Disc rot

Let’s discuss the thing that will ruin are 1,000 dollar game sooner rather than later and how you try to prevent it!

I remember once playing Saga on my Saturn and the text was all garbled/glitched. I got scared and immediately reset the game and it was fine. I have to wonder though, if my disc is starting to get worn…

The best you can do is store it away from extreme temperatures and or smoke, don’t touch the back of the disc with your fingers and keep it neatly stored away.

I actually had that happen to me as well several years ago, but it only happened once. Needless to say, I panicked.

I don’t really use my discs for playing anymore and just use an emulator to play now. My Saturn has had trouble reading at least one of my Saga discs (it was either 2 or 3). I just keep my Saga case with the discs in it by my bed.

I wonder if it could also be the Saturn laser disc drive maybe? Probably getting dusty or worn out…It’s not going to last forever my original Playstation from 1996’s disc drive already died…

I actually own 3 copies of Saga (1 japanese before it was released in US, and two US copies; 1 when it was released, 1 when it was clearanced with all saturn games- I bought a few and handed them out to friends!)

but Im scared to even rip the discs now to try current emulation! I have to find some old rips I had a decade ago …

Awesome, thanks! saved me hours of digging through 10 year old hard drives!

Yeah that’s definitely a factor - I’ve got a couple Saturns. My original one from ‘96 or whatever reads anything without any effort. My second console is a lot more fussy and won’t load or freezes with certain games. Pretty sure it’s down to the laser.

There’s not a whole lot you can do about disc rot - try to keep the CDs out of direct sunlight, avoid touching the data layer and dodge scratches.

I picked up a Fenrir last year and backed up my physical collection. That’s been great as I’m not quite as precious about all my games being perfectly playable or concerned that I’m wearing them down by using them.