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Movies Media Portables (Games) Sony

More Movie Studios Consider UMD Releases 65

Posted by Zonk from the if-you-can't-go-back-in-time-and-make-sure-they-were-never-born dept.
GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that several major motion picture studios are considering releasing some of their films on Sony's UMD format. The studios in question include Fox, Universal, and Paramount. From the article: "Fox is said to be closest to committing - with an initial line-up that could consist of Dodgeball, Napoleon Dynamite, I Robot, Super Troopers and Predator - while Universal could get involved by mid-summer and Paramount is currently evaluating the format's potential."
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More Movie Studios Consider UMD Releases More

More Movie Studios Consider UMD Releases

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  • not a surprise (Score:3, Interesting)

    by doofusclam ( 528746 ) <slash@seanyseansean.com> on Friday April 29, 2005 @08:42AM (#12382712) Homepage
    Of course they're supporting it - it's a new (therefore currently uncopiable) format, it's DRMed up to the eyeballs and they get to sell people yet another copy of films they already own, at premium prices too.

  • I own a PSP... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by HaloZero ( 610207 ) <[protodeka] [at] [gmail.com]> on Friday April 29, 2005 @08:43AM (#12382719) Homepage
    ...haven't had the pleasure of trying to watch a movie on one, yet, though. I dunno, the whole portable-movie thing to me seems kinda silly, espicially when your power supply (battery) will last for only 4-5 hours. Spending half of that watching video seems a bit of a waste. This, of course, from the person who is content playing Metal Gear Ac!d until my eyeballs fall out.

    The whole UMD video thing seemed kinda like a 'Hey! Great! We can do this, too!' idea, that should have been realized as being from the maybe-but-maybe-we-shouldn't dept.

    • I dunno, the whole portable-movie thing to me seems kinda silly, espicially when your power supply (battery) will last for only 4-5 hours. Spending half of that watching video seems a bit of a waste.

      How long is a city resident continuously away from AC power?

      • When one is not in a city? On a trip? In an aeroplane? In a car (passenger)? And so on and so forth. Besides, I'd really rather not be tied to a wall-wart. If I'm going to be that close to an actual power suppy, I'd rather just watch the aforementioned movie/DVD on my laptop, or desktop, or television. The list goes on.

        • In a car (passenger)?

          Aren't there adapters from car 12VDC to whatever the PSP takes? And how long is a plane ride unless you repeatedly fly across an ocean without sedation?

  • Can someone exlpain what UMD is?
    • Universal Media Destruction
      Ur Mamma's Daddy
      Unilateral Missle Damage
      Umlats May Die
      University of Maryland
      Universal Mutation Database

      Or it could be that new crummy Sony-propeirity no-play-anywhere-else garbage, but I think Slashdot is too scientific to talk about 'movies'.

      Expessially, as Sony is a EVIL MPAA MEMBER.
      • Just call it what it is:

        Underwhelming Mini Disc

        or if you prefer: Unimpressive Mini Disc

        I hope that the studios lose mucho money on this. I'm all for better formats but besides the physical size (which really isn't all that impressive) this format is a huge step backwards from DVD for consumers.
    • universal media disk. it plays both movies and games for psp. thats all you need to know about it.

      • Re:What is UMD? (Score:3, Insightful)

        by snuf23 ( 182335 )
        I always wondered why the U stood for "universal". Universal in what way? I mean it's hardly a universal format. Universally used by nothing except the PSP.
        Maybe it was originally supposed to be "uncopyable" because it's an "unwriteable" format.
    • From the Wikipedia entry [wikipedia.org]:

      "The Universal Media Disc (UMD) is an optical disc medium developed by Sony for use on the PlayStation Portable. It can hold 1.8 gigabytes of data, which can include games, movies, or music."

  • When will they learn? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rAiNsT0rm ( 877553 ) on Friday April 29, 2005 @08:53AM (#12382822) Homepage
    GBA Videos, PSP Movies, The little pocket video players for kids, none do all that well but companies keep pumping them out. No one is going to buy a movie twice just so that they can make it less useful and portable.

    When I first heard of PSP movie capabilities and since it was from Sony, I had thought the ultimate idea would be to bundle the UMD version in with the DVD of their movie releases. They've missed it so far. This would sell more PSP's because people would soon have a bunch of useless UMD's laying around and be curious to make them useful, combat piracy because people will buy the DVD to get the UMD... just a bit of creative thinking and sales and UMD movies could bloom... but oh yeah Sony would have to give a little bit of their DVD profits to sell tons more PSP's and games and then when they've got a huge install base reap the rewards. When will they learn?
    • I'm not buying one until there is a good pr0n market going for it. Portable Spiderman... eh? Portable DVDA, OH YEAH!!!
    • Things like PSP Movies I really don't see doing all that well. As you said, you're buying the same thing twice.

