UMD movies on life support

[(Insert clever username)]

I'm sort of happy with this news.  If the demise of UMD movies is imminent, that hopefully means Sony will focus more on putting out quality titles for the PSP.  UMD movies are a joke.  I have not purchased one.  I probably would have purchased a few if the price were lower than their comparable DVD release.  The pricing is ridiculous.

Oh, before you chime in on the Blu-ray comment in the article, Universal is a huge proponent of HD-DVD

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=1538

When Sony launched its PlayStation Portable gaming device last year, it was confident that owners wouldn't mind forking over $20 per title to add UMD-based movies to their collection. Well, it appears that Sony's confidence is taking quite a beating.

Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment have put a halt to releasing UMD movies and others are including 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Buena Vista Home Entertainment are likely to drastically reduce their new releases or turn off the spigot completely.

Over at Universal pictures, one high ranking executive didn't cut Sony any slack concerning the lackluster sales of UMD titles. "It's awful. Sales are near zilch. It's another Sony bomb -- like Blu-ray," the exec claimed.

Even more telling is Wal-Mart's apprehension to the UMD format for movies. Although Wal-Mart representatives declined to comment on reports that the company will stop selling UMD movies altogether, things are looking pretty grim:

A check Wednesday of a Wal-Mart store in Santa Ana, Calif., revealed a drastic shrinkage of UMD inventory. Several shelves of movies in the PSP section were gone; all that remained were seven UMD titles sitting bookshelf-style on the top of the PSP section, with no prices or other information.

People are pointing out many reasons for UMD's failure in the movie spectrum. Some chastise Sony for releasing too many titles too fast instead of gradually releasing titles. Others cite high prices for UMD titles even though bonus materials were often cut out in order to save disc space. Another reason could be that Apple's 5G iPod pretty much stole the limelight in regards to mobile video entertainment, and that was before the UMPC craze.

Or it could be that people are just getting tired of seeing Sony introduce proprietary formats hand over fist. We have Blu-ray fighting it out with HD-DVD, Sony has even reintroduced the MiniDisc format and let's not forget MemoryStick format #194

[Chubz]

Not a surprise to me.

Who in the hell would even want to pay that much just to watch a movie - which usually includes much less features than the actual DVD version - on such a small screen?

I don't even get the point of it, unless you're going on trips or something... but even then, hell, I'd rather play games.  Screw movies!

[AssKoala]

Sad thing is, the UMD movies are outselling the PSP games (in terms of units moved and money made, iirc.  However, I don't think the games are in the red).

The problem is that noone wants to pay the same price as for a DVD if they can only play the movie at lower quality on the PSP.  Had PSP movies been included as part of "special edition" DVD boxes with new movie releases, you can bet it would have sold better (though that has its own bag of problems).

[Chubz]

The problem is that noone wants to pay the same price as for a DVD if they can only play the movie at lower quality on the PSP.

Yeah, you're right, because if you've noticed, the DVD versions actually come with more features than the PSP UMD's.

So not only are you getting less features with UMD's, but you're getting a smaller screen and quality that isn't as good as a DVD overall.

Definitely a waste of money... I'd never consider purchasing a UMD.  Who needs a UMD when you can be playing GTA on the go?

[Malchik]

That was always my logic behind UMD's. You have to be stupid to pay high prices for a high compressed low res movie when the DVD runs at the same price, if not cheaper. Maybe some kids over strained their eyes from it.

This is one release that will be forgotten now, but about ten years down the road it will be a fad for the retro fag kids. Like Vinals and Laser Disks.

[Stage-It]

LaserDisc is NOT used for "retro purposes."  It's still highly popular with cinemaphiles, myself included.

Why?

There is still a ton of content on LaserDisc that isn't on DVD.  It also has a smoother scanning look to it, and the PCM audio on it is superior to DVD with the right player.

Here's another reason: A quality cheap player, like the Pioneer LD-D307, goes for $30 on eBay.  The discs can be found for $5 a pop now.

How cool would it be to get Full Metal Jacket and all of Richard Pryor's stand up movies for $5 each?  We have all of those on Laser.

For the record we've had our LD-D307 for eleven years, with heavy use and it works.  The players were built to last, unlike DVD.

Vinyl, however, is fucking retarded.  To get a shred of CD-like quality you need a turntable like a Marantz, Thornes, or Technics Studio, and an equally great cartridge.  On top of that, the record must be perfect.

I can understand buying a cheap RCA record player at Radio Shack for $100 to hear Judas Priest.  But unless you got a kiiller deal on equipment like my father, you'll never hear a record that surpasses CD quality.  I have.

