Question about the bottom of the Xbox Disks

**WynnFire** · 04-22-2002

All of the Xbox games I have seen have had a Gold colored bottom to them. I think because of Microsoft having it on a 9gb disk or something. Anyway, as I said, all the disks I have seen (which is a lot since I work at a video store) they have all had a Golden botton until I opened Crash Bandicoot for Xbox. It has a sort of silver bottom.

My question is: Is it on the same type of disk all the other games are on or did they change the disk type or size or something??? I'm just curious. This is the first non gold bottom Xbox game I have seen and it puzzles me.

**GokuX** · 04-22-2002

Rallisport Challenge also has a silver bottom. Not sure what it means though. Hey really quick, is Crash any good?

**WynnFire** · 04-22-2002

We just got it in the other day. I can't rent it until after a certain amount of days and no one has rented it yet so I can't tell you. I rented Spiderman the movie game and it's pretty cool.

**GokuX** · 04-22-2002

Aight, thanks anyway.

**Pat_72** · 04-22-2002

All the xbox games here in Australia have silver bottoms.

**Master Gracey** · 04-23-2002

To answer this question, you have to know a bit about the nature and history of DVDs...

Every DVD that has ever been printed, from the time of their inception, has contained two layers of recordable space. It's what is done with these layers that will tell you what kind of DVD it is. There have been three types:

DVD-5: This was the first generation of discs... only one of the two layers was used to hold information, and the second layer was either covered with a graphic, or had a "holographic" image burnt into it. It's not really a hologram, but I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about... where it looks like the movie title and other info is burned into the foil of the disc. These discs have a silver bottom.

DVD-10: The second generation of DVDs, which were commonly known as "two sided." Information was recorded onto both layers of the disc... one layer on one side, one layer on the other. These are the DVDs that have nothing printed on them, except for some words around the cutout. These were most commonly used to put the full-frame version of a movie on one side and a widescreen version on the other... whichever side of the disc you placed face down in your player is the side that played. Both sides of these DVDs are silver.

DVD-9: Yeah, I know... why did they go from DVD-10 to DVD-9? I have no idea. Kinda dumb if you ask me. Anyway, these are the most recent generation of DVDs, common called the "dual-layered disc." Both layers are used to hold information, but both are recorded onto the same side, leaving the top of the disc free for a graphic. These are recorded by writing the first layer with the disc spinning clockwise and the laser writing from the inside of the disc to the outside. The second layer is recorded in the opposite fashion: the disc spins counterclockwise and the laser goes from the outside in. They're played back in the same manner, which is why you end up with a slight pause in some movies as the disc is stopped and reversed to play the second layer. These discs are gold on the bottom, and they're the most common Xbox discs you'll find.

So to answer the question of why some games' discs are gold and why some are silver, it has to do with the amount of information the game takes up... the size of the program. If the disc is gold, it's a large game that uses both layers of the disc. If the disc is silver, then the game's filesize is small enough to fit on only one layer.

Hope that clears it up...

**GokuX** · 04-23-2002

Thanks for explaining Gracey. That clears things up for me.

**Halo of Flies** · 04-23-2002

All of the UK XBOX games I've seen have silver bottoms. Isn't Halo supposed to take up loads of disc space? It's silver.

**UnitedKingdom** · 04-23-2002

Halo was originally 20 levels but they had to cut it down to make their deadline, this would have been a (dual layer) gold disc.
But i guess the 10 levels we got could fit on a (single layer) silver disc.

**FlyBoy** · 04-23-2002

Very cool info Master Gracey... thanks dude.

**Hugh_Jass** · 04-23-2002

It's probably just a different manufacturer or media type.

Color is defined by the dye in the plastic coating surrounded the aluminum disc.

**Snoopy7548** · 04-23-2002

actually halo is gold on the bottom, at least on my copy of it

GRAVEDIGGER · 04-23-2002

Now that you folks mention it, my copy of HALO also has a gold bottom, rather than silver.

BTW, tyte info on the DVDs Master Gracey, that made a lot of things clear.

Untill next time...

**LynxFX** · 04-23-2002

You are forgetting DVD-18. It is basically just a DVD-9 on both sides.(dual sided)

T2:Ultimate Edition was released in both DVD-18 and 2 DVD-9 packages. One of the only releases to do that to meet demand.

**Snoopy7548** · 04-23-2002

u mean they had t2 on two things? one on a dvd 18 and a dvd9 one? da*n it, i got the one with the 2 discs, i want the one with 1 disc, ah geez. lol. but anyway, its such an awesome movie i really dont care

**Halo of Flies** · 04-23-2002

Originally posted by Snoopy7548
actually halo is gold on the bottom, at least on my copy of it

As I said b4, my copy of halo is silver (this is the UK version) - so colour means nothing...

**Snoopy7548** · 04-23-2002

gold is better than silver! my game is better than your game!

**CALzinger** · 04-23-2002

can't they just make a double disc game, a game that includes two discs?

but i really like the whole idea of different colored discs, specifically, i like the gold

i also saw the explanation of DVD-9, DVD-5, and DVD-10 on another website exactly how gracey was explaining it. I saw it at How Stuff Works
CHECK IT OUT!!!! THEY GOT EVERYTHING!!

**Master Gracey** · 04-23-2002

Originally posted by Lynxfx
You are forgetting DVD-18. It is basically just a DVD-9 on both sides.(dual sided)

T2:Ultimate Edition was released in both DVD-18 and 2 DVD-9 packages. One of the only releases to do that to meet demand.

Wow!!! I hadn't heard of that one yet... essentially a "double-sided dual-layered disc", eh?

I did an internship with a company that produced DVDs, and that's where I picked my info on the formats... that was just over a year ago, and I have a feeling this DVD-18 didn't exist back then. When was this T2 disc released?

**LynxFX** · 04-23-2002

Snoopy, you got the good edition. I prefered the movie on one DVD-9 and the supplements on another DVD-9 because then you get labels on both discs. The version that came with just a DVD-18 has no label.

Master Gracey,

They had them for about a year now. T2:UE came out at the end of 2000. The mixed DVD-9s and DVD-18s were in the metal packaging. Now they are all DVD-9s and just a cardboard packaging.

DVD-18 isn't very popular because it is hard to manufacture. Here is blurb I found about it:

"This version comprises two sides each with a dual layer format. Both layers of each side must be manufactured on a single polycarbonate substrate using a 2P (photopolymer) process. It has the largest capacity of the family(17gig) but is the most difficult and complex to manufacture. Four stampers are needed, two fitted to standard DVD presses, the other two used to create pits in the photopolymer."