It's when the "scratch" are too deep or are too damage your disc surface !!!! It's like if you put a cutter count or cut into the surface of some disc but harder...
I looked at every disc in my collection after seeing that and unfortunately, twisted metal on the PS1 seems to have it there is a little pin hole I can see light through.
You all prolly dont give a damn but does someone know of a way to get back into an Instagram account?? I was dumb forgot my login password. I love any assistance you can give me!
I'm glad that disc rot was brought up because I lost my entire Saturn collection from disc rot but when I tried explaining it to people they acted like I was crazy and told me to just take better care of my stuff. Thank you for confirming that I'm not crazy
Agreed. I've asked this on a previous video yesterday. I have all my Nintendo consoles fail on me last year but the Wii-U; Really hope there is a way to fix and/or clean them.
YES! Originally we had some discussion about console cleaning in this video...but it felt a bit long so I took it out. But we'll do a dedicated video in the future!
Well, emulation in itself is not illegal. Copyright infringement is. You're perfectly in your rights to develop and/or use a piece of hardware/software that emulates any given game console. You're just not allowed to download the entire Playstation catalogue off the Internet to play on it. And I agree that some sort of legal framework needs to be created to ensure these cultural works survive, not only in "compiled executable + data" format, but also their source code and "raw" assets.
Or maybe just cartridges, cartridges are good. Bring back cartridges. Actually, the Switch is trying to do the right thing. Just please try to put the whole game in it, like all the time, like old times? *going back to my GBA/GB collection*
@Yo! Its Emo Exactly. That’s why I appreciate the existence of emulation. It helps preserve the games. Especially the Atari 2600 era, that system is almost 50 years old, so it’s basically an inevitability that the original cartridges will die and no longer be useable. Same with the console itself too, it’s just getting harder to find a working 2600 and a matching CRT TV of its era. It really sucks tbh.
I just got my Sonic CD disc done with one of these machines. My disc was very scratched up, and after resurfacing it the disc looked brand new. Definitely worth finding a professional resurfacing place (mine charged 5 bucks, but definitely worth it. Also, data is stored at the inside edge of the disc (CD information goes from inside-out). I definitely have rot on some of my laserdiscs, but that's more glue at the factory. As always, take care of your stuff. Handle discs by the edges, never touch or scratch the CD (especially at the top).
Have been cleaning a substantial portion of my collection just in the last few weeks, so thank you, I really appreciate this topic. One thing - If your game box is seriously trashed, always consider just popping out the cardboard art and moving it to a shiny new one from a sports game or something. For PS1 games you have to be a bit gentle if you want to still use the scratched jewel case, but PS2 and everything after is child's play - yet I still see collectors with chewed to death boxes on their $70 rpgs. Now, there are some minor variants on boxes in most PS2 gen and later games, so it's up to you if that matters. The main ones are the enviro friendly cutout boxes on wii, ds and 360 games. Also you will encounter a lot of rental store boxes. But overall, I'd say, swap your nice boxes onto your best games, and then worry about whether cleaning up that beer-and cig-encrusted copy of Broshooter '07 is really worth your time.
Also a question for any of you pros: Do you think there's a clear best path between keeping games in their original boxes vs. keeping them in a cd binder? I would think the one might be better for bit rot and the other better for avoiding scratches, but I don't have any solid data
Something I've found to work incredibly well for removing stickers (and adhesive in general) is lighter fluid. Been using it to remove pricetags for 25+ years.
I love that MJR makes these kinds of video. Whenever I have an issue or want to know something I just search Metal Jesus Rocks and then whatever my issue is and 99% of the time a video pops up that solves my problem
I’ve had problems with some pretty deep scratches on discs before, and here’s my solution: 1. Take Vaseline, or unscented/unflavored chapstick and smear it all over the reflective side of the disc. Clockwise, counter-clockwise, up, down, side-to-side, every direction you can to really get into the nooks and crannys. 2. Wipe it all off with a paper towel. DO NOT WASH IT OFF. 3. Once a majority of the Vaseline/chapstick is gone, take a soft, clean cloth (shirts work fine, microfiber cloths are best though) and shine the disc up really nice so that it looks as perfect as you can get. Boom. Your disc should work fine. It may not work 100% of the time, but I personally have never had any issues after doing this.
@@KiwiDude7 it helped a little for me, my ps2 disc finally reads on my ps2 but now I got a red screen everytime I try to get the game to boot up but thanks for the method. Edit: also next time I'll try it the proper way
A method I've used for a few years now to remove stickers is to peel it as carefully as you can, and for residue left over use a piece of tape to remove it. Go over and over and over the adhesive, it eventually all comes off on the tape and doesnt damage the carts or cases at all.
MetalJesusRocks i've got a good tip for you maan...how to clean glue after scratched sticker,better thsn heat gun,and not all people have heat gun at home...pick up that circle cotton wool that ladies use snd put olive oil on it and make circular moves in problem area and soon it will be gone,top it off with medical alcohol to get rid of oil. The fastest and easyest way dude :)
I work at a game and movie resale shop. I've found that hand sanitizer works well on sharpie and other permanent markers. It works better for me than alcohol. It's also less runny so you can put it where you'd like without ruining the label. We also have a few industrial Venmill resurfacers that absolutely rule, but they're about 3,000 dollars.
I do like to clean disc game cases with vegetable oil (i use olive to be specific) and it works quite good at getting the dirt out of the fine scratches that practically any case has. Of course just like with any cleaner or even water you have to be careful that the labels aren't soaking anything, so i usually remove the labels first. I also had some success with remove glue residue with it.
Damn! That really sucks about the disc rot! I didn't even know that existed... I do know everything has a half life but with things that are manufactured at a professional level I figured they'd last longer than small run stuff. Great episode as always though! Love learning this stuff!
I have CDs from the 80s that work perfectly. If you take care of your discs, such as putting them back in the cases and keeping them in cool, dry places, they will last much longer. They used to say cassette and VHS tapes wouldn't last long. I have cassettes from the 70s and VHS tapes from the early 80s that work just as good as they did back then.
+Daniel Ramirez Nothing lasts forever but don't worry about it too much. I used to worry about SNES internal batteries dying but emulation solved that problem.
