UMD Not Over Yet Says Sony Boss

[wraggster]

Via spong (http://news.spong.com/article/10946)

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s UK MD, Ray Maguire, claims that the heavily criticised UMD format has a future, despite a number of film studios opting out of producing movies on the format and numerous retailers scaling down their UMD* offerings.

What is the heavy criticism to which we allude? Unacceptably high cost and the fact that it’s become increasingly harder to actually find them in-store of late, will do for two.

Speaking to trade magazine, MCV, Maguire told explained, “We’re pretty pleased with UMD… UMD has a fantastic attachment ratio. Where we’ve struggled a little is getting a decent proposition for full-length movies.”

He continued, “UMD is not the problem – it’s getting the right content that’s the challenge. When we put shorts on UMD they sell really well, and that’s related to PSP usage. It’s about getting the offer right, and we will do that.”

Let us know your own thoughts in the forums. Do you think the format has a future? Do you still buy UMDs? And if so which ones?

[shrimpidy]

First comment. I think the only way that umd's could have a future is if Sony or some other company releases something like a umd writer/reader. I do have a problem with durabuility though. With about 6 of my games, the clear plastic top cracked in but luckily not all the way. If you start the umd with the plastic down, the disk won't spin. Does anyone have any suggestions other than tape which is what I did to my gta that cracked in all the way.

[TCLCloud]

I will still buy UMD's at the right price, between £5-£10 is about right i think, seeing as it doesnt include bonus features or exclusive PSP content like wallpapers you can download from them. Also if they included the soundtracks as listenable on your PSP that would be cool.

[Nookadum]

All they have to do is lower the prices on UMD movies (and maybe games, but they're just as cheap as GBA/DS ones now too) and they'll get even better sales.

I for one would like to see the Godfather trilogy in UMD format. :)

[FOL]

I will still buy UMD's at the right price, between £5-£10 is about right i think, seeing as it doesnt include bonus features or exclusive PSP content like wallpapers you can download from them. Also if they included the soundtracks as listenable on your PSP that would be cool.

I agree, but they will never go for £5 to £10 price tag, they have and always will be greedy. Its just like games, you look around the shops and almost every psp game is around £40 (even if they are really crap games), even the platinum range sucks at £20 a game, they should be much cheaper at around £10 to £15. Just means I have to wait until I have enough money for a game I really like the look of, then buy it to find out I wasted money (i.e. Field Commander, it looked like a C&C clone, but suprised was I to find it was turned based, :().

[mcvader]

My gta case is broken too (it did get a lot of usage in my e-loader days) , the only UMD i ever brought was FFVII advent children for $35, I got it home and realized it needed 2.6fw so it sat on the shelf for a couple of months (EBgames dosn't let you return UMD's) untill 2.6 devhook came out, lucky it was a good movie. I'd buy UMD's for $10-15 but thats about it (and even then only untill I get myself a 4gig memstick) .

[mr_nick666]

A UMD player (a pocket size player that plugs into the TV) might save/revive the UMD :rolleyes: If there was a recorder too then that would definately be a lifeline :o

[ceriaz]

Personally, I don't think that the UMD format in its current state has a future. It is most times unbearably slow. From turning the PSP on from a cold start to game play is just too long.

[mnuhaily22]

Screw UMD's, they are way over, For me, I just buy a game, then rip it, and then let it collect dust in my room, because of the following:
1.Way too slow
2.Way way too slow
3.I'm not pirating anything, so why not?
4.Too loud(Can't play in class.lol)
5.Too big to carry around
6.All my games now fit on my 2GB memory stick(CSO).
So why not?

[mnuhaily22]

Sorry, I know iso talk is not allowed on this site:(

[bah]

As a movie format they have no future. 1 player, lower res than dvd, less additional content, no tv-out, no recordable media.

I dont see why short videos make the UMD any more relevant as they lend themselves to mstick storange even more so than movies.

