Fixing scratches on discs?

[Superchop]

Just recently received a ps1 game in the mail and for the most part it's in perfect condition.  Although there are some small scratches on the disc that do affect gameplay.  The scratches are pretty minor though so I don't want to ship it back or anything.

What's the best way to go about fixing those scratches?

[scarmullet]

Some video stores can buff them out for a small price. I know family Video can if you have them in your area.

[Moviefan2k4]

On a similar note, I wanted to mention this: do NOT, for any reason, place Wii discs in one of those automatic refurbishment machines. I bought "Metroid Prime Trilogy" not long ago, and the disc had a huge brown circular burn all over the playable side. My system wouldn't read it, so I took it back, and the second GameStop told me what was wrong. Those discs are very susceptible to heat damage, so be careful.

[Superchop]

I have some pretty bad experiences with Wii games also.  A couple years back my little brother scratched up my sister's copy of Mario Kart Wii...in an attempt to fix it we bought the cd/dvd repair kit...one that you put it into this little thing and spin it around...well...instead of "repairing" all it did was create huge and pretty deep swirl marks all over the disc!

My sister was not happy with my brother at all lol

[tbonesteak4dinner]

Thanks for the tips on Wii discs guys! I usually take a few discs to get resurfaced every couple months and I was going to bring a few Wii discs this month.

What do you guys suggest for cleaning/resurfacing Wii discs specifically if you can't use one of those machines?

[Ace Master Cire]

You could try the toothpaste trick. I've tried it, on my PS2, Gamecube and Wii games, and it works!

[pumanchero]

Do not resurface, I repeat, do not resurface. You'll diminish the lifespan of your games.

[Maben]

Do not resurface, I repeat, do not resurface. You'll diminish the lifespan of your games.

If the lifespan of your game is currently "dead", then resurfacing is possibly your only option.  I wouldn't suggest it just on a whim, like defragmenting a hard drive or something; but if the game has a serious scratch and it doesn't play properly, what else are you gonna do?

[lcvolt]

i've bought some usd games on local video stores which have thos cd scratchers to "make them work". bought a copy of punch out! and i didnt see them do it, but the disc had some weird brown excess material. the game didnt work, so i changed it. later i bought for real cheap a gamecube game (007 everything or nothing). the game had some scratches and the clerk told me if i wanted to polish it, so i agreed.
cant get past the 3rd or 4th stage, the game freezes, but now i dont know if its because the game didnt work (cuz it was cheap), or the polishing damaged it. i noticed the dvd had the same brownish excess material, so i think stupid video store is screwing their own product with a machine that doesnt work

[Superchop]

Do not resurface, I repeat, do not resurface. You'll diminish the lifespan of your games.

I don't want to...especially considering that the scratches really don't seem to be that bad.  But the fact is that the intro locks up for a while and the game completely freezes like 10 minutes in.  I tried it on my ps3 and with an emulator on the pc...the intro movie freezes a bit a few seconds before it does on the ps3 but it still completely freezes in the same area.  I'm really at a loss and a part of me just feels like buying another copy of the game (disc only since it's cheaper and cause i have everything else) and sell this one to anyone who wants to try to "fix" it.

I tried the toothpaste trick before on another disc and didn't work that well...maybe cause it has to be a certain toothpaste?  I read it has to have baking soda or something.

I also read about Brasso, some metal polisher that they said works really well...but I don't really want to resort to that either unless I can get some reliable experiences besides what's shown on youtube :\

I can always d/l it through the psn store and just keep the disc stored away :\ if it comes down to it

[N64 Guy]

Ive got one of these used it on many games and dvds fixes them like new

http://www.dvdrepairmachine.com/dvd_repair.html

[Moviefan2k4]

Usually, those types of things just sand down the rest of the plastic, to match the depth of the scratch. But that can also cause damage to the data layer, making your disc completely unplayable.

[ShoothimNow]

On a similar note, I wanted to mention this: do NOT, for any reason, place Wii discs in one of those automatic refurbishment machines. I bought "Metroid Prime Trilogy" not long ago, and the disc had a huge brown circular burn all over the playable side. My system wouldn't read it, so I took it back, and the second GameStop told me what was wrong. Those discs are very susceptible to heat damage, so be careful.

Oh, the fun facts of being wrong.

If you have a cheap ass buffer, then yes, this will ruin a Wii game.  Also, it will ruin any disc.  So Any Disc = Wii = Any Disc.

Working with a Venmill 3500 for 3 years, I have NEVER seen a "brown" spot on ANY of the Wii games I have cleaned.

If you are cleaning your games like those idiots at BuyBacks with who buy one of these do-hickies



And then add sanding pads to them like so



And you actually become a retard and let them hand polish your games, you deserve to have a broken game!

BUT DO NOT say that buffing a game does NOT bring it back to life.  There is roughly a 20% chance that it won't, but that is usually only the case if the disc has actually met its maker, or if the disc itself is defective (ie. hold it up to a light and see if there are "spots" you can see through)

[wiggy]

On a similar note, I wanted to mention this: do NOT, for any reason, place Wii discs in one of those automatic refurbishment machines. I bought "Metroid Prime Trilogy" not long ago, and the disc had a huge brown circular burn all over the playable side. My system wouldn't read it, so I took it back, and the second GameStop told me what was wrong. Those discs are very susceptible to heat damage, so be careful.

Then the machine wasn't used correctly.  That's not something that would be exclusive to Wii games.  All discs are polycarbonate, so none are significantly more susceptible to damage from a buffer than another.

[Cloisonne]

You could check if there are any PlayNTrades around you, they offer disc repair that works really well :3