@@PostTraumaticChessDisorder I heard that it works but I've never tried it on auto body and WD40 can help you take the sticker off easily but if it gets to the artwork it will make it dimmer. Don't do it because that happen to me with my back cd cover of Einhänder
I used to use alcohol for all my cartridge cleaning needs (marker, pin dust/dirt, sticker residue) until the day I discovered lighter fluid, the kind you use to fill Zippo lighters. Same steps, qtips>scrub>wipe dry. It works better than alcohol imo, ESPECIALLY with sticker residue. It destroys the adhesive quality of the glue and it practically wipes right off.
If you can get your hands on some industrial degreaser (i.e. Zep) it will instantly liquefy most stickers and is a bit safer for the print on labels than lighter fluid.
Use Denatured alcohol instead of Isopropyl, Use Headlight polisher to Polish a optical Disc with a soft cloth, then clean the polish off with a microfiber cloth. for Marker/sticker Removal, use Goof Off. GooGone leaves an oily residue that is hard to clean off. Be careful around labels. Most cleaning products will lift the Pigment off the label because most of them are printed with ink instead of toner. Do not use a Magic eraser, most collectors see this as damaging the game because it changes the texture of the Cart and is a subtraction process like sanding with sandpaper.
I've seen disc rot happen very quickly on the cheap CD-Rs we used to share music on. As mentioned, a lot of times it was on copies that stayed in the work truck and got exposed to the temperature extremes.
You can fix pretty much any scratch on an optical disc with a bench mounted buffer. You can probably pick one up for less than $50 and then a stick of polishing compound is going to run you about $10. My father is a goldsmith so I always had access to his jewelery polishing stuff and I fixed a lot of CD's with a buffer back in the day. A few pieces of advice if you are going to do this. Get a nice wide and soft buffing pad, chances are are one will come with your buffer if you buy a brand new one. Use extra fine polishing compound (most manufacturers make it in green), if you use a polishing compound that is too abrasive you will just be making things worse. Keep in mind that the disc will warn up from the friction, if it gets too warm just stop, go get some coffee let it cool down, as with all other cleaning techniques patience is key here. I shouldn't even have to say this but you should never buff the top (label) side of an optical disc. Another thing to keep in mind is that the buffing compound will come off the wheel and fly behind it and up, you might want to put up something to catch it so you don't have a green streak on your wall, a dust collector box is optimal but a piece of cardboard will work too. Also if all you care about is making your disc working again and not necessarily making it look brand new keep in mind the fact that a disc might work just fine with a few scratches on it so you might want to periodically stop and check if you polished it enough so it works again. It's a good method of restoring scratched discs because it gives you full control over how much of the plastic you are taking off in the process. I recommend that you take a few discs you don't care about and practice on them if you have never done anything like this before just to get used to the process. Once you get used to it it's a fairly quick and safe way of removing scratches from discs.
Whoah, the levels of misunderstanding of how optical media work are astonishing. No, the toothpaste doesn't "fill in the gaps". If it did, you'd end up with opaque lines where the scratches would've been, resulting in the scratch becoming even _less_ readable. What happens instead is that the small abrasives in the toothpaste smooth out the edges of the scratch, buff it out, resulting in a less aggressive change in refraction, making the laser's work easier. And those Disc Doctors work on the same principle: buff out the scratches until they become "transparent" to the laser. Yes, you'll be taking off a small layer of protective material in front of the data layer every time you do this. Don't worry, there's 1.2mm of plastic to grind through before you start damaging the data. That's a lot of trips to the disc doctor. Furthermore, those scratches don't cause the "disc reader" to "do this thing all of the time" (mimics vertical wobble implying something's trying to follow the "terrain"). It's a compact disc, optical media, not a bloody phonograph! Finally, discs don't necessarily become unreadable just because there are scratches on the printed side. There's still a 0.25mm layer of plastic protecting the reflective layer, plus whatever thickness print on top of that. A scratch to the non-reflective side will only cause damage once it penetrates into the silvery layer. Small surface scratches won't harm the data at all.
The last part is key. Usually, it becomes difficult to read the disc with a scratch on top, but back in the 90s, at least, you could use a marker or a sticker in the scratched area to make it more opaque and disc would start reading again.
@@janestill2588 Why do people always assume that when you contradict someone, you must be doing so while foaming at the mouth and jumping up and down? I am perfectly capable of expressing my irritation without going on a killing spree. ;)
Hey from the UK! Had about 5 Mega drive game cartridges with black screens, no matter how many times I blew into the cartridge & cartridge slot, still the black screen of death! I opened the casing & cleaning the contacts on each side using screen wash with q tips. It's amazing how much dirt comes off on them, put it back together, slotted it in & .....the beloved Sega logo appeared & the game started to sing! I did the same with the other 4 & same thing! 100% success rate, I was beaming!😃😃😃
I am so glad I digitized a lot of the PC games I used to own as a kid. I started making ISO files of them around the age of 16 (which was 12 years ago) and I've been able to copy those from hard drive to hard drive and system to system. I've lost some of the physical disks and others have been scratched up to the point they are unplayable, but I can always burn a new copy and keep on playing them.
Yeah,well they're always going to be online someplace too.At least most of them.So long as you can mod the console to play backups there's little concern I suppose.
My personal cleaning kit is comprised of dry erase markers, security bits, 3 sizes of phillips heads, goof off, weimans cook top cleaner, paper shaft cotton swabs, Loc-tite bonding fluiding, and window cleaner. Great success. I also repair NES/SNES/N64 decks and controls with the same kit. And I have a clever method involving Loc-tite where I replenish the couples in N64 controls that often cause joystick failures.
Just a suggestion and a method that works for me I wanna say damn near 100% of the time. If you have the game bit and take the cart apart a regular old pink eraser on the connectors gets all the built up crap off and makes the game look and play like new. It's pretty amazing actually. I use the eraser then a soft paper towel that's dampened with alcohol to remove any eraser residue.
I had no idea about disc rot. I thought one of my old ps1 games got loose in the box during moving. It’s great information even years after you made this video.
You guys are my new heroes, have the Pocket on back order so I busted out some really old titles. And wouldn’t you know they wouldn’t play so followed the young ladies advice and now they work great, once again thanks for the great tip!🤙🤙🤙
You say at the end of the video " a lot of this is common knowledge and common sense" but as someone who is NOT a collector but has a lot of games this was 100% new to me. As a kid I bought those disc repair thingys for 15 dollars and until this video I had no idea they weren't good for your CD. Also learned about the library! I'm binge watching a lot of your stuff and learning a lot! Thank you both!
This is also probably why later systems installs the game into the system and only needs the license from the disc, and also why people backup their games to play them on like USB Loader GX or Open PS2 Loader. So you still have your collection and disc being rotted, you can play them with those programs.
