Sony remains committed to UMD

**Shrygue** · July 6th, 2007, 19:17

via Games Industry

Sony's John Koller has said that the company remains committed to the UMD format despite suggestions that support from movie companies is waning.

Speaking to Pocket Gamer Koller, who is senior marketing manager for PSP, said, "We'll never walk away from our base. Whether it's movies or game content, third parties have an incredible opportunity to utilise it.

"UMD possesses many strengths, from size to form factor to portability," He continued. "Duplication of UMDs is much easier, cheaper than cartridges. We've really optimised time and cost by going with a disc-based format."

Koller's comments follow news that the most recent PSP firmware update includes an ISO loader which would allow users to play games stored on the Memory Stick. Some have speculated that Sony would be moving away from the UMD format in favor of downloadable content.

Koller admitted that the UMD has a downside. "There's no question the biggest weakness is related to porting games from other platforms. Publishers are concerned about the size of UMD because they can't cram a DVD game on to it," he said.

Castlevania creator Koji Igarashi told Pocket Gamer about a different kind of disadvantage: "The slowness of the seeking speed of UMD is a weakness," he stated, adding that "loading speed becomes a big problem for UMD".

While not specifically addressing the loading speed, Koller said "UMD is a unique medium to create games, and developers need to understand that when tackling the system."

"The future of UMD is bright," he proclaimed.

**Safari Al** · July 6th, 2007, 20:49

"The future of UMD is bright," he proclaimed."

So is the futue of homebrew :P

**burrito** · July 6th, 2007, 20:56

Originally Posted by Sony

Duplication of UMDs is much easier

If they change the format, pirates can't duplicate them. :rofl:

**goity** · July 6th, 2007, 22:02

the future of umds is orange.

**burrito** · July 6th, 2007, 23:21

Originally Posted by goity

the future of umds is orange.

**Cokemusic** · July 6th, 2007, 23:28

THe PSP can't read dual layer UMD's w/o mods can it ?

**burrito** · July 6th, 2007, 23:32

Originally Posted by Cokemusic

THe PSP can't read dual layer UMD's w/o mods can it ?

I am 99% sure that all umds are dual layer ones.

**parkermauney** · July 6th, 2007, 23:37

I'm pretty sure the single layer mini dvd's are 1.4GB, just like umds, so I think they are actually single.

Not sure though.

**Cokemusic** · July 6th, 2007, 23:38

So Dual layer = 3.8 GB or 1.9 GB?

Edit , checked wikipedia it is 1.8 GB dual layer , not per layer

, that means the PSP is kinda limited , even though I haven't seen a game go over 1.1 GB yet.

Do you think the 1.8GB is going to hinder the format in future or can it be overcome with compression techniques ?