Sony PSP Movie Sales Strong

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If UMD proves to be a smash hit one area it can affect is the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD battle going on it Hollywood right now as it would force the studios to commit resources to the smaller UMD format while they hedge on the two larger formats…if UMD movie and album sales achieve Sony's wildest dreams as a market force it will increase the risk of success for all later formats and delivery schemes.

Well, the numbers are starting to come in on UMD movie sales and the results are excellent.
http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/5002/umd.htmlhttp://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/5002/umd.html
 
Since the introduction of the PSP two Sony titles have hit the 100,000 mark in unit sales, Resident Evil 2 and House of the Flying Daggers
Click to expand...

Must've been a huge sale or something because both of those movies suck..

it's funny how it seems that there's more movies than games scheduled for the PSP..
 
[quote name='Scrubking']How much do psp movies cost??[/QUOTE]

they cost about the same as regular DVD's (20 bucks regular price)

some have been as cheap as 13 dollars on sale
 
[quote name='Scorch']Must've been a huge sale or something because both of those movies suck..

it's funny how it seems that there's more movies than games scheduled for the PSP..[/QUOTE]

House of Flying Daggers was a great movie.

There are more games than movies scheduled for release.


What a Negative Nancy.
 
[quote name='CaseyRyback']they cost about the same as regular DVD's (20 bucks regular price)

some have been as cheap as 13 dollars on sale[/QUOTE]

And I've seen Kill Bill vol. 1 for ~ $21. But it was at Wal-Mart, so...
 
I don't see this having any effect on HDTV content delivery, whatever form of disc that eventually takes. If anything, resources devoted to UMD mastering serve as training ground for those people who'll given the task of producing 1080i masters of films using the same codec technology.

Down the road, as digital cinema becomes more common, this will become a moot point. Most movies will have an near uncompessed (RLE but no lossy compression) 1080i digital master version for theatrical distribution. From there it will be transcoded into at least two major codecs at that resolution. MPEG-2 is used now but MPEG-4 or similar codec will be desirable in the future to make the data more manageable. Production of home video releases will involve little or no mastering work and nearly all of the focus will be on the added features, which are largely lacking from UMD movies. UMD will present more work as it involves a major resolution change for the content, and an oddball resolution at that. If it comes down to it, the studios will simply hire more people and build more facility space. Profitable market make that happen.

There is also the question of platform reach. I've little doubt that the PS3, if reasonably priced, will quickly meet and exceed the PSP installed base. If kept within the traditional price range of Sony consoles it has a far larger market already identified than the high-end portable. Each of these will mean a Blu-ray player in the field in additional to at least as many dedicated players and drives installed on computers. The number of potential Blu-ray HD playback locations will soon be many times larger than the UMD market. Other UMD playback methods may appear but none are currently announced.
 
It's kinda hard to take UMD seriously and measure it's success...does sony have any other UMD players in the works?
 
I guess people really are dumb enough to either buy 2 copies of the same movie, one for home and one for PSP, or they are dumb enough to have a movie that will only play on a handheld and not on the big screen. I'll never understand why anyone would buy any UMD movie.
 
actualy it may not even be a matter of buying two copies of one movie. If you think about it, not everyone buys every movie. some people want showcase titles they can watch over and over and some want throw away titles they can view once and never watch again. Some people might just want a copy of a movie the like on the PSP just because they dont have a portable DVD player but actually have a PSP.

There are all sorts of Movie fans, I honestly never concidered ever buying a UMD movie... atleast not at a price over 15 bucks but if I did se something I wanted that I didn't already own a full size DVD of (or even if it was a movie I'd gladdly watch again and again) and it was under 15 bucks I'd certainly give one a shot. If my cheap ass would concider it there have to be others.

I'm just slightly suprised at how many there are.
 
Who wouldve thought UMDs could sell well. I was pretty certain they were going to tank unless sony lowered the prices. I guess there is demand after all
 
Not to rain on the good news. I read a very similar (almost word for word on a few paragraphs) in Home Media Retailing (A video Store mag thanks cag!!).

