UMD movies: 'Hilariously dumb'

UMD movies: 'Hilariously dumb'

I posted a mention of my UMD movie mini-rant Friday to one of my favorite game sites, evilavatar.com.

Wow, what a response. There have been 3,200+ views and 57 replies. So far.

My basic position on UMD movies hasn't changed but I feel like I have some fresh perspective. Keep in mind that my mini-rant was never really meant to be taken as a researched piece of intelligence - as you may recall, I stated that the topic really wasn't worth my Rant. It was just my opinion based on my passion for game machines, fast women and movie collecting. Well, two of those. But it's become something else now, a fascinating pulsing entity that I just can't take my eyes off of. Maybe I secretly want an excuse to buy UMD movies (hey, I am a collector with nearly 1,000 DVDs!) and I'm hoping someone will convince me that it's all OK - spend away!

Maybe I'm just an attention whore.

Either way, here are some highlights from the thread (wade through the full 6+ pages if you want it all):

• A troll came by and made a comment that only poor white trash would pass on UMD because they lacked the dough for it. A few people fed him. (People, please don't feed the trolls - it only encourages them.)
  
  
  
• Someone referred to the UMD format for movies as "hilariously dumb." I like that so much I'm going to co-opt it. Maybe I should use it to rename my Rants section.
  
  
  
• Tech nerds will buy a few titles to showcase their device to their friends (hey, there's my excuse!). Not enough to pad Sony's coffers, but OK.
  
  
  
• Not just airport renters and impulse buyers but maybe also commuters on public transportation may favor UMD since it's very portable. Still not enough to give Sony a win, but it's another tick mark in their favor. I'm almost starting to see a business plan here.
  
  
  
• Several people pointed out that UMD discs will need to spin a lot (particularly for movies as they constantly stream video), which will greatly erode PSP battery staying power. Cartridges are more power efficient, giving movies and TV shows on GBA cartridge at least a small raison d'etre. OK, so award one small point to Nintendo and give their fanboys a cookie.
  
  
  
• Proliferating the hardware (UMD drives in laptops, anyone? Bueller?) could make a difference. There are some problems with this approach (see below), but hey, it could help if it happened.
  
  
  
• Retail movie discs won't make the PSP an iPod-killer. To do that, you'd need to be able to easily rip your DVD collection and put it on memory sticks for PSP playback. Like that's gonna happen.
  
  
  
• Maybe Sony doesn't expect UMD movies to hit, but just be a small revenue stream. Even if this were true, I still think they'll have an uphill battle just to make a small profit.
  
  
  
• If the Japanese accept UMD as a movie format, it may not matter what happens here in the U.S. - at least as far as Sony breaking even or turning a profit on it.
  
  

There's more, but these are the most interesting takeaways in my mind. A few good points, and some that I take issue with:

Cartridges might have some advantages as a portable media format, but they're costly to produce. Discs tend to be cheaper as media goes, so Sony might have a small advantage there. But these UMD discs are proprietary, so unless DVD manufacturing plants can be easily retrofitted to mass produce them, they'll be a costly one-off format.

Cartridges may be more power efficient for portable gaming, but they're costly to produce. For games, this isn't a huge deal because gamers are willing to pay $20-35 for a new game cartridge (and maybe as much as $40-50 for PSP game discs; we'll see). But movie collectors have become accustomed to paying as little as $8-10 for good quality anamorphic DVDs with 5.1 sound (or better). Why would they pay $20-30 for a portable title that may look good and sound OK on a small screen but won't offer nearly the cinematic experience of a cheap DVD? Even if you're made of money, it's just not good use of your cash.

Personally, I have nearly 1,000 titles on DVD - more if you count my laserdiscs. And I'm already backing off DVDs somewhat in anticipation of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. Hell, I'm they're target market - a movie collector - and I doubt I'll pick up much beyond the launch bundle's Spider-Man 2. I will watch Spidey on my PSP, though, and I'll blog my thoughts when I do.

DVDs were an open format, and they were technically a step up from laserdiscs. People with laserdiscs were apprehensive at first (heck, I was one of them) but it was mostly due to the cost of players and the fact that early DVDs were by and large poorly mastered.

The UMD format is fully proprietary as far as I can tell. I'd be very surprised if anyone who makes UMD movie discs doesn't pay a licensing fee to Sony and has to use Sony's plants to manufacture them (at least for now).

It's also unlikely that anyone will manufacture standalone living room players, since they would cost more than DVD players (which are mainstream and very cheap to produce now) and wouldn't stand up to DVD when played on a modern TV with a decent audio receiver. Portables are possible, but they'd have to compete with the PSP which, face it, can play games and MP3s and MP4s. Where's the upside to competing with Sony on their own turf?

Someone commented that there might be a small amount of money to be made off UMD movies, so why not do it? Generally the upfront costs for new techologies tend to be high, and mastering and producing UMD movies isn't going to be free - though it might be cheaper than starting from scratch since they can leverage the assets created for DVDs.


Right now I think there's still a high risk of a big loss. If UMD movies were to take off somewhat and costs to produce them were driven down a lot, that's where the small to moderate profit would materialize.

Those are some big 'ifs' and I still hold that UMD for movies is a major gamble. I envision someone at Sony kneeling every night and praying that the iPod-killer rhetoric that is sometimes attached to the PSP will come to pass. Based on a recent WSJ review (and my own preliminary assessment), PSP is far from a mainstream device - and it will take a major investment in easy-to-use tools and product synergies (e.g., using the PSX or other PVRs to transfer your TV shows to PSP) before hordes of non-gamers will even look at it.

Again, as I mentioned in my original blog entry, if Sony can drive down prices for UMD movies or offer them for free bundled with DVD titles, they might have a chance. But there we go again - I can hear those damned dice rattling. Place yer bets, place yer bets.

-=Gamewatcher

p.s.- If you're still reading, I finally updated my About page to better reflect what this site has become: a news feed for busy adult gamers who just want the most important and interesting news in a quick-read format with more depth than your typical gaming news site. Enjoy!