Downloadable Movies - Nintendo DS / GBA

[Kamalot]

Nintendo has started setting up vending machines around Japan that allow users to purchase and download movies to your Nintendo DS or GameBoy Advance (http://www.importgameblog.com/archives/2005/06/pokemon_gba_mov.php). Using a rewriteable memory card it is possible to buy these videos and watch them on the go. Drop a few yen into the vending machine, insert your flash card and select which video(s) you want. They are copied to your card for viewing on the go.

Can we expect to see online versions of these soon with downloadable movies? It makes a lot more sense to buy movies online than paying $20 for a UMD. Since the videos are regular files, there is no reason you couldn't back them up to your computer either.

[EvilBob46]

Hopefully they'll get some more (read: better) movies out later on.

[Ghost_Saint]

there is no reason you couldn't back them up to your computer either.

Exactly the reason why the RIAA hates the internet, and no other industry wants to get near that mess if they can avoid it.

[Furious Wang]

This will never ever ever make it to the States. Ever.

[splatstick]

Japan also has beer in their vending machines. I would much rather have a beer vending machine than a DS movie one, no offense.

[the_inquisition]

Even after a friend showed off an Archos player, I still don't understand the lure of watching movies on a very, very small (and quite poor) screen... Anyone here actually do this? If so, what's the appeal?

[Morrolan]

Why the hell would you want beer vending machines? Six beers would cost like... twenty bucks, I'd wager. :)

I'm not so hot on the idea of watching a movie on the DS screen. :\

[splatstick]

Actually, it would probably be in yen, not dollars. /smartass

[rein]

Some military bases have beer vending machines in recreational areas. It is actually pretty cool.

[Heretic Machine]

I might think this is cool if it weren't for the fact that I can already watch movies on my laptop, which is with me basically anytime my DS is.

[BadIronTree]

you dont have alcohol veting machine? lol
you dont allow people under 18 to drink alcohol? lol
thats explain why your alcohol resistans SUCK... lol

2 beers and your are wasted lol

[splatstick]

you dont have alcohol veting machine? lol
you dont allow people under 18 to drink alcohol? lol
thats explain why your alcohol resistans SUCK... lol

2 beers and your are wasted lol

Hey there buddy, pretty much the only thing your poorly translated ass can mock that I will take offense to is my tolerance.
I go to Kent State University... I minor in liver damage.
Can't read, Can't write, Can't remember what happened last night.

[Hewie]

Hey there buddy, pretty much the only thing your poorly translated ass can mock that I will take offense to is my tolerance.
I go to Kent State University... I minor in liver damage.
Can't read, Can't write, Can't remember what happened last night.

Anyone with Alkaline Trio lyrics in their signature is fucking cool in my books.

[Rangoth]

Depending on how much this thing is, it might be kinda cool to have. There have been situations where I could get away with having my DS out where I couldn't get away with having a laptop out(due to the small size of the DS).

[Neverborne]

Downloadable DS porn in 3, 2, 1...

[Furtive]

Who would be interested in watchin on a tiny portable screen? I certainly would. While I'm at my desk working eight or nine hours a day its nice to have music going or last nights episodes of family guy or whatever playing while im working. I'm usually not home most evenings to actually watch the shows when theyre on. Would i rather watch things on a big screen with surround sound at home? sure would. but the boss doesnt like it when i plop a 32" screen on my desk but doesnt mind the 3 inch screen one bit.

[splatstick]

Anyone with Alkaline Trio lyrics in their signature is fucking cool in my books.

Hey, My little needle. Solid, solid. I saw them at the HOB in Cleveland this summeR :D

[Deadend]

Depending on Sound quality, this can be an awesome thing.

I know alot of people like the PSP due to videos, and some of the DAPs can do video, but the GBA is cheap as hell, has a decent sceen and good battery life.

If it's good at video, having a collection of TV shows sounds good, or anything that relies more on audio than visuals.

No way in hell I would watch The Matrix on a GBA though, visual-fests seem very lame on a small screen, but Simpsons episodes or watching anime sounds damn good... subtitles would be a pain though.

[TrackZero]

Interesting. But I'm sure it's one of those ideas that just won't move out of Japan, unfortunately.

