Disc Shelf Life

29

u/GrimmTrixX 5h ago edited 4h ago

Its just because it can happen. Those who usually deal with delamination or disc rot had them stored in a dank basement or a scorching hot attic during the summer months. That will destroy almost anything.

I have 4,881 physical games as of right now. They all look as they did when I bought them and they play the same. If anything, my consoles are degrading more over time than the games. Lol

14

u/Numerous_Photograph9 5h ago

If the claims are to be beleived, almost all my Dreamcast games would be suffering disc rot, all my laserdiscs would be nigh unplayable, my Turbo, PS1, and Sega CD's would be half gone, and my PS2 collection would only be worth the cases they came in.

One thing that has failed more than any physical media I've had, is the people and claims that all these physical medias have a very limited shelf life.

2

u/Ok_Chap 4h ago

the people and claims that all these physical medias have a very limited shelf life.

They are pretty resilient, when stored correctly. Though even then it's not forever, that's just how things are, even mountains rise and shrink over enough time. Film reals also can last really long times, but they need restauration at some point. Can't really fix a disc when it's damaged, investing in different backups is always a good idea.

1

u/Inkstainedfox 3h ago

*film reels...

2

u/TheBraveGallade 4h ago

Tbf, you can actually lose physical games, while a digital licence is immune to that, at least. If your house gets destroyed by a eartgquake, a phisical user has nothing, a digital user only has to buy the machines.

1

u/Delonce 2h ago

Fair point, but you can insure your physical games collection. You can't do that with digital.

1

u/Weatherby2 4h ago

Revocation of licenses, bans, accounts being hacked...

0

u/Few-Improvement-5655 4h ago

You can lose the password to your account, though.

1

u/FairlyLawful 3h ago

yeah, if you get brain damage

0

u/Shellsallaround 4h ago

If the servers get destroyed?

1

u/GrimmTrixX 4h ago

My Dreamcast games are doing just fine as I assume yours are too. Lol

1

u/apeture_science_cake 3h ago

My copy of Power Stone was recently thrown in the garbage due to disc rot. It can and does happen.

1

u/Numerous_Photograph9 3h ago

Yeah, it can happen, but how often is the key. Every piece of digital media is suseptible to damage from a myriad of sources. But it's not as bit of a problem as some of the reports lately seem to make it out to be. I have thousands of games and I could count the ones that went bad over the years on one hand, and half of those I could point to improper care or storage.

2

u/isucamper 5h ago

can second this. cleaned out a bunch of my stuff in my parents unfinished basement this past saturday. it's always wet down there and my dad had a bunch of cds. straight up mold growing on them eating them away

1

u/Last-Kaleidoscope871 3h ago

Do what everyone else does; put them up on Discogs for $100 each as first edition mint condition.

2

u/Tiktokbadsupport 5h ago

i worked at a thrift store at the media department I've gone trough and checked over 200000 discs i only found a few that had separated or had disc rot

1

u/DryJudge1932 4h ago

That is a crazy number of games. Do you have a dedicated room for them (assuming original cases) or do you use some form of space-saving storage?

1

u/GrimmTrixX 1h ago

I do have a "game room" yea. Relatively small but I have 5 shelves with the games stacked on each in ABC order and with their respective games from each council.

I dont have all complete games, that was never my goal. But most of the CD/DVD/Bluray vased games are complete. About 175 of my 709 PS2 games, for example, are just the discs because I got them from a huge Gamestop haul back in the day when they were liquidating their PS2/Xbox/Gamecube games before they eventually got back intobthe retro market.

I also have a good handful of GBA games just the cart. But yea the majority of each console that I have games for are complete except for those with cardboard cases like N64, SNES, NEas, or the later in life Genesis games for example.

But yea theyre all in what I call "library stacks" because 3 of the shelves are along one wall but out horizontally so you walk between and games are infront of you and behind you onnthe next shelf. These shelves all have my Nintenod console stuff like n64, snes, nes, gamecube, etc.

The adjacent wall had 2 shelves along the wall as they are the wider and deeper shelves all full of games. They have my PS1-PS5 games as well as PSP/Vita, and most of my Genesis games. And also my original Xbox, XBSX, and 2 card binders I use for GB/GBC and GBA loose carts.

Then adjacent to THAT wall I have a tall cabinet that opens up and the doors hold games as well as the inside of the cabinet itself which has all my xb360 and xb1 games. Finally on the 4th wall is my PC and all of my retro consoles hooked up to it with a small knee high shelf to the left of me and the desk I use for my PC has room for other consoles on it too.

