Want your opinion on disc scratches

jshorr

jshorr

CAGiversary!
I don't deal with preowned discs very often and I keep my stuff in very good shape...but I'd like to ask everyone's opinion on disc scratches. I have a Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow I got from Gamerush in the trade 2 9.99 PO deal. It was the best disc they had, it looks good overall but there are some scratches on the surface of the disc. I haven't tried this disc yet myself, as I already have a copy of the game I purchased new. I got this copy to trade, but I definately would not want to trade a bad disc that the other person would be disappointed with. Even if I tried out the disc you never really know until the game is played through if it will come up as a problem, do you?

I'm wondering if there is a general rule of thumb that people use (either stores or end-users) to determine whether the disc is going to play through fine, or present problems.
 
You can't tell. I have had games that were perfect mirrors that just didn't work right. I have seen games that have scratches all over them that worked fine. I think there are disk checking machines that access the whole disc to test it but I am not sure how they exactly work. My Mediaplay takes trades now and they use a test machine.

I am just honest when trading. All my games are near mint though. I am very picky about them.
 
Game Doctor is a very worthwhile investment. A seemingly useless disc can often be restored to full functionality. This can often make for great deals. Just make sure you have a return option if the Game Doctor doesn't do the trick.
 
If I see a disk that someone has used Game Dr. on, I refuse to even consider buying it. I have had bad luck with doctored disks that refused to play.
 
I just know how upset I would be if I got a bad disc from another trader....and I really don't want to do that to anyone else. But on the other hand, most game stores give such little value in trade-ins that it's a much better value if you trade with others.
 
[quote name='epobirs']Game Doctor is a very worthwhile investment. A seemingly useless disc can often be restored to full functionality. This can often make for great deals. Just make sure you have a return option if the Game Doctor doesn't do the trick.[/quote]


If you have a Disc Dr or Game d, bust it into 40 pieces and scatter them to the winds. Seriously, those things leave the most unsightly pattern on the bottom of your discs. Also, if you don't follow procedure EXACTLY, you'll screw the disc up worse. Gamestores also don't take returns on merchandise that has been disc doctored. BEWARE.
 
The game stores just look at the disc. If it is scratched they put it in if it loads they sell it. I got in an argument with a Game Crazy employee once. The disc was scratched that he sold me. The game played but the CD audio in game would not play because it was scratched. It was very noticable when it cut out. He tried to tell me that their warranty did not cover that. (I had brought it back that day). They exchanged it for another disc in the end. Not much better copy I might add but it did work.

I'm leary of buying any used games unless they are scratch free on the bottom and I can see it with my own eyes.
 
I just got Deus Ex for the ps2 from ebgames.com in the mail, open it up and this thing was scratched to hell, by far the worst I have ever seen and I was amazed someone even accepted it for credit. But even more shocking was it plays without a hitch. So it really seems like a crapshoot as to whether a scratch will really cause a problem
 
[quote name='epobirs']Game Doctor is a very worthwhile investment. A seemingly useless disc can often be restored to full functionality. This can often make for great deals. Just make sure you have a return option if the Game Doctor doesn't do the trick.[/quote]

God don't ever buy/use/look at/be in the same room as a Game Doctor. It works by taking a layer off of your disc, 50% of the time it makes the disc worse, 40% of the time its the same and 10% of the time it will fix the disc. Of course that 10% of the time you could have given it a good cleaning and probably done just as well.
 
I think you can quell your apprehensions by just not purchasing used or pre-owned games. I can understand that the price can be a great pull and incentive to purchase one, but considering how you care for your discs (I kep my collection immaculate too), you can save yourself a lot of grief by just purchasing new sealed games. The security of knowing that something of mine hasn't been handled by another person (and by extension, perhaps mistreated) justifies the price disparity.

If you are a true CAG, then I'm sure you can wait for a deal to come around.

Also, by not purchasing used software, you are actually helping the game industry survive. There have been a bunch of forum topics about this, as well as a gamespotting article which proved to be very insightful. Sorry I don't have links, but the gamespotting article can be found archived back about 2 or 3 weeks tops.
 
[quote name='epobirs']Game Doctor is a very worthwhile investment. A seemingly useless disc can often be restored to full functionality. This can often make for great deals. Just make sure you have a return option if the Game Doctor doesn't do the trick.[/quote]


it ruins games faster then is fixes i bought one and I had 12 games in various condition some worked and skipped some did not work all were for different consoles (ps1, ps2, DC, xbox) after 1 hour of following directions to the "T" none of them worked and the working ones don't work it does work good on cd's but games and console lasers are to sensitive to use that device it ruins more then it fixes ask anyone at a used video game store.
 
If you have the resources you can try making an image of the disc. For expensive games etc/ like My end cost for suikoden 2 was 65-70. First thing I did when I received it was make a back up copy then shove the original back in the case. Legalities aside, If you have the resources you can do this with any cd based system. DC and GC included, im not specifying how. Imaging can pick up an unreadable sector pretty fast so you can know how damaged an item actually is.
 
I recently traded in a like-new Deathrow into GameCrazy and came back a few months later when they had a price drop on it. They gave me back my own game... scratched to hell. It looked like someone went to town with those CD cleaning kits without spraying on the cleaning fluid first. Long story short I refused to take it back.

If your first reaction is WTF is up with this disc, then you shouldn't buy it. A few (and I mean a few, 3 or 4) minor scratches is barely acceptable for me. Also hold the disc up to the light, data side down. If you can see any light coming through where there shouldn't be then you will definitely have problems.
 
well I've heard that the way cds & dvds are made scratches on the play side are not really that big a deal. The disks are coated so that the layer holding the data is not affected by most scratches. The real problem is when there is a scratch on the Label side of the cd. The label side is actually closer to the data layer and doesn't have a protective layer coat.

I've also have run in to some perfect looking disks that didn't work, but I think a quick boil would have fixed them.
 
Most people are horrible when it comes to keeping disks in even half way decent condition. I go to flea markets every week and pick up loads of cartridge games all the time. Very rarely do i get to pick up and disc based games because they are usually destroyed.
 
The info on a disk is closer to the lable side than the shiney side. the plastic you see is not whats shiny. It's just a cover coating. So the Disk DR is only sanding off the top layer that might have scratches that mess up the lazers reading.

So as long as you follow the directions carfully using the water and the surfacer correctly it shoudn't do anything horrible to the disk. The only reason why stores wont take Dr.d disks is because they look funky. But if you dont see yourself ever selling the game there's nothing wrong with using it.

I had bough a copy of puzzle fighter for like 14 bucks (back when it was new) and it was scratched lke someone put it on the floor and procedded to slide around on it like a skateboard, it ALWAYS game me problems booting up I eventually got a Dr. and ran it through a few times. now it starts up with no problem, there were still some really deep scratches though but it's a lot more playable than it was.
 
My opinion on scratches on discs? It sucks.

Also, fuck the Gamedoctor. Shit ruined my games. It really is better to buy new copies. I have to re-buy my choice PS1 games because of it. Also, yes, unless absolutely necessary (my used copy of Rez) buy games new. It's worth it.
 
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