I certainly would hate to argue with Joe's statements or anyone with technical knowledge calling data/bit rot a myth. I know there are plenty of people with large collections who don't seem to have a problem.

But I know what has happened to me, and I cannot explain it any other way than the data rot theory. I know what conditions the games have been in from purchase until now (many new,) and I know that not only early turbo cd/sega cd copies of mine have data rot, but so do some of my Dreamcast (including a purchased new Marvel vs Capcom) and Playstation games. I do not know of any better care I can take of my media collection, and something has happened to a small percent of them. Games that never had pin-sizes holes in the data layer now have them. In good light you can see through a tiny spot on the disc. And it really saddens me.

I have explained this problem to some of my other collector friends, and many have started to look through large cd game libraries and experienced similar fates. In fact, a few refuse now to even check their own collection for fear of what they might find!

I had to really look for the little holes on some of the titles, but once I knew what to look for, I started finding them more and more, and the mystery of why a bought new game with no scratches would suddenly not work after so many years. I understand that those who may have not experienced this problem personally (Joe, maybe) would have trouble believing in data rot, after all plenty of technical posting list explanations of why it is a myth, outside of the earliest discs.

But, data rot or something exactly like it has happened to my collection, and a few others once I pointed out what to look for, and I feel that these forums are the best place to share my story. If anyone has alternate theories to explain the little pin-sized holes, I feel we all need to hear.

Sorry, just had to get that off my proverbial chest...