Burak Crystal I don't know I hate ICP and my buddy talked me into going to a show with him. I got hammered and had a great time. But I still hate the music and would not go see them again.
I always really enjoy the episodes with Kelsey, she's super knowledgeable and I've gotten some really great tips in the videos with her. Keep the vids coming, MJR! (We need more Sega Genesis Hidden Gems! :) )
YEEEEES, GYROMITE NOW WORKSSS! I HAVE BEEN WAITING TO PLAY THIS! I got it a month ago, put it in, and it didnt work, but this video helped me soo much and I managed to clean the contacts with Q-tips and now it works!
I didn't know about "disc rot" until seeing this video. That's a real bummer! It goes to show that even if you're a physical games purist for the sake of preservation and control over your collection, you're not safe. True of everything, really. Nothing lasts forever. Thanks for the Goo Gone recommendation! I'll order some for my used games collection!
My own tip for getting rid of permanent marker on ANY plastic surface is a deodorant aerosol spray. The alcohol contained on the deodorant, sprayed by the aerosol at high speed onto the plastic because it's compressed inside the bottle, usually gets rid of any permanent marker. I've done this for years, and in the case of black permanent marker, it always gets rid of 100% of it in a heartbeat. Coloured markers are usually more persistent, I'm not sure why, and I've run into instance of permanent red marker that I simply couldn't completely get rid of, but that was perhaps due to the writing on the cartridge being particularly old. My own tip for stickers onto plastic disc cases, to get rid of leftover bits of glue, is to peel off the most you can, and then to use the glue on the very same sticker you just removed to sort of "attract" the leftover gunk of glue that's still on the casing. You just apply the sticker back onto it and remove it again, and more and more leftover glue will come off the casing and remain on the sticky side of the sticker again. That assumes that the sticker comes off in one piece, or at least in big chunks though. There are instances where it just peels off by tiny pieces, but most stores will not use stickers that stick so stubbornly onto their cases (unless the shop owner is an asshole XD). You can also use adhesive tape for the same effect, as you apply it to the casing and remove, and again and again, it should work just as well.
@Bradaz I find CeX stickers kinda hit and miss. The ones I've had lately have been great, but I've had some a couple of years ago, good lord they were stuck tight
@@bradazbradazbradaz damn that's a shame. I find the stickers that they put on things like consoles seem to be worse for me. I recently bought a PlayStation 3 Slim and quite a few games for it, from CeX. The stickers on the PS3 were worse than the ones on the games
I’ve discovered a way to clean discs and smooth the scratches on the surface. I use eye glass cleaner. The type of cleaner in a small spray bottle to clean eye glasses and sunglasses. I spray a few coats onto the surface of the disc and use tissue/toilet paper to wipe it clean. It’s simple and not so messy. It does the job most of the time.
We use 2 clean our Nintendo tapes back in the late 80s early 90s with a q tip and rubbing alcohol. Im 37 years old by the way..Metal Jesus is a good guy..
I personally recommend cleaning cartridge pins with brass polish first, then 90% rub alcohol, then dry. Repeat the last two steps till you hardly see dirt come off. Definitely open up the cart as Kelsey said helps. Of course after, cleaning the inside of the cart shell where the pins are goes toward protecting your pins.
This is such a great video and channel. I've been rebuilding my old NES collection and ran into a few issues with one cartridge so far and it's Christmas Eve so I've gotta get some alcohol to clean my cartridges before I put them in my console with replaced pins. Thanks Metal Jesus.
To clarify a bit on disc rot, your disc based video games will generally last you your whole lifetime. They'll even outlive you. So you really shouldn't be concerned about your games rotting away. However, like Kelsey said in the video, it's most likely going to happen to older discs from the 80's or 90's because of the material that they're made from. That and extreme temperatures can definitely rot your disc more quickly. For example - A lot of people back then (even to this day) have a collection of CD's that they leave in their car, so that they can listen to music on the road. Well, leaving your disc exposed inside of a locked car with the windows rolled up on hot summer days will almost guarantee you a disc rot. Bottom line, your games will rot away over time, but not in your lifetime if you take good care of them and keep them room temperature. So much for saving your collection for your future great grand kids am I right?
my copy of Half-Life for the PC from 1998 is still in really good shape, i have been keeping it in its original box out of sunlight and taking good care of it.
Now im terrified of my gamecube games getting disc rot, I have a huge 20 gallon fish tank in my small room with little to no ventilation, so its really humid
How the fuck did you do that? I've been using a combination of Goo gone and rubbing alcohol for years and never had any problems other than taking a little bit of shine off of a game label one time other than that the game is fine just a little less pretty LOL Having said that I don't really play physical cartridge games anymore and I just stick with my Raspberry Pi. Not only does it play Genesis games I can also play pretty much everything up to PS1 but if I upgraded my Pi Zero to a Pi 3 or 4 the performance would probably be up to and including PS1, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, and even a little PSP depending on my clock speeds. With the prices and interest in retro games increasing not to mention improvements in emulation technology it almost seems pointless to start a retro game collection in 2020. You're better off setting yourself up with a top of the line emulation box with some decent wireless controllers. 15 years ago when I started collecting Genesis games you could walk into a secondhand store with $20 and leave with 10 to 15 games, now a used cartridge only copy of Sonic The Hedgehog, which used to come free with the system goes for $15 to $20 on its own. Plus unless you still have a halfway decent arcade nearby you that isn't closed due to coronavirus the only way you can enjoy arcade games from the 80's and 90's is with emulation. I was just playing Alien Vs. Predator, which is a phenomenal Capcom side scroller beat em up, last night before I went to bed and though you can't pause or save your data in that game it's still a fun time to be had in one sitting if you have a free hour.
Nice Video...Made me put clean SNES and N64 games on my weekend to do list. Had a scare two weeks ago where my N64 didn't come on a quick giggle of of the hard drive and it started up good as new.
Instead of Goo Gone I would suggest Heptane. It takes time, but it doesn't damage boxes, artwork or labels. Also, they do make plastic razor blades which I use for this. A lot safer.
Also, the data is still on those discs. The data is pressed into the top side of the bottom layer as pits and lands. What you're seeing in bit rot is the deterioration of the aluminum layer that covers the data. This layer allows the data to be read by reflecting the laser back to the lens. So, the data is still there. Simply, the ability for it to be read is not. If you were able to resurface the disc with a new layer of aluminum, then it would work again.
