The UMD Format...

[Kyougi]

Before the PSP launched in the US last year, many people were skeptical that the UMD movie format would catch on. At the time, sites like GAF speculated studios would not jump on board. But jump they did. With Sony Pictures putting their movies on UMD, other studios couldn't afford the possibility that the UMD movie format could catch on without them.

 

So when the PSP launched, it did so with many UMD movies to choose from. Not all movies made it to UMD, but most action films and a decent library of older favorites did as well. Nearly every commercial for movies coming to DVD also featured a mention of the UMD version.

 

But times are changing. Sales of UMD movies are not what studios had hoped. Two studios have already stopped releasing the format altogether and there are rumors that Wal-Mart may stop stocking them.

 

Universal Studios Home Entertainment is one of the companies to stop producing UMDs. Reuters spoke to a high-ranking exec who said "It's awful. Sales are near zilch. It's another Sony bomb -- like Blu-ray."

 

The other company is Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment. "We continue to evaluate the PSP platform for each title, and if it makes sense for business reasons and the target audience, we will release them," spokeswoman Brenda Ciccone said. "Our focus right now is much more aimed at HD (high-definition) at the moment, though."

 

Other companies and executives echoed the statements. Sony isn't silent on the matter though. Benjamin Feingold, president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, was and is a big supporter of UMD movies, but his comments certainly hit one of the major issues the PSP has had: "I think a lot of people are ripping content and sticking it onto the device rather than purchasing."

 

Source: Reuters

 

Source: http://www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=6193

 

I like where the guy from USHE says "It's another Sony bomb -- like Blu-ray." Sony and their inferior formats... Why buy a UMD disk for more... bad marketing, both for the UMD, and the PSP itself (games are crap, port machine, homebrew haters). Only good think out of it was that it gave Nintendo a competition so it could focus quality back into it's handhelds.