The thing that caught my attention was DVD's were on the leading edge of digital transition when they first came out. UMDs look like small Dvd's and therefore it seems the transition is pretty easy or acceptable in ones mind. On top of that DVD movies were considerably more than their VHS counterparts when released. This is not the same with UMD's as most can be found on sale or slightly more than a DVD.

Secondly in the HMR article it stated that PSP sales totalled 1.2 million ( I am guessing US numbers only) and that Sony had expected 6 million by years end. On top of that the article was happy to announce that 600,000 plus were sold tthe first week.

If its the middle of the year and the market share has just doubled after four months... How are they going to reach their numbers of 6 million by year end?

I am seriously impressed by the announcement of that manyy titles.
 
At their current rate 6 million PSPs by the end of the year is unrealistic unless they've started selling them with bars of gold in the value pack. I could see mabe 2 to 4 million once the holiday season kicks up but thats only if a few very good games appear out of some previously unseen worm hole to the magical land of games we've never heard of.

I'm pretty sure the article was written 3 months ago atleast and that the powers that be have since adjusted their estimates to emmulate something closer to the reality of a 250 dollar system with 11 games tops that only half are really worth playing.
 
[quote name='Alpha2']
There are all sorts of Movie fans, I honestly never concidered ever buying a UMD movie... atleast not at a price over 15 bucks [/QUOTE]

Agreed, except my price point would be more like $10. Any more than that would be too much for these limited use discs.
 
[quote name='Quackzilla']What a Negative Nancy.[/QUOTE]

Oh, right, I suppose I should consider it a GOOD thing when a game system has more movies than games scheduled.
 
[quote name='Scorch']Oh, right, I suppose I should consider it a GOOD thing when a game system has more movies than games scheduled.[/QUOTE]

No; you should consider it a bad thing. The point of the matter is that you are incorrect in saying that.

We now return to the regularly scheduled broadcast...
 
[quote name='Scorch']Oh, right, I suppose I should consider it a GOOD thing when a game system has more movies than games scheduled.[/QUOTE]

By that logic, the PS2, PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Revolution suck ass because there will be more movies released for them than games.

Dude, Hollywood cranks out movies a lot faster than any company besides EA can make games.

If the movies were PSP exclusive you would have a point, but they aren't. All of those movies are on DVD too, and are not made by game developers.

They are independent from PSP software development.



And by the way, if you count the games made by EA (I don't) then there ARE more games than movies.
 
I'm really surprised these things sell so well. I guess it's easier for the average Joe to buy a 20 dollar disc instead of a 512 MB stick and a USB cable. I like the idea of a UMD movie, but the main thing holding ME back from buying them would be how fast they drain the battery.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and has anybody seen those commercials for DVDs that are also coming out on UMD? "Buy it on DVD and PSP today!"
 
[quote name='elprincipe']I guess people really are dumb enough to either buy 2 copies of the same movie, one for home and one for PSP, or they are dumb enough to have a movie that will only play on a handheld and not on the big screen. I'll never understand why anyone would buy any UMD movie.[/QUOTE]

+1

Why buy a movie once or twice that you can only watch on a tiny screen when you can buy a $40 portably dvd player and watch all your movies anywhere and not have to buy the same movie twice?

Movies on the psp, especially for $20, are stupid and people who buy them like throwing their money down the toilet.
 
[quote name='Scrubking']+1

Why buy a movie once or twice that you can only watch on a tiny screen when you can buy a $40 portably dvd player and watch all your movies anywhere and not have to buy the same movie twice?

Movies on the psp, especially for $20, are stupid and people who buy them like throwing their money down the toilet.[/QUOTE]


It's thier money to waste not yours.
 
I wonder what percentage of those sales were full price sales? Upon release, many stores like Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc were selling UMD movies for around 12-15 bucks. House of Flying Daggers, retail, is 29.99 . Kill Bill vol 1 is 24.99. The rest are around 19.99. Im willing to bet the VAST majority of these sales were only at places where they were dirt cheap, because I can't believe there are enough fanboys out there willing to pay 30 bucks for HOFD.