I agree the format sucks regardless of the data stored, especially on a portable. For games though, generally being several hundred meg plus, roms/flash ram isnt really viable like it is with small DS roms.

Its either disc based or e-distribution, and I'm really not a fan of any means of distribution that doesnt leave me with a physical copy of the game.
The DRM that would be included alone would stop me going near it, having games locked to a certain console etc.

Its not nice, but its with us for as long as the PSP is around.

EDIT: I own 1 UMD movie, spiderman 2 that sony gave away when you registered your psp, never been watched.

[fistikuffs]

To save umd sony needs to release a seperate umd reader writer and even at this it's still doomed to failure. dvd movies are cheaper with better quality and extras so why buy an inferior product for more money?





EDIT: I own 1 UMD movie, spiderman 2 that sony gave away when you registered your psp, never been watched.

All they gave me was a umd holder which can hold 3 umds and some memory sticks. Much more useful than a umd movie though!:D

[goity]

Umd movies could be okay if they released a value range of older stuff, like dumb and dumber or something for £3.99.
UMDs are imo much better than crappy expensive flash storage, and developers can get around the load times quite easily. At least Sony know the idea of price cuts, eh Nintendo? You can pick up many of the launch titles for £13 odd in some shops, and the other day I got fired up for a fiver from WHSmith.

[Basil Zero]

the only umds i'll buy are the Games

[jwilds73]

Yeah there is no way I am buying a movie twice once on DVD (which is playable on multiple devices) then once on UMD (which is only playable on the PSP) for the exact same price. If Sony was serious about the UMD format the PS3 would have a UMD drive and scaling hardware/software so I could play my PSP games at home and on the go. This would also allow the UMD movies to be playable on the TV. Sony has failed to make the format relevant because it's a one device medium. As I said before just imagine if you could play your PSP games on you PS3 and if certain content were only unlockable if you played the game on the PS3. Disc's are a neccesary evil on home systems because of the amount of data storage needed and the costs of storing that much data on a faster medium. However on a portable system it's just annoying. Having to wait minutes for a game to load when all you have are minutes to play something is simply unacceptable. I guess Sony truly has lost sight and reason being at the top for so long.

[Broadus]

Yeah, what is Sony thinking with all of this UMD movie nonsense?
I don't see what the problem is with UMDs as games, as I find the loading times to be reasonable, and they fit some amazing games on the 1.5 GB of space.
But they really need to give up the whole video thing. Yes, the PSP can handle nice-looking videos and the UMDs can fit them (mostly), and they work great as cinematics in video games, but they're a huge waste of cash if you're going to buy a UMD that only has a movie on it.
You guys have already pointed out precisely why the movies are such a terrible deal.
They should just surrender the movie business, stick with the games.

Exactly what would happen if the UMDs were "over", anyway? What else could the PSP possibly use?
They'd have to recall the millions of PSPs in the world and replace them with the PSP2- no extra power, just a new WMD drive!
Until the next generation of portable consoles (let's hope that's far away, these things get pricey), we'll be stuck with UMDs. Or the Nintendo DS's instant-loading but low-capacity cartridges.

[SteveV2]

If you ask me, Sony tackled the whole thing the wrong way.

If they sold a dvd, they should have bundled a free UMD version with it, leading to more psp sales etc.

A UMD writer would be great but would be rubbish to anyone without a psp. Who would want 1.4 gig on a UMD when you can get 4.7 with a 10p dvd?

A UMD player would be useless all round, the screen resoultion does not match a tv.

Basically, Sony screwed up big time and from what I can see, there's no going back.

[Demibeard]

Having owned a MiniDisc (Personal/Car/Portable) I'm quite used to Sony's proprietry formats, and it's lack of support!! :-)

They have always had their knockers (O-er) but to be honest I like the UMD format, not for movies, I've only got Spiderman2 and Final Fantasy Advent Children, but that's more to do with price than anything else (Well my Projector and 80" Screen might be another).

I've found the quality of the video to be very good, albeit sometimes there's a little ghosting, but thats the sceen, not the UMD, yes the lack of features is annoying, but then not everyone want's them.

