Mold growth fears ...

Well, it's practically summer now (if you live in the USA, anyway), and around here it's been incredibly humid for the last few weeks (and judging from the weather forecasts, it's going to stay that way for at least another week or so). The problem is, the temperatures aren't that high (only in the mid 70s daytime), so you can't use the air conditioning to take the moisture level down.

Therein lies the problem. What in the hell are you supposed to do in humid weather, with temperatures just shy of justifying turning on the AC? I'm scared that mold is going to start growing on my games. It's getting to the point where I don't want to spend any $$$ at all on new games for fear of this kind of thing happening.

And honestly, I live in Indiana, so it's relatively to the north. I can't imagine how humid it must be right now down in the southern states, such as Florida. I know people say that the trick is to "keep the windows open" so that there is air flow, but ...

... that is really only helpful with the OPEN areas of your home. When you store a game disc in its case, you're essentially cutting off air flow (or at least slowing it down significantly). Add to that putting your games away inside a cabinet, drawer, box, chest, closet, or any other *relatively* airtight location (whereever you usually store them), then you're constricting air flow even more. So you finish playing a game during the humid weather, you put it away and store it away ... and then months down the road, when you take it back out again, and you discover it's got mildew growing on it. How is keeping the windows in your home open going to help your games, unless you leave them lying out?

That pretty much describes my worst NIGHTMARE.

Right now, there's nothing much I can do. Unless the humidity goes down or the temperature goes up higher (thus allowing me to turn on the AC), it's like everything's a ticking time bomb ... such a cruel situation. And like I said, I live in the NORTHERN USA. How in the hell do other people deal with humid summers, especially closer to the equator?

Has anyone ever had this kind of thing happen to their games, or am I just worrying unnecessarily here? Maybe if games were only $5 a piece, I wouldn't care, but unfortunately ...

Video games (and all optical disc media, really) should be coated with an anti-mold material. The scratch-resistant coating on blu-ray discs is thinking in the right direction. You pay for the data, the copyrighted IP when you buy games. So it's ridiculous that you should have to worry about the PHYSICALmedium on which that data is stored being damaged or ruined.

worrying uneccessiarly. Do all of your other products get mold all over them? Computer, speakers, cups in the back of the pantry? No, its not enough to sustain a colony.

Edit for reference - I've lived in Gaum and Virginia

I'm not sure if you are serious or not because it's really unrealistic to think that this could ever happen. I'm not trying to insult you or anything but you are working yourslef in to anxiety over an unrealistic fear. Even if it did grow on there (which it won't) just wash it off delicately.

I live in england ... the whole country's wet and mouldy :lol:

Thanks, those are some great posts.

Ironically, if I had posted this same thing on Yahoo! Answers or something, I would have gotten a bunch of "yes, mold will grow in as little as 60% humidity" bullcrap answers from all the "sky is falling" people that troll there. I hate those people so much.

Nonetheless, I should have started playing the next game in my inventory several days ago, but I have held off on ejecting/opening/closing anything until the weather "dries" out. So until then, I am keeping my current game disc inside the PS3 and not opening any game cases so that the humid air cannot penetrate (or at last keep it at bay for as long as possible). In other words, my gaming has currently halted at a veritable standstill. When it comes to games, my psychotic mind defaults to an extreme "better safe than sorry" mentality .... apparently.

Although honestly, they should really put a BACKUP disc in the case when you buy retail games. After all, you are paying upwards of $50-60 for the DATA that is stored on the disc, not the plastic material that it is made out of. It would a damn shame to have to re-buy your games simply because of the physical medium getting ruined.

Or come up with a system whereby if your game disc becomes unplayable, then you can send it in to them (and yes, I realize you would have figure out which "them" would be liable) as proof, and they would send you a free replacement. Since you already paid for the game, I don't see why it would unreasonable to have a ruined game disc replaced for free.

It's like downloadable games. It's not just once, and then if you lose the data you're screwed.

I live in england ... the whole country's wet and mouldy :lol:

ValHazzard

Very true mate!,

If the temp's hitting the mid 70s during the day, my AC is ON!

I live in Seattle, molds were never a problem, I don't think you should worry about this dude really :P it's messing with your gaming experience

Do all of your other products get mold all over them? Computer, speakers, cups in the back of the pantry? No, its not enough to sustain a colony.

Ravirr

Good points. I've never experienced mould growth on technology, full stop. Mostly it seems to be food that reacts quickly to bad conditions.

As long as you keep your game discs in their cases, or somewhere else safe like those cases for DVDs with plastic sleeves...I don't see how you could even run the risk of getting mould on them?? Even if you kept them out and in bad conditions, discs aren't really the type of things that get mouldy...

I've lived in Indiana my entire life and have never heard of mold growing on games....

I've lived in Indiana my entire life and have never heard of mold growing on games....

JayQproductions

If you live in Indiana, then you must have just experienced the horrible weather from the past couple of days.

I gotta move out of this Tornado Alley, it's really the worst place on the planet for anyone to live. One day a tornado will finally hit your place of residence and destroy your entire game collection ...

I live in Indianapolis, we've had some rain that's about it, I've been here 25 years and have never even seen a tornado, they only hit the boonies north or south, never indianapolis.

I've been very present in the gaming community for over 7 years and I literally have never, ever heard of mold problems on games, I think you may be slightly overreacting.

LOL, just simply........ LO FREAKING L. but seriously, just get an air filter.