They can buffer the circle scratches ... I had it done for black ops 2 .. and it works perfectly , process costs about 10 $ and worth doing. xbox 360 you never shift while its in motion. you guys rock I watch all your videos .. been a gamer since atari days.
Toothpaste and a microfiber cloth. Works about 50% of the time. Ive also tried dipping the cd in nearly boiling water. For small scratches that usually helps.
I use Q-tips and 91%alcohol for cleaning boards and pins. I have given a few systems alcohol baths and some toothbrush scrubbing to get rid of coke and spills from previous owners and it helped the systems come back to life. I also use my heat gun for all labels. Sometimes I use Goo-gone to help with any leftover residue but the heat gun is the main tool for my label removal.
One thing that works really great for removing stickers off the cases is medical adhesive remover. The oil pads meant to remove left over adhesive on the skin when you take bandaids and what not off. When I get a new used game I remove the cover art, peel off as much of the sticker that will easily come off, wipe it down with an adhesive remover pad and then wipe the oil off with a clean paper towel. Takes the sticky and the dirt away and shines the plastic back up a little. I just make sure everything is dry again before I put the cover back in.
I enjoyed 16 minutes and 20 seconds ago when I didn't know what disc rot is.
Same. Never heard of her.
It's when the "scratch" are too deep or are too damage your disc surface !!!! It's like if you put a cutter count or cut into the surface of some disc but harder...
I looked at every disc in my collection after seeing that and unfortunately, twisted metal on the PS1 seems to have it there is a little pin hole I can see light through.
You all prolly dont give a damn but does someone know of a way to get back into an Instagram account??
I was dumb forgot my login password. I love any assistance you can give me!
@Enoch Patrick Instablaster :)
Great video! Though Magic Erasers work great for removing marker, it can also remove the pebbled texture of NES games. Use sparingly.
or unlisted
And Magic Erasers will actually cause visible scratches on a glossy surface, like the top of a Sega Genesis... just sayin'.
RIGGGGGS!!
John Riggs: RIGG'd Games I stick with simply aggressive cloths and dish soap. magic erasers create that unsightly shiny plastic look
Son Goku patreon, I guess?
I'm glad that disc rot was brought up because I lost my entire Saturn collection from disc rot but when I tried explaining it to people they acted like I was crazy and told me to just take better care of my stuff. Thank you for confirming that I'm not crazy
I've got a couple of laser disc with that issue, it is real and I didn't know about it myself. Crazy
crazy i used to be crazy
they locked me in a room
a rubber room
a rubber room with mice
mice make me crazy
Should’ve taken better care of your discs bro
“To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to most of life’s problems.”
- Homer j Simpson
Koala Kids Gaming Channel “There’s nothing like a depressant to chase away the blues!”
- Lenny Lenard
When they said disc rot i felt like the whole room got quiet :( lol
How do I clean my digital games?
Homer Thompson 🗑
format c: /s
MetalJesusRocks mighty kind of you to leave them with a bootable disk 😆
Muh ha ha, even his jokes are retro. That brought a real smile to my face :D
+MetalJesusRocks haha
awesome video!!! Any chance we can get a how to clean your consoles video?
Ryan Bolin Good idea
Agreed. I've asked this on a previous video yesterday. I have all my Nintendo consoles fail on me last year but the Wii-U; Really hope there is a way to fix and/or clean them.
YES! Originally we had some discussion about console cleaning in this video...but it felt a bit long so I took it out. But we'll do a dedicated video in the future!
Great, looking forward to it!
Check out Adam Koralik on TH-cam ;)
Disc rot is the exact reason why we need more gaming historians and to legitimize emulation.
Well, emulation in itself is not illegal. Copyright infringement is. You're perfectly in your rights to develop and/or use a piece of hardware/software that emulates any given game console. You're just not allowed to download the entire Playstation catalogue off the Internet to play on it.
And I agree that some sort of legal framework needs to be created to ensure these cultural works survive, not only in "compiled executable + data" format, but also their source code and "raw" assets.
Or maybe just cartridges, cartridges are good. Bring back cartridges. Actually, the Switch is trying to do the right thing. Just please try to put the whole game in it, like all the time, like old times? *going back to my GBA/GB collection*
@Yo! Its Emo Exactly. That’s why I appreciate the existence of emulation. It helps preserve the games. Especially the Atari 2600 era, that system is almost 50 years old, so it’s basically an inevitability that the original cartridges will die and no longer be useable. Same with the console itself too, it’s just getting harder to find a working 2600 and a matching CRT TV of its era. It really sucks tbh.
all hail Kelsey and and Frank Cifaldi
Wd40 works to remove stickers
Disc rot is unacceptable. How will people play these games in 500 years? Let's hope the emulation community can keep up.
SoopaFlyism lmao
I figure vr will be so advanced even just in the next 30 or so years that every game will have “ready player one” feel to it
Bold of you to assume people will exist in 500 years.
@@TakavaNirhii did I miss something? 😂
@@TakavaNirhii Lmao good point.
I just got my Sonic CD disc done with one of these machines. My disc was very scratched up, and after resurfacing it the disc looked brand new. Definitely worth finding a professional resurfacing place (mine charged 5 bucks, but definitely worth it.
Also, data is stored at the inside edge of the disc (CD information goes from inside-out).
I definitely have rot on some of my laserdiscs, but that's more glue at the factory.
As always, take care of your stuff. Handle discs by the edges, never touch or scratch the CD (especially at the top).
I hear that buffing a ps3 game will destroy it...slight chance it might be a different console.
Have been cleaning a substantial portion of my collection just in the last few weeks, so thank you, I really appreciate this topic.
One thing - If your game box is seriously trashed, always consider just popping out the cardboard art and moving it to a shiny new one from a sports game or something. For PS1 games you have to be a bit gentle if you want to still use the scratched jewel case, but PS2 and everything after is child's play - yet I still see collectors with chewed to death boxes on their $70 rpgs.
Now, there are some minor variants on boxes in most PS2 gen and later games, so it's up to you if that matters. The main ones are the enviro friendly cutout boxes on wii, ds and 360 games. Also you will encounter a lot of rental store boxes.
But overall, I'd say, swap your nice boxes onto your best games, and then worry about whether cleaning up that beer-and cig-encrusted copy of Broshooter '07 is really worth your time.
