http://www.ps3court.com/images/umd.gifSony’s UMD format is about to go the way of the Tasmanian Devil. The relatively new disk format used by the PlayStation Portable (PSP) is barely even breaking even. “Sales are near zilch” stated a Universal Studios executive. Wal-Mart is rumored to be pulling the products off their shelves, and most movie production studios such as Universal and Paramount are keeping tight lipped regarding dropping the formats for up coming releases.

Many of Sony’s proprietary formats have had problems in the market place for the past 20 years. Formats such as Mini-Disk, BetaMax, ATRAC and MicroMV have found themselves with minimal sales. For the most part the issue isn’t quality, its more lack of support and features. Compare a UMD with an every day DVD. The average capacity of a dual layer DVD is 8.5 GB, compared to the UMD’s 1.8 GB capacity. A DVD has the ability to hold more data, features, and information.

The first issue comes with Sony's closed door approach to Digital Rights Management (DRM) through hardware and software combinations. The UMD format, used for games and movies on the PSP, is a proprietary hard disc format very similar to the Mini-Disc format. Sony has, so far closely guarded the discs, licensing or releasing little or no UMD for PC devices, and no UMD burners.

The second issue revolves around price. Picking up a new release video on DVD will cost roughly $18 - $22 in stores. The same video on Sony’s UMD is upwards of $30. You loose many of the videos features, and its only playable on the PSP at this point.

In the end, Sony has a few options to try and save itself. A drop in price will certainly be welcomed, assisting profits and attracting more potential developers to produce UMD media. Another option is to release PC drives for the format which include burners, thus allowing the end user to burn their own content, similar to a CD.

Author: PS3_Master

nnnnnnnoooooooooooooooo that sucks hmmpph :mad: oh by the way i think tazmanina devils still exist mabe u ought to put tazmanian tiger

I hate to say it but I saw this one coming. All of this plus Sony's previous track record with formats(Betamax, Mini-Disc, Memory Stick, Atrac, Atrac 3, Atrac 3 Plus, UMD) really kills whatever credability Sony has with Blu Ray. I have a very very bad feeling about Blu Ray. Very Bad.

hmmph i hope not i have never heard of all those other formats except minidisk
but no matter what bluray isks will still be out rember wen everone thought videos would become obsolete when dvd's came out well they didn't become obsolete and people still make movies on VHS

hmmph i hope not i have never heard of all those other formats except minidisk
but no matter what bluray isks will still be out rember wen everone thought videos would become obsolete when dvd's came out well they didn't become obsolete and people still make movies on VHS
Do you know whay you have never heard of them, because they were total failures. I really think Blu Ray will someday join that list. Unfortuantly.

I sure hope they dont flop but i have felling some of it will last

I really dont want it to flop but I think it will. I feel so bad for Sony. I wish that they would smarten up though and not try to start new formats. They just cant go alone and be succesful in a format war. They need support if they want to be sucessful.

Nooooo..... plz AA7 stop the saddness ur making me sad plz stop.

Sorry if I am making you sad but im just being honest. I really want it to survive and thrive but I just cant realistically see that hapening.

Sorry if I am making you sad but im just being honest. I really want it to survive and thrive but I just cant realistically see that hapening.

me too i just dotn want to think about, all we need is buyers and it'lls tay alive

With the recent release of the price ($613-$740 american) I dont know how many buyers it will get.

anyone think that the PS3 is a last ditch effort from Sony in the game system market? If its not, they sure are pulling out all the stops...new format, custom processor, high-end everything, etc. I wonder, but with such a high retail price, I hope they plan to have some hellishly vast advertising campaigns to accomodate. It's like AA7 has said, the UMD is bombing, following Sony's patented formula for new format failure, and with the projected retail price of the blank BlueRay media, the games on this media would have to be outrageously priced to the end consumer based on the every day prices of the more standard DVD formatted game media. It just seems like Sony doesn't mind rolling the dice on some of their biggest endeavors.

well, do you think umds are gunna be real cheap now, or real expensive?

I think there goona keep it same or just lower em a little bit and have a tv attachment that doesn't require a tv adapter or bundle with dvds

I think the prics of the movies will go down, since they are mostly being abandoned. The games however will stay at their full price until the platform gets a bit older.

I think the prics of the movies will go down, since they are mostly being abandoned. The games however will stay at their full price until the platform gets a bit older.

sounds about right to me, has anyone seen a UMD movie? how's the quality?

The UMD movies look great on the PSP, however that right there is the problem. You can only watch them on the PSP. Why would you go out and spend $20+ on a movie you can only watch on a screen a few inches big when you could just go out and buy the DVD for $15- and watch it wherever you want to? Bad idea Sony.

