100,000 UMDs sold

[wraggster]

Sales of UMD format movies for Sony's PSP handheld have now reached and breached the 100,000 sales barrier, according to Sony.

This figure does not include the copies of Spider-Man 2 given away for free with early US PSPs and represents sales of UMD films costing anywhere between $19.95 and $29.95.

This is good news for the UMD format, which many suggested wouldn't catch on due to a reluctance from consumers to re-buy films already owned on DVD to watch on the move.

The success of the format can be attributed to the vast range of quality films that have so far been released, such as Kill Bill, XXX and other movies that traditionally appeal to twenty-something males - the PSP's core target demographic.

Novelty value could also be responsible for the initial uptake of UMD movies, however if this is the case it remains to be seen how well the format can perform past the point where the charm of watching films on the move - at full price - wears off.

[slayer2psp]

i wont buy any of the movies i just convert my dvds plus i have a gig memory so its pretty close to the same as the umd as far as the quilty goes sure the umds do look a little better then what i can convert but who cares i have over 50 movies and 100s of tv shows all ready converted and ready to go and it only cost me a 105 american dollars for the gig ms my friend works at a mom and pop game store thats ther cost on the card good deal for me.for the people that like to buy the movies in the usa walmart is good place to get them most are 14.99 also circuit city will have some on sale for as low as 12.99 just look around you should never pay 19.99 to 29.99 thats too much.also gamestop will price match those places so bring a ad in there and they will match the price

[Jdemon]

Well, I watch movies on my Memory Stick, but I've gotten quite a few on UMD also. IMO The UMD's look alot better, and obviously with 100,000 sales I'm not the only one. I just hope the companies that are releasing them will start to look beyond that "target demographic". I'm in my thirties and while I'm certainly willing to pay $20 for Kill Bill or Terminator 2, I sure could do without crap like Van Wilder and Resident Evil Apocalipse. Not to knok thoes films...I know they will sell. But if I'm gonna pay for a UMD I want it to be something I will want to watch over and over. And as far as the price tag, at discount places (Sam's Club/Target) they are priced more like $13-$20. It's the Video Game specialty shops that are charging $19.95 and $29.95. from what I've seen.

WHERE THE HECK IS SPIDERMAN AND KILL BILL VOL 2????

[leggy]

I only have Spiderman as that came with the PSP.

I would certainly buy others, but only if I really wanted them!

I would, though, use my memory card for movie use as it is so easy to swap and change the films.

[Kpow]

Me too, would want to buy DVD's more and just convert

[rmedtx]

I will start my collection of Sci-fi and horror UMD movie collection soon. I just need more of the classics to be published.
If they can lower the price a little bit it would be great.

[ProphetZG]

I bought 2 UMD movies, mainly out of sheer curiosity. They are very nice quality, but I will probably sell them off after I watch them one more time.

I'm getting gorgeous results ripping DVD's and encoding them in MP4 for the PSP, so it's very hard to justify UMD movies at all. I just encoded "Hero" for example, it's about 400MB, 30fps, 512kbps video and 64kbps stereo audio. It looks and sounds amazing. I'm sure the UMD version is a bit nicer, more detailed and less graininess etc, but not so much better to be worth buying IMO. It's like comparing a DVD to an SVHS tape of a movie. Sure the DVD will look much better, but the SVHS tape is still damn good, especially on a 4.5 inch screen.

In some very special cases I might still buy a UMD, but it would have to have some very special content. What they ought to do is start adding mini-games and other extra goodies to UMD movies. Give PSP users a good reason to buy them aside from just having a downsized DVD, when they can already buy the full DVD cheaper, or hell - rented and ripped.

I wish they'd make more PSP games, and less UMD movies. Yes I know, movies are dead easy and games take actual time and work. I know, I know...

[Jdemon]

ProphetZG what software are you encoding with?

Well not to be the one who is all Pro-UMD, but you can also only fit one or two vid files on a 1GB card...assuming they are good quality. So there is a convienience there. I'll be taking a trip to Europe later on this summer and trust me It's gonna be nice to have more than one movie to watch on the flights

[ProphetZG]

I use:

1) DVD Decrypter for ripping
2) PSP Video 9 for encoding
3) VirtualDub MOD for avi encapsuling for VOBs that PSP Video 9 has sound sync issues with, once encoded to avi it has no issues at all. Also very useful for editing out extra junk like intros or credits etc. And for pre-sizing and removing black bars etc.

In most cases, all you need is DVD Decryter and PSP Video 9.