Sony Kills Off UMD Movies

[Jamie Howdeshell]

this is so funny i could cry.
:lol:

there really is justice in this world.
:D

http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3266

Sony Kills Off UMD Movies
July 14, 2006

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

This should not be coming as a huge surprise, but the demise of Sony’s UMD format for movies is going away faster than the Mini Disc got shelved for music. This week Sony quietly announced a new entertainment pak called the Memory Stick Entertainment Packs (MSEP) that contained movies on a Sony Memory stick, and many paused to wonder what that meant for the UMD. And now it is official.

Sales of movies on the PSP’s once-hot proprietary format have slowed to a trickle, causing several major movie studios to cease supporting it. In March, the Hollywood Reporter ran an article claiming that the home-entertainment divisions of Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures have “completely stopped” releasing films on the format, and other studios have been cutting back their release slates.

Perhaps more disturbing for Sony were unconfirmed reports that retail colossi Wal-Mart and Best Buy were scaling back UMD displays in their stores. This week, speculation turned into reality when Target decided to discontinue stocking UMDs entirely. A manager at a San Francisco Bay Area Target outlet told GameSpot, “We no longer carry PSP movies. We stopped carrying them nationwide.” Source: Gamespot

More About the Memory Stick Entertainment Packs (MSEP)

In typical Sony fashion, moving to the Memory Stick Duo as a movies release platform makes more sense, but the execution is convoluted and expensive. The 1GB version is $60 and the 2GB version $100, and you only get what look to be lame Sony Pictures releases (Hitch, S.W.A.T., The Grudge, or XXX: State of the Union??)- not much of a catalogue. To make matters worse, Sony steps down the resolution to 240x320 instead of the nicer 480x272 the PSP can do. Meanwhile, most people are simply converting DVDs to MPEG-4 and copy movies onto the PSP with a simple USB cable. Don’t expect this new move to change that.

[YouStayClassy]

What a shame.





















Bwahahahahahahahahahahah!

[Smokinblues]

i think the only real problem with the umd's is that they tried to charge full dvd price. if they were 5 to 10 bucks they probably would have sold a ton.

[YouStayClassy]

i think the only real problem with the umd's is that they tried to charge full dvd price. if they were 5 to 10 bucks they probably would have sold a ton.

Even worse, at most stores they cost more than a standard DVD. The average was 5 bucks higher, with LESS features.....:crazy:

I commend Sony for trying to challenge Nintendo in the handheld market, but yeesh... what a disaster.

[BronxRonin]

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!

[alexlannin]

I only own one, Spiderman 2, and I got it for seven bucks. The other movies I've watched on my PSP are dvds I put on a memory stick.

[Jamie Howdeshell]

The other movies I've watched on my PSP are dvds I put on a memory stick.

yeah, you and most of the PSP owners, apparently.


i don't wish ill of psp owners. i just can't stand sony's policy of constantly trying to create a new format when there are existing formats that will get the job done nicely and be convenient for everyone. the psp could have easily run off of mini-dvds that could also play in a standard player. if that had been the case, i would have bought one at launch.
i know they do it for the money... but that's no good for the consumer.

[alexlannin]

yeah, you and most of the PSP owners, apparently.


i don't wish ill of psp owners. i just can't stand sony's policy of constantly trying to create a new format when there are existing formats that will get the job done nicely and be convenient for everyone. the psp could have easily run off of mini-dvds that could also play in a standard player. if that had been the case, i would have bought one on launch.
i know they do it for the money... but that's no good for the consumer.
That would've been fantastic, actually my wife assumed that ps2 games would be able to be played on a psp as well.

[Smokinblues]

yeah, you and most of the PSP owners, apparently.


i don't wish ill of psp owners. i just can't stand sony's policy of constantly trying to create a new format when there are existing formats that will get the job done nicely and be convenient for everyone. the psp could have easily run off of mini-dvds that could also play in a standard player. if that had been the case, i would have bought one at launch.
i know they do it for the money... but that's no good for the consumer.

so you must be against nintendo's propietary cartridges and such then too

[Bearpod91]

I'm not a PSP owner so I just need to know something here.

UMD discs are for only movies or games as well? Because if they stop UMD movies does that mean they will also stop making games in that format as well?

And will the new PSP2 for PS3 have a different design for this other way of watching movies on it?

[Smokinblues]

I'm not a PSP owner so I just need to know something here.

UMD discs are for only movies or games as well? Because if they stop UMD movies does that mean they will also stop making games in that format as well?

And will the new PSP2 for PS3 have a different design for this other way of watching movies on it?

the psp and games are doing well enough and will be fine. just nobody buying the movies is all.

[Jamie Howdeshell]

so you must be against nintendo's propietary cartridges and such then too


if nintendo had come out with cartridges containing movies on the N64, than yeah, i would have been against that too.

[Briomega]

Man, Sony can't seem to catch a break this year. :lol:

[TheGibson]

Man, Sony can't seem to catch a break this year. :lol:
You mean: Sony can't seem to get their shit together this year.8-)

[Knightspider]

people finally got smart and realized they got more for their buck with the dvd than the umd

but what happen is no surprise, i thought it was a nice idea but too dam expensive

i still can't justify getting a psp yet, i want one but there hasn't been any games that has my attention

[Marcdachamp]

Serves 'em right. It was a shitty idea to charge people more for an inferior format. Idiots.

[mario]

I only own one, Spiderman 2, and I got it for seven bucks. The other movies I've watched on my PSP are dvds I put on a memory stick.

me too, and i haven't even paid for that movie: it was a rebate gift from sony when i bought the psp
On the other hand, i've seen alot of tvshows and movies that where put on the stick.
The quality is very satisfying

[KingMob]

Next stop......bluray!

[CraigM]

I only own one, Spiderman 2, and I got it for seven bucks. The other movies I've watched on my PSP are dvds I put on a memory stick.
Or, you could buy one of these...

http://www.archos.com/products/tv_centric/av_500/index.html?country=global&lang=en

Craig

[Knightspider]

will the price for the remaining umd movies drop to get rid of whats ever left

cause if they drop to 2 bucks i wouldn't mind getting them, but than agian thats two tacos and a drink i could've had

[evilgenius]

Next stop......bluray!

Blue-ray, yah.

Honestly, they've hardly ever managed to push any format onto people before, why are they still following that model so closely?

[Thudpucker]

:(

I liked my Mini Disc player too.

[Bandit Chimera]

yo i hope this means they will discount all the shit they have in stock at certain stores. if they charged me less per movie i might buy a couple (like hellboy) on umd. I can't justify spending more than 10 beans on a movie with no extras though.

[Thudpucker]

yo i hope this means they will discount all the shit they have in stock at certain stores. if they charged me less per movie i might buy a couple (like hellboy) on umd. I can't justify spending more than 10 beans on a movie with no extras though.

I have 5 of them now, but yea I've bought them all used for 8-10 dollars. Once they discount them all I could see getting at least a few more.

[Nelson]

Next stop......bluray!
Yes. Blu-Ray is this millennium's Betamax.

[JamesV]

Blue-ray, yah.

Honestly, they've hardly ever managed to push any format onto people before, why are they still following that model so closely?

When Sony works alone, they have failed miserable at pushing formats.

When they work with other companies, they are 2-0. (CD and DVD).

They are working with other companies on Blu-Ray (that doesn't mean it will succeed, just that it's not the same business plan that betamax, UMD, and minidisc followed).