Wal-Mart 'Quitting UMD Movies'

[wraggster]

Source - NextGen (http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2626&Itemid=2)

Reuters reports Hollywood sources saying that Wal-Mart is pulling out of UMD. The reports adds that UMD sections at retail are shrinking fast.

One unnamed president of a major studio is quoted as saying, "No one's watching movies on PSP. It's a game player, period."

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has ceased UMD production. One exec told Reuters, "Sales are near zilch. It's another Sony bomb."

Paramount is also considering its future with PSP's format. An exec said, "We are on hiatus with UMD. Releasing titles on UMD is the exception rather than the rule. No one's even breaking even on them."

Image Entertainment has moved out of UMD while 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Buena Vista Home Entertainment have reduced commitment.

[mgillespie]

Plenty of people watching movies on PSP, just not on UMD!!!

[Elsid]

i would blame them!!!

[jwilds73]

As I said in another thread umd's are a one system format. DVD's are multi system just in my household there are over 5 devices that can play dvd's 6 if you count the one in the suburban. What do you bet the PS3 doesn't come with umd support right off the shelf? If Sony wants umd's to succeed as a medium they need to license it out and make it available in other forms.

[sroon]

If there were better movies then it would probably sell more.

[Cosmic3K]

The main problem for me at least is the cost. I can buy a DVD for around £10, whereas a UMD will set be back for around £20. Surely the discs can't cost that much to produce? As it stands they offer very little in the way of value for money. They have less content with DVDs, can't currently be used in anything other than a PSP and yet they cost twice as much! If they were the same price as DVDs I and many others would certainly be less hesitant to buy them. It's just a case of Sony being greedy once again.

[DraconumPB]

I own cowboy bebop, that's it...

mostly only attractive when bundled with DVD, or if sony had included TV-out support out of the friggin box. that would make sense.

[Poem58]

Seems weird to me that they say they cant break even...I read somewhere once that the cost of UMD manufacture was somewhere around $.50 to $1 and Charging 14.99USD to 29.99USD...hello studio's. Lower the price and you will make far more than you dreamed....UMD movies at $5USD would be flying off shelves for a portable fix and providing plenty of profit. Greedy little Bassturds. You deserve to make no money cause thats all you care about.

[iniquitous_beast]

When watching a movie, would you like to get a cramp from sitting for 2 hours holding the psp up to your face; or would you rather sprawl out on a couch with a pretty girl and comfortably watch your movie on a large television?

My point is that the psp's small screen makes movie viewing a solo experience. Movie watching is more fun in the company of other people, and the psp can't easily connect to a tv without quality loss.

Besides, unless you have a psp stand of some sort, you will soil your psp if you try to eat popcorn (or BBQ Ribs) while watching a movie on it.

[d3v1l]

When watching a movie, would you like to get a cramp from sitting for 2 hours holding the psp up to your face; or would you rather sprawl out on a couch with a pretty girl and comfortably watch your movie on a large television?

My point is that the psp's small screen makes movie viewing a solo experience. Movie watching is more fun in the company of other people, and the psp can't easily connect to a tv without quality loss.

Besides, unless you have a psp stand of some sort, you will soil your psp if you try to eat popcorn (or BBQ Ribs) while watching a movie on it.

i totally agree, the movie watchin is a solo experience,

AND its too expensive.

thats why i only convert my movies from dvds instead of buyin em..too expensive n its only for myself.

[bullhead]

i have never even seen a umd being played on the psp. whats it like?

[LazerTag]

Had the PSP been given TV out to begin with, I may have purchased a title or two most likely. At this point though I see UMD movies as a waste of money myself. I'd much rather spend a lot less for the same, if not more bang for the buck, on DVD's.

[Tripred]

Seems weird to me that they say they cant break even...I read somewhere once that the cost of UMD manufacture was somewhere around $.50 to $1 and Charging 14.99USD to 29.99USD...hello studio's. Lower the price and you will make far more than you dreamed....UMD movies at $5USD would be flying off shelves for a portable fix and providing plenty of profit. Greedy little Bassturds. You deserve to make no money cause thats all you care about.

It's not the studio's fault the prices are so steep. Sony is the only entity able to produce the UMD discs, so all the developers and movie studios have to go through SCEA to print the UMDs. This increases the overhead dramatically, and increases the price point on both games and movies. (Ever wonder why UMD games cost 40-50 bucks when NDS games cost 30?)

There are thousands of DVD pressing operations world wide - that makes the process much cheaper for DVD Movies and Games...

I have yet to see a movie encoded for memory stick that matches or exceeds UMD quality video. I hate to see the format die so quickly, but Sony needs to realize that restricting the ability to create UMDs is going to destroy the viability of the format.

[rbervoets]

Its way more cheaper to convert than to buy £££

[felonyr301]

uhm mr guy there is something called pmp or the new avi player that can play back full res videos on the psp and i have been using it for awhile and i see no difference in quality just need a big enough memory stick thats all. better off having a good memory stick and buy the dvds and just rip it out from the dvd and convert to the two formats i talked about and your wallet will be more full and happy lol. UMDs is another gimmick that sony is trying to make tons of money of from it and only make it work by their system this is the reason that im not liking Blue ray because in the end it just might be to expensive for us consumers think about it look at sony's history with their own formats... :cool:

[chaos-is-me]

Had the PSP been given TV out to begin with, I may have purchased a title or two most likely.

Agreed. I have Transformers the movie on UMD but my girlfriend got me that for Christmas.. good movie, shit UMD.

[sroon]

Its good to have umd movies because if you have a class in school like Drama, then you can just sit there and watch psp movies all period with your classmates like I do.

[SiZiOUS]

Had the PSP been given TV out to begin with, I may have purchased a title or two most likely. At this point though I see UMD movies as a waste of money myself. I'd much rather spend a lot less for the same, if not more bang for the buck, on DVD's.
Agreed. I have Transformers the movie on UMD but my girlfriend got me that for Christmas.. good movie, shit UMD.
Agreed 100% too.

[sroon]

PSP Video 9!!! Use it!!!

[felonyr301]

pmp player and if have higher firmware the new avi player gives full res videos (noobs think of it as umd movie quality in your memory stick) Just USE IT

[kayhanbakid]

the only umd movie i have is the spiderman 2 movie that came with my psp and i enjoy the good quality. but i wont pay 15-20$ for them. i do convert movies now with the avi player, (used to use pspvideo9 alot) and the quality is really good. the one problem is that with widescreen dvd's you get elongated faces. it's just a pain in the ass the cut the sides by 88 or whatever it is and then run throuh auto gaurdian knot and get a movie that resembles something close to a umd.

I would pay 5$ max for some umd movies that i would really want, just to have the cover and all that. But no more than 5$ for reasons everyone has stated so far.

[pkmusicmaker]

They should make blank UMDs and allow DVD to UMD burning. No point in buying the same movie twice. Personally, I think the quality of the UMD is great, I just haven't had any reason to use it in the past year.