Hollywood (CA) - At the Entertainment Media Expo in Hollywood California, Sony executives touted the success of their Universial Media Disc (UMD), specifically movie UMDs. Millions of these 2.3 inch-diameter discs that hold either movies or games have been sold to PlayStation Portable (PSP) owners. Sony believes that movies will make more than 60 percent of UMD sales in the near future.
Source: Tom's Hardware
It may well hit 60% sooner then Sony predicts if they don't start releasing some games. Thankfully we will start to see releases starting at the end of September, and continuing on through the holiday season. This slump in PSP games has forced us to become aware of the multimedia capabilities the PSP has to offer.
I am very surprised that UMD movies have been a huge splash (as is everyone else). And I mean huge. Selling a near 1:1 ratio of games to movies is more then anyone expected, probably more then even Sony predicted.
It amazes me that a format that is so closed has become so popular with PSP owners. It is pretty impressive for a DRM'd format that can only be viewed on a PSP.
I get the feeling that the lack of video games have fueled this crazy UMD buying frenzy. But it is obviously more then that, as sales figures have shown.
I am now waiting to see a UMD Audio disc that have not only a full album on it, but a bunch of music videos too. That would sell. Even if it costs more then a CD in the store. At least by the logic of the UMD movie blitz, sure, they would sell like hotcakes too.
Article comments
1 - Tan The Man
Those are very interesting numbers. Who would have thought that people would pay so much for a feature-less movie format.
2 - engineerThug
i like dis miniPS2. but when gas is over $3.00 gallon and airline companies are filling BQ, i expect this umd movie format to have the same shell life as miniDisc and betamax. Cheers for MPEG-4.