Bit Rot, Disc Rot, & Data Loss. An insightful look into Video Game Collecting

[Apocalypse612]

Due to the fact that you are unable to search text sub-strings under four letters, it made it difficult for me to find a post regarding this problem. So please excuse me if this has been mentioned before. To the beef of the topic.

We all know that video games, and technology in general, were not built to withstand the test of time. You've probably heard the phrase "We live a world of cheap technology" at least once, but I myself never really understood what that meant. After some research and reading, I think I've finally come to understand what that term means.

Many of you who probably have owned laser-discs are familiar with the term "laser-rot" or "Disc-Rot", but you should be aware that it doesn't only effect laser-discs.

Bit-Rot, Disc Rot, CD-Bronzing, whatever term you want to call it, all it comes down to is a loss of data. I did a bit of reading mainly from this topic here, and to be honest I'm not sure if it would be wise to invest any more of my money into video games.

Now don't get the wrong impression here. I'm an avid video game enthusiast and I have the strong belief that our retro video games not only serve as historical landmarks, but are also something that should be preserved so that future generations can look back and see where it all started.

Can I willingly invest any more of my money into this hobby (again, don't get me wrong, classic-retro games are something I have a passion for), knowing that they will almost certainly break down in the years to come? I'm sure almost anyone in the retro hobby agree's that emulation simply is NOT the same experience as holding the controller in hand and popping in the game on the system. "The Real Deal", as you might call it. Is this even realistic with how long the games we're shoveling out now are meant to last?


With all that being said, it would only make logical sense to sell it all before the breakdown occurs. It's going to pain me to do this, but what other choices are available? From my understanding, "rot" of the technology is unstoppable, and it just goes to show that the merchandise wasn't meant to endure the test of time. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

On a side note, I think it is also worth mentioning that the Manuals that are packed with Video Games can cause damage to your games! Is it really all that surprising? The chemicals from the Manual can leech into the disc and even make it unplayable. This brings me to the conclusion that Sealed-Game Collecting is pretty pointless. Also for the older-based battery games, after aging won't the acids in the battery leak all over the board of the game, thus ruining it indefinitely? I'm no whiz when it comes to technology, but theses are just a few of my speculations that I have noticed throughout the course of my collecting.