UMD Movie Guide

[bapenguin]

The Digital Bits (http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/umdguide/index.html) has posted up some information on Sony's UMD videos as well as a release list. Retail prices for these films generally range from $14.99 up to $29.99 (you find them in most stores in the videogame isle). As of the time of this writing, nearly 20 films are available on UMD for PSP, with more than 100 additional titles announced (or soon to be announced) for release later in the year. Two of the currently available titles, Sony's House of Flying Daggers and Resident Evil: Apocalypse (both released on 4/19) have already sold more than 100,000 copies each - a surprising number given that it took some nine months for the first DVD title to reach the same milestone (for the record, it was Sony's Air Force One).

I really think these should be a $9.99. I'd be willing to buy them at that price. 20.99 is a bit absurd.

[Heretic Machine]

I'm considering getting a PSP... But I have absolutely no interest in watching UMD movies on it. Especially not at that price.

[agentgray]

I really think these should be a $9.99. I'd be willing to buy them at that price. 20.99 is a bit absurd.
I completely agree. I would have liked to have purchased National Treasure, but nuh-uh, no way when I can get the DVD at half the price and twice the features. Portable movies are not that important to me.

[TrackZero]

I completely agree. I would have liked to have purchased National Treasure, but nuh-uh, no way when I can get the DVD at half the price and twice the features. Portable movies are not that important to me.

Or, alternatively. You can stop yourself from buying a bad movie and pick up a good one instead.

[Heretic Machine]

National Treasure wasn't -that- bad... :p For a mainstream action-adventure movie anyhow. Besides, I'm a history major, and I'm sooo gonna be that guy after I graduate.

[Kylie_Scotts]

Anyone who buys a UMD movie will really enjoy it on the short bus.

[Steve_Erhardt]

I completely agree. I would have liked to have purchased National Treasure, but nuh-uh, no way when I can get the DVD at half the price and twice the features. Portable movies are not that important to me.

Same here... I like the idea of the movies on the PSP, but the pricing is just kind of whacked right now.

[Furious Wang]

I imagine it is because of the psp being many people's first experience with video on the go. Maybe it will die off or at least they'll stop selling damn videos for 30$. I shudder when I imagine the price for blueray disks.

On a side note, I was really dissappointed by House of Flying Daggers. Especially after being so enthralled by Hero.

[Rirath]

One can always just convert video to mp4 with the multitude of freeware out there, and a decent sized memory stick. There's even some commerical software coming out, though I highly doubt it'll be any better. None the less, UMD is a success so far... so good for Sony.

Flying Daggers was great, so long as you weren't expecting the best movie ever or anything.

[splatstick]

Somebody mentioned a while ago that they would pay an extra $5 for a dvd if it was bundled with the UMD. Seems pretty solid to me.

[bapenguin]

On a side note, I was really dissappointed by House of Flying Daggers. Especially after being so enthralled by Hero.

The Drum scene in that movie in DTS on a good home theater system is amazing. It should be a standard scene on Home theater tune up DVDs.

[AbeLincoln]

Did y'all catch the news that Sony is going to allow porn on the UMD? At least according to this story. (http://www.insertcredit.com/archives/000381.html)

[splatstick]

Did y'all catch the news that Sony is going to allow porn on the UMD? At least according to this story. (http://www.insertcredit.com/archives/000381.html)

I am now fully in support of the UMD format.

[Liquidize105]

Did y'all catch the news that Sony is going to allow porn on the UMD? At least according to this story. (http://www.insertcredit.com/archives/000381.html)

Whoa, PSP is now truly a handheld.

[netcraazzy]

I would be interested to see what percentage of PSP owners have bought UMD movies, and how many movies they bought is they did buy some. 100,000 UMD copies of one movie sold seems like a pretty resounding success for the format to me, but then I don't know how many PSPs are out there.

[morose]

$10-15 would be a reasonable price range. $15-30 most definitely is not.

[ÜberJumper]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it realatively easy to burn the movie to a format that you can then read from a memory stick? Buy the DVD, burn it to Memory stick, instant personal UMD.

But I guess UMD's are only for the technically inept or something.

[Royal Fool]

UMD is the single worst media format ever created. Nothing as great as paying your hard-earned 20 dollars for a UMD movie, knowing that Sony is raping you and your rights as a consumer while taking your money.

DVD with extra features, much more picture and sound quality, not to mention universal compatability with virtually any DVD player anywhere (Providing it's not region locked)... or a UMD that only plays on your PSP?

Yeah. Way to go, Sony. keep ramming them consumers from behind.

[DeadPixel]

$20 for UMD is just plain stupid. You get a normal DVD and it works in your laptop, your home PC, your living room DVD player, take anywhere, give it away to friends, whatever. UMD just works on your PSP... $20 is hardly worth it.

[Phhhh]

UMD is the single worst media format ever created. Nothing as great as paying your hard-earned 20 dollars for a UMD movie, knowing that Sony is raping you and your rights as a consumer while taking your money.

DVD with extra features, much more picture and sound quality, not to mention universal compatability with virtually any DVD player anywhere (Providing it's not region locked)... or a UMD that only plays on your PSP?

Yeah. Way to go, Sony. keep ramming them consumers from behind.

Because they're forcing you to buy it and everything...

Watching Spiderman 2 on a PSP (which came with the system) was simply amazing. The screen is really high quality, with headphones it sounded great. I can see this being a great way to watch movies on a plane, but I don't really see the point otherwise.

[GrinR]

I think it's hilarious. betamax, anyone? 1 gig Memory stick for teh wins!

[Dracula-X]

$10-$15 is the sweet spot for me. I'd plunk down $20 for a *really* good movie.

[agentgray]

I wonder has anyone bought any UMD movies? Check the poll (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2573).

I've just ripped and copied to a 512MB stick. Works fine for me.

[netcraazzy]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it realatively easy to burn the movie to a format that you can then read from a memory stick? Buy the DVD, burn it to Memory stick, instant personal UMD.

But I guess UMD's are only for the technically inept or something.

How many ripped movies can you fit on a memory stick though? I don't own a PSP so I don't know, but it better be a number larger than 2 otherwise it seems just as silly as UMD to me. Sure you can write over it but what do those memory sticks cost, like $90 for 512MB? It would cost a fortune to be able to take a decent number of movies with you.

[GrinR]

Who needs to take a number of movies with them? Shit, if you're watching more than one, you must be on a plane ride. A long one. Sides, with the rips that are on the internet, you can put at least 2 on a 1gigger.

[Rirath]

You can get a 1GB stick for around $120. If you lower the quality a bit, since you don't need surround sound and the size is smaller, you can fit quite a bit of content. If you're like me and you like fansubbed anime, well heck, you can fit hours.

Memory sticks have other uses too, of course. Music, game saves, extra content in games like Wipeout Pure, homebrew someday... and of course, you can erase a memory stick.

[Racknahm]

And here's hoping that if it hasn't happened already, someone creates a hack that allows you to override the resolution limit of non-UMDs.

[johnperkins21]

I would imagine that a big part of the price is the license. Certainly burning a UMD is more expensive than a DVD as fewer plants do it, but it still can't be more than say $5 a disc.

I think that at some point, Sony may decide to start offering Special Editions of DVDs with a UMD copy for on the go. It makes sense for them to do this, as it would probably sell quite a few more PSPs if you could pay, say $25-$30 for a DVD/UMD combo. I know that that is the only way I would ever buy a UMD movie.

[KamenGamer]

Bandai is first to offer UMD + DVD combo pack.

http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/koukyoushiheneurekaseven/news_6122494.html