      As to the GBA videos, from what I've seen they tend to offer different content than they do on DVDs. It tends to be shorter content - things like a couple episodes of Pokemon or Spongebob on each GBA video cartridge. Some of my coworkers seem to think they're a good value for their kids, as they aren't that expensive. Great for keeping their kids occupied during car rides, and doesn't require as m

      • Some of my coworkers seem to think [that GBA Video titles are] a good value for their kids, as they aren't that expensive.

        Sure, a GBA SP (80 USD) costs half as much as a portable DVD player (160 USD), but the GBA Video paks are more expensive. For instance, two GBA Video titles with a total of 88 minutes of episodic content cost $40, while a DVD Video box set of 528 minutes of Garfield shows costs $30.

        Great for keeping their kids occupied during car rides, and doesn't require as much of an attention

        • Sure, a GBA SP (80 USD) costs half as much as a portable DVD player (160 USD), but the GBA Video paks are more expensive. For instance, two GBA Video titles with a total of 88 minutes of episodic content cost $40, while a DVD Video box set of 528 minutes of Garfield shows costs $30.

          I'm just going by my coworkers comments - I don't know firsthand the prices. But from what I've heard, KB Toys seems to regularly have the GBA Video stuff on sale for significantly less than that. As in I seem to remember heari
    • Yep. I agree the bundling UMDs seems like the way. However, the UMD movies keep selling at their current prices, even given the limited selection and supply.

      I would definetly use my PSP as a movie player, but not if it means paying for the same movie twice. Give it to me for $5, and I'm there.

      My best idea was for travelers. Put a rental section in all the airports. Rent a movie for your flight, drop it off on your inbound airport or in a mailbox. I'd pay $7 not to have to watch another piss poor epi
    • they will learn when "consumers" stop bending over for them.

      and i use the word consumers because customers use their brains and are in most respects a living being.

  • Of course they are considering it. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by 88NoSoup4U88 ( 721233 ) on Friday April 29, 2005 @08:59AM (#12382876)
    It's the best way to let someone re-buy the content they allready might own ; At least DVD's offered something extra over video-tapes.

    I hope the consumer doesn't fall for this ploy.

    Imo, Sony should be focusing on releasing tools to convert your video-media to a format which can be played on the PSP, and not suckering people out into buying an, afaik, inferior format.

    • "At least DVD's offered something extra over video-tapes.

      I hope the consumer doesn't fall for this ploy."

      Uh... Ploy? You do realize that the PSP is portable right?

      "Imo, Sony should be focusing on releasing tools to convert your video-media to a format which can be played on the PSP" ... except memory cards are expensive and don't hold as much as a UMD.

      "and not suckering people out into buying an, afaik, inferior format."

      I'm no fan of Sony or the PSP, but this comment is absurd. If there really i

      • Uh... Ploy? You do realize that the PSP is portable right?

        So is a portable DVD player, which anybody near a Wal-Mart store can pick up for $160, which is close to the price of the Nintendo DS without a memory card [kicktrading.ca].

        • "So is a portable DVD player, which anybody near a Wal-Mart store can pick up for $160..."

          That's like comparing a laptop to a PocketPC in terms of portability. Portable DVD players are too large (mainly because of the medium) and the lower price range versions have crappy screens. The PSP would be a far better choice if a.) It had more movies available and b.) It could hook up to a TV and c.) It didn't cost way too frickin much.
      • Uh... Ploy? You do realize that the PSP is portable right?

        So are portable dvd players. I'm no fan of Sony or the PSP,

        Neither am I, does it show ? ;)

        but this comment is absurd. If there really is a market for portable movie playing, this is not an inferior format. Do you realize how big DVDs are?

        Do you mean big, as in size, or datacapacity ?
        It's quite some difference to watch a movie on a television, or your PSP.

        My mainpoint wasn't to totally bash the UMD format, more a reaction to Sony probab

        • "So are portable dvd players."

          You misspelled 'luggable'. :P hehe.

          "Do you mean big, as in size, or datacapacity ?"

          Physical area. I've travelled with DVDs before, it sucks. They're simply not made for it.

          " more a reaction to Sony probably trying to shut down any attempt to get the movies... you allready -own-."

          I think it's less about shutting down converted movies and more about generating a revnue stream. Sony doesn't make money off of systems. Now that they've got their own playback format, t

        • But you can already do that. If you own a big enough Memory Stick Duo, you can just rip stuff from DVDs you own and convert it into an MP4 file. Go check out some of the PSP video file BitTorrent trackers out there, lots of people are sharing 80 MB TV episodes and 300-400 MB movies. Sony's yet to do anything to try and prevent people from doing this, and there's no hacking required to get a PSP to run video off the Memory Stick.

