Last gasps of a dying format [Update 1]

by Steven Bailey { Mar 27th 2007 at 7:00AM }

Sony handled movie UMDs terribly, so it comes as no surprise that movie studios and retail stores are becoming reluctant in supporting the format. Recent exceptions, like Borat or Casino Royale, got me thinking: When will the last UMD movie be released? A trip to Sony Style lists "Stomp the Yard" as the last UMD available for pre-order, with a release date of May 15th. Amazon has a few other UMDs listed, but with release dates set in the year 2025, it's very likely that these UMDs have been canceled. In any case, it's painfully obvious this is the last year we'll see new UMD releases. Does anyone still buy new UMD movies, or do you simply buy them when they're on clearance?

[Update 1: The ever-lovable Dave Karraker has sent us an e-mail, stating "There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that we are discontinuing the UMD format for PSP."]

Tags: dave karraker, DaveKarraker, sony, sony style, SonyStyle, stomp the yard, StompTheYard, umd

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Alien @ Mar 27th 2007 7:18AM

Well maybe Sony will still suport , also in Japan a whole bunch of producers still suport it with all kinds of Animes and XXX movies ( I know , make fun of me ) .

emirabal @ Mar 27th 2007 7:55AM

at least xxx movies would sell, i think anime is a great way to sell it. UMD will die out, but then it will come back because when the last movie comes out everyone will buy it BECAUSE its the last UMD, so sony will say, they are selling great, lets bring them back. Vicious cycle

mahes @ Mar 27th 2007 8:03AM

Sony is notorious for coming out with great mediums, but marketing them horribly. Mini Discs come to mind (if you don't know what it is you prove my point). I think they need to get off this self-righteous trip and outsource their marketing or something, because they do a HORRIBLE job in-house.

bxbailey @ Mar 27th 2007 8:13AM

I don't see why Sony doesn't

1. package the UMD with the Blu-ray counterpart

2. Drop the price of all UMDs to $9.99 and under

Colin @ Mar 27th 2007 8:38AM

I would never purchase a UMD for more than $5-$8.

Reduced quality and non exclusive so anything more than that is not justified.

I too lament the UMD as similar to the MiniDisc...a great format that wasn't targeted correctly. (Except in Japan)

Tristan @ Mar 27th 2007 9:16AM

Why do they do that, I think it is silly to list the dates like that.

PSP Fan @ Mar 27th 2007 9:34AM

if Sony would release a UMD burner for the PC and blank media I would gladly watch movies off of them from my own collection....

txa1265 @ Mar 27th 2007 9:41AM

We had this discussion recently so pardon my rehash ...

First off, I wholly believe that the UMD as a media format is dead, Dead, DEAD. And has been for a long time.

OK, let's remember a couple of things to temper our expectations:
- Apple is selling download movies for ~$12 on iTunes.
- There have been numerous reports of how download movie sales are lackluster.

I don't believe Apple would have priced them above $10 is they didn't have to (i.e. greedy publishers), and while I will pre-agree that the iPod screen is much less desirable for watching a 2 hour movie than the PSP, I don't think that the difference would make the PSP a download movie selling success. (especially given the ratio of sold iPods to PSP's) ... I tend to think that most people watching downloaded movies have found another way to get them.

PocketGoddess @ Mar 27th 2007 10:16AM

I still buy UMD movies, though generally not for more than $10--I stocked up during the recent $5 anime clearance at GameStop.

If UMDs had been bundled with DVDs or Blu-Ray movies, I think the format would really have taken off. Or if the prices had been cheaper to begin with--no way I'm paying $20 or $25 for a UMD that doesn't have all the extras/documentaries/etc. that come with a standard DVD that often sells for $15 the first week of release. So while I'm a big fan of the format, I only have about 8 movies total, mostly my all time favorites that I've watched at least 30 times.

It's a shame--I really enjoy watching UMD movies on my PSP. I have a cruddy TV at home (if I'd stop spending money on games, I could upgrade, but I digress) and the clarity of movies on the PSP just blows away my home setup. Sure, I can rip my own movies, and have done so for a few of my favorites that aren't available on UMD. But that's very time-consuming and eats up a lot of space on my MS Duo, and of course you can't get the same full-screen picture or audio quality when you do it yourself.

