Well, I'm not really complaining about the cd-rs, but it did surprise me. I have actually been working on an album for awhile and decided to figure out what it would cost to get factory pressed cds, as opposed to cd-rs.

To my surprise, they both cost about the same price to make in some of the cd duplication/replication sites. On some of them, they actually have a cutoff that goes 1-499 cd's = cd-r media, and then 500+ cd's = factory pressed discs, same price. I guess they somewhat get even out, at around 500 cds, for making the glass masters.

I can also imagine that if GDG is printing labels, writing their own cd-rs, and buying cases and printing inserts, buying those blank labels and inserts, etc, that they're actually paying a lot more per cd than it would cost to factory press.

So, my question is why not start releasing your games with factory pressed discs? You have better compatibility and it's less wear on lasers by doing so. You'll also get more professional looking labels and inserts.

CD-Rs have a limited shelflife, and although factory cds probably have a limited shelflife as well, if they're done right, they should be able to last a lot longer than cd-rs. According to G4TV, some cd-rs will start degrading in as little as 4 years. I've had a few cd-rs go corrupt over the years myself.

Hope to get some feedback from the guys at GDG.

There is a reason why we use the CD-r format. We have tried extensively to find a company that can make a glass master successfully of a Sega CD game, and although the data seems fine and is readable on a PC computer, the game fails to play on a standard Sega CD unit.

Trust me, it takes a great deal of time to make all the cds, print and adhere all the lables, et cetera. If we could do what you suggest, it would make our lives much easier.

So, to answer your inquiry, it is out of necessity that we produce the current titles the way that we do.

Michael of GDG
www.GoodDealGames.com

Thanks for the explanation. It's possible that the newer equipment just writes the data too fast. I'm not 100% familiar with how cd replication works as opposed to duplication, but I have heard many times that the data was written at 1x speed on sega cds.

Yeah, GDG isn't the only place that does this these days. We here at YB Games are working on Jaguar projects for the CD ROM unit and finding a place that will press the discs successfully is a joke as of late. The last people to actually do this successfully was Telegames, and they ain't talking! It can be frusturating from a developers standpoint too! Still, GORF was released on the Jaguar on a CD-R and Painter was as well, and there have been no problems with compatibility reported, as of yet. Usually as long as you test the game thouroughly, you should do well with it!