    • "consumers" will always fall for it.

      customers on the other hand....

  • No way (Score:4, Insightful)

    by CaseM ( 746707 ) on Friday April 29, 2005 @09:04AM (#12382917)
    No way in hell am I going to buy movies in the format, coolness factor be damned. I want tools to get my already-purchased normal DVD's onto UMD media, it's that simple.

    Having fought legal battles [virtualrecordings.com] on behalf of its (albeit doomed) Betamax, you would think these guys would learn that their customers really want the flexibility and freedom to use that expensive PSP to its fullest potential. Sorry, Sony, but purchased UMD movies are going to be nothing more than a passing novelty.
    • And I have noticed looking at Best Buy that those UMD movies are 20-40 dollars. 40 bucks for a movie is pretty expensive.
      • It's absolutely impossible to defend Sony when they put themselves in this lousy position.

        Whoever actually agreed to the UMD idea in the Sony boardroom need to be shot. Right now, the PSP is about as close to having no movie playing capabilities as you can get.

      • UMD is new, UMD may or may not fall in price. If it doesn't it's doomed to be a niche product... but how expensive were DVD's when they were new? 40-60 dollars. So it's relativly the same, it's hoped they will come down as more manufactuers get into them.
        • no it's not relatively the same, DVD gave many new features, higher quality, rapid seek times and non-degrading reading all in a user friendly package. UMD gives jack shit in new features there already are portable DVD players UMD movies are going to be another ATRAC/MD disaster.
      • Oddly enough, here in Phoenix, Arizona, I am seeing most UMD video releases at about the $14 price point, with maybe one or two falling below that, and only one video selling above that (that I've seen). I've been looking at Fry's Electronics and Target mainly.

        For those who care, the one UMD video selling for $20 here in Phoenix is House of Flying Daggers, and that was at Target. I haven't seen anything higher than that.
    • Beta, expensive and proprietary, failed as a consumer format.
      Minidisc, expensive and proprietary, failed as a consumer format (in the USA) Even tried cramming MP3 on minidisc in some sort of weird conversion scheme. Pathetic.
      Memory Stick: expensive and proprietary, is it succeeding? Only Sony products use them.
      SuperStation Tape Backup. Expensive and proprietary, additionally, never actually worked as far as I can tell. Why was there never a class action lawsuit?
      Superbit: Does anyone actually use this?
      UMD: e
      • Superbit is just a standard DVD with a higher bitrate for the encoded video, sometimes at the expense of bonus material (since higher bitrate video means less space for bonus material). My copy of the movie Adaptation is in Superbit format; I don't even know if a non-Superbit version was released.

        Of all the things you've mentioned, Superbit is the least proprietary, since it works with all existing DVD players.
  • All of the fragility of DVD disks, with none of the good movies!

    Honestly, Napoleon Dynamite is the only movie given in the story that I care anything, and I mean anything, about.

  • Pricing is Wrong! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by robbway ( 200983 ) on Friday April 29, 2005 @09:37AM (#12383320) Journal
    Pirates of the Caribbean is $29.99 (USD). It's often only $13 on DVD at Best Buy, and you get all of the DVD extras. Let me see, just the movie in a reduced resolution, or a widescreen, high resolution treatment of the same movie with better sound and compatibility with almost every DVD player, TV, Video Game, and PC?

    The rest are $19.99 and up. Instead, DVD movies should pack a water-marked file on the DVD that can be downloaded to your PDA or PSP.

    UMD movies have to hit $12.99 before I consider them. I'll admit I'm overly picky, but all they did was reformat the digital content. They could get away with the higher prices if they were pre-DVD release, I suppose.
    • No kidding...especially considering that I've seen portable DVD players for less than the cost of a PSP. I saw one at Sam's Club that was around $150. Granted, it wasn't one of the top of the line ones, but I bet it'd be better than watching movies on a PSP. And you won't have to buy all your movies again on a new format. I know UMD's hold a heck of a lot less data than DVD's too, which likely means fewer extras and greater compression (meaning worse video quality). It'll probably look more like Divx t
    • I bought Pirates of the Caribbean at Walmart for 13 bucks. Seems reasonable to me. Educated consumers can really save lots of money. You have to pay for convenience and the fact you are an early adopter, but in time I think they will all come out around 13 bucks, which isnt that bad. The market will dictate the price, when they cant sell any at 30, maybe they will try creative pricing.
    • Every video game eh? I tried stuffing one into my Mario Bros./Duck Hunt cartrige and managed to somehow not get any video. Perhaps we can all pitch in and start a DVD->Video Game compatability list?

