Sony's "UMD" movie format for PSP is on it's last legs

[Trauma-san]

Hmm.  Sony's newest media format just bit the dust.  Who the fuck didn't see this coming?  Lesse here.  They're charging 29 bucks for a UMD movie that you can buy as a DVD for 19 with more content.  a 10 dollar increase in price destroyed the entire idea, and now the format's dead for movies.  They miraculously think, though, that it's going to be alright to charge 600 bucks for the cheapest (ps3) blueray player.  I can't help but think something similar will happen with that format.
Now, their answer to the UMD's getting destroyed is to offer LESS content in LOWER resolution on a memory stick that costs at least 60 bucks.  ? What the fuck are they smoking over there?
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Sony intros Memory Stick movies as Target KO's UMDs
As national retailer pulls UMD movies from shelves, Sony begins to offer very limited selection of direct-to-memory movies for its portable.
By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot
Posted Jul 13, 2006 5:08 pm PT
 
After getting off to a strong start in the wake of the American PSP launch last March, the Universal Media Disc (UMD) appears to be on its last legs. Sales of movies on the PSP's once-hot proprietary format have slowed to a trickle, causing several major movie studios to cease supporting it. In March, the Hollywood Reporter ran an article claiming that the home-entertainment divisions of Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures have "completely stopped" releasing films on the format, and other studios have been cutting back their release slates.

Perhaps more disturbing for Sony were unconfirmed reports that retail colossi Wal-Mart and Best Buy were scaling back UMD displays in their stores. This week, speculation turned into reality when Target decided to discontinue stocking UMDs entirely. A manager at a San Francisco Bay Area Target outlet told GameSpot, "We no longer carry PSP movies. We stopped carrying them nationwide."

At virtually the same time, Sony announced the forthcoming release of a pair of Memory Stick Entertainment Packs (MSEP). The packages will come in 1GB (MSX-M1GSTEP) and 2GB (MEX-M2GSEP) Memory Stick Duos for about $60 and $100--the standard retail price for both items.

Though tech-savvy PSP owners have been converting their DVDs to the PSP-compatible MPEG-4 files via third-party applications for more than a year, the Entertainment Packs mark the first time Sony has officially released movies for direct download to Memory Stick Duo, the PSP's storage format.

However, the initial batch of Mem-Stick-ready movies are a very limited selection of Sony Pictures titles--all of which received decidedly mixed reviews. Each of the two packs will come bundled with an installer DVD that contains four films--Hitch, S.W.A.T., The Grudge, or XXX: State of the Union. The movies will play in 240x320-pixel resolution, lower than the 480x272-pixel resolution PSPs are capable of.

However, purchasers of the packs will be able to copy only one of the four films onto their new memory sticks--the others will then be locked. "The code given with the MSEP will unlock one of the four movies," a Sony rep told GameSpot. "Through a special Digital Rights Management [solution] designed by Sony Electronics and SCEA, this [movie] is then downloadable for the PSP."

Fortunately, the movie will be automatically converted to MPEG-4 by the unlocking process, and will be easier to load onto a PSP via a USB cable. Unfortunately, the conversion software on the Memory Stick Entertainment Pack installer DVD will only work on the four films on the disc. "If you own other movies that you want on your Memory Stick, you have to have conversion software," said the Sony rep. Also, the film will also be playable solely on the portable, not on the PC it was transferred from, as "it is a special promotion for getting movies on your PSP."

Many will take Sony's introduction of direct-to-Memory Stick movies as an acknowledgment that the UMD format has failed and as a sign it is prepping consumers for digital distribution. Sony, though, refutes such suggestions. "The UMD was never a factor in the development of this product [the Memory Stick Entertainment Pack]," the rep told GameSpot.

Sony also wouldn't comment on the implications that Memory Stick movies had for the future of the UMD format. However, the rep did say that their introduction was primarily about giving more options to consumers. "We're a universal entertainment company and we're able to offer the consumer more choice," said the rep. "Bundling Sony content with Sony hardware is something we can offer that others can't."

[Black_Smoke]

yea the biggest mistake that i cant understand is why the fuck there so expensive,it makes no sense, they should just drop the price down and sell them ,i got a few umd movies but i mostly  buy them used cuz most of them  r too expensive brand new,i cant understand i mean some r like $35cdn ,lol u can get a game for like 5-10 bucks more wtf

[On The Edge of Insanity]

I've just been ripping my DVDs to the computer and then formatting them so the PSP can play them and stick them on the memory card, was no way I was going to pay the UMD prices for a film I can't even watch on a proper TV, and which more than likely has little or no special features.

[Black_Smoke]

I've just been ripping my DVDs to the computer and then formatting them so the PSP can play them and stick them on the memory card, was no way I was going to pay the UMD prices for a film I can't even watch on a proper TV, and which more than likely has little or no special features.

what program do u use ?

how much mb is a dvd movie once converted for psp?

[On The Edge of Insanity]

http://db.gamefaqs.com/portable/psp/file/psp_mp4_convert.txt

That has all the info you could need.

I normally manage to fit 1hr45 - 2h films on a 512mb card.

[Black_Smoke]

http://db.gamefaqs.com/portable/psp/file/psp_mp4_convert.txt

That has all the info you could need.

I normally manage to fit 1hr45 - 2h films on a 512mb card.

aight cool

[Black_Smoke]

what settings do u use when u use 3GP program?

[I Am The Anton]

I work at wal-mart and just last friday they pulled all of the UMD movies for PSP off the shelves and stopped selling them. It sucks for me because i was the one that had to take the big ass display case off the floor to the back lol.

[On The Edge of Insanity]

what settings do u use when u use 3GP program?

I think I normally use either

QVGA/29.97fps/QB4 Stereo/64kbps

or

QVGA/29.97fps/QB7 Stereo/64kbps

Haven't done it for a while though so I can't remember which one of the two I used the most.