So the UMD Movie is Dead, Finally

yeah, well, they were a complete a rip off. Now for the umd clearance sales to start...
 
[quote name='Apossum']Now for the umd clearance sales to start...[/QUOTE]

That's the best news out of all of this. I think Sony finally realized they shouldn't try to release movies in four different formats.
 
[quote name='CocheseUGA']That's the best news out of all of this. I think Sony finally realized they shouldn't try to release movies in four different formats.[/QUOTE]


Lying Crooks
 
[quote name='Apossum']yeah, well, they were a complete a rip off. Now for the umd clearance sales to start...[/QUOTE]


See I wonder if that will happen? At least my Wal Mart's did'nt clear them out they were just gone off the self. I will Almost bet Sony had a deal with all the Big Boxes that if they dont sell they could sell them back to sony. Its not uncommon for that to happen. All Hell Sony and BB are in Bed together just look at how many UMD movies they had and the Crap they are pulling with Blu-ray will show you that. I agree I would have picked up a few for 9.99 or less
 
[quote name='Daddy']Lying Crooks[/QUOTE]

How so? There was no deception or dishonesty. Just aproduct that failed to find a market as offered. Nobody was forced to buy anything, nor was the product misrepresented. The only people who got screwed were Sony itself. Even the other participating studios have little complaint. Sony gave them so many incentives for participating it was almost impossible for them to lose money. They are, at worst, disappointed. But not damaged.

Nor can anyone claim the product failed to perform as promised. Plenty of people have stated they'd likely buy plenty of UMD movies for the right price. If Sony and the other participating studios had limited the titles to older films that no longer as high a price on DVD, they could have gone for similar pricing on UMD. Once you have the tools in place, most of the work to produce a UMD from an exiting digital master is fairly minor, especially since most of the DVD extended features are not included. But Sony wanted to push day and date releases with the DVD of the same films with a premium cost that just didn't make sense for the UMD's strengths.
 
[quote name='epobirs']How so? There was no deception or dishonesty. Just aproduct that failed to find a market as offered. Nobody was forced to buy anything, nor was the product misrepresented. The only people who got screwed were Sony itself. Even the other participating studios have little complaint. Sony gave them so many incentives for participating it was almost impossible for them to lose money. They are, at worst, disappointed. But not damaged.

Nor can anyone claim the product failed to perform as promised. Plenty of people have stated they'd likely buy plenty of UMD movies for the right price. If Sony and the other participating studios had limited the titles to older films that no longer as high a price on DVD, they could have gone for similar pricing on UMD. Once you have the tools in place, most of the work to produce a UMD from an exiting digital master is fairly minor, especially since most of the DVD extended features are not included. But Sony wanted to push day and date releases with the DVD of the same films with a premium cost that just didn't make sense for the UMD's strengths.[/QUOTE]

True. Now here's the question: how good are the DVD rips using DVD9 or something else like that? Because:

A) I could go ahead and buy a DVD burner for about $60 and enjoy all the movies I want (might as well buy a burner than just a player)

B) buy some cheap clearance UMDs and play them in all their glory.

What I really want are titles like Spidey 2 that showcase the machine's spectacular graphics.
 
[quote name='Daddy']Yup posted 2 days ago...the more disturbing news is the LOW format res that they will ship straight to memory stick movies on...SONY is losin it bad!


http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94529&page=12[/QUOTE]

Not if UMD is off the table. The PSP will play full 480x272 video of the Memory Stick just fine. If your video file has the right security codes in the header. Some of the files you can download from Playstation Underground do this.

If the market opportunity demands full resolution for online distribution of PSP videos, that is what they'll do. Rather than UMDs you can use in any PSP, instead you'll have DRM on the files to restrict which PSP can play them.
 
I never say the point of them when you can just buy a memory stick and pyr whatever you want on them.

Now I'll watch Blu-ray die.
 
Funny that companies still bother to release these, next week theyre releasing the Boondocks Season 1 on UMD.

I mainly just bought UMD's because of my lazyness to convert. But the few times i bought UMD, they were cheaper than the dvd counterpart (Family Guy Seasons 1-2 - $25, Beavis & Butthead - $9.99 for 18 eps)
 
Hey man, do you have XXX?

Yea, I have it on DVD, UMD and