I can think of several occasions where I buy a video game and notice oddities that other people playing the same game on the same platform seem to deny having any knowledge about and I was wondering if individual game disks can have minor corruptions or bugs unique to them, for whatever reason. I will use two examples of the occurrences I mentioned:

1. I have the PS3 version of Oblivion and have had it for nearly three years. I've meticulously played through and (unintentionally) become so familiar with the game that Cyrodill has practically become as well known, to me, as the back of my hand. My favorite soundtrack from Oblivion is one I've never actually heard in-game. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2EbsfqhI2k I've only ever heard it whenever I initially load up a save game... and the loading process is so short that I barely get to hear any of the song before the game, itself, starts running. Other people (some of which I recall also playing the PS3 version of the game) have told me that it is an explore track and that they've heard it many times, but in all my time exploring Cyrodiil (and I've really explored Cyrodiil), I've never once heard it play... ever. I'm, obviously, upset about that and I can just imagine how perfectly it would fit in with a walk in the Great Forest on a sunny day with one of those bright, beautiful Ayleid ruins appearing in the background, yet never actually experience that, myself. I've even googled the problem and have come up with nobody mentioning it or knowing what I'm talking about. Other than that, the game is perfectly fine and I've noticed no other unknown oddities, but it's been bothering me so much and I'm wondering if it's unique to my disk, for some reason.

2. I've got the PS3 version of Assassin's Creed 1, 2, and Brotherhood. 1 and 2 run smooth, for me, but Brotherhood, for whatever reason, has a lot of stuttering as I move about the city of Rome. Nobody else seems to know what I'm talking about. I have compared Brotherhood with 2, back-to-back, to either verify or disprove my observation, and the comparison proved it. Brotherhood stutters (almost as if it's having trouble loading new cells, or something... almost like a Bethesda game, but more frequently and more annoying), for me, whereas 2 does not. I'm wondering if it may be possible that my disk is corrupt or uniquely buggy for Brotherhood, as well.



So, has anyone else ever thought such things about any version of any game and is it possible that individual disks are corrupted, or is it simply that some people don't notice things other people do?

Are they scratched at all? I'd think rather than change the game data, it would just become unreadable.

Some games go through multiple versions over the course of their existence, but this is mainly before the advent of internet patches.


I'm going with this.

well, first the nazi inside of me wants to point out optical media is has the de facto naming convention of "c" not "k"

secondly, given that discs are mass-produced, a bad batch is pretty much guaranteed. Like anything else there is some QC, but bad discs make it to the market just like any other product. Been burned a few times by bad anime DVDs over the years.

Over time, other things such as scratches and disc rot can occur.

I'm having a problem with a game I bought today. I brought it up in the Red Dead Thread (lol), but I'm not sure if it's a bad disc, or used copy problem. The disc itself is in really good shape, so I don't know.

Huh, I hear that songtrack all the time. It's quite nice when I'm riding through Cyrodiil on Shadowmere. (Then it abrubtly ends when a bandit attacks.)

Meanwhile, in my 100+ hours long save, for all my exploring I can't remember for the life of me any time I've heard my favourite track "Auriel's Ascension" playing.

Is that the PS3 version you are playing?

Xbox 360.

Hm... according to the UESP:

"The track "Auriel's Ascension" is not included on the original Xbox 360 version of the game. However, it is included on the PC and PS3 versions and the GotY edition of the Xbox 360 version."

However, the UESP mentions nothing for the PS3 version of Oblivion and Glory of Cyrodiil.

Huh, I have the GotY installed (except SI since the disc was too scratched) and play with the disc that game from a BioShock/Oblivion bundle. So "Auriel's Ascension" must come from SI part, then.