Also a question for any of you pros: Do you think there's a clear best path between keeping games in their original boxes vs. keeping them in a cd binder? I would think the one might be better for bit rot and the other better for avoiding scratches, but I don't have any solid data
Also toothpicks wrapped with a paper towel around the tip and dipped in rubbing alcohol.👍😎
Having fun isn't hard when you got a library card!
“A-A-R-D-V-A-R-K”
Is that something to hold all your games?
Mine doesnt offer disc repairs
My library card is what they took when I forgot to return my library books :(
Jekyll Jekyll Hyde Jekyll Hyde Hyde Jekyll
As a more laid back collector, I have an "if it works, that's all I need" mentality.
So are you okay with buying fake games?
Most of the time a fake will be of less quality than the official.
You need a White Russian
@@TwoFourNineNine I'm a luddite, I didn't even know they were making fake games. Let alone have been making them for years now
Something I've found to work incredibly well for removing stickers (and adhesive in general) is lighter fluid. Been using it to remove pricetags for 25+ years.
I love that MJR makes these kinds of video.
Whenever I have an issue or want to know something I just search Metal Jesus Rocks and then whatever my issue is and 99% of the time a video pops up that solves my problem
where has this been all my life SO MANY CASES SAVED THANK YOU!
All valuable information and always a pleasure to see the lovely Kelsey in attendance!
keep simping bro
I started making backups of all my Dreamcast collection, so I can still play them and reduce the risk of damage to the original discs and case hinges.
I’ve had problems with some pretty deep scratches on discs before, and here’s my solution:
1. Take Vaseline, or unscented/unflavored chapstick and smear it all over the reflective side of the disc. Clockwise, counter-clockwise, up, down, side-to-side, every direction you can to really get into the nooks and crannys.
2. Wipe it all off with a paper towel. DO NOT WASH IT OFF.
3. Once a majority of the Vaseline/chapstick is gone, take a soft, clean cloth (shirts work fine, microfiber cloths are best though) and shine the disc up really nice so that it looks as perfect as you can get.
Boom. Your disc should work fine. It may not work 100% of the time, but I personally have never had any issues after doing this.
How long do I have to wait between each steps?
@@SilvaThunder9 No waiting! I hope this helps!
@@KiwiDude7 it helped a little for me, my ps2 disc finally reads on my ps2 but now I got a red screen everytime I try to get the game to boot up but thanks for the method.
Edit: also next time I'll try it the proper way
A method I've used for a few years now to remove stickers is to peel it as carefully as you can, and for residue left over use a piece of tape to remove it. Go over and over and over the adhesive, it eventually all comes off on the tape and doesnt damage the carts or cases at all.
I am watching this video in 2020. ! Thank you for the tips!
Kelsey is my favourite metal Jesus. She is just awesome!
1Up cards have saved a bunch of carts for me.
Glad you like them!! Game on.
I use 1UpCards all the time. Highly recommended!
I watch Kelsy all the time.
Highly recommended!
MetalJesusRocks i've got a good tip for you maan...how to clean glue after scratched sticker,better thsn heat gun,and not all people have heat gun at home...pick up that circle cotton wool that ladies use snd put olive oil on it and make circular moves in problem area and soon it will be gone,top it off with medical alcohol to get rid of oil. The fastest and easyest way dude :)
I work at a game and movie resale shop. I've found that hand sanitizer works well on sharpie and other permanent markers. It works better for me than alcohol. It's also less runny so you can put it where you'd like without ruining the label. We also have a few industrial Venmill resurfacers that absolutely rule, but they're about 3,000 dollars.
I do like to clean disc game cases with vegetable oil (i use olive to be specific) and it works quite good at getting the dirt out of the fine scratches that practically any case has. Of course just like with any cleaner or even water you have to be careful that the labels aren't soaking anything, so i usually remove the labels first.
I also had some success with remove glue residue with it.
Great stuff, a lot of things I do but I always seem to learn something from these videos
CRAZY JOE!!!! We need to get you back on the channel buddy
It will be a sad day for gaming that in the future the only way to play old console games will be on an emulator in the PC :(
Ikr (sorry for the late ass reply)
SomeStuff and me
better than nowhere
Damn! That really sucks about the disc rot! I didn't even know that existed... I do know everything has a half life but with things that are manufactured at a professional level I figured they'd last longer than small run stuff. Great episode as always though! Love learning this stuff!
Makes you feel a bit better about digital releases, doesn't it? It's why I'm glad Gog.com and Steam exist. And emulation.
I know. It made me sad growing up with CDs/DVDs. So many of us are gonna lose all our favorite things D:
I have CDs from the 80s that work perfectly. If you take care of your discs, such as putting them back in the cases and keeping them in cool, dry places, they will last much longer. They used to say cassette and VHS tapes wouldn't last long. I have cassettes from the 70s and VHS tapes from the early 80s that work just as good as they did back then.
I take really great care of my discs (some I haven't even used), but some have already succumbed to some weird form of rot.
+Daniel Ramirez
Nothing lasts forever but don't worry about it too much. I used to worry about SNES internal batteries dying but emulation solved that problem.
the misspelling of razor killed me
***Razor Blayd
Razer laptop
WD40 is good for removing sticker residue
& super fine car polish for scratches
It takes off permanent marker also.
You must've escaped from an asylum. WD40 on a paint job???
@@PostTraumaticChessDisorder I heard that it works but I've never tried it on auto body and WD40 can help you take the sticker off easily but if it gets to the artwork it will make it dimmer. Don't do it because that happen to me with my back cd cover of Einhänder
Thanks for the shout out on 1UPcards! Curious? Check our FAQ's. www.1upcard.com/pages/faq
Love your product!! Thanks for making these and supporting the retro community!
You should start selling those 1UPcards etc. here in Europe, i would defently buy them :)
I used to use alcohol for all my cartridge cleaning needs (marker, pin dust/dirt, sticker residue) until the day I discovered lighter fluid, the kind you use to fill Zippo lighters. Same steps, qtips>scrub>wipe dry. It works better than alcohol imo, ESPECIALLY with sticker residue. It destroys the adhesive quality of the glue and it practically wipes right off.
Pro tip
Thanks for the tip! I'll just have to keep my games away from an open flame afterwards. Heheh.
UncleSilver Gaming lol I use alcohol for my games but for adhesive lighter fluid works better I figured that out too a while back
If you can get your hands on some industrial degreaser (i.e. Zep) it will instantly liquefy most stickers and is a bit safer for the print on labels than lighter fluid.
