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http://geek.com/news/geeknews/2005Ma...0323029705.htm

It's still a few days before the official launch of Sony's PSP handheld in the U.S., and Amazon has already started to drop the price of the UMD movies it will have on sale. Movies such as Hellboy and XXX have been dropped from US$19.95 to $13.97. The film House of Flying Daggers saw an even bigger drop, from $28.95 to $20.27. It is unclear why the price cuts have been made before the launch, unless Amazon is listening to customers grumbling about the high prices. I really can't see the UMD movie format ever taking off. Who wants to pay that much for a film just to play it on the small PSP screen? This is especially true when you consider that tools are already available for encoding movies in the PSP's format (see our previous coverage). The legitimacy of converting paid-for DVDs to PSP format is questionable, but that route still offers a cheap alternative to paying for a film again in UMD format. If the prices continue to fall then UMD movies will become a more attractive purchase; if they drop under $10, people will start to consider them. Thanks to TotalVideoGames for the heads-up.

UMD movies are already tanking.

Amazon.com

Looks like it's just a sale price for preorders, which is quite common for most online retailers. I'm sure EB Games will have them for $19.99 each.

Originally Posted by Scorch UMD movies are already tanking.

well, it just doesn't make sense to have a read-only proprietary media for anything but games. I can't say I'm surprised - just look at the overpriced and underbought GBA videos - at least those contained new cartoons unavailable elsewhere.

Originally Posted by organicow well, it just doesn't make sense to have a read-only proprietary media for anything but games. I can't say I'm surprised - just look at the overpriced and underbought GBA videos - at least those contained new cartoons unavailable elsewhere.

I assumed that the videos were selling well; it's not as if children are discerning consumers regarding quality and price.

Let the UMD movie fall on its ass, or $10.

myke.

Most retailers have clearanced out their GBA vids by now, and the ones that haven't are selling them for much less than they were originally intended.

Well, there's really no reason to go out and buy three or four UMD movies when you could buy close to a 1 gb memory stick for the same price. Then, you could put whatever movies you wanted to on your PSP.

But if the movies fall under $10, I may pick up a couple.

Originally Posted by Grave_Addiction Well, there's really no reason to go out and buy three or four UMD movies when you could buy close to a 1 gb memory stick for the same price. Then, you could put whatever movies you wanted to on your PSP. But if the movies fall under $10, I may pick up a couple.

^^^, SECOND"D

C'mon people, its Hellboy and XXX. Does anyone think these movies are worth 20 beans?

I'm not buying until I can put all 3 extended LotR movies on one memory stick.

no no no... not failing...

Thank about this - what is the MFG SUGGESTED RETAIL for the DVD's we all purchase? Most are in the $25 - $30 range... and what do we -really- pay for these DVD's? I get mine at Wal-Mart and Target for 13.99/14.99 the day they come out...

The high PSP movie prices are MFG SUGGESTED REAIL. The prices on the street will be different.

Originally Posted by soulwish2003 no no no... not failing... Thank about this - what is the MFG SUGGESTED RETAIL for the DVD's we all purchase? Most are in the $25 - $30 range... and what do we -really- pay for these DVD's? I get mine at Wal-Mart and Target for 13.99/14.99 the day they come out... The high PSP movie prices are MFG SUGGESTED REAIL. The prices on the street will be different.

yeah, but DVD is an older technology. This UMD is proprietary and brand new. The maket is going to have to determine the price on this same as everything else.

If anything, the movies should be high.. normally when stuff is introduced on new formats, they're extremely high.. for them to already be dropping is bad.

Are the UMD movies barebones or do they have extras? Who'd want to watch a whole movie on that small ass screen, anyways?

No, not true... SOny is not going to ''let the market determine the price"... they know what these are going to sell for.

The Spongebob Movie - BRAND NEW RELEASE - 14.87 @ Wal-Mart, 14.99 @ Target, 16.99 @ BEst Buy, 22.99 @ BlockBuster... 29.99 @ WalGreens... it just depends...

Originally Posted by gaelan yeah, but DVD is an older technology. This UMD is proprietary and brand new. The maket is going to have to determine the price on this same as everything else.

Originally Posted by gaelan yeah, but DVD is an older technology. This UMD is proprietary and brand new. The maket is going to have to determine the price on this same as everything else.

It doesn't work that way when a single company (or a consortium, in the case of DVDs) determines the price.

If no one buys them then the people have determined them to be WORTHLESS. So you have to drop prices if you want people to buy the product or offer them something exclusive to the format and the fact that they can be played on a PSP isnt it when you can convert your current dvds.

If there are no special features then yes they damn well better be close to 10 bucks or no one will buy them, though I could see someone buying like a TV series DVD for like 12-15 bucks if it has maybe 3 episodes of a show.