I think in the long term, this format for movies is going to fail like all of Sony's other previous movie formats. The only way it will succeed is if ACTUAL retail price drops towards the 10 dollar mark, or if the PS3 somehow allows you to view UMD movies. The only way I can justify paying 20-25 bucks for a UMD is if they have full seasons of TV shows put onto it (supposedly, they recently announced Chappelles show for UMD this fall, but that could just be because it's the best selling TV dvd of all time, and not necessarily indicative of tv shows coming to UMD).

What is really funny is, if you buy a 512 mb stick, and have a dvd drive on your computer, you can get several free programs to rip DVD's right to the stick.
 
Very few people in their right ming are pay 30 bucks for a UMD or even a DVD for that matter. Some rich people out there might not care if they drop 60 bucks ona couple of movies but the average consumer is looking for deals. Logically most of these sales are discounted or sale purchases. There may be a few people who bought a couple of movies at full price just to use as a showpeice and there's also the people who want to see it succeed who'd buy them just to help the bottom line.
 
[quote name='Space_Butler']I wonder what percentage of those sales were full price sales? Upon release, many stores like Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc were selling UMD movies for around 12-15 bucks. House of Flying Daggers, retail, is 29.99 . Kill Bill vol 1 is 24.99. The rest are around 19.99. Im willing to bet the VAST majority of these sales were only at places where they were dirt cheap, because I can't believe there are enough fanboys out there willing to pay 30 bucks for HOFD.

I think in the long term, this format for movies is going to fail like all of Sony's other previous movie formats. The only way it will succeed is if ACTUAL retail price drops towards the 10 dollar mark, or if the PS3 somehow allows you to view UMD movies. The only way I can justify paying 20-25 bucks for a UMD is if they have full seasons of TV shows put onto it (supposedly, they recently announced Chappelles show for UMD this fall, but that could just be because it's the best selling TV dvd of all time, and not necessarily indicative of tv shows coming to UMD).

What is really funny is, if you buy a 512 mb stick, and have a dvd drive on your computer, you can get several free programs to rip DVD's right to the stick.[/QUOTE]

The low end price I'm seeing at big retail chains for UMD movies is around $14. This is in the impulse purchase range for a lot people who see a favorite movie on the shelf. (Anyone holding HOTD in this regard should probably closely watched.) These retailers are long in the habit of selling items like this for small margins and it works out the same for Sony and the movie studios in terms of the wholesale price. The cost to produce a UMD, both in producing the master and in manufacturing, is very low. Take the D1 master produced for the DVD version, produce a 480x272 master, then encode to MPEG-4 and make whatever manual adjustments are needed where the encoder needs a human opinion. If there aren't any extended features to deal with, and the four I've watched so far had none, this is a single day's work for an experienced operator. Drawing off the existing data provided by the DVD versions makes these very inexpensive to produce and the wholesale margins pretty good.

A Memory Stick and a DVD rip isn't a good substitute for a professionally produced UMD. The resolution is limited to 320x240 and the image quality transcoding from an MPEG-2 DVD rather than an uncompressed master makes for a lot of artifacts. As well, a lot of people apparently would rather simply buy the full quality UMD rather than invest their own time in transcoding from DVD.
 
Here is a quote from the article...
"Right now there are over 70 titles available on UMD with hundreds more coming this fall as the studios rush to serve this new market."

70 titles? There are not even 70 combined PSP movies/games. Hundreds more coming? WTF? Is this counting the japanese sales as well?
 
remember, sony wont let you play video files that are the native resolution of the psp screen so you'll only get the best video from UMDs, its a sony kind of thing to do.
 
[quote name='Milkyman']remember, sony wont let you play video files that are the native resolution of the psp screen so you'll only get the best video from UMDs, its a sony kind of thing to do.[/QUOTE]


could you repeat that? sorry, I was lost in your sig :lol:
 
Renting them isn't so bad, and if someone had the money to burn even buying them isn't too off the wall of an idea. HOFD's was great when I watched it on UMD. absolutely gorgeous and a good way to burn some time on a road trip. I'm suprised they're selling as well as they are, but it seems putting spidey 2 in those launch packs for free to tout to PSP's abilities was a smart move after all. :lol:
 
I thought most people on the go would want to watch their dvds on a laptop or a portable DVD player.
 