The UMD movies look great on the PSP, however that right there is the problem. You can only watch them on the PSP. Why would you go out and spend $20+ on a movie you can only watch on a screen a few inches big when you could just go out and buy the DVD for $15- and watch it wherever you want to? Bad idea Sony.

no not really someppple like to watch movies on the go like me in a long cartrip. for insctance in the summer i was going on vacation onb aobut a 2 hour car ride, so i brought my gba and i broguht osme gmaes and my sp0ongbob movie that goes into the gba so that helped make the trip faster, thats y nintendo invented those movie things

That's true. You can carry movies on the go, but I still have a problem. The fact is, UMD costs just as much as a regular DVD and for the price of a PSP, you can get a small TV that has a bigger screen than a PSP to play DVD's in a car on a long trip. I for one, expected UMD's to fail. I didn't see how they could last.. This is just my opinion, but that's how I feel.

So AA7, I completely agree with you on this one...

That's true. You can carry movies on the go, but I still have a problem. The fact is, UMD costs just as much as a regular DVD and for the price of a PSP, you can get a small TV that has a bigger screen than a PSP to play DVD's in a car on a long trip. I for one, expected UMD's to fail. I didn't see how they could last.. This is just my opinion, but that's how I feel.

So AA7, I completely agree with you on this one...
So true. I hate to say it but I really think UMD was destined to fail from the begining. Sony despratly needs to smarten up soon or Blu Ray is going to end up just like UMD and their many other failed formats.

So true. I hate to say it but I really think UMD was destined to fail from the begining. Sony despratly needs to smarten up soon or Blu Ray is going to end up just like UMD and their many other failed formats.

did sony destin the umd's?

What do you mean? Do you mean design, beacuse yes they did that.

well yea of course they designed them but who did destin umd's ?

well yea of course they designed them but who did destin umd's ?
Sony destined them to die with stupid pricing for the movies and stupid movies to begin with. Poor UMD. Ok idea but awful excecution.

no plz live on umd's all u goota do sony is chop off that $15 with the exacutioning axe and stick in a tv connecter whip and it'll stay alive

Sony destined them to die with stupid pricing for the movies and stupid movies to begin with. Poor UMD. Ok idea but awful excecution.

yeah, i agree. umd's are gunna die real soon.

oh i really really hope not sony is trying to away to make them selll better probably the best way is to cut prices

oh i really really hope not sony is trying to away to make them selll better probably the best way is to cut prices

well, i own NO umd's (i would rather just watch movies at home, or with my portable DVD player)

oh well i guess htats y u dont own well i dont have a portably dvd player. The UMD's would be great for long trips. and the psp is small and more compact htan a portably dvd palyer. I rember last year i was onv acation i watched some spongbob episodes on my gba to past time on the road

oh well i guess htats y u dont own well i dont have a portably dvd player. The UMD's would be great for long trips. and the psp is small and more compact htan a portably dvd palyer. I rember last year i was onv acation i watched some spongbob episodes on my gba to past time on the road

lol me too! the picture quality was so incredibly bad, though. it was like watching a gif someone made on MS paint lol!

yea it sort of was but at lewast i was enterained for a while, i ahte logn car trips that y i liek watchign or playing sometihng or listening to something or readign something

yea it sort of was but at lewast i was enterained for a while, i ahte logn car trips that y i liek watchign or playing sometihng or listening to something or readign something

i can't read something, cuz my dad has the radio up high, and it's really crappy radio stations, and i can't consentrate on a book while 1970's songs are playing right in front of my ear.

i can't read something, cuz my dad has the radio up high, and it's really crappy radio stations, and i can't consentrate on a book while 1970's songs are playing right in front of my ear.
I love 1970's songs. Neil Diamond was a music god!

I love 1970's songs. Neil Diamond was a music god!

haha AA7 somethign new we know about u

sony has WAY to many forms of memory for the psp..... my god i'm not surprised that umd is biting the dust

sony has WAY to many forms of memory for the psp..... my god i'm not surprised that umd is biting the dust

well, ya kinda need a wide variety of memory for the psp. some people will just have the 32 mbs if they only have save game files. while 512 mbs would be good for music and pics, as well. and 1-2 gigs for people who want movies on it.

yes htat is very true and other people can't aford higher memory cards and then thers the pple who can who try to get the largest amount as possible i would aslo rather have 1 or 2 memory cards instead of a bunch beacue it would save money i'm just gooan get a 2 gig and throw everything on it and use my 32mb for game saves