What secrets CDs may hold…

The Sega Saturn was my first CD-based console, and I remember being really intrigued by the format.  Sure, I was familiar with CDs, but I thought it was really cool that I could take these games, which were meant to be played on a console, and explore them in a number of other devices that can also play CDs.

I’m sure most of us have put a game CD into a stereo to listen to its soundtrack, but how many have put games into a PC’s CD-ROM drive to explore its contents?  Probably not quite as many.  But for me, that was a fun experience.  At the very least, it provides a little insight into the technical structure of the game.  At the very best, there may be a secret or two to uncover.

Today, I remembered the way I used to check almost every disc-based game I had in my CD-ROM in hopes of finding a few goodies and decided to give it another shot, now that I have a lot more systems to explore.  Unfortunately, my search was not particularly fruitful.  It seems 3DO games are completely unreadable in normal CD drives, Neo-Geo CD games don’t have much of interest, and TurboGrafx CD/Turbo Duo games just show up as unplayable audio CDs.

But just as I remembered, Saturn (and Dreamcast) games are particularly fun to check out.  Sometimes, you’ll just find the game’s files.  Other times, there are text files with copyright information.  Occasionally, you’ll find playable media files.  You might even find HTML files full of Japanese text.  But the best is when you find that bonus folder.  It might be called “EXTRA,” or it might even be called “SECRET.”  It’s a folder that was hidden away, just for the fans.  Most people will never even see it, but I, since I took the time to look, got to find that little bit of extra fun.

My favorite disc of goodies?  NiGHTS: Into Dreams for the Saturn.  It’s nothing too special, but it’s like a hidden treasure.  Cool not just for what it contains, but mainly just for the fact that it’s there.