Oxybeles @ Mar 27th 2007 10:48AM

The problem was simply the cost. UMDs should have been a pack-in with a DVD release.

I must confess that I will only buy a UMD movie at a clearance price.

ProPorn @ Mar 27th 2007 11:23AM

The only UMD movie I own is Spider-man 2, the one that came with the PSP when it was first release. And even though the movie was a good kicker, given how expensive the UMD movies are, it was pretty obvious that there would be no market for them. Bad decisions from Sony made it happen, anyway.

I too think that cheap anime would be a good choice to make some money, but meh, with movies like Stomp the Yard...

navsimpson @ Mar 27th 2007 11:28AM

I think that this year will see the release of the Playstation movie and music stores... So, if it's not Stomp the Yard on May 15th, the last UMD will be pretty close to that.

I've always found it odd they never cut a deal with Fox to get the Simpsons and Futurama on UMD - not only do they have a huge fanbase, they're also the perfect things to carry around with you. Hopefully they'll work something out like that for the download store.

steve0 @ Mar 27th 2007 12:06PM

i really enjoy umd's, but i also really liked my mini disc player, so mahes, i think you're right. i don't mind buying new ones, but i do really think twice if they're over $15 bucks or so. i think that it's true part of the problem is the stuff that's available - while i think it's great that you can get some skate vids, why isn't sony trying to get stuff like simpsons, or adult swim on there? if they re-think the content this format could be saved. and if not, hopefully i'll be getting a lot more cheap UMD's.

Alien @ Mar 27th 2007 12:53PM

If UMDs would retail at 9.99$ I would go out and buy them . I wont give out 20 $ when I can put it on my memstick for free ( its true it takes time ) . 9.99 $ is a resonable price , and if many would come out ...

xxplosive @ Mar 27th 2007 2:14PM

i own sin city, pulp fiction, up in smoke tour umds. pulp fiction umd broke in half. glued it. they put crappy stuff on umd. the latest releases suck. was there bewitched movie? Put new family guy, simpsons. for sure put the new grindhouse movie on umd.

dacrowxc @ Mar 27th 2007 2:29PM

I owned a psp for 2 years and I have yet to buy a UMD movie. The reason being is cost, its absurd to buy a UMD movie for the price of a dvd. Drop the price to as low as $10 Sony and then we'll talk.

Ken @ Mar 27th 2007 3:09PM

I agree with the above posts.

UMD has been dead for quite some time... Hell I honestly didn't even think they made movies on UMD anymore.

Sony tries to force formats like this down our throats *cough*PS3*cough*, and the result is always the same: A dead format.

Adam @ Mar 27th 2007 3:42PM

The only UMD movies that I own are ones that I think that no-one else in my family would wan't to watch. Personally, I would prefer to buy a DVD, which I can rip to my computer, and then put on my 4GB memory stick for my PSP.
Nobody is going to buy them if DVDs can be ripped to computers, the only way of selling them is to include them with DVDs or BDs

Saigon @ Mar 27th 2007 3:46PM

@Ken, actually I believe blue-ray is outselling HD discs in sales by a ratio of 3:1.

Kichigai Mentat @ Mar 27th 2007 4:02PM

@ RocketGoddess: PSP Hacked Firmware 3.03 OE-B introduced the ability to playback homemade videos at full resolution, as in the ability to encode a video at 480x272. Granted, the videos are kind of big, but it's not *that* bad.