      I'm going out on a limb here, but you might be talking about Video Game Consoles. Haven't gotten the disc to fit in the Super Nintendo or N64 cartrige slots yet. I must admit I did get close with the Sega CD. I've heard rumors that it can play CDs though.
  • I'm not a Sony supporter and when I played the PSP I didn't think much of it. All it really is is a PS1 that is portable. They took PS1 graphics and increased the framerate. That said, the idea to put movies on the PSP is good but not well executed. The way they should have done it is make the system compatible with DVD's and UMD. The concept is what matters though, maybe, in the future, we will begin to see portable systems with longer battery life and compatibility with DVD's.

    • Re:Not so bad... (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I think you need to go boot a PS1. The PSP may not be PS2 level graphics, but its far beyond PS1
  • 1. are there any other players for UMD devices aside from the PSP? 2. how is the quality of the video on a PSP and any other device with a screen larger than 3"x5" (or whatever the PSP size is) 3. Is UMD Sony's answer specifically for mobile media or just next gen media? i wonder if studios are just using a few movies (of interest to the PSP audience) to test the market. I cant imagine the cost of re-encoding the movie to a UMD format, and producing them on UMD doesnt outweigh sales, especially if the P
    • damn formatting

      1. are there any other players for UMD devices aside from the PSP?

      2. how is the quality of the video on a PSP and any other device with a screen larger than 3"x5" (or whatever the PSP size is)

      3. Is UMD Sony's answer specifically for mobile media or just next gen media?

      i wonder if studios are just using a few movies (of interest to the target PSP audience) to test the market. I cant imagine the cost of re-encoding the movie to a UMD format, and producing them on UMD doesnt outweigh sales,
      • 1. No.

        2. Depends on the screen quality, PSP is watchable but nowhere near hi-res.

        As of now, its only for PSP. They could make a DVD/UMD combo, but it's pretty doubtful since DVD is so popular.
  • I will admit I thought the idea of UMD movies on the PSP was pretty silly.
    As everyone says, why buy another version of a movie when you can get better quality and more features on a cheaper DVD?

    Having never owned a portable gaming device until now, I didn't realize the answer. It is the same answer to why you buy a laptop when you already have a desktop PC.

    Its portable!

    Yes, I know, there are portable DVD players. But really, the PSP is the best portable video playing device out there.
    If someone knows a b

    • I mean, UMDs suck! They eat battery power

      How long is a city resident continuously away from AC anyway?

      They eat battery power, they have long loading times, they are limited to 2 gigs

      Dreamcast discs are limited to 1.2 GB, and GameCube discs are limited to 1.35 GB. Big whoop. Blu-ray would just have made the system even more expensive.

      the movies are region encoded

      In the case of movies from studios other than Columbia and MGM, blame the individual studios that request a region coding other than

      • You are right of course. UMDs aren't as bad as I made them out to be. It is just when you contrast it with the memory stick, the UMDs seem to have all these limitations.
        Regarding the movie region coding, I actually do give Sony huge props for removing the region coding for games.
        Its very cool when you see a place like Frys selling import games.

        I wonder if the same thing will happen for next gen consoles...

        • Regarding the movie region coding, I actually do give Sony huge props for removing the region coding for games.

          Handhelds are carried by people who travel.

          I wonder if the same thing will happen for next gen consoles

          Probably not. People are much more likely to travel with their handhelds than with consoles.

  • ...before I even think of this kind of form factor. I'll go for the 4gb memorystick -> adapter and 3GP rips before I even touch media that doesnt have fully recordable/rewritable formats. Never mind the $250 UMD reader(already have) or the $25,000 + Sony's blessing devkit, I'll take UMD's that can read and write the way things I want it to - not Sony's way.
  • I have not fully watched the movie that came with the PSP yet. I would do more than play games with my PSP but the memory is still too much for a 1 gig card. So for now its just games.

    For thoes that want UMD burners or drives Sony says that its not going to happen...
  • When I started to see some Disney/BV titles on UMD this week. Currently Pirates of the Carribean is the only non-Sony UMD on the market, but there are 3-4 more Disney/BV motie titles sitting my my stockroom for Tuesday release. I forgot the names though.....
  • i looked at some umd movies today to take on a long flight tomorrow... they are all 30+ bucks each. I refuse to pay 30 bucks for a movie that is available on DVD for much less and with more special features, esp since can rip that movie and watch it on the psp.

    Studios really need to bring down the price of umd movies if they want it to take off

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