I need some advice about Disk System games.

[Bob-Bob]

I'm looking to start picking up games for my Disk System, but I'm really afraid of buying them from someplace like eBay because of what happened to me previously.

JessicaWolf was someone I trusted. She took every precaution to ensure nothing would happen to the disk she sent me and one side of it still went bad in transit. If that happens with a person I trust, I can't imagine what would happen with somebody I don't even know!

Is there anything at all I can do to make sure the person selling me the game will take measures to protect it from harm, or is there just no real way to prevent disk corruption in the mail? Any sort of buying advice or recommended sellers? Is buying Disk System games a total crapshoot no matter what? How did you guys go about buying your games? Who did you buy them from? How often do games go bad on the way to their destination? Answering any of these questions would be much appreciated. 

[kiwidaveinjapan]

The best piece of advice I can give is to get the ability to rewrite disks yourself.
I started looking into this after getting several disks that had different software on them than what was on the label.
Now, if I buy a disk, even if it gets corrupted during transit, or has the wrong game on it, i can easily fix it.
Also, a great way to 'try before you buy' *cough*
Hope this helps.

[Bob-Bob]

It would've helped if you had told me how I can rewrite disks. 

[Highwind]

I, as well, would be interested in knowing how to rewrite the disks.

[P]

There is no easy way that I know of.
I guess he is talking about fdsloadr (if you can get that to work) or fdsloader saver http://kitahei88.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-111.html.

[Bob-Bob]

Then I guess that brings me back to the beginning: What should I do to be safe when buying disks online?

[ericj]

You can never be sure when buying disks that they will work in your console. I've had lots of people send me disks to be rewritten that worked perfectly fine for me, but not for them. Variances in how the FDS is adjusted is the usual culprit, as well as the thinning out of the pressure arm felt piece.

[Bob-Bob]

Well, the FCD that Jessica sent me initially didn't work, but then suddenly started working again. However, only one side of the disk she sent me worked while the other one didn't, leading her to conclude that that side of the disk went bad. Is there any surefire way to tell if it's the disk's fault or the console's fault?

[maxellnormalbias]

One strategy I think sounds good is to just buy a disk with Disk Keeper or something on it, then a bunch of Roland QuikDisks. If you write mod your disk system (or get one pre-modded) you could just burn games and not worry about shipping.

Of course maybe the system is broken, so the disk might be OK.

[Silius]

Maybe you're just worrying too much? I've bought eight disk titles off ebay so far and all of them worked and played the correct game. Or maybe I've just been lucky... Anyway, for me it's only a nice collectors item, but I don't play them very often - I don't want to have loading times when playing 8bit games...

[UglyJoe]

One strategy I think sounds good is to just buy a disk with Disk Keeper or something on it, then a bunch of Roland QuikDisks.

QuikDisks aren't exactly common


Not sure what to tell you, OP.  I've had FDS disks shipped from across the world and not had any issues (except for a few disks that were known to be problematic when I bought them).  I'd have to side with ericj on this one -- the FDS drives are mechanical and inexact.  What works in one drive may not work in another.

[Raverrevolution]

Same here, I bought many disks off of Ebay that worked.  The one time I bought a disk from someone here it didn't work.  Yeah, it is basically a crapshoot.

Also when I receive my disks I just make sure they work, store them, and then play the game on an emulator or on the Everdrive.

Speaking of which, wondering if you could somehow write disks with the Everdrive.

[maxellnormalbias]

QuikDisks aren't exactly common

You're right, but they aren't expensive either. They pop up occasionally on eBay and they're never that expensive, usually $1 or $0.50 per disk if you do the math. That's a quarter of the price of a usual FDS game.

[Bob-Bob]

I'm wondering if I should eventually shell out for another Disk System in the future. Jessica repaired it herself to ensure that it would work properly. For now, I guess I'll just have to try my luck with the few games I want to collect for it. 

[fcgamer]

I would probably just write off the disk system as a whole, and play the games on a (shudders) emulator.

My personal experience with the disk system has been nothing but headaches and trouble.  It looks cool, and it's an experience that every Famicom gamer should experience sometime in his or her life, but it is just too unreliable to make it practical.  I suspect that the machines are the culprit most of the time though.