Brasso works extremely well. I use it exclusively. but you have to clean it hard afterwards to get all the residue off.
Use Denatured alcohol instead of Isopropyl, Use Headlight polisher to Polish a optical Disc with a soft cloth, then clean the polish off with a microfiber cloth. for Marker/sticker Removal, use Goof Off. GooGone leaves an oily residue that is hard to clean off. Be careful around labels. Most cleaning products will lift the Pigment off the label because most of them are printed with ink instead of toner. Do not use a Magic eraser, most collectors see this as damaging the game because it changes the texture of the Cart and is a subtraction process like sanding with sandpaper.
Moandain Designs novus 2 is a great plastic polisher. Also magic eraser is just melomene foam aka 2000 grit sandpaper.
I've seen disc rot happen very quickly on the cheap CD-Rs we used to share music on. As mentioned, a lot of times it was on copies that stayed in the work truck and got exposed to the temperature extremes.
You can fix pretty much any scratch on an optical disc with a bench mounted buffer. You can probably pick one up for less than $50 and then a stick of polishing compound is going to run you about $10. My father is a goldsmith so I always had access to his jewelery polishing stuff and I fixed a lot of CD's with a buffer back in the day.
A few pieces of advice if you are going to do this. Get a nice wide and soft buffing pad, chances are are one will come with your buffer if you buy a brand new one. Use extra fine polishing compound (most manufacturers make it in green), if you use a polishing compound that is too abrasive you will just be making things worse. Keep in mind that the disc will warn up from the friction, if it gets too warm just stop, go get some coffee let it cool down, as with all other cleaning techniques patience is key here. I shouldn't even have to say this but you should never buff the top (label) side of an optical disc. Another thing to keep in mind is that the buffing compound will come off the wheel and fly behind it and up, you might want to put up something to catch it so you don't have a green streak on your wall, a dust collector box is optimal but a piece of cardboard will work too. Also if all you care about is making your disc working again and not necessarily making it look brand new keep in mind the fact that a disc might work just fine with a few scratches on it so you might want to periodically stop and check if you polished it enough so it works again.
It's a good method of restoring scratched discs because it gives you full control over how much of the plastic you are taking off in the process. I recommend that you take a few discs you don't care about and practice on them if you have never done anything like this before just to get used to the process. Once you get used to it it's a fairly quick and safe way of removing scratches from discs.
14:10 .......after talking about disc rot is looks like kelsey is going to cry haha
Did I mention she owns two retro gaming stores!? yah... tears
METALJESUSROCKS ROCKS!
Probably cause she thought about me and misses me. Yep... she wants me! ;D
you are all virgins. sheesh.
MetalJesusRocks dude I cry every time I look over at my discs and think about how they will all be screwed at some point in time.
Glass cleaners containing ammonia will fog polycarbonate which is always worth keeping in mind.
Whoah, the levels of misunderstanding of how optical media work are astonishing.
No, the toothpaste doesn't "fill in the gaps". If it did, you'd end up with opaque lines where the scratches would've been, resulting in the scratch becoming even _less_ readable. What happens instead is that the small abrasives in the toothpaste smooth out the edges of the scratch, buff it out, resulting in a less aggressive change in refraction, making the laser's work easier. And those Disc Doctors work on the same principle: buff out the scratches until they become "transparent" to the laser. Yes, you'll be taking off a small layer of protective material in front of the data layer every time you do this. Don't worry, there's 1.2mm of plastic to grind through before you start damaging the data. That's a lot of trips to the disc doctor.
Furthermore, those scratches don't cause the "disc reader" to "do this thing all of the time" (mimics vertical wobble implying something's trying to follow the "terrain"). It's a compact disc, optical media, not a bloody phonograph!
Finally, discs don't necessarily become unreadable just because there are scratches on the printed side. There's still a 0.25mm layer of plastic protecting the reflective layer, plus whatever thickness print on top of that. A scratch to the non-reflective side will only cause damage once it penetrates into the silvery layer. Small surface scratches won't harm the data at all.
The last part is key. Usually, it becomes difficult to read the disc with a scratch on top, but back in the 90s, at least, you could use a marker or a sticker in the scratched area to make it more opaque and disc would start reading again.
Good info but calm down
@@janestill2588 Why do people always assume that when you contradict someone, you must be doing so while foaming at the mouth and jumping up and down? I am perfectly capable of expressing my irritation without going on a killing spree. ;)
Hey from the UK!
Had about 5 Mega drive game cartridges with black screens, no matter how many times I blew into the cartridge & cartridge slot, still the black screen of death! I opened the casing & cleaning the contacts on each side using screen wash with q tips. It's amazing how much dirt comes off on them, put it back together, slotted it in & .....the beloved Sega logo appeared & the game started to sing! I did the same with the other 4 & same thing!
100% success rate, I was beaming!😃😃😃
i think im just addicted to anything with Kelsey in it. whats not amazing about her?? . soooo jelly ! keep up the videos metal Jesus =]
I am so glad I digitized a lot of the PC games I used to own as a kid. I started making ISO files of them around the age of 16 (which was 12 years ago) and I've been able to copy those from hard drive to hard drive and system to system. I've lost some of the physical disks and others have been scratched up to the point they are unplayable, but I can always burn a new copy and keep on playing them.
Yeah,well they're always going to be online someplace too.At least most of them.So long as you can mod the console to play backups there's little concern I suppose.
more kelsey please
Bro, get out the house.
Cover the surface of the disk in wood glue and wait for it to go off, the peel it off. Also works perfectly on records!
My personal cleaning kit is comprised of dry erase markers, security bits, 3 sizes of phillips heads, goof off, weimans cook top cleaner, paper shaft cotton swabs, Loc-tite bonding fluiding, and window cleaner. Great success. I also repair NES/SNES/N64 decks and controls with the same kit. And I have a clever method involving Loc-tite where I replenish the couples in N64 controls that often cause joystick failures.
Just a suggestion and a method that works for me I wanna say damn near 100% of the time. If you have the game bit and take the cart apart a regular old pink eraser on the connectors gets all the built up crap off and makes the game look and play like new. It's pretty amazing actually. I use the eraser then a soft paper towel that's dampened with alcohol to remove any eraser residue.
Some say MJ is still nodding his head awkwardly to this day
Lol can't unsee it now, love the man though no disrespect here, keep going MJ 😊
alcohol is the cause and solution to all my problems.
Homer J. Simpson
cause of and solution too all lifes problems*
@@darrell5363 * the cause of - and solution to - all of life's problems.
