SONY PICTURES PRESS RELEASE: New UMD Titles Release Schedule (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Silverman]

MORE TITLES ON UMD ™!!

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Releases Additional UMD™ Titles for Playstation Portable™ Consoles.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) announced additional titles to its diverse slate of UMD™ (Universal Media Disc) video format releases which plays on the new PSP ™ (Playstation Portable) handheld entertainment system for the North American market.

The following is a summary of the titles, street dates and suggested list prices for the new UMD releases:

· May 24
o Are We There Yet? (SLP: $28.95)
o Charlie’s Angels (SLP: $19.95)

· May 31
o Boogeyman (SLP: $28.95)
o HollowMan (SLP: $19.95)

· June 14
o Hitch ( SLP: $28.95)
o Daddy Day Care (SLP: $19.95)
o Bad Boys (SLP: !9.95)
o Spider-Man Animated (SLP: $19.95)
o The Grudge ($19.95)

· June 28
o Resident Evil (SLP: $19.95)
o Starship Troopers (SLP: $19.95)
o Air Force One (SLP:$19.95)
o Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (SLP: $19.95)

 

[MikeEckman]

Hmm, I dont have a PSP, and dont plan on getting one. I do think the UMD format is a good one for portable devices, however I think their pricing model is a bit out of whack.

We are getting versions of the films without any extras, with a lower A/V quality, and in many cases a cropped image (e.g. Spiderman cropped from 2.35:1 to 1.78:1) for in most cases is MORE than what the DVD version would cost.

I think for this format to succeed, they need to get those prices lower.

 

[Rusty Ray]

think i will pick up the spider-man animated even though i have it on dvd... it was very good and i am sure it will look great on that lil' screen!

 

[Eric Emma]

Edit

 

[Richard Gilmore]

The price should be lower I agree. It could actually be a profitable medium if they don't get too greedy as most purchases will be second copies.

I think there are some built-in technical limitations that won't allow the memory stick to match the UMD resolution and/or frame rate.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I would guess that the high UMD prices are partially due to volume -- very few are manufactured when compared to DVDs.

 

[David Galindo]

Cool, thanks! I will likely pick up Starship Troopers.

 

[JohnS]

Resident Evil
Grudge
Charlie's Angels
Air Force One
Hitch

all for me

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Question,

Are UMD titles of lower video quality in comparison to their DVD counterparts? If so, why are HTF members so enthusiastic about them? What's the draw?

???

 

[Aaron Silverman]

The "draw" is that you can carry a PSP + discs around in your pocket!

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Grind up a DVD and put the dust in a zip-lock back.

It fits in your pocket.

 

[Chris]

You know, the lower quality thing deserves a retort, though..

DVD is designed to output to a device with 480 lines of resolution (roughly). Whereas, that's not true of the PSP. Because the UMD discs are designed with the native resolution of the PSP in mind, you get the highest resolution that size screen would support, which often makes the picture equal to, if not better then, cruddy portable DVD players with 3-4" screens that have been available previously.