[Pumped'Up]

It makes a lot more sense to buy movies online than paying $20 for a UMD. Since the videos are regular files, there is no reason you couldn't back them up to your computer either.[/I]
Kamlot, you're completely wrong.

I would rather buy UMDs than d/l >1GB movie files, then have to transfer them every frickn time to my memory stick. Even through the fast USB 2.0 card readers, it takes quite a bit of time to transfer these large files. As well, 2 other things you've over looked.

1 - memory sticks are expensive. movie encoding quality = file size. 1GB memory is expensive. 2GB is f'kn crazy $$$. why waste +$1300 on 10x 1GB memory sticks when you can spend $200 on 10 UMD ficks?

2 - external harddrives that hook up to your PSP - emerging on the market, but even then, these drives are not capable of streaming off into your PSP, so you would have to transfer the movie from the HD to your memory stick.

However, I would love to see other options for getting movies off of i.e. vending machines, but to replace the UMDs? absolutely not. Although they are slightly overpriced and not really worth their price tag, don't forget, just like DVDs when they came on the market they were expensive. Give it another 6-8 months and these UMDs will be less $5 or more.

[Royal Fool]

Downloadable DS porn in 3, 2, 1...

And with the dual screens, you could have both top and bottom action showing at once!

Oooooh!

1 - memory sticks are expensive. movie encoding quality = file size. 1GB memory is expensive. 2GB is f'kn crazy $$$. why waste +$1300 on 10x 1GB memory sticks when you can spend $200 on 10 UMD ficks?

1GB pro duo cards are going for as low as $85-100 on eBay, although it's true that the 2GB sticks are still crazy expensive compared to the others.

But you're forgetting that UMD simply doesn't cover a wide range of movies yet, and it doesn't have any TV series either. Which is why many people want to go with the memory stick option.

I personally have very little interest in buying UMD movies, since I prefer buying stuff on DVD and watching them at home. Why buy the same movie twice?

[Kamalot]

1 - memory sticks are expensive. movie encoding quality = file size. 1GB memory is expensive. 2GB is f'kn crazy $$$. why waste +$1300 on 10x 1GB memory sticks when you can spend $200 on 10 UMD ficks?

Memory Sticks ARE expensive. Other forms of media are less expensive. SD cards for example are less expensive than Memory Sticks. Sony keeps the cost of Memory Sticks high so they can make a huge profit off of each one. It isn't a real open market since any 3rd party needs to license the Memory Stick format, so Sony still makes a huge profit off it.

I'd rather have a few SD cards that I can load up with shows I want to watch instead of buying a large, scratch-prone $20 UMD with a very limited selection. Plus, once you scratch it, the video is gone. Destroy an SD card and you still have the video at home on your PC.

I've got a 1 Gig SD card that I got 6 months ago for my Treo for around $65. I watch episodes on the train to and from work. Transferring a video to the card takes 2 min TOPS! It is much faster than running to the store to look through the poor selection of UMDs.

Video resolution is the same as the PSP's Memory Stick playback as well.

[Pumped'Up]

Kamalot:

Question, how the heck do you plug an SD card into a PSP?

so you would rather spend $65 to replace your SD card (in the case it breaks) than to spend another $20 on a UMD (in the case it gets scratched)? please tell me the logic there.

[Dirty Harry]

Kamlot, you're completely wrong.

I would rather buy UMDs than d/l >1GB movie files, then have to transfer them every frickn time to my memory stick. Even through the fast USB 2.0 card readers, it takes quite a bit of time to transfer these large files. As well, 2 other things you've over looked.

1 - memory sticks are expensive. movie encoding quality = file size. 1GB memory is expensive. 2GB is f'kn crazy $$$. why waste +$1300 on 10x 1GB memory sticks when you can spend $200 on 10 UMD ficks?

2 - external harddrives that hook up to your PSP - emerging on the market, but even then, these drives are not capable of streaming off into your PSP, so you would have to transfer the movie from the HD to your memory stick.

However, I would love to see other options for getting movies off of i.e. vending machines, but to replace the UMDs? absolutely not. Although they are slightly overpriced and not really worth their price tag, don't forget, just like DVDs when they came on the market they were expensive. Give it another 6-8 months and these UMDs will be less $5 or more.

Thanks for expressing what i was feeling.

