Update [Thu 2nd May, 2024 21:45 BST]: Limited Run Games has issued us with the following statement:
We’ve been made aware that some of our customers have experienced issues when trying to play our release of D: The Collector’s Edition on original 3DO hardware. Firstly, we would like to apologize unreservedly to all who have purchased the game and experienced an issue. At Limited Run Games, the quality of our products is paramount to us, we care deeply about our loyal community, and it is clear on this occasion we have fallen short of the high standards we set for ourselves.
Manufacturing games for hardware that is 30+ years old presents a variety of challenges. We partner with one of the biggest disc replication providers in North America to press our physical discs and despite researching original 3DO hardware and software extensively, we found quality and reliability issues when attempting to press 3DO discs in the traditional manner. In an attempt to offer full compatibility with original hardware, our disc replication partner was able to successfully manufacture the discs using a CD-R format, which we believed would work across all commercially available 3DO systems. This process was professionally done and was used to ensure maximum compatibility rather than serve as a cost-cutting exercise.
We tested the discs on the 3DO consoles in our office and all five discs from the game worked as expected. It was only upon shipping to our customers that we came to realise that some users were experiencing difficulty. We will not be selling or shipping further copies of this game, or any future 3DO titles until the situation has been resolved.
We are currently working with new partners to find a solution for traditionally pressed discs and will offer replacement discs to all customers. We will keep customers updated as this progresses, but in the meantime, any customer who desires can request a full refund at www.limitedrungames.com/support.
Please be reassured that D: The Collector’s Edition is the only game affected by this issue. Further 3DO titles will not go into production until this issue has been fully resolved, and we are confident in full compatibility.
Apologies again to our 3DO gamers, we will strive to do better.
However, a great many people don't seem convinced about that explanation.
"The nature of CD-R, which uses a layer of dye higher up in the disc’s substrate that a writer etches away to approximate the pits and lands of a compact disc, is something that the 3DO’s very primitive and delicate laser really will not tolerate," comments Christa Lee. "I know this from servicing them."
"So you chose CD-Rs to ensure compatibility on a device notorious for not playing well with CD-Rs. Can't make this stuff up," comments @IAmHanYolo0.
"I suspect the truth would be in what's NOT being said," says @17littlebits. "Add '...at the level of service we were willing to pay for' to the quote. You can go to a big producer and get bad materials and QA if that's all you pay for."
"I've predicted this since yesterday," adds Pramod Somashekar. "I mean, what other angles could they have taken to get out of this messy situation? Just throw a 3rd party 'partner' under the bus and do refunds with the promise of doing better in the future, whilst admitting no actual wrongdoing."
"That's a laser/system issue, not a CD issue," says @Voultar. "And their test pool was 5 different 3DOs, probably un-serviced. That's in NO way shape or form a reasonable metric or benchmark that any professional worth their salt would ever use."
Original Story [Thu 2nd May, 2024 09:30 BST]: Boutique publisher Limited Run Games has been accused of sending out CD-R discs in its premium edition 3DO titles.
Customers who have recently received 3DO games from the company have claimed that the discs aren't professionally pressed as one would expect from a premium publisher, but are, in fact, CD-Rs burnt on a computer – an alarming situation, given that CD-Rs generally have a much shorter lifespan than properly pressed CDs.
While the 3DO comes from a time when domestic CD burners were a rarity and, therefore, lacks any kind of protection against pirated discs, the console is famously picky when it comes to running burned CDs.
Also, as noted by several people online, the advanced age of the optical drives inside these 30-year-old consoles means that reading a CD-R might be beyond them.
As you can imagine, the reaction online to this news has been scathing.
"It doesn't even work on my original JP FZ-1," says Twitter user @theZackcat. "The quality of the CD-Rs are so bad you can see through them."
"I get that that's a major pain, but, like...I could just burn a damn CD-R myself," adds @LotusPrince. "If the company's whole thing is about game preservation, then maybe they should...try?"
Others have pointed out that the $70 cost isn't just related to the disc, but the other elements of the physical package that Limited Run puts together. "It's a little more than just a 60$ burned cd-r to be fair, since they make the booklet and cases and art prints and everything," points out @shibby, before adding that "if it actually just doesn't work because of poor quality cd-r's then yeah that's a problem."
Limited Run Games has become one of the most prolific publishers of limited edition physical versions of modern and classic games over the past few years, and has released titles for a wide range of systems, including Switch, PS4, PS5, PC and Xbox.
The company has so far released limited edition versions of D ($64.99), Plumbers Don't Wear Ties ($69.99) and The Eye of the Typhoon ($114.99) on 3DO. The latter was manufactured by Piko Interactive and professionally pressed.
All three have sold out.
In the case of D – a cult horror adventure by the late Kenji Eno – the collector's edition comes with an audio CD which is properly pressed, but the game itself is on a CD-R.
We've reached out to Limited Run Games for comment and will update this piece when we have something official to share.