Oh yeah and while I'm at it, let me say that Blu-Ray is fucked.  $1000 a player.  But wait!  The PS3 is $500!  HOLY SHIT A CHEAP BLU-RAY PLAYER zOMG!  Common people will think that they will be getting SUCH a good deal on the PS3, and they are!  Unfortunately, they don't play games.  Leaving developers with console install base numbers that could end up meaning nothing.

[(Insert clever username)]

HD-DVD players will most likely cost around 800 at release.

DVD players were the same.


And you're almost on the ball with the vinyl thing.  Yes, to get absolute perfect audio from a vinyl record you need a very good cartridge and a very good player.  However, anything that was originally recorded in analog will ALWAYS sound better when it's presented in an analog format.

Plus, vinyl is just a warmer, more pleasing sound.

[Stage-It]

And you're almost on the ball with the vinyl thing. Yes, to get absolute perfect audio from a vinyl record you need a very good cartridge and a very good player. However, anything that was originally recorded in analog will ALWAYS sound better when it's presented in an analog format.

Plus, vinyl is just a warmer, more pleasing sound.

Word, it has much deeper midrange, as well.  The treble and bass are a tad deeper, too.

[Malchik]

I heard some pretty poor digital transfers in my day. Proper re-mastering has to be done, and done with care. Megadeath re-released their whole catalogue re-mixed and 24bit re-mastered and it sounds amazing! I have the Black Sabbath Black Box collection restored by Rhino Archives and you can hear drum solos that were muted in both vinal and early cd formats.

I found it didn't take very long to see my favorite record or cassette wears down to nothing. It’s a shame when it happens but a didgital transfer will last forever. (To some case)

[jleeto]

uumm,... I've seen UMD movies being played on a PSP and the picture quality is just as good as DVD quality.  

  It's just stupid to buy a movie twice.

[AssKoala]

uumm,... I've seen UMD movies being played on a PSP and the picture quality is just as good as DVD quality.  

  It's just stupid to buy a movie twice.

No, it isn't.  The screen is just smaller so it is perceived to be as high quality.

Blow it up on a big screen TV and you'll see problems with quality.  Rip the movie from UMD to HD or something and it has a much lower resolution.

[Josh1billion]

uumm,... I've seen UMD movies being played on a PSP and the picture quality is just as good as DVD quality.  

  It's just stupid to buy a movie twice.

No, it isn't.  The screen is just smaller so it is perceived to be as high quality.

Blow it up on a big screen TV and you'll see problems with quality.  Rip the movie from UMD to HD or something and it has a much lower resolution.

Well obviously.. but who's going to rip a UMD to watch it on their TV?  I don't think you can, actually (unless you consider the PSP2TV type of accessories).. as far as watching a movie on the PSP, the quality's great.  The resolution is about that of a VCR video (PSP's width is a little greater than the VCR's width, and the PSP's height is a little less than the VCR's height).

[satori]

bestbuy.ca recently sold a nice selection of movies for $10 CDN per movie. I picked up Hell boy, Akira, Final Fantasy, Creature comforts and something else that I can't recall... they also had Ghost Busters and a few others.
I've been ripping a bunch of DVDs for PSP, but with all the copy protection out there it's getting harder and harder... rather annoying seeing as I don't share them. I already paid for the movie, I should be able to do whatever I want with it... The Canadian Government agrees with me and places no restriction on copying a movie for my own use. Not sure how the U.S. feels on the subject. Anyway... I have to say that I am a little sad that UMD movies are going away, they simply need to change their cost model is all... What cheeses me off is that Sony's pay per download movie solution was supposed to launch no later than Friday and it's still not out. The only thing I can watch all the great downloadable content like Geekdrome is to get an ipod... I wish there was a way to convert m4v files over to mpeg4, grrr...

[Malchik]

I have a shit hard time trying to rip DVD's I don't have the patients to convert all those .VOB files and sync the sound mix. I respect for people how can properly rip, convert, sync, time, and encode.

[satori]

I have a shit hard time trying to rip DVD's I don't have the patients to convert all those .VOB files and sync the sound mix. I respect for people how can properly rip, convert, sync, time, and encode.

dude, no respect required... I simply use X-oom, it's one stop shopping. You run x-oom, it gives you the option of which sound file you want to include then it rips it and dumps it on your PSP all at once... the only pain is that it plays the movie realtime while ripping it so I just set it up to rip as I go to bed, when I wake up I have a nice movie waiting for me. The thing with X-oom is that it's somewhat crippled if you live in a country that will not allow you to back up media that you own. Thankfully Canada lets you do this, not sure about the U.S.