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

[Rickstilwell1]

While I think the OP is a bit alarmist, there have been quite a few archival studies done in recent years showing that even factory pressed CDs can fail over time and like laserdiscs, the theory is that it is a material problem as opposed to a technology one. In fact, even some fairly recent CDs and DVDs suffer from the problem on occasion and it has little to do with whether they are CDr's, replicated or duplicated discs. I do think it's a serious concern and I can't imagine too many museums where people would go to see essentially non-working discs and cartridges. While a lot of us collect complete boxed games, the packaging is nice, but I think the hope is that we will be able to play them 50 years from now. Unfortunately, that's pretty unrealistic in many cases. I'm not sure what the solution is other than not to spend thousands of dollars on individual games and to make sure that you don't treat your collection as some kind of long-term investment.

The way I see it is that if I buy the game complete now and it stops working 20 years from now, at least I can still enjoy looking at the artwork and manuals before playing the game on my emulator just like I do before playing a real cartridge. And to preserve that art even more, I like to scan some of my stuff. The cart might stop working but it can still be looked at too.

If the system outlasts the games and all those games die out, I bet there will still be people making multicarts in the future. I'd just go get one of those. Then when the systems all die, people will follow in the footsteps of today's clone manufacturers and the systems may possibly become bundled with full multicarts or be totally rom based having an internal fullset with replica controllers nearly exactly like the originals. A clone or TV Game will usually have a more accurate feel than a pure emulator so there will still be a market for them.

See the thing about video game collecting is that it is one of the few kinds of collections that don't just set there. Coins and stamps just set there in a book and you don't want to touch the coins much if they are shiny because that will ruin their looks. If video games no longer worked I might still collect them for visuals if I could emulate the things in order to play them. The artwork will just eventually turn into the kind of collection that comics, stamps and coins are but people will still want them.

I seem to appreciate games more when they are earned and have a good display for me to look at. Something about seeing a CIB game on the shelf draws you to it and calls you to play it when it is there in plain sight teasing you. You don't get that feeling as much from a little cartridge because you don't see it as well from a distance. And with emulators alone, you don't get drawn to play anything as much because all you get to see is text. You end up only wanting to play one game for a little while then since you have the ability to switch with the push of a few buttons, you get that ADD of having too many options to choose from. Just like having a larger iPod, you might not listen to every song all the way through anymore.

[Xtincthed]

i've read a lot about discussions like these and participated in some over the years
in one of those, which i can't find at the moment, someone posted a link to a "scientific" article explaining the way cd's (was about playstation games) are produced and how cd-rot works

the baseline of the article was that badly printed cd's can fall victim to this, in my own experience, burnt cd's from the early years of cd-copying are decaying allready
As for profesionally printed or pressed cd's, they are much better protected because the data layer is between two layers of plastic

[badinsults]

Most cart based games use MASKROMs, which are relatively stable things. They will degrade over time due to bombardment from radiation, but they are shielded enough that it is not likely to be an issue during our lifetime. The thing more likely to go on your cart is the connectors due to wear and tear, but someone who is skilled with a soldering iron can likely fix that.

There is a bigger concern about carts that contain EPROMs, as the silicon is far more exposed, and therefore more likely to be disrupted by radiation. Most mass produced games don't use EPROMs, though.

[GarrettCRW]

It's not really all that awful with media so long as a high-quality digital resource exists. After all, the original negatives to The Godfather are in such poor shape that the restoration team declared that it'd crumble into dust if spooled into any sort of editing equipment. Besides the scans made of those negs, they have the separation masters and the interpositives, so there's no chance that we'll ever be deprived of the movie.

[wingzrow]

You know I DO have a copy of an NES game that for some unexplained reason has white dots on the picture no matter what NES or TV I use it on, Even after cleaning the connecting pins it's still covered in even white dots.

Would this be NES cart "bit rot"?

[Bojay1997]

It's not really all that awful with media so long as a high-quality digital resource exists. After all, the original negatives to The Godfather are in such poor shape that the restoration team declared that it'd crumble into dust if spooled into any sort of editing equipment. Besides the scans made of those negs, they have the separation masters and the interpositives, so there's no chance that we'll ever be deprived of the movie.

True, but losing the negative of a film is a tradgedy. Interpositives and separation masters as well as digital scans done after degradation has begun result in a less rich picture than the original master. For video games, I suppose it's less of an issue, but I think people are kidding themselves if they think cartridges or discs or CD/DVD media will last 70-80 years. I think it's more likely that we'll get 50 years of use on the outside for stuff that is really well preserved and stored properly. Keeping in mind that some of this stuff is already 30+ years old, it's something to think about.

[FABombjoy]

You know I DO have a copy of an NES game that for some unexplained reason has white dots on the picture no matter what NES or TV I use it on, Even after cleaning the connecting pins it's still covered in even white dots.

Would this be NES cart "bit rot"?

The only way to know for sure would be to desolder and dump the ROM, then compare it to a known good copy. I would place my bet on a problem somewhere between the cart edge and the ROM, rather than a defective chip.

[jb143]

The only way to know for sure would be to desolder and dump the ROM, then compare it to a known good copy. I would place my bet on a problem somewhere between the cart edge and the ROM, rather than a defective chip.

I'd say the same thing. If anything, it would be a chip with only graphics on it. Alter the program code in anyway and more than likely it would simply crash. It does sound more like a problem on the PCB...possibly a trace or component off one of the data lines.

[FABombjoy]

Yeah, I was being a bit generic in my reply. In this specific case it sounds like a character ROM problem.

[jb143]

Even so...data corrution will likely lead to random results. The only thing I've ever seen resembling what you describe had to do with making bad contact.

[God-Zilla]

If you haven't noticed problems with your Thayer's Quest disc to date, it probably is not one that is prone to laser rot. A significant percentage of them are unfortunately. I have collected laserdiscs since the mid-80s and out of about 1,000 including many check and test discs and prototypes, I have only noticed a rot issue with my Discovision discs and a couple of 90s Pioneer discs which have known problems per other collectors. My storage routine is basically the same as Natty although our house is pretty tightly climate controlled at 70 degrees year round and living in California, we don't have extremes of heat or moisture most of the year.

do you know if I can check my thayers quest disc with a regular LD player or will it only play in a halcyon (as I don't have one...)

[Bojay1997]

do you know if I can check my thayers quest disc with a regular LD player or will it only play in a halcyon (as I don't have one...)

It's just a standard laserdisc and it plays in any player. In fact, the laserdisc player that is part of the Halcyon is just a stock Pioneer LD-700 with different logos attached.

[God-Zilla]

cool! I'll give it a check...