fujishig

I only have the (free) Spiderman 2 disk. Because the disk is always spinning when playing one of these, isn't battery life limited to around 2 hours anyway? OAR is not preserved, no extras, and to my knowledge, no way to save your place if you want to take the disk out and put it back in later.

I've cut down on even my DVD purchases, because I won't rewatch most of the stuff I initially want to buy. No way I'm starting up with UMDs.

Gromit

The only UMD movie I have is the free Spiderman 2 disc. I'm surprised that they are doing as well as they are.

I just don't have a time or place to watch movies. I hardly use the thing for games (not a knock on the PSP, I just don't have a big need for a portable gaming system).

Tarantino

I really can't for the life of me figure out why the PSP's themselves sell.

= J

jeffdsmith

Speaking of UMD's, a boatload were released Tuesday:

Draven

Man, how are they going to keep "Garfield" on the shelves.

kurupt

I have a couple of UMD movies (both given to me as presents when I received my PSP), but short of any essensial, exclusive extras I don't see myself buying any in the near future due to the ease of ripping to the memory stick. The software's out there to rip and convert entire movies in no more than 30minutes. You can even select your quality level to keep the size of the file down.

PerryD

I just received my DDD UMD order yesterday. Of the titles I purchased, the most interesting was Jumanji which now can be used as a foreign languange learning tool with 5 audio tracks (English, Spanish, French, Italian, German) and 22 subtitle tracks(English, Spanish, French, Russian, German, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Hebrew, Arabic, Dutch, Swedish, Hungarian, Czech, Norwegian, Danish, Hindi, Polish, Greek, Finnish, Turkish). I didn't actually try out the disc yet to see if this is just a packaging print error though, but holy cow if it is true.

mrmagoo

I think they are kinda cool. When I first got my PSP, I was only in GAME mode, but as time went on and as the UMD movie format started to explode, I really started to get into them. I have not went as hog wild on UMD's as i have on DVD's, but I do have quite a few. I am WAY more picky, and only get the UMD movies that are favs....I pay an average of about $10.00 a piece. Here is my list.

Stargate
Pirates Of The Caribbean
National Treasure
Pitch Black
Happy Gilmore
Elf
Armaggedon
Reign Of Fire
Starship Troopers
Black Hawk Down
XXX (Vin Diesel flick, not porn)
Bad Boys
Hero
Van Helsing
Resident Evil
Resident Evil 2

Scoff if you will, I like em!

ElementZ

Sanitarium

It's the biggest media rip-off I've seen since DIVX. To those who have bought them, you should be ashamed of yourselves. Hmm..ok $20-25 for a barebones release that I can only watch on a 4" screen. Wow!

DJ_Longfellow

If anyone cares...Media Play now has them 60% off....still too overpriced for me (most are $27.99 I think, some were $17.99....before discount). They are closing and most stores will be gone after this weekend, if not already.

devilshalo

A pause in the action
Studios cut PSP titles

By JENNIFER NETHERBY, SUSANNE AULT

Sony's PlayStation Portable isn't turning out to be the hot new movie platform many in the bizbiz had hoped.

With sales falling below expectations, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Paramount Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video are cutting back on movie releases for the PSP.

While comedies that appeal to the core young male gamer demo are doing well, execs say other PSP movies simply aren't selling.

Sony handheld device plays games, movies and music.

In a bid to boost the format, execs from SPHE and sister unit Sony Computer Electronics America, which sells the PSP, are touting a new adapter that would allow a user to watch a PSP pic on a TV.

If it's successful, that could overcome widespread criticism that consumers have to buy two separate copies of a movie to watch on PSP and TV.

Execs plan to visit other studios to tout the adapter in the next month.

"It would be a huge boost to (PSP movies) if we can arrange for the disc to play on TV players," said SPHE prexyprexy Ben Feingold.

In the meantime, Sony is cutting back on new releases and adding to its comedy slate for PSP with Monty Python content and "Not Another Teen Movie." Feingold said comedy has turned out to be the sweet spot on the format -- the top-selling PSP release is Fox's "Napoleon Dynamite."

Paramount's biggest PSP successes have been TV comedies such as "Chappelle's Show -- Vol. 1" and "Beavis & Butthead -- The Mike Judge Collection: Vol. 1."

ParPar has no new PSP releases planned for the coming months, though a spokeswoman said the studio would continue to look at releasing select films in the format.

Top PSP movie performers generally sell more than 100,000 units, though the average release posts sales closer to 40,000-50,000 units.

Some have reasoned that sales may have slowed recently because of a shortage of new titles in the last month and because users may be illegally copying films from DVDs onto a memory chip the PSPs can read.

Sony is hoping to combat online piracy starting in March when it begins selling movies online via its Connect digital media store. Users will be able to download a pic and watch it on PSP without a disc.