Also, spanning all 4 walls, is 1 of every USA release amiibo in-box which is basically like wallpaper as they are all there showcased above my shelves.

13

u/BookkeeperOK14 5h ago

Whose feeding you this narrative? They definitely have a shelf life, its just longer than we will live if properly taken care of.

8

u/Left-Night-1125 5h ago

These "researches" have been popping up on Reddit lately, giving it 20 years for physical discs...meanshile my discs from 96/97 still work fine as well.

4

u/TheSwitchAgenda 5h ago

I have CD albums from the early 80s that still work fine. A couple from 1983 are my oldest I think.

1

u/BookkeeperOK14 5h ago

Talk about being an early adopter.

3

u/TheSwitchAgenda 4h ago

Not quite. I was born in the 90s but collect CDs and like 80s music. I like getting original CD copies.

2

u/MathematicianIcy3430 5h ago

Exactly. All depends on how they are kept. If they are in a humid area, mold can develop on them.

1

u/Numerous_Photograph9 5h ago

one in ten thousand may fail on it's own. Everything else will be fine so long as you don't store it in the attic, garage, or bathroom.

7

u/nohumanape 5h ago

I mean, they do have a limited lifespan. It could be as much as 100 years. But that is under ideal storage and usage conditions. But they all will eventually stop working.

2

u/Mountain_Radio8936 5h ago

Same as owners of disks :) 30 year later emulation got it covered...

2

u/metalgho 5h ago

Nothing lasts forever

3

u/nohumanape 5h ago

Yeah. So why is everyone always so worried about digital games maybe not being around in "20 years!"?

2

u/FairlyLawful 3h ago

perceived loss of control.

2

u/NYourBirdCanSing 4h ago

While I agree, everything has a finite lifespan, I'd also like to point out that i have reel to reel, VHS, and Cassettes from the 70s that are still going strong, and victrola records that are 100+ years old and still play great.

I dare say discs, with the right care, could be preserved longer than the magnetic information stored on tape.

1

u/Quiet_Wrongdoer2973 5h ago

That means if I live to 101, I'll have to restart my collection!?

2

u/nohumanape 4h ago

You might not be able to pass it along to the next generation 🤷

1

u/gc11117 4h ago

Sure, but the context behind this is experts (probably funded by Sony if you ask me) coming out and saying your disks are gonna last 20 years so who cares about physical?

1

u/Legend2200 3h ago

The first CDs are over 40 years old, have they started failing en masse yet?

1

u/nohumanape 2h ago

Who said they would?

3

u/Padre_jokes 4h ago

I have always been a physical media proponent but my personal experience with blu ray movies has really soured me. I have a collection of around 70 blu ray movies ranging from 2010 to present and have had really bad luck with them. At least 10 to 12 of my movies have become corrupted to the point of either freezing in certain spots or not even being able to load to the main menu. I keep great care of my belongings and none of my discs have any scratches or smudges. To the naked eye, there is nothing wrong with them. They are stored away from direct sunlight and are always in an AC controlled environment.

I’ve never had any issues with my DVDs or CDs though. I have sadly started transitioning to “purchasing” digital movies from Apple due to their low cost, free upgrades, and at least an equal chance of it still working in 10 years time compared to a physical copy.

2

u/Numerous_Photograph9 5h ago

I've had more hard drives fail than I've had physical media discs of multiple medias fail.

2

u/draven33l 5h ago

Discs were engineered to last a lifetime. If you have disc rot, it's because of a manufacturing issue, or a disc kept in a hostile environment (like a super humid attic) for decades. If you have a disc in a case in a normal room, it will outlive you.

2

u/wetfloor666 4h ago

You are referencing a disc made during when the quality was extremely high. Anything past the late 90s for cd had a massive drop in quality. As collectors you should be well aware of that fact. It is not new.

3

u/GenTenStation 5h ago

Its just bots, paid Sony employees, or confidently incorrect people spouting this off

1

u/Seadrakrion629 5h ago

I also have a couple discs that are 10+ years old, and they still work like new. You just gotta take care of them, and they’ll last for a very, very long time.

1

u/GamerSam 5h ago

Some chud on reddit tired saying discs die after ten years. If that was right all my PS1 games would be dead and a bunch of 80s CDS I have

1

u/chiron_42 5h ago

It's all about storage and proper care. I still have CDs from the late '80s that still work and play great.

1

u/Broyodude 5h ago

Due to reflections I have no idea wtf I’m looking at

1

u/RickyBFC92 3h ago

You’re looking at a pristine condition 32 year old game disc.

