Preservation. If you take care of your games and store them properly, they'll be around longer than you are.

[108Stars]

AFAIK CDs last for 15 - 25 years, depending on the way they are kept. If you live in a climate like in the Amazonas they will most likely die after 15 years for example.

[Sothy]

15-25 years.... are you high?

[108Stars]

Why? That´s what studies said a while ago.

[alexkidd2000]

Why? That´s what studies said a while ago.

I think thats for blank media.

[108Stars]

I don´t think so. The mag I read this in was about this very topic, meaning that they were talking about full media. The data gets damaged little by little over time, and someday it is too much to read anymore.

CD-Rs and the likes will often don´t even survive 10 years.

[strassy]

i have a CD that is 24 years old (Mel Torme Swings Schubert Alley, 1984) and it still sounds brand new...i have a hard time believing it will suddenly cease to work within the next year.

i have many, many CDs that are at least 15 years old. if the 15-25 lifespan was accurate, at least SOME of them would no longer be working.

[thetoxicone]

i have a CD that is 24 years old (Mel Torme Swings Schubert Alley, 1984) and it still sounds brand new...i have a hard time believing it will suddenly cease to work within the next year.

i have many, many CDs that are at least 15 years old. if the 15-25 lifespan was accurate, at least SOME of them would no longer be working.

I've got a couple very early release cds as well and they work without any issues.

[exit]

CD-Rs and the likes will often don´t even survive 10 years.

I've heard something like that about blank media, but isn't completely true from what I've read over the years. As for "real" CDs not lasting more than so many years, that's complete BS and I'm sure that's easily backed up from many of the members on DP.

Both types will last as long as the owner takes proper care of them and doesn't do something silly like leaving them to bake in the sun.

[108Stars]

Well, I can´t tell from personal experience because my earliest CD is from 1994, but I can just say what I read.

[G-Boobie]

Well, I can´t tell from personal experience because my earliest CD is from 1994, but I can just say what I read.

I can only assume that the CD still works, which makes it 14 years old, which means you'd better play it quick. You've only got a few months left to enjoy it.

The fact is, optical media is pretty fucking stable: the data is encoded into a non-degradable, crystalline, polymer surface. We're not talking punch cards or magnetized tape, here. We're talking high grade plastics.

Don't scratch your media, don't bake your media, don't submerge your media, and you'll be fine.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Any optical media will be rendered a coaster through other means (scratches, spontaneous disk drive explosion or a microwave sparkler) long before it physically degrades into one. From what I recall, optical disks can last hundreds of years if nothing unfortunate occurs.

[James8BitStar]

You shouldn't have too much trouble making working backups since there's no copy protection whatsoever on those systems.
Just burn an exact duplicate on the lowest speed possible.

I tried that.

I also tried using different programs--including some fan-made SPECIFICALLY for backing up SCD and PCE games--and following all the available online guides to the letter.

Every burn I made was imperfect, in the worst cases to the point where the burn was unplayable. The problem seemed to always be that the Sega CD and PCE couldn't find the right track for music or data and would just spend forever loading after a certain point.

Anyway, this post has reassured me that the worst thing I have to look out for is human stupidity. I'm certainly not gonna play frisbee with my disks anytime soon.

[Cryomancer]

Maybe you were ripping/burning wrong. Use the darkwater method ( http://darkwater.free.fr/v2/index.php?page=news but they apparently moved ot a wiki now and some info is sorta not there...) and make sure to stay bin/cue (for sega cd at least) and you should have success.

[James8BitStar]

I did BIN/CUE as per the instructions on a page called... Racketboy? I think that was his name. Something like that. I even used some program called Sega CUE Maker.

Darkwater doesn't seem to have much of their information up.

[InsaneDavid]

Best way to duplicate a SCD game is to use "Copy Entire Disc" or something similar in the burning software of your choice. You'll put the SCD game in, it'll read it, then it'll want a blank CD-R and will burn a 1-to-1 duplicate. No need to screw around with downloads and BIN and CUE files. It is true, however, that some games such as Lunar The Silver Star will not load if the audio tracks are of different length than it is looking for - a problem with a lot of downloads of said game.

1-to-1 copy your originals, simple as that.

[Flack]

"How long will my CDs last" is like asking "how long will I live." There are a bunch of variables involved (in both, actually).

I was just preparing a blog post on the topic of bit rot, which was inspired after I discovered several of my oldest CD-R discs recently stopped working. Many early CD-R disks are susceptable to "flaking" -- the gold layer will just start peeling off, and when that happens it's all over. Another type of bit rot is CD Bronzing, which affected several labels of the late 80s and early 90s.

As a general rule, store bought (or "pressed") CDs will last longer than burned discs. If you haven't lost any CDs yet, well, lucky you. As someone who's seen it first hand, I can tell you it sucks after thinking that CDs lasted forever.