I just took a trip up to Oklahoma, and on the way I bought House of Flying Daggers. I thought it was great to have while on my trip.
 
What upsets me about Umd movies is that THEY'RE IN THE VIDEOGAME SECTION OF MOST STORES!!!!

To me that's complete bullshit because there's less space for games.
I'm not blaming the Umd's, i'm blaming the stores.
 
Wow, I'm shocked that two titles have sold 100K units.

I figured most consumers would be resistant to having to buy their movies on two formats. I know I'd never do it.
 
[quote name='wubb']Wow, I'm shocked that two titles have sold 100K units.

I figured most consumers would be resistant to having to buy their movies on two formats. I know I'd never do it.[/QUOTE]

I said the same thing. I have a 512 vard, so why buy? But, when WalMart had Kill Bill Vol. I on sale for 12 dollars, I couldn't resist. I don't know how many of you have transferred a movie to your memory stick, but there are two fundamental truths about UMD's. 1) They are better quality than you are gonna fit on your memory stick and 2) if I wanna watch something else, I don't have to go back to my PSP to reload them.

So, when I take a road trip to New Mexico this summer, I won't have access to my computer to keep reloading movies. At that time, I will be happy to have as many cheap UMD's as I can. 30 dollars is stupid. 10-15 is ok with me.
 
[quote name='Scrubking']+1

Why buy a movie once or twice that you can only watch on a tiny screen when you can buy a $40 portably dvd player and watch all your movies anywhere and not have to buy the same movie twice?

Movies on the psp, especially for $20, are stupid and people who buy them like throwing their money down the toilet.[/QUOTE]

A decent portable DVD player costs around $200-$250.

Most UMD movies cost about $15.


You are a liar and an idiot.
 
[quote name='captaincold']What upsets me about Umd movies is that THEY'RE IN THE VIDEOGAME SECTION OF MOST STORES!!!!

To me that's complete bullshit because there's less space for games.
I'm not blaming the Umd's, i'm blaming the stores.[/QUOTE]

It isn't as though PSP sections are all that big. The UMD help fill out the space until more games appear. Also, a lot of chains are reducing the size of sections for existing systems in anticipation of reduced demand as they wind down to a slower release schedule. I went into a couple of local Best Buy stores last week and was shocked to see the game sections were down to a third of what they can handle. The last time this happened was the last generation of systems were being winnowed down to make room for their successors. Seems quite a few months early though, so something else must be planned to reuse the display space in the near term.
 
[quote name='epobirs']It isn't as though PSP sections are all that big. The UMD help fill out the space until more games appear. Also, a lot of chains are reducing the size of sections for existing systems in anticipation of reduced demand as they wind down to a slower release schedule. I went into a couple of local Best Buy stores last week and was shocked to see the game sections were down to a third of what they can handle. The last time this happened was the last generation of systems were being winnowed down to make room for their successors. Seems quite a few months early though, so something else must be planned to reuse the display space in the near term.[/QUOTE]

Ya but this is just the start.
It seems like everyday theres a new studio annoucing they're gonna release Umd movies.

I noticed on my various trips to best buy recently that they've moved the old Ps1 games to make space for these Umd's & now it seems that they're gonna have to start getting rid of certain current gen games to make room.

Maybe that explains why they've dropped to price of a shitload of games to $5 at Best Buy?
 
[quote name='Quackzilla']A decent portable DVD player costs around $200-$250.

Most UMD movies cost about $15.


You are a liar and an idiot.[/QUOTE]

A portable DVD player (that wll play DVDs, not one that will fly around the room and hand out cookies) can be had for a little over $100. Most UMD's retail for $19.99

For the price of 5-6 UMDs, you sir, could own a Portable DVD player.

You are a liar and an idiot.
 
A portable DVD player with an actual 16:9 format screen with a resolution as high as or higher than a television, not a small DVD player that you take with you and plug into the TV, will cost you AT LEAST $200.

And why you come in here to flame a videogame system just because it has a movie playing feature that just happens to be popular? Do you not have anything better to do?
 
