But the discs are rotting. Sony isn't selling these games anymore (PSN classics are re-encoded, not raw dumps). The original developers have deleted their master tapes.
There is a philosophical argument here: If a corporation abandons a cultural artifact, and a community preserves it perfectly, has a crime been committed? The archivists don't care. They care about CRC32 values. You don't need to download all 7TB. You just need to know it exists. ps2 redump archive
I once tried to dump my pristine copy of Shadow of the Colossus . My Plextor drive died on sector 2,104,452. The plastic had warped by 0.01 millimeters. Redump wouldn't take it. That disc is now considered "Unverified." Here is where most gamers get off the bus. "I just want to play SSX Tricky on my Steam Deck," they say. "Why do I need the error correction?" But the discs are rotting
And if you have a dusty spindle of games in your attic, a 20-year-old PC, and a lot of patience... the archive needs you. There is a philosophical argument here: If a
The Redump archive is the only copy of the PS2 library that will outlive the original media.