@@eee2861 also.. its beer, not alchohol
No that's Jim Lahey's
Oh wow, I was not aware of the disc rott problem. That is actually very upsetting :-(
I had no idea about disc rot. I thought one of my old ps1 games got loose in the box during moving. It’s great information even years after you made this video.
You guys are my new heroes, have the Pocket on back order so I busted out some really old titles. And wouldn’t you know they wouldn’t play so followed the young ladies advice and now they work great, once again thanks for the great tip!🤙🤙🤙
If you don’t have 1up cards or a q-tip, you can try blowing into your cartridge like a maniac
true, this works 100% flawlessly
Actually that can cause corrosion which can damage the copper pins.
Blowing the Cartridge is dumbest thing when someone still does that today. Q-Tip isn't even expensive, its super cheap.
@@PinoyBowlerGS92 it's just jokes, this is common knowledge (I hope)
Make sure mouth is moist and you get as much spit onto the cartridge as possible. Disclaimer: That was a joke, don't do it.
I cant even say how many Q-tips I went through cleaning my NES collection alone. I wish I had known about that 1 Up card.
I could watch Kelsey clean anything....
You say at the end of the video " a lot of this is common knowledge and common sense" but as someone who is NOT a collector but has a lot of games this was 100% new to me. As a kid I bought those disc repair thingys for 15 dollars and until this video I had no idea they weren't good for your CD. Also learned about the library! I'm binge watching a lot of your stuff and learning a lot! Thank you both!
This is also probably why later systems installs the game into the system and only needs the license from the disc, and also why people backup their games to play them on like USB Loader GX or Open PS2 Loader. So you still have your collection and disc being rotted, you can play them with those programs.
alcohol can fix everything...except nickelback...
T K nickelback is best when drunk doe
Burak Crystal I don't know I hate ICP and my buddy talked me into going to a show with him. I got hammered and had a great time. But I still hate the music and would not go see them again.
I bought the new Nicklelback album. I want my nickel back!
T K bahahahah
Nani My sides
I always really enjoy the episodes with Kelsey, she's super knowledgeable and I've gotten some really great tips in the videos with her. Keep the vids coming, MJR! (We need more Sega Genesis Hidden Gems! :) )
And shes standing on a stool
YEEEEES, GYROMITE NOW WORKSSS! I HAVE BEEN WAITING TO PLAY THIS! I got it a month ago, put it in, and it didnt work, but this video helped me soo much and I managed to clean the contacts with Q-tips and now it works!
I'm watching all these Retro gaming videos, this is the first USEFUL one I've seen, Thanks!
I didn't know about "disc rot" until seeing this video. That's a real bummer! It goes to show that even if you're a physical games purist for the sake of preservation and control over your collection, you're not safe. True of everything, really. Nothing lasts forever.
Thanks for the Goo Gone recommendation! I'll order some for my used games collection!
My own tip for getting rid of permanent marker on ANY plastic surface is a deodorant aerosol spray. The alcohol contained on the deodorant, sprayed by the aerosol at high speed onto the plastic because it's compressed inside the bottle, usually gets rid of any permanent marker. I've done this for years, and in the case of black permanent marker, it always gets rid of 100% of it in a heartbeat. Coloured markers are usually more persistent, I'm not sure why, and I've run into instance of permanent red marker that I simply couldn't completely get rid of, but that was perhaps due to the writing on the cartridge being particularly old.
My own tip for stickers onto plastic disc cases, to get rid of leftover bits of glue, is to peel off the most you can, and then to use the glue on the very same sticker you just removed to sort of "attract" the leftover gunk of glue that's still on the casing. You just apply the sticker back onto it and remove it again, and more and more leftover glue will come off the casing and remain on the sticky side of the sticker again. That assumes that the sticker comes off in one piece, or at least in big chunks though. There are instances where it just peels off by tiny pieces, but most stores will not use stickers that stick so stubbornly onto their cases (unless the shop owner is an asshole XD). You can also use adhesive tape for the same effect, as you apply it to the casing and remove, and again and again, it should work just as well.
My brother: hey can you get this CeX sticker off of my case, I wanna sell it.
Me: *whips out steamer*
@Bradaz I find CeX stickers kinda hit and miss. The ones I've had lately have been great, but I've had some a couple of years ago, good lord they were stuck tight
@@DualShockTree All of mine seem to be insane.
@@bradazbradazbradaz damn that's a shame. I find the stickers that they put on things like consoles seem to be worse for me. I recently bought a PlayStation 3 Slim and quite a few games for it, from CeX. The stickers on the PS3 were worse than the ones on the games
"Alcohol fixes everything," -hmmmmm i told the officer who pulled me over that.... It didnt fly
I’ve discovered a way to clean discs and smooth the scratches on the surface. I use eye glass cleaner. The type of cleaner in a small spray bottle to clean eye glasses and sunglasses. I spray a few coats onto the surface of the disc and use tissue/toilet paper to wipe it clean. It’s simple and not so messy. It does the job most of the time.
I worked at a DVD/Game store 15+ years ago, and I still vividly remember the smell of the fluid used to resurface discs.
Inappropriate comment about Kelsey.
ok ok id eat her shitter like a pineapple fritter
chigimonky I was looking for you
omg thats a good one!
B C wtf
@@BC___1 I got one. $20
Kelsi is just plain adorable
the idea that one day all of your video games will rot is depressing
only cd's carts will live on.
It definitely is
I really enjoy when games have someone else’s name written on it because it was loved and was used.
We use 2 clean our Nintendo tapes back in the late 80s early 90s with a q tip and rubbing alcohol. Im 37 years old by the way..Metal Jesus is a good guy..
for nes games I used electrical contact cleaner with qtip and now they work first try everytime!!!!
1:59 that bottle of alcohol had a near deah experience. good video tho 😁
Got it need patience, patience. 😠😠😠THIS STICKER WONT COME OFF!
I personally recommend cleaning cartridge pins with brass polish first, then 90% rub alcohol, then dry. Repeat the last two steps till you hardly see dirt come off. Definitely open up the cart as Kelsey said helps. Of course after, cleaning the inside of the cart shell where the pins are goes toward protecting your pins.
This is such a great video and channel. I've been rebuilding my old NES collection and ran into a few issues with one cartridge so far and it's Christmas Eve so I've gotta get some alcohol to clean my cartridges before I put them in my console with replaced pins. Thanks Metal Jesus.