[Fonz]

do you retards really think youll get the same movie quality in a flash based storage like the ds or gba as a 1.8gb UMD movie disc? Your joking right. PSP umd Movies are mpg-4 avc, these movies on the ds and gba are simple profile, theyre going to look like medium quality quicktime trailers. PSP UMD movies are near DVD quality with progressive frames, the bitrate is much greater and variable. Im not turning this into a Nintendo vs SOny thing, I just want people to realize what theyre saying before they go and purchase anything.

[Kamalot]

Question, how the heck do you plug an SD card into a PSP?
Sorry if I wasn't clear. I was talking watching movies on my Treo, not a PSP. The Treo plays MPG4, DivX and Xvid movies. When compressing for 320x240, you can fit a 2 hour movie in less than 256 megs of flash memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820160023) at a decent quality. This is the exact same resolution movies the PSP plays off of the memory stick except played on a cell phone.

Many Palm devices and Pocket PCs have higher resolutions than the PSP where movies look even better, not to mention specificied digital video players that have hard drives for storing 20-40 GIGS of movies. All of these devices are great for playing digital video on. Video you can record from your own DVDs or download off of the Internet. You can get it from your friends or you can make your own.

When you buy a UMD, it is from a much more limited selection of movies. You can't transfer it to your other video devices or future video devices. You can't group a bunch of your UMD's together on a hard drive player, you have to carry them all around with you. You can't back them up so when damaged, they are gone forever. You can't play them on anything but a PSP.

UMDs are a completely dead end.

[Dirty Harry]

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I was talking watching movies on my Treo, not a PSP. The Treo plays MPG4, DivX and Xvid movies. When compressing for 320x240, you can fit a 2 hour movie in less than 256 megs of flash memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820160023) at a decent quality. This is the exact same resolution movies the PSP plays off of the memory stick except played on a cell phone.

Many Palm devices and Pocket PCs have higher resolutions than the PSP where movies look even better, not to mention specificied digital video players that have hard drives for storing 20-40 GIGS of movies. All of these devices are great for playing digital video on. Video you can record from your own DVDs or download off of the Internet. You can get it from your friends or you can make your own.

When you buy a UMD, it is from a much more limited selection of movies. You can't transfer it to your other video devices or future video devices. You can't group a bunch of your UMD's together on a hard drive player, you have to carry them all around with you. You can't back them up so when damaged, they are gone forever. You can't play them on anything but a PSP.

UMDs are a completely dead end.
what if sony came out with just say........ a umd disc burner for pc's. What would you say then?

[RMan]

You should keep in mind these are cartoons, compress much easier than normal movies, are shorter, and generally run at a much lower framerate (they already sell these pokemon cartoons on carts in the states, but I don't know how well they sell). I do not think that technology is nearly good enough for general purpose movies, but if it was I think that'd be cool. I think the population in the states wouldn't be dense enough to make vending machines really profitable, though (outside of Japan I'm not sure where this would really fly).

[Pumped'Up]

When you buy a UMD, it is from a much more limited selection of movies. You can't transfer it to your other video devices or future video devices. You can't group a bunch of your UMD's together on a hard drive player, you have to carry them all around with you. You can't back them up so when damaged, they are gone forever. You can't play them on anything but a PSP.

UMDs are a completely dead end.
The selection of PSP UMDs are increasing at an alarming rate (not just from Sony - jumping on board: Fox, Universal, and many many others) and will only get larger as time proceeds. People need to understand that the PSP is NOT for replacing home theater....the PSP is not only just for watching movies on the go, but it's the ultimate mobile gaming system that has the power of a PS2 with PC capabilities.

Btw, there is a PSP app out there to copy UMDs to ISOs, not sure how it works as I've yet to try it out...but the option is there. If it is flakey, it'll only get better over time. Hackers are extremely diligent.

Sony is rumored to be in the works of releasing somewhat of a special Dev kit for public use. The types of apps we'd see from this would be amazing, considering what people are able to do currently without the dev kit i.e. especially all those outstanding emulators (SNES, Genesis, TG16, SNK yea!!), wi-fi apps, etc.

Anyways, all I'm waiting for is a CPS-1/2 emulator for all those Capcom arcade classics....drool...

[Rangoth]

Personally, I see no point in re-buying a movie just for the PSP. I think its a dead end myself and will flop in the US unless Sony can convince companies to start doing DVD/UMD bundles.