[quote name='Quackzilla']A portable DVD player with an actual 16:9 format screen with a resolution as high as or higher than a television, not a small DVD player that you take with you and plug into the TV, will cost you AT LEAST $200.

And why you come in here to flame a videogame system just because it has a movie playing feature that just happens to be popular? Do you not have anything better to do?[/QUOTE]

Why are you being a dick and Sony fanboy? We're just saying it's dumb to pay twice for the same movies instead of dropping a little extra for the ability to play all the movies you already have on a bigger screen. Are you insecure in your PSP purchase or something? Sheesh.
 
[quote name='captaincold']Maybe that explains why they've dropped to price of a shitload of games to $5 at Best Buy?[/QUOTE]
Or maybe that they've sat in BB's for months with noone touching them, and they need the room for games that will sell a little better?

Why does anyone that considers buying a UMD have to own the original? Some people seem to like the portable entertainment aspect of the PSP, so they don't need to carry four different devices to keep them entertained in the ways the PSP provides. There's more than just one situation to own these.
 
[quote name='gizmogc']A portable DVD player (that wll play DVDs, not one that will fly around the room and hand out cookies) can be had for a little over $100. Most UMD's retail for $19.99[/QUOTE]

what do the portable dvd players that hand out cookies run?? :drool: :lol:

[quote name='elprincipe']Why are you being a dick and Sony fanboy? We're just saying it's dumb to pay twice for the same movies instead of dropping a little extra for the ability to play all the movies you already have on a bigger screen. Are you insecure in your PSP purchase or something? Sheesh.[/QUOTE]

Why are you being a dick and calling people a dick? Do I have to end this reply with an insuation and a question mark? Jeezze.

...;)

I'm sure that everyone that purchased a umd is fairly happy and educated about their purchase, or they wouldn't have made it in the first place.

I for one only have a very simple standard width 25incher in my bedroom (which bleeds red to a high degree and I can't fix it). I've had a few nights where I've watched a movie before bed on my PSP. I haven't really invested in collecting the movies or anything, but I have checked several out and if I had the money I would have bought at least a couple by now, since they look so nice on that high res screen and it's not like the technology is going to change and they're going to look like hell to me five years from now I really wouldn't mind hanging on to it as I don't have a portable dvd player. I travel, but not *that* much to warrent purchasing and lugging around a portable dvd player. *shrug* :cool:
 
[quote name='Quackzilla']A portable DVD player with an actual 16:9 format screen with a resolution as high as or higher than a television, not a small DVD player that you take with you and plug into the TV, will cost you AT LEAST $200.

And why you come in here to flame a videogame system just because it has a movie playing feature that just happens to be popular? Do you not have anything better to do?[/QUOTE]


Yes, I'm hear flaming a system that I own, along with 10 games, and 2 UMDs. Yeah,I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Now, PSP has a VERY small screen. Sure, its big for a 'gaming system', but your not gonna find a portable dvd player 16:9 with a screen THAT small. By purchasing a 7 inch DVD player ($120) you would be able to see MORE of a picture then from a PSP screen (Thats if the 7 inch screen is regular 4:3 and not 16:9).

Last I checked,there are less then 15 UMDs available in the USA. Last I checked...well, I have no friggin idea, but I would say 10,000 DVDs is a VERY bad estimate.

Now, you wanna bitch about portability? Sure, PSP is alot smaller...but the fact that you can only play a handful of movies (Even a with a Duo card...You can't hold more then 2 movies on a gig....even then, the price of a gig is the same as a portable dvd player). is BS.

You're more then welcome to think Im 'anti-sony', but the fact is, I own the system, along with a large selection of games/umds/accessories/
 
people must love their psp...spending 20 bucks on such a crappy product.

but then again, UMD's success is nothing compare to PRO DUOs, which sells out in a blink of an eye. I myself would never pay for legit umd movies.

gizmog, the very fact that you DO OWN 10 psp games proves you have no idea what you are debating about. sure there are psp games that shine, but 10? I had a hard time paying 50 for my 3rd game.
 
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