I haven't bought a single UMD video. Here's what Sony would have to do to fix this:
1.) Price at $9.99 or below (everyone agrees)
2.) Make it a more open format, so other studios can easily release for it. I could care less for Stomp the Yard, but I'd love to get Casino Royale (mentioned above, but at a good price), Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings, and so on for PSP.
3.) Pack-Ins are a great idea. I'd pay $25 for a DVD with a packed-in UMD, even if that UMD had *no* extras at all.
4.) Rentals. The PSP is excellent as a portable media device, emphasis on PORTABLE. Part of the reason sales are lackluster is because no one really plans to watch Borat a ton of times on their PSP's tiny screen. However, I'd pay $5 to rent a UMD on my flight home. And I've noticed more than a few people carrying around PSPs when I flew around last, so they've already got an audience. Or see if you can get someone like BlockBuster or NetFlix can rent out UMDs, because most of the time, I don't buy a UMD because I only really intend to view it once, in certain situations (IE: on a trip)
5.) Bonuses. Not exactly a stellar idea, but packed-in wallpapers, demos, things like that, wouldn't be too bad an idea. UMDs have 1.8 GB capacity, and 480x272 PNGs use less than a meg. Demos run between eight and 32 MB, depending. The largest save file I've seen was 512 KB. Pack a few of those in with a UMD, maybe people will care a *little* more. Not a ton, but it might be ignored a bit less. Think DVD-ROM extras.
6.) Interoperability. Sell a UMD drive for the PS3, or let the PSP act as one, so you can play your UMD on TVs. It won't complete with DVDs, or (Sony's hopeful) BluRay, but it'll make the format suck less. A TV-Out so you can directly hook your PSP up to a TV (like the GP2X) would be nice, but somehow I doubt that'll happen.
7.) Push the format on to different devices. Make other products (First and third party) that use UMDs, so it's less like you're buying a movie JUST for your PSP, but a movie for multiple items. Talk with Archos, Samsung, iRiver, etc., see if they'll put a UMD drive in there. It doesn't need to play games, it just has to be able to read the video and audio content, and I think those three manufacturers already use H.264/AVC decoders in their devices.

Wayne @ Mar 27th 2007 5:08PM

I have never purchased a UMD movie. Sony didn't price them correctly and paid the price (pardon the pun).

Luigi193 @ Mar 27th 2007 6:34PM

Reminds me of another certain sony format...Betamax...I wonder if blue ray will follow the same path OF DISTRUCTION AND DEATH!

Shane @ Mar 27th 2007 7:33PM

The difference I see between UMD and other Sony formats like Betamax is that Sony didn't try and replace anything. With Betamax they wanted that to be the new home video format. With minidisc they wanted to beat out other competing media. UMDs are nothing but a cash cow to them. They aren't competing with anything and never really tried to make it take off.

If they really wanted the format to be a success they would have blocked the PSP from playing movies off the memory stick or released a standalone player. They already had the format developed for the games, so they didn't stand to lose anything if the format failed except another source of income.

They have put a lot more money behind Blu-ray then they did UMDs, so they would lose out big time if that failed.

mj @ Mar 27th 2007 7:37PM

Totally on, Kichigai. I can't believe they're letting this die without a fight. What about a true Wii competitor based on UMD? What about standalone UMD players? What about audio UMDs? UMD camcorders? Ultraportable laptop drives? It's like the game division went off and created this thing and shrugged their shoulders when the world didn't throw money at them.

This is why I have no confidence in BluRay.

Ken @ Mar 27th 2007 7:56PM

@ ratio 3:1

The only real reason Blu-ray is even REMOTELY winning is because PS3 owners have NOTHING better to do than to watch movies on their $600 video player.

pixelator @ Mar 27th 2007 9:13PM

UMD's aren't really 'dead' yet - still available at most electronics chains including Best Buy, Target, etc. And of course online.

Mike @ Mar 27th 2007 9:20PM

I agree that the price is and has been way too high yes you are paying for a smaller, more portable movie but it only works on the psp. I would also have to say that from the get go, the movies that were coming out did not fit the demographic/target audience that is the psp gamer (come on do they really expect us to buy "Hitch"). I think it took them a while to figure out that they should only release certain kinds of movies because they would sell but by the time they started doing that, the consumer confidence in UMDs was already lost. I am looking forward to all the UMDs going on clearance I will probably pick up a couple more but the only two I've ever purchased were purchased with the PSP. Blu-Ray has been doing it right from the get go with titles being highlighted as working on the PS3 that PS3 gamers would actually watch. But Blu-Ray is also a more universal media than UMD.

NeverSage @ Mar 29th 2007 1:14AM

Some people above me said the reason UMD failed is because they can only be played on PSP. Actually I think this is the main reason UMD failed. If Sony released a UMD player for $129, it would've sold like crazy. It could have been THE portable video format. Especially since portable dvd players are to bulky and the iPod has such a tiny screen. Of course, the price would have to drop as well, since no one in their right mind is going to pay 50% more for a movie that has no special features.

Askia @ Mar 29th 2007 6:57PM

The last UMD I bought was the Casino Royale UMD, and I actually own quite a few of them. I travel a lot for business and I find the PSP more useful as a portable DVD player rather than as a game player. At this point, I think I own more movies than games.