[Deadend]

UMDs are a dead end for most of the people.

If I want a movie bad enough to buy it... why would I get it in a small format with no extras?

UMD rental seems like a good idea, but as the movies are $20 to own and $6 to rent at blockbuster... renting is a bit much.

Now, if Netflix rented UMDs, they would be useful to me.

I still think the ability for the GBA to be used to watch videos is damn cool, and I hope some company with giant balls releases a season of TV on several carts that all come in a small carry case.

I still think UMD is a funny name, for a propritary format that works on only 1 device. Sony really likes their mini-discs it seems.

Oh and if Sony makes a UMD burner... I will buy DVDs still. It's a dead end format at high end prices, if I can buy a 2-disc set of DVDs for under $20 and the UMD version is $20, then something is a bit messed up right there.

[Rangoth]

I read somewhere that the company that does the Spongebob Ep's on the GBA can do about 2 hours of DVD quality video on one DS cart. They have been contacted by companies already about using their software. Thats about all I read and I cannot remember where so take this with a grain of salt but still, kinda cool.

[splatstick]

UMDs are a dead end for most of the people.

I think you're missing the point. You don't buy UMDs to see the nonexistent special features, or as part of a collection, you buy it to WATCH THE MOVIE ON THE GO. There are many circumstances where this is convenient... road trips, work (I'm a third shift rent-a-cop and yes, I get paid to watch movies/play psp), airplane trips, etc. Since you aren't really getting them to watch over and over, I think rental is where the real money is at for UMD. Price-wise, unless they bundle them with the DVD for maybe five dollars more or stay around ten dollars, my collection will be small.

[KeeBaud]

1 - memory sticks are expensive. movie encoding quality = file size. 1GB memory is expensive. 2GB is f'kn crazy $$$. why waste +$1300 on 10x 1GB memory sticks when you can spend $200 on 10 UMD ficks?

What kind of numb nuts buys 10 RE-WRITABLE memory sticks in order to watch 10 movies? I would rather buy a $130 1GB memory stick, store what movie I want to watch on it, and have enough battery power to watch the whole movie. Whichever way you look at it, UMD movies will be a flop (as long as people like Pumped'Up are in the minority).

[TrackZero]

You should keep in mind these are cartoons, compress much easier than normal movies, are shorter, and generally run at a much lower framerate (they already sell these pokemon cartoons on carts in the states, but I don't know how well they sell). I do not think that technology is nearly good enough for general purpose movies, but if it was I think that'd be cool. I think the population in the states wouldn't be dense enough to make vending machines really profitable, though (outside of Japan I'm not sure where this would really fly).

True, but I think you're forgetting those are playing on the much-older GBA hardware. We've yet to see a movie player designed for the DS, I don't think it'll have any issues (since the hardware is exceptionally better than a GBA, but the screen resolution isn't very much higher).

[Kamalot]

The selection of PSP UMDs are increasing at an alarming rate...
The selection of UMDs will ALWAYS be worse than the selection of DVDs.

Btw, there is a PSP app out there to copy UMDs to ISOs, not sure how it works as I've yet to try it out...but the option is there. If it is flakey, it'll only get better over time. Hackers are extremely diligent.

Sony is rumored to be in the works of releasing somewhat of a special Dev kit for public use.
I'm not purchasing something on speculation that maybe someone will hack it or maybe Sony will open the format. That's wishful thinking based on hopes and dreams. I'm going to put my money where it makes sense and not gamble it on a hopeless format in the dream that someone will break it enough to make it usable.

UMDs are a dead-end road.

[splatstick]

UMDs are a dead-end road.

There really would be a huge market for them in rental, if it ever happens. I don't think they're trying to make UMDs anymore than what they are: a way to purchase a more portable movie. A PSP will always be more portable than a DVD player, just due to the size of the media.

[Rangoth]

A PSP will always be more portable than a DVD player Dude, have you looked at the size of a portable DVD player compared to screen size? I am unsure about you but if wer are talking about portable movies, I'll take a nice 8" screen anyday over what the PSP has. They have small portable DVD players which are not much bigger then the PSP.