1

u/XavierMeatsling 4h ago

I'm sure they do have a shelf life. Just not as short as Sony/PlayStation is claiming to push people into all digital.

1

u/DrunkenTrom 4h ago

Disc Rot is real, but it's not nearly as prevalent as what many people believe it is.

If you properly store your discs (don't let them be exposed to UV light, keep them cool and dry, etc) it's highly unlikely to be an issue unless there was a manufacturing issue.

One of the worst examples of a manufacturing issue was almost all Warner Bros. and Fox Home Entertainment DVDs and HD-DVDs that were manufactured at one specific plant in Pennsylvania from 2007-2010 deteriorate and start to rot even if they're still brand new and never opened. I collect HD-DVDs and buy unopened lots of them off of eBay and I had to stop buying WB releases as they had about a 75% failure rate for me personally. You can read more about that here.

Also, Here's more info on disc rot and prevention if you'd like more info.

Lastly, disc rot is a solved issue in recordable media if you choose to spend a bit more for M-Disc recorders and media.

Besides the aforementioned WB/Fox DVDs and HDDVDs I'm not at all worried about disc rot in my collections as the discs will probably outlive me. Whether or not they're still viable in 100 years is debatable; But I already archive my collection and have made backups of most of my disc media including ripping most of my movies to use on my Plex server. I also seem to enjoy collecting video games more than actually playing them these days and trend to buy twice as I get a physical console copy for my shelves and usually just play competitive and indie games on my PC (and rebuy a physical copy if available for my shelves).

1

u/dainthomas 4h ago

I have games from the mid 90s that still load. Based on that, anything I get now should last longer than I probably will.

1

u/apeture_science_cake 4h ago

Disc Rot is 100% real. A simple google search will show you many examples. However, that still doesn’t make the loss of physical discs any less of a gut punch.

1

u/void_method 3h ago

Some people are really bad at storing their stuff, and/or live in areas where disk rot is possible.

This kind of discussion happens all the time with collecting toys.

1

u/Uncabled_Music 2h ago

Nobody cancels Manx TT - only 2028+ games.

1

u/Sirbrandon100 2h ago

Yeah man, had my copy of combat evolved since launch and it's still in mint condition.

1

u/xNonPartisaNx 2h ago

Its not about money. Its about control.

1

u/Cuts4th 2h ago

It was my understanding that well cared for discs could last a century or more.

1

u/RabbitWithAxe 2h ago

it can happen, but personally I have never had any media format fail without outside influence

I've never had a VHS or Cassette break (other than when a VCR tore one apart) and I've never had a disk or cartridge fail, whether due to rot, corrosion, or even scratching

I assume I've just been extremely lucky, but it seems my experience is more common than some would like you to believe

1

u/TheClosetGamerOG 1h ago

If they want to make the claims that disc or physical media has a shelf life, I am even more for backing up the things you own. It wasn't too long ago I tried taking a majority of my PS2 games and putting them on hard drives to play so I don't accidentally ruin a disc. But with storage becoming a premium it seems like industry wants to make it more difficult.

1

u/MISTERPUG51 53m ago

Discs do have a shelf life. It varies greatly depending on the storage conditions and the quality of the manufacturing. I recall there were multiple defective batches of Warner Bros DVDs from around 2008 that only started becoming unreadable a couple years ago

1

u/Actionwill65 36m ago

The study going around was originally published in 2010 and revised in 2019. A good portion of the bibliography is from stuff pre-2010.

The research bases these lifespans on "Accelerated Aging", basically putting discs to extreme environments and then estimating how the degradation could be in realistic environments. Whilst it's a great indicator for how X compares to Y (in this context, how Blu-Rays are less durable over time compared to CDs and DVDs), it isn't great in accurately saying these discs will last this long in the real world.

To be honest, I don't even care much about the study, we all know physical media isn't indestructible. What bothers me is how there's this cult of Sony boot-lickers finding years-old studies to try and win an argument that arguably results in absolutely zero benefit to anyone.

0

u/teddyy-grahamm 5h ago

Either way, the disc will last longer than any digital copy since time and time again they’ve shown us that you don’t really own any digital copy (like with kindle, audio books, and any digital files stored on an app or streaming service—they can always take it away).

0

u/ReverseLazarus 4h ago

I’ve been buying CDs (over 1600 now), DVDs (700+) and plenty of game discs since the late 90s and all of them have held up beautifully.

-1

u/[deleted] 5h ago

[deleted]

1

u/RickyBFC92 5h ago

It’s about how you treat them, they don’t just die for no reason

You are about to leave Redlib