We destroy a Blu-ray Disc
by Kyle Orland 
{ Jan 19th 2007 at 7:05PM }
When we saw via Game|Life that some IGN forums goers had taken steel wool to a Blu-ray disc with no apparent damage, we thought, "we can do better than that." So we gathered up some convenient implements of destruction and saw how our free copy of Talladega Nights would stand up to a ballpoint pen, a pizza cutter and a butcher's knife (unfortunately, the disc broke down before we could rub crunchy cereal all over it.) Check out the video below, and keep watching to the end for some pyrotechnic bonus footage.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
footlong! @ Jan 19th 2007 7:14PM
Is that with the protective coating added on or are all Blu-ray discs that tough?
Chris @ Jan 19th 2007 7:12PM
That's retarded... yet brilliant!
SIP YEK NOD @ Jan 19th 2007 7:13PM
get a tripod, foo!
AcE @ Jan 19th 2007 7:19PM
Tripods ftw.
icelandman @ Jan 19th 2007 7:17PM
Hmmm... seems kinda sturdy, but is it really anything different from what we expected? Beating the crap out of it makes it not work... Should bode the same for every disc shouldn't it. A knife will destroy a blu-ray just as expectedly a Nuke would destroy a ford explorer. We knew what would happen. I was hoping for a few more unusual things marring the disc.
~PEACE
Mr. Plow @ Jan 19th 2007 7:17PM
As someone who has learned the hard way that buying used dvds off of ebay is not a smart idea, just because a disk loads, doesn't mean it isn't scratched. The disks will play until they reach the scratched portions, then skip or freeze. I'm not saying that's what was happening here and I don't know enough about the differences in the materials and layers of DVD and blu-ray to say anything conclusive, but a loading disk doesn't mean a perfectly functioning disk. I do realize that those disks were pretty damaged before completely crapping out, so I guess they should be commended for that.
Scott @ Jan 19th 2007 7:18PM
You would think that a website so concerned with quality, presentation, and wit and so critical of every release/comment under the sun would know how to film a properly lit scene. The steel wool scene is so dark I can't even see what the hell is going on. I can understand not wanting to comb your hair (to retain the whole amateurish and cheeky style) but come on.
micster @ Jan 19th 2007 7:18PM
YES!
NIKO's NIGHT OF FIRE ROXXOR
Strike Man @ Jan 19th 2007 7:19PM
The disc may have booted after some of the earlier tests, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't data loss.
Hacking a disc up with a pizza cutter may not destroy it enough to stop it from loading up a menu, but I'd be more than a little shocked if the movie didn't skip on the more damaged areas of the disc.
That being said...if people just learned to take care of their discs, including keeping them out of the hands of young children before they learn how to handle them, this should never be much of an issue.
diskoboy @ Jan 19th 2007 7:25PM
You wanna have some real fun? Stick that puppy in the microwave for a few seconds.
Then sit back and watch the light show.
Vince @ Jan 19th 2007 7:28PM
"That being said...if people just learned to take care of their discs, including keeping them out of the hands of young children before they learn how to handle them, this should never be much of an issue."
And if people learned to brake earlier we wouldn't have car crashes.
Accidents happen.
I apologise for sounding patronizing, but this is a great blu-ray feature.
Strike Man @ Jan 19th 2007 7:44PM
"Accidents happen.
I apologise for sounding patronizing, but this is a great blu-ray feature."
Which is why I said it shouldn't be MUCH of an issue. :p
I too agree that a harder coat on the discs is a great idea, don't get me wrong, but I see it more as a necessity with the new higher density disc formats. A scratch may ruin "X" number of bits on a CD or DVD disc, but it'll take away many times more on an HD or BD disc due to the fact that more data is being crammed into the same physical space.
The difference is, unless the machine scratches the disc on its own (see: some old model PS2s, 360's standing vertically) or it is improperly handled by another person (friend, child, pet), most scratches probably come about by the mishandling of the disc by the owner. I can be in an auto accident without much fault of my own, but if my copy of FF12 sitting on the table next to me looks like a hockey puck, chances are I'm the only one to blame.
Note to self: My discs stopped getting scratches on them when I stopped loaning them out to friends. Hm...
Ritz @ Jan 19th 2007 7:45PM
Try doing that on the data/label side of the disk?
herman_munsters_stunt_double @ Jan 19th 2007 7:50PM
Was expecting something a bit more explosive at the end...seems like the perfect movie to take outside and detonate. >)
nic @ Jan 19th 2007 7:53PM
hmm i dunno, a pizza cutter and a butchers knife? the stell wool is a more realistic test because the scratches are more representative of what a disc may take under abusive conditions. when will a disc come in contact with a pizza cutter?!
nic @ Jan 22nd 2007 3:35PM
hmm i dunno, a pizza cutter and a butchers knife? the stell wool is a more realistic test because the scratches are more representative of what a disc may take under abusive conditions. when will a disc come in contact with a pizza cutter?!
bored @ work @ Jan 19th 2007 8:16PM
If you notice on most of the test nothing touches the center of the disc or around it. And all he showed was the menu screen/startup of the movie playing. I have dvds that still play the beginning of the movie and skips everywhere else. Redo the test to be more accurate. And try putting some force into the tests they are all done with one hand. Peace Out.
IggyChaotix @ Jan 19th 2007 8:44PM
Joystiq, you are awesome. But your video skills fail.
Anonymous @ Jan 19th 2007 8:51PM
When it comes to blast a Sony product, be sure Joystiq will do it perfectly.
Linkamus @ Jan 19th 2007 8:59PM
The way you guys lit the match smells of man pussy. Seriously... don't ever light a match like that again. Gayness.