[splatstick]

Dude, have you looked at the size of a portable DVD player compared to screen size? I am unsure about you but if wer are talking about portable movies, I'll take a nice 8" screen anyday over what the PSP has. They have small portable DVD players which are not much bigger then the PSP.

Stick an 8" brick in your back pocket. Not quite as portable? Especially an 8" brick that you can play games off of, listen to music from, and download movies/photoalbums to. Portability-wise, PSP wins. Maybe if you were arguing battery life or cost you might be able to go somewhere.

[Rangoth]

I was simply pointing something out is all. Fact of the matter is the ability for the damn thing to play movies is rather pointless. The screen is really too small to properly enjoy the movies. The battery life is so bad its offensive. As far as photoalbums....bfd. I have something that plays music, an ipod. I'm fairly sure at this point you aren't allowed to breathe unless you own one. ;-) Sony tossed in a bunch of useless gadgets when all I really want to do is play games. Its nice that they let me do all this crap, and force me to use memory sticks which cost much more then SD cards like the rest of us use. Genius!

[splatstick]

Since I'm taking summer classes, pretty much the only jobs I can work are third shift. Ergo, I am a rent-a-cop watching a stack of scrap metal for 7-12 hours every night. I can honestly say the battery life isn't an issue. I can't play for more than 8 hours straight anyway without taking a few hours break, and if you can't charge it up in between you really need a girlfriend, or just friends in general.
Ipods are cool, but this is cheaper for what it can do. The screen is too small to properly enjoy movies? What the fuck are you talking about? It's not like you're going to watch a movie with a family of four crowded around you. The screen is fine for its purpose, and if you think otherwise you're just looking for something to complain about. The 'useless gagets' make me stay sane during work.

I am reasonably sure you have never used a PSP.

[Rangoth]

No, I have used a PSP. I judge it as a flawed, yet good attempt at making a portable PS2. The biggest flaw is using a disc based medium for a portable device. When I watch a movie I want it on a decent size screen. Am I picky? Damn right. Its my viewing enjoyment and I ensure that I am enjoying things to their fullest.

[splatstick]

Then don't even worry about watching movies on the go. Stay in your home theater and don't bitch.

[Rangoth]

3M TA3 my friend :)

[RMan]

True, but I think you're forgetting those are playing on the much-older GBA hardware. We've yet to see a movie player designed for the DS, I don't think it'll have any issues (since the hardware is exceptionally better than a GBA, but the screen resolution isn't very much higher).
There haven't been significant advancements in video playback since the release of the GBA, and even if there was, likely the GBA could play them as well (since the player would be software anyway). No matter what system it's being played on, the storage medium's capacity will be imminently more important than the device playing it. IOW, having a faster processor doesn’t help improve something that’s not being limited by the processor.

[Pumped'Up]

If anyone cares to know, the PSP screen is *the* absolute best portable lcd for viewing movies or playing games/viewing photo. The quality is so damn good, it makes all those portable dvd players with 8" screens (even those that cost 3x the PSP cost) look like cheap CRT monitors.

Anyways, the PSP is the ultimate portable media system hands down. Nothing else can do what the PSP does and do so well i.e. emulators.

However, I believe it's biggest flaw is not the UMD media itself, but the non-existence of UMD writers/drives. If Sony treats the UMD same as the MiniDisc, then we'd see PSP sales skyrocket from all you nay-sayers. Who knows, perhaps Sony's strategy is to release all these movies on UMD over the next year so people buy them before they do release a UMD writer.

[Kamalot]

Sorry. Sony will never, ever release commercial UMD writers to the general public. I agree, that if people had the ability to burn their own movies to rewriteable UMD the story would be very different. The simple fact is ain't gonna happen; no way, no how.

You may as well bank on what is here today.

Also, the PSP screen isn't the greatest. It IS bright but suffers from ghosting and a lower resolution than most portable DVD players. The PSP screen is lower-resolution than many PDAs which also play movies. Yeah, the picture is bright; but because of the resolution, fewer pixels are being shown on the screen in each frame. UMD is lower quality than DVD.

With a portable DVD player, you get the full resolution DVD, not a tiny UMD version. Oh, and you don't have to buy your movies all over again.

[JesJames90]

You can download movies free for your GBA Media Player. Thats what I do.

[JesJames90]

Download here! http://www.freewebs.com/JesJames90