I’ve been a big fan of physical media for decades now. I have a vast collection of video games, CDs, and movies. Some of these discs have been with me for over 20 years now, and some of them are much older than that. According to many people, I should be seeing signs of disc rot by now. It’s not like I go out of my way to minimize the likelihood of disc rot. Many of these games and movies have been sitting on the same shelf for years. Some of them have been in a box in my basement. No matter where I’ve stored them, I haven’t noticed any problems.
I’m not saying disc rot isn’t real, because others out there have experienced it. I’m saying that I don’t think it’s as big of a deal as you might be led to believe. Just because something is old doesn’t mean it’ll suddenly stop working overnight.
Don’t mourn the loss of your discs just yet
If it happens, it happens
In case you didn’t know, disc rot is when your Blu-ray, CD, etc. deteriorates to the point where it’s unreadable. It’ll often turn a different color, and while it might still work, its time is limited at that point. The main issue is age, and there’s nothing you can really do about that. Discs do have a finite life at the end of the day, but I just think it’s further away than you think.
I have PS1 games that are over 30 years old, and all of them are perfectly fine. I’m not saying they’ll be like that forever, but there’s just no need for you to take all sorts of preventive measures just to stop this from happening. From the way I’ve seen many people talk on the internet, they’d have you believe that every disc will stop working once they reach a certain age, but that’s not the case.
The point is that disc rot is quite uncommon, and while it’s fair to be concerned, I don’t think it should be a major worry. I’m far more likely to break my disc by mishandling it or scratching it while I take it out of its case. I’ve broken Xbox 360 games by pressing too hard on the button that releases the disc, and what I learned from that is to hold the disc in a different spot. Any disc that I’ve lost over the years has been by my own hand — disc rot had nothing to do with it.
I understand that this is just anecdotal evidence, but as somebody who has over 100 discs and counting, I think it’s a good sample size that the fear is overblown. I just know somebody reading this right now is thinking, “Well, I’ve had disc rot,” and if that describes you, then I’m sorry. The best advice that I can give is to store your disc out of harm’s way. What I mean by that is just don’t leave it loose on the ground, and you should be okay. If you’re really concerned about disc rot, there are some basic precautions to take, and you’re probably already doing them.
How to minimize disc rot as best you can
Easy steps to take
The main thing you need to avoid is keeping your discs in direct sunlight or keeping them in wet environments. For the vast majority of people, keeping your discs dry should be easy unless you keep them trapped in a box in a flooded basement all the time. Most of my movies are off the floor and on a bookshelf, stored vertically. They don’t get exposed to the sun, they aren’t wet, and there are no problems at all.
Some discs are more prone to rot than others, however. Many people say Wii U games are highly susceptible to wear and tear, but I still haven’t had any problems with my collection. I’m probably one of the few people out there with more than 10 Wii U games, and all of them work as well as the day I bought them. Call it survivor bias or what, but I just haven’t seen the issues that many people have complained about.
If I go to my parents’ house and look at their old DVD collection, I’ll find several that look as good as new. Maybe they’ve done an excellent job taking care of their movies, or maybe disc rot isn’t as common as you’d think. Maybe it’s a variety of both factors. All I know is that I have stopped worrying about disc rot. That’s not saying it won’t come for me eventually, but it’s not something I lose sleep over. If it happens, it happens. I’m just going to keep taking care of my discs the same way that I always have and hope for the best. If some of my discs have survived 30 years already, who’s to say they can’t keep going?