I know you can pick up some UMD Movies for under £7 (Play.com etc) but when you can pop a dvd in a PC and 40minutes later watch it on your PSP, whats the point?

I do however think they dropped the ball by not making the drive in the PSP the same size as a MiniDisc, they would have had an instant well established userbase that would have probably jumped at the visual prowess of the PSP, just think of all the tag info you could have fitted on the screen with a DECENT music player, not the crummy one there is, oh and while we're on an audio theme, why the hell didn't Sony make the serial interface (next to the headphone socket) the same as a MD one? We could have all had a decent remote too!!

Sorry to digress...

A writer would be good, but Sony won't do that, the door to Piracy would be well and truly open then.

As for the discs themselves, they tend not to break if you keep them in a case!!

I think an anti dust slider would have been a good idea though. I like the format, but it could have been better.

[Hawq]

Most major film studios would dissagree with this Sony boss on the fate of UMD's it was a disaster waiting to happen from the get go really, region coding on a format you can only play on a portable games system? that wasnt so much shooting themselves in the foot from the start as cutting the foot & most of the leg off.
I have one umd film and it came with a game, if it hadnt then I wouldnt have even 1, so much less than dvd's yet so much more expensive, looking at Sony's track record of formats it may not bode too well for the blu ray stuff (though they will sneak it into fanboys houses of course quite easily)

[Veskgar]

Screw UMD's, they are way over, For me, I just buy a game, then rip it, and then let it collect dust in my room, because of the following:
1.Way too slow
2.Way way too slow
3.I'm not pirating anything, so why not?
4.Too loud(Can't play in class.lol)
5.Too big to carry around
6.All my games now fit on my 2GB memory stick(CSO).
So why not?
Well I know some people may disagree with this blatant proclaimation but I have to AGREE! I never minded the UMD format until I started backing all of my games up to ISO/CSO. Then a couple days ago I popped in one of my UMD's (Star Wars Battlefront II) and being so used to non-existent loading times with ISO I was appalled. I found the game almost unplayable. Just getting to the next screen after a button press had a large delay. I though the PSP had locked up until 15-20 seconds later the screen finally advanced.

With 4GB PRO Duo's and soon 8GB, I say that if you have the means to do it, playing games off memstick is a much more convenient and enjoyable experience.

For those of you who remain to be critical of playing PSP games in ISO/CSO form, I ask you to check out the reviews for the game Spectral Souls. This is a BRAND NEW recently released game for the PSP that received TERRIBLE reviews largely in part due to constant "disc access" / dreadful loading times. Otherwise the game may have gotten an average review instead of poor. Actually, people like me who would have otherwise stayed clear from this title have purchased the game knowing that they can back it up to ISO for better performance.

I would expect slow loading times in some LAUNCH GAMES, but not brand new games just released.

The PSP is NOT a PS2 and games designers need to start re-examining how they create games for the PSP to create games that better utilize the PSP and load faster. No more scaled down versions of console games. Some really advanced and great games have very little loading times on the PSP so blaming the UMD speed entirely is not fair.

And lets not forget that it is the way of the future and even SONY will be adopting the method of "downloadable" games.

Soon, we will be downloading newly released games onto the PS3 able to transfer to the PSP's 4GB - 8GB memory sticks.

Soooo lets start getting real about PSP ISO's and their many obvious benefits.

[creoleplane]

I think UMD movies on the PSP have a future, just not movies. If instead of marketing mainstream 2 hour movies on UMD why not market TV series, or cartoon collections. Like a Captain N the Gamemaster Season 1 UMD. Videos that are short and better for watching on the go. One of the major problems with marketing full movies on UMD is that watching 1 of these will kill your battery, nor do you ever really find time to sit down and watch a movie while out and about, which is the whole point of a hand held system isn't it? Quick sessions of watch or play when you have free time while out. I want to see more shot films and other stuff like that on UMD video discs, I feel those could help save the format.