Data-Rot in Neo Geo Pocket Color game cartridge

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beautifulman

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No problems with my ngpc carts either, not sure, but I think most of those are supposed to be flash variants. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/270216-nintendo-switch-cartridge-eprom-or-maskrom/
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is the above statement actually true? as in, do NGPC game carts use eprom flash chip to store its rom just like old atari 2600 game carts did back in the day?

if the rom chip inside NGPC game carts are flash memory based, does this mean they will eventually be susceptible to Data Rot in the long term?

thanks so much for letting me know!
 
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XxHennersXx

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Pretty sure all carts, flash rom or not, are going to eventually have bit rot
 
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furrtek

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AFAIK the NGPC carts are flash based. Most games have a single chip containing both ROM data and a writable zone for saves (so they don't use a battery).
Those chips also use standard flash memory commands for ID reading and writing. The ROM zone is protected so games can't be erased and turned into flash carts.

Mask ROMs like in MVS carts hold their data in a metal layer with connections at specific points to define each bit. The data is literally engraved in metal.
Flash uses electrical charges, so each bit is really just a bunch of electrons contained in a tiny cell.

For durability, I'd rather trust metal enclosed in plastic than electrons only wanting to escape :)
 
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beautifulman

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furrtek said:
AFAIK the NGPC carts are flash based. Most games have a single chip containing both ROM data and a writable zone for saves (so they don't use a battery).
Those chips also use standard flash memory commands for ID reading and writing. The ROM zone is protected so games can't be erased and turned into flash carts.

Mask ROMs like in MVS carts hold their data in a metal layer with connections at specific points to define each bit. The data is literally engraved in metal.
Flash uses electrical charges, so each bit is really just a bunch of electrons contained in a tiny cell.

For durability, I'd rather trust metal enclosed in plastic than electrons only wanting to escape :)
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thanks so much for the informative reply! this really clear things up for me! Thank you again!

XxHennersXx said:
Pretty sure all carts, flash rom or not, are going to eventually have bit rot
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well i supposed you're right, i have seen people talk about their dead game carts here and there, but i'd like to think that if i take good care of my collection and store it properly. it would hopefully last much, much longer than eprom based cartridges.
 
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XxHennersXx

XxHennersXx

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They will last longer than EEPROM based carts. Most of my carts will outlive me. Same can not be said about disc based systems though. I flat out do not collect anything really disc based anymore since I’ve already had some Sega CD and Saturn games kept in pristine order that started rotting
 
GohanX

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beautifulman said:
well i supposed you're right, i have seen people talk about their dead game carts here and there, but i'd like to think that if i take good care of my collection and store it properly. it would hopefully last much, much longer than eprom based cartridges.
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titchgamer

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XxHennersXx said:
They will last longer than EEPROM based carts. Most of my carts will outlive me. Same can not be said about disc based systems though. I flat out do not collect anything really disc based anymore since I’ve already had some Sega CD and Saturn games kept in pristine order that started rotting
Click to expand...

I thought disc rot had been proven to be a fault with certain media manufacturers rather than a age related condition for all discs?
More so on burned than pressed discs?

Seem to remember reading something about it being caused by not correctly washing off some chemical during the manufacturing process.
Could be wrong though....
 
XxHennersXx

XxHennersXx

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titchgamer said:
I thought disc rot had been proven to be a fault with certain media manufacturers rather than a age related condition for all discs?
More so on burned than pressed discs?

Seem to remember reading something about it being caused by not correctly washing off some chemical during the manufacturing process.
Could be wrong though....
Click to expand...

it's a combination. But since we don't know who made the discs and the quality of say - Sega Saturn discs, I don't even risk it anymore. Consoles with drives I run either a hard drive or SD card on at this point.
 
titchgamer

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XxHennersXx said:
it's a combination. But since we don't know who made the discs and the quality of say - Sega Saturn discs, I don't even risk it anymore. Consoles with drives I run either a hard drive or SD card on at this point.
Click to expand...

Yeah I have been getting ODE's for all my CD based consoles to future proof them where possible, But nothing for my Mega CD or NGCD yet :(
 
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Massive Urethra Chode

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XxHennersXx said:
They will last longer than EEPROM based carts. Most of my carts will outlive me. Same can not be said about disc based systems though. I flat out do not collect anything really disc based anymore since I’ve already had some Sega CD and Saturn games kept in pristine order that started rotting
Click to expand...

I’m curious which games specifically rotted? Maybe certain titles are more prone to rot, like in laserdiscs...
 
Westcb

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titchgamer said:
I thought disc rot had been proven to be a fault with certain media manufacturers rather than a age related condition for all discs?
More so on burned than pressed discs?

Seem to remember reading something about it being caused by not correctly washing off some chemical during the manufacturing process.
Could be wrong though....
Click to expand...

My ps1 burned games from 1998 on verbatim CDRs still work fine. I have several HDDvds that died already. On the ones that died they were all by the same studio so I would bet manufacturer definitely is the biggest factor.
 
titchgamer

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Westcb said:
My ps1 burned games from 1998 on verbatim CDRs still work fine. I have several HDDvds that died already. On the ones that died they were all by the same studio so I would bet manufacturer definitely is the biggest factor.
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Yeah I have not had any rot problems on any of my CD’s to date.

Taiyo Yuden are considered the best manufacturer from my research.

I cant recall the name of the manufacturer who made the discs that do rot but the general jist is get taiyo yuden then burn at slowest supported speed and all should be well!
 
madmanjock

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Why is everyone blaming Rot for destroying their Videogames?
 
Neo Alec

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XxHennersXx said:
it's a combination. But since we don't know who made the discs and the quality of say - Sega Saturn discs, I don't even risk it anymore. Consoles with drives I run either a hard drive or SD card on at this point.
Click to expand...
It seems paranoid to me at this point. I haven't had issues collecting CD's.
 
famicommander

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All my 2600 carts work fine and some were prodwere produced in 1977, 13 years before I was born.

All my early CD system games work fine still too. SEGA CD, CD-i, 3DO, Jag CD, PS1, Saturn, etc.
 
GohanX

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Sell all your games while they are still working and worth something, just grab the roms and play them on PC. You won't have videogame crap all over the place and the opposite sex will probably find you more attractive.
 
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