Warner Home Video, which only began releasing movies in the format in November, pulled six planned PSP titles, including "Goodfellas," from its slate of releases previously set for an April-June rollout.

"We are re-evaluating our position on any future releases at this time," said Jeff Baker, Warner senior VP and general manager of theatrical catalog. "We're looking at this on a case-by-case basis. We're disappointed with consumer demand at this time."

The studio moves come as retailers are said to be cutting out shelf space for PSP movies with hit-and-miss sales.

"We continue to carry most new titles," said Virgin buyer Chris Anstey, "and there is a modest demand for them, but there simply hasn't been a consistent growth of this new format to justify making more space for it. We have been encouraged by the results of a couple successful campaigns that we've featured to help promote them, but the overall impact of the format has still been nominal."

Industryites say retailers are being flooded with new discs and view underperforming PSP movies as an area for cutbacks with upcoming high-def releases set to reach market in the coming months.

"With standard definition, HD DVD, Blu-ray and PSP, all these formats take up space," said one retail source. "Consumers aren't going to buy three or four configurations of the same movie. Something has to give."

Sony recently announced it would start bundling some DVD and UMD titles, including "The Grudge," "Underworld""Underworld" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," in combo packs priced at $28.95, slightly higher than for DVDs alone.

Overall, Sony has shipped more than 6 million PSP units worldwide since it went on sale a year ago, making it a moderate success but not a smash hit. Nintendo DS, another handheld gaming system that went on sale a few months earlier, has shipped 14.4 million units.

darkside

I personally like the UMD movies as long as they are under $10. I have bought 6 movies so far (all around $10) since I picked up a PSP again and not a single game to this point. Comedies are really the most rewatchable and make the most sense for buying on the PSP. Also a TV adaptor will probably not save the format since these will look pretty awful blown up on a regular TV.

I honestly think the reason for the early UMD movie boom was PSP owners desperate for content. There were few games worth buying so movies took their place. Now that the library is filling out more people are spending money on games and less on movies. I love how they blame piracy. These guys love to blame piracy for everything, however, if you deliver good content at the right price people will buy. If people aren't buying PSP games and movies it has to do more with the quality of what you are offering compared to the price you are offering it at.

Anyway the UMD movie boom does appear to be over. I was looking at the release list for the next 6 months and its pretty slim. The good news is I expect a lot more deals as stores try and clear out the UMD movies. BTW, if copying my own DVDs I paid for to the PSP for my personal use is piracy I don't ever want to do anything but steal from Sony.

edstein

I smell some hot deals on UMD movies in the near future. Maybe they will hit the $5.99 bins at Wal-mart.

Demontooth

They're not selling because they are too expensive. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out.

Gallant Pig

They sold at first because there were so few to choose from and the ones released were all aimed at the target market, plus it was a cute new gadget back then. You buy a couple realize what a waste it is and stop buying. Now that cards are down to $100 for 2 gb I think these are going to go away.

cleaver

I've got
Spider-Man 2
Pulp Fiction, Terminator 2 (both $12 at DDD 20% off)
Akira ($10 at DVDPlanet 50% anime)
Ghostbusters, Crouching Tiger, Black Hawk Down, Snatch ($7 each at DDD B1G1)
House of Flying Daggers, and Kung Fu Hustle ($10 each at Tower B1G1)
U2: Rattle and Hum ($2 shipped from Walmart with my XBox 360)

PerryD

I hope one of the upcoming titles that Warner pulled isn't Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, it was due in a couple weeks. It's a good fit for the PSP audience, plus at 2 1/2 hours, wouldn't fit on a 1GB card at any reasonable compression rate.

nodeerforamonth

Too expensive and no features! If they had features, I would certainly buy them. I'd rather be able to watch a "making of" documentary or a movie with a commentary track while at lunch or on the commuter train than sitting at home.

The Bus

Hopefully if/when they make a PSP2 it'll come in a small-format BluRay disc. That should fit as much as one of today's DVDs and will let you play the video on the PSP2 and on the TV.

joshd2012

I could get excited about this. Especially if prices start to drop on the media.

darkside

I was wondering at one time if Sony would actually do a DVD/UMD combo player. Again, my question will be how these UMDs at 480X272 will look on a TV. Thats pretty low res for a big TV. If they look decent though and the adaptor isn't super expensive I will pick one up. I'm going to keep buying UMDs I want especially if prices drop.

sracer

I concur with your assessment. I think that UMD discs are going to hang around for quite a bit more time. Sony has a knack for staying the course with their proprietary media formats. Not that they are all successful, but that some of them hang around much longer than they should (eg. mini-disc).

I think that UMD will be around a bit longer... at least until Blu-Ray, the PS3, and Sony's online service arrive on the scene. Then it will be clear why it should go away, or stay.

edstein

Any chance that this news will force sony to add UMD support on the PS3?

joshd2012

UMDs are encoded at 720x480, same as a DVD.