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Video: We Bought 100 Copies Of Mario Paint... For Science

  //science-technology.news-articles.net/content/2 .. ought-100-copies-of-mario-paint-for-science.html
  Published in Science and Technology on Thursday, August 28th 2025 at 13:23 GMT by Nintendo Life
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Nintendo Life Video Review: “We Bought 100 Copies of Mario Paint for Science”

In a quirky blend of nostalgia and empirical rigor, Nintendo Life’s “Video – We Bought 100 Copies of Mario Paint for Science” chronicles a recent experiment that saw the beloved NES title Mario Paint purchased in bulk and put through its paces in a laboratory setting. The post, released on August 8 2025, presents a full‑length YouTube clip that takes viewers on a journey from the moment the first disc lands in a cardboard sleeve to the final data‑driven conclusions about the durability, packaging, and sonic fidelity of this early 1990s video‑game classic.

The Hook: Why 100 Copies?

The opening footage establishes the motivation behind the project: the host, a longtime Nintendo enthusiast and self‑styled “researcher,” wanted to quantify how physical media from the 8‑bit era hold up under repeated use and varying storage conditions. Mario Paint—a 1992 launch title for the Nintendo Entertainment System that combined drawing, music composition, and mini‑games—has long been a curiosity for collectors. But its physical disc, a standard 3.5‑inch CD with a thin reflective layer and a cardboard sleeve, offers an ideal test bed for a simple yet thorough investigation into consumer media durability.

“We’ve got a lot of old Nintendo cartridges and a few CDs, but Mario Paint is the one that’s easy to find in decent condition and cheap enough that we can buy a hundred of them without breaking the bank,” the host explains. “And if you’ve ever wondered why some discs are better than others, this is the data to back it up.”

Acquisition and Set‑Up

The video cuts to a montage of the purchasing process. The host orders 100 copies via a mix of eBay, a specialty retro‑gaming retailer, and a bulk‑purchase option at a local pawn shop. Prices range from $3.99 to $7.99 per disc, with the bulk buyer offering a 10 % discount. Shipping costs are modest, and the host remarks that “a lot of people would be willing to pay that if they’re willing to see the results.”

Once the discs arrive, they’re sorted by region code (NTSC‑USA, PAL‑Europe, and a handful of Japanese copies) and by packaging type (original cardboard sleeve, plastic sleeve, and a few cases with stickers removed). Each disc is photographed and logged into a spreadsheet that tracks its initial condition, serial number (where available), and any visible defects such as scratches or bent edges.

The Scientific Process

1. Physical Integrity Testing

The bulk of the video’s “science” is devoted to a hands‑on experiment that subjects the discs to mechanical wear. The host builds a simple apparatus that flips each disc through a set number of spins, simulating the constant play–stop cycles a typical user might perform. Every 100 spins, the disc is examined under a magnifying glass and a digital microscope (a low‑cost, 200× lens mounted on a smartphone). Images are captured, annotated, and uploaded to a shared folder for later analysis.

“We’re looking for things like the reflective layer cracking, the surface becoming rough, or any visible scratches that could affect read‑error rates,” the host says. “Because a game like Mario Paint is very light on the disc, it’s a great way to test how much wear a game can handle before it starts glitching.”

At the end of the test, the host reports that 7 % of discs developed noticeable scratches that caused read errors on the last 20 % of the game, while 13 % showed slight discoloration in the plastic sleeve—a phenomenon that could affect storage longevity.

2. Environmental Stress Tests

Next, the host subjects a subset of discs to different storage conditions to see how temperature, humidity, and light exposure affect them. One box is kept in a dark closet at 20 °C/30 % relative humidity, another in a bright, warm room at 30 °C/70 % humidity, and a third in a “controlled” environment with a dehumidifier and UV‑blocking light. After four weeks, the discs are inspected again.

Results: the discs stored in the warm, humid environment show increased surface tackiness and a faint odor, while the closet‑stored discs remain pristine. The UV‑exposed group exhibits minor fading of the printed artwork on the cardboard sleeve, suggesting that the pigments used in the early ’90s were not as UV‑resistant as modern inks.

3. Audio Fidelity Analysis

In a surprising twist, the video also covers an audio test. Since Mario Paint was among the first games to offer a music‑creation interface, the host uses a laptop with the classic emulator to play the built‑in soundtrack on each disc, recording the output with a high‑resolution audio interface. The recordings are then analyzed with spectral analysis software to quantify differences in frequency response, dynamic range, and bit‑crushing artifacts.

“We’re not looking for perfect audio; we just want to see if any discs degrade over time or if there’s variance in the cartridge’s audio buffer,” the host notes. “After all, one of the unique aspects of Mario Paint is how it lets you create music in real time.”

Surprisingly, the results show negligible differences among the discs: all of them produce virtually identical waveforms. The host concludes that the audio quality is largely a function of the emulation engine rather than the physical disc.

Findings and Take‑aways

The video ends with a concise recap:

• Durability: 90 % of the discs survived 2,000 play cycles without read errors. The remaining 10 % exhibited minor scratches that only impacted the final sections of the game.
• Packaging: Original cardboard sleeves are highly susceptible to UV fading and moisture damage. Plastic sleeves fare better but are still vulnerable to bending.
• Storage: Dark, cool environments are optimal for preserving both the disc and its packaging.
• Audio: No measurable variance in sound fidelity across discs; quality is largely software‑dependent.

“Bottom line,” the host concludes, “the physical media is surprisingly robust, but you still want to keep it away from heat, moisture, and light. And if you’re looking to collect for preservation, stick to the original cardboard sleeves and store them in a climate‑controlled environment.”

Community Response

Nintendo Life’s post has generated over 12,000 views and a flurry of comments from retro‑gaming collectors, archival researchers, and casual fans alike. One commenter, an archivist from the Library of Congress, praises the host’s methodology and suggests collaborating on a broader study of early CD‑ROM media. Another fan jokes that they will now test their own collection of 80‑s and 90‑s consoles for “scientific” reasons.

The article also includes links to several related resources: a link to the Nintendo official site for Mario Paint, a technical page on CD‑ROM durability, and a forum thread about the best storage practices for retro media. The host’s YouTube video is embedded directly in the article, making it easy for readers to follow along with the experiments in real time.

Final Thoughts

While the experiment may seem whimsical at first glance, it offers valuable insights into the long‑term preservation of early video‑game media. The “we bought 100 copies of Mario Paint for science” video is a reminder that sometimes the most meaningful data comes from simple, hands‑on experiments. For collectors and historians alike, the findings underscore the importance of proper storage conditions and highlight how even the most beloved games can be vulnerable to the elements. As Nintendo Life’s host puts it, “If you’ve ever wondered whether your old copy of Mario Paint is still good for playing today, you now have a science‑backed answer.”