Awesome test though =)
Pulse @ Jan 19th 2007 9:09PM
Lol, hey, in comparison to the small water stain stopping you from playing your PS1 and PS2 games, annoyingly, this is awesome :)
Frank Mondana @ Jan 19th 2007 9:39PM
DVDs (and Cd's) are coated with a layer of polycarbonate (Lexan) that while it is tough enough to stop a bullet (in sufficient thickness) it is extremely open to scratching. In the 80's and 90's there were huge errors made when engineering Lexan into products as designers figured that if a product could stop a bullet then it wouldn't scratch. Many banks and financial buildings spent millions putting in lighter than glass Lexan only to have to replace it with glass inside of a year due to the dirty hands of customers slowly making the lexan frost white.
If you have an old CD from the mid-80's (and don't mind it going bye-bye) take a coin and scratch it, then try it on a Blu-ray disk. This is also a big difference in buying blank recordable media. The cheap brands usually use cheaper standard polycarb (or even acrylic) rather than the newer formulations that are more expensive. So the next time someone asks if there is a difference this is the biggy for the average consumer. A quality coating will last far longer under normal use. So all those (ahem) back-up games burned onto Fry's special brand of media will go belly up much faster.
Some newer DVDs, Blu-ray, and HD DVD are using a fairly recent formulation of polycarbonate (some call it M5 grade polycarb) that is very tough and does not scratch easily.
geves @ Jan 19th 2007 9:55PM
weird. my porn CDs have been sitting out for about 4 or 5 years and i know they have been through more than that.
I = not impressed.
blueray can kiss my ass. EDIT: blu-ray, proper spelling would be too lame.
considering the movie only takes up a fraction of the space on the disc. it was probably due to a retarded format, that it still works.
my diablo 2 expansion disc remains the king. two pellet holes (clean through it), uncountable drops, astronomical amount of ash on it, frisbee'd around my backyard sometimes scraping the pavement in the road, and it still works perfectly fine.
good game blu-ray, a winner is not you.
Revo @ Jan 19th 2007 10:35PM
"8. The disc may have booted after some of the earlier tests, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't data loss.
Hacking a disc up with a pizza cutter may not destroy it enough to stop it from loading up a menu, but I'd be more than a little shocked if the movie didn't skip on the more damaged areas of the disc."
Couldn't have said it better myself.
TheBrain @ Jan 19th 2007 11:13PM
Reminds me of this http://goodbyegodai.blogspot.com/
mrfong @ Jan 20th 2007 12:22AM
@ geves
the diablo 2 expansion disk is only used to boot up the game, not run it, so as long as the part of the disk that boots up the game remains unharmed, you will be fine. But installing the game over, that is a different story i'm sure.
LET'S SEE SOME MICROWAVE ACTION!
geves @ Jan 20th 2007 4:03AM
yup. i've reformated about 20 times since i got the game.
still installs perfectly.
@microwaves!!? i don't even think my d2 could handle that. 7 seconds = no more data.
Stub2k2 @ Jan 20th 2007 2:31AM
first thing I noticed... That is NOT STEEL wool its nylon... steel isn't blue and wont fall apart like that blue junk did. Steel is also MUCH more abrasive.
Sly @ Jan 20th 2007 3:24AM
Certain soap pads with steel wool have a blue detergent covering. That's why it looks blue. Throwing darts would have been cool.
KBrew @ Jan 20th 2007 3:27AM
Ok, so this is really petty, but at about 2:05, where it says "Success!" it's kinda weird. If your mission is to destroy a Blu-Ray Disc, wouldn't success be the movie not loading?
Matt Dusza @ Jan 20th 2007 3:36PM
Geves I got a better one:P Sonic and Knuckles Collection for the PC about 10 years ago. Disk snapped cleanly in half, and still worked. Installed the game, and booted just fine from HALF a disk:P
azz0r @ Jan 20th 2007 8:57AM
You've given me motion sickness, put the camera down on something so we can see what's going on. Totally lame video.
Alex @ Jan 20th 2007 2:23PM
Yeah, all Blu-ray discs come with protective coating, and so far it's an exclusive feature. We don't have to worry about damage to our Blu-ray movies and games...unless you accidentally slice it with a butcher's knife. Those things happpen all the time of course. =P
Jonathan @ Jan 20th 2007 5:12PM
#22 how much does MS pay you to suck their dick?
geves @ Jan 20th 2007 7:07PM
nothing, but i guess they do have deep pockets. maybe i should ask for some?
what exactly did my post have to do with being pro-MS?
if anything it's pro-blizzard. but then agian, i got a reverend horton heat cd with a pellet hole in it, that hangs from the mirror in my car and it still plays all the tracks fine too.
#33, why so much hostility? is it because deep down inside your rancid soul you believe that everyone who doesn't bow down to sony is anti-ps3? did your dad touch you too much or not enough?
i'm still not impressed. can i have some money MS?
bxbailey @ Jan 21st 2007 8:47AM
do you think they will attempt this test on a HD-DVD disc and the HD-DVD add on? I would like to see what the results would be.
Harrison @ Jan 21st 2007 9:42PM
You should've microwaved it at the end! :D
trumad @ Jan 24th 2007 5:16AM
Feck the disk - I just wonder how your player is gonna stand up to that! Imagine the dust and bits of disc falling into the laser!
Ryze @ Jan 29th 2007 1:28PM
What a load of garbage. So the table of contents and the first menu weren't damaged. On a such a densely packed disc as a Blu-Ray, that would probably be the first millimeter or less of the inside ring of the recorded surface. Amazing. That says nothing about the damage to the movie.
Brainless dross. This is like a dumb nerd/geek's version of an article in 'The Sun' or 'Daily Star' tabloid newspapers.
Junk.