Worth buying PSONE?

[jvalentine98]

I know that might seem like a stupid question to PSOne lovers. I love PSOne and the games myself. The Resident Evil's, Parasite Eve and Silent Hill series are some of my favorites. I know they're available on PSN but I always like owning the "real thing."

I've heard of disc rot and that is my biggest concern with regards to buying PSOne discs. They're old games and not getting any younger. They're quite expensive for the good games and I'd hate to waste a lot of money. Also the systems worry me, as far as not being able to read disc much longer? I do have one of the old model PSOnes in a closet, dated 1997 on the bottom and it still reads music CDs. (I don't have any PSOne games to check on it.)

So what do you think?

[o.pwuaioc]

Do it. PSN is...lackluster. I was worried about disc rot too, but apparently it's not as prevalent as once thought?

[Czernobog]

PS1 discs are pressed (I believe) which makes them far less likely to have rot or damage over time than say the blank discs you can buy in bulk (since those are created differently/more cheaply manufactured. At least, that's what I've been told.

[Flake]

While disc rot is scarcely an issue these days, in the PSX / SAT era (oh man, the way I feel when someone refers to those games as 'old') it all came down to the individual batches. Sometimes a batch was pressed very well. Sometimes not so well. Flaws in the manufacturing process, a manufacturer using cheap discs, etc.

This is why you might have a PSX game full of disc rot though otherwise pristine and a friend might have the same game with no disc rot whatsoever in the same shape.

The good news is that after all this time, if a disc were likely to spontaneously take on rot, it would likely have done it by now. Barring damage, if you find a PSX game that looks 100% good to go it should be sturdy for years and years to come.

[ZeroAX]

Worth buying PS1 games on disk? Of course.

Worth playing said PS1 games on a PS1 instead of a PS2 or PS3 (wireless controller, infinite memory cards, plus "smoothing" of image quality, whatever that means)? No. If you have a PS3 around play the games on that (except if it is one of the few games with compatibility problems)

[jvalentine98]

Well I don't really keep up with games these days so I don't want to buy a PS3. I saw where the slim PSOnes were going for about $20-$30 on ebay and they're newer than the old one I have. The graphics don't bother me, I still have my N64 and those are fine to me.

It's not that I want 100 games or anything, there's probably 20 or so I would want to play again. I guess I will give it a try and if they "rot" on me, then nothing last forever right?

[Flake]

Just remember that the standard test is to hold the disc in front of a bright light bulb and look at the black side. If you see any "pinholes" of light coming through, that is disc rot. Little sectors that no longer have data.

A couple pinholes might not mean much at all. There isn't even any guarantee that there was data in that sector. But if you see a lot of them or they are large the game might be in worse shape than a cursory glance would tell you.

[CRTGAMER]

I know that might seem like a stupid question to PSOne lovers. I love PSOne and the games myself. The Resident Evil's, Parasite Eve and Silent Hill series are some of my favorites. I know they're available on PSN but I always like owning the "real thing."

I've heard of disc rot and that is my biggest concern with regards to buying PSOne discs. They're old games and not getting any younger. They're quite expensive for the good games and I'd hate to waste a lot of money. Also the systems worry me, as far as not being able to read disc much longer? I do have one of the old model PSOnes in a closet, dated 1997 on the bottom and it still reads music CDs. (I don't have any PSOne games to check on it.)

So what do you think?

I don't know why all the fear of Disc Rot. This term is a carryover from Laser Discs that do have a problem with moisture from the coolant and or glue between the halves of Laser Discs. There are instances of CDs having rot creep in, but it is very uncommon. Usually happens from being stored in a non climate controlled environment.

I say definitely get a PS1 not PSOne. The 7000 series grey model has the parallel port for cheat carts and also a nice Soundscope Music player. Also a separate reset switch.

[Zing]

The biggest concern is physical disc scuffing on the label side. I have yet to see any disc rot and I have had a lot of PlayStation games pass through my hands.

The first thing I do when I am considering a new purchase, or acquire a new game, is to hold the disc up to the light, with the label side away from me. If I see any pinholes on the disc, I don't want it. Pinholes are actual damage to the data layer and can cause data loss. They also expose the data layer to air, which can cause oxidation and further damage.

[Pabstblueribbon]

It's not common but disk rot does happen...I have probably 150 disk games, the only one I have that has it is Panzer Dragoon Saga