To clarify a bit on disc rot, your disc based video games will generally last you your whole lifetime. They'll even outlive you.
So you really shouldn't be concerned about your games rotting away.
However, like Kelsey said in the video, it's most likely going to happen to older discs from the 80's or 90's because of the material that they're made from.
That and extreme temperatures can definitely rot your disc more quickly.
For example - A lot of people back then (even to this day) have a collection of CD's that they leave in their car, so that they can listen to music on the road.
Well, leaving your disc exposed inside of a locked car with the windows rolled up on hot summer days will almost guarantee you a disc rot.
Bottom line, your games will rot away over time, but not in your lifetime if you take good care of them and keep them room temperature.
So much for saving your collection for your future great grand kids am I right?
my copy of Half-Life for the PC from 1998 is still in really good shape, i have been keeping it in its original box out of sunlight and taking good care of it.
Now im terrified of my gamecube games getting disc rot, I have a huge 20 gallon fish tank in my small room with little to no ventilation, so its really humid
Brandonez Doofenshmirtz get out of there it’s too dangerous
@@jason11801 too late, R.I.P fatal frame 3 for the ps2
@@brandonezdoofenshmirtz2916
Damn we should try and come up with a air sealed trunk to store games and consoles to keep the oxygen out and humidity.
Don't use Goo-Gone on the actual carts. Just melted a Sega Genesis one taking off a price sticker this weekend.
I melted my sega genesis 😞
leonidude Sorry man
I melted my house
How the fuck did you do that? I've been using a combination of Goo gone and rubbing alcohol for years and never had any problems other than taking a little bit of shine off of a game label one time other than that the game is fine just a little less pretty LOL Having said that I don't really play physical cartridge games anymore and I just stick with my Raspberry Pi. Not only does it play Genesis games I can also play pretty much everything up to PS1 but if I upgraded my Pi Zero to a Pi 3 or 4 the performance would probably be up to and including PS1, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, and even a little PSP depending on my clock speeds. With the prices and interest in retro games increasing not to mention improvements in emulation technology it almost seems pointless to start a retro game collection in 2020. You're better off setting yourself up with a top of the line emulation box with some decent wireless controllers. 15 years ago when I started collecting Genesis games you could walk into a secondhand store with $20 and leave with 10 to 15 games, now a used cartridge only copy of Sonic The Hedgehog, which used to come free with the system goes for $15 to $20 on its own. Plus unless you still have a halfway decent arcade nearby you that isn't closed due to coronavirus the only way you can enjoy arcade games from the 80's and 90's is with emulation. I was just playing Alien Vs. Predator, which is a phenomenal Capcom side scroller beat em up, last night before I went to bed and though you can't pause or save your data in that game it's still a fun time to be had in one sitting if you have a free hour.
Nice Video...Made me put clean SNES and N64 games on my weekend to do list. Had a scare two weeks ago where my N64 didn't come on a quick giggle of of the hard drive and it started up good as new.
Instead of Goo Gone I would suggest Heptane. It takes time, but it doesn't damage boxes, artwork or labels. Also, they do make plastic razor blades which I use for this. A lot safer.
Great, now I'm worried about all my disc based games!
when is metal jesus gonna bless us with that sexy beardless chin action again? #nochinpelt
I’m in love with Kelsey
I see your standards are set pretty high.
Tooth paste and turtle wax hot water has brought back so many of my games
Also, the data is still on those discs. The data is pressed into the top side of the bottom layer as pits and lands. What you're seeing in bit rot is the deterioration of the aluminum layer that covers the data. This layer allows the data to be read by reflecting the laser back to the lens. So, the data is still there. Simply, the ability for it to be read is not. If you were able to resurface the disc with a new layer of aluminum, then it would work again.
Oh god. The April fools video game me PTSD with the intro. I felt like it was going to keep going again. :(
Several people died watching my extended April Fool's video intro... #Sad
Rest in peace dead viewers.
Prince Goat Cheese ...they died anxious. 😑
lol 4:03 - 4:14 metaljesus is nodding his head.
Counting Sheep 123 He is practicing headbanging.
hahaha.
Lol
Bobblehead....
This is the first time ive heard of disk rot and im actually super bummed now :(
I happen to remove sharpie on a NES cartridge with a pencil rubber. Works pretty well too !
They can buffer the circle scratches ... I had it done for black ops 2 .. and it works perfectly , process costs about 10 $ and worth doing. xbox 360 you never shift while its in motion. you guys rock I watch all your videos .. been a gamer since atari days.
Kelsey is so cute.
EntertainmentFortress no
EntertainmentFortress can you not?
@@vegaslowblower8781 are you serious?
I like when she says get it wet
I don't think I wanna be alive when my games decay.
MarvelGeek117 you bones will be mostly decayed by the time it happens
Its always tragic when a parent outlives their children.
I swear Kelsey's milk crate keeps getting taller and taller.
qqq1701 i want to take that the wrong way....
same
Is it just me or the reason they always have kelsie in the thumbnail is so it attracts more viewers
Toothpaste and a microfiber cloth. Works about 50% of the time. Ive also tried dipping the cd in nearly boiling water. For small scratches that usually helps.
omg those nails!
gorvic1 she could dwell on the isle of lesbos with them
chicken livers ...Sappho.
meh, so she's got man hands and a lisp. i still think she's mad cute. straight up.
Benefit: N64 doesn't suffer from disk rot because Nintendo picked cartridges for no load times unlike Microsoft and Sony.
Yeah, but N64 games can be ruined just as easy and data on them doesnt last forever.
Yeah Nintendo were the king of the console, then they chose cartridges and got dominated by Microsoft and Sony for over 2 decades!
I feel like the format is kind of awkward... like, please take a seat, make yourself comfortable
I use Q-tips and 91%alcohol for cleaning boards and pins. I have given a few systems alcohol baths and some toothbrush scrubbing to get rid of coke and spills from previous owners and it helped the systems come back to life. I also use my heat gun for all labels. Sometimes I use Goo-gone to help with any leftover residue but the heat gun is the main tool for my label removal.
One thing that works really great for removing stickers off the cases is medical adhesive remover. The oil pads meant to remove left over adhesive on the skin when you take bandaids and what not off. When I get a new used game I remove the cover art, peel off as much of the sticker that will easily come off, wipe it down with an adhesive remover pad and then wipe the oil off with a clean paper towel. Takes the sticky and the dirt away and shines the plastic back up a little. I just make sure everything is dry again before I put the cover back in.