UMD Tagged Articles at Cinematical
RIP: UMD for PSP
Filed under: Paramount », Sony », Universal », Home Entertainment »
I hope you didn't buy that PSP for movie watching only. Sony has officially killed the UMD (Universal Media Disc) format. Sony, who isn't a stranger to failed entertainment formats (Betamax, MiniDisc, soon Blu-Ray) has been losing support for UMD for awhile now. In march, Universal and Paramount stopped releasing its movies on UMD, and Wal-Mart and Best Buy recently decreased their presence in stores. Finally, this week, Target stopped stocking them altogether. In a move that seems almost related, Sony just released a new item called Memory Stick Entertainment Packs, which also contain movies that are playable on the PSP.
I kinda like the idea of a hand-held device for movies, even though most movies don't look that good in such a small display, but I figured the UMD wouldn't last. Too bad mini-DVD players are still too big to bring on the subway. I guess I'll hold out for that next generation of iPods, which are rumored to be horizontal in order to provide a better viewing screen for Apple's upcoming movie downloads.
MovieTech: UMD takes on the World
Filed under: Tech Stuff »
When I first heard the PSP, Sony's handheld gaming system, was going to have the ability to play movies, I knew it was going to fail. I mean, who would buy into it? Well, it looks like I was wrong. USA Today reports that Sony's House of Flying Daggers and Resident Evil 2 (both released April 19) have now sold more than 100,000 copies each on UMD. Sony calls the sales tally "remarkable," noting that it took nine months for their first DVD title, Air Force One, to cross the 100,000-unit mark. More than 70 UMD titles are in stores or are scheduled to arrive in the coming months, annd five of the six major studios are on board. Only Warner Bros. continues to sit out. "No other format has gotten this much software support since DVD was launched eight years ago," notes analyst Tom Adams of Adams Media Research. This includes the Warner-initiated Mini-DVD format which had a very unsucessful test at Best Buy stores. Since PSP was launched, more than 1.2 million units have sold. 6 million to 8 million PSP machines will be in North American households in 12 months. Analysts say that although UMD will never be as big as DVD, which has more than 65 million households, the market could grow up to 30 million households. I wonder how long it will take the next generation of DVD to hit that mark. Again, this further proves how the next generation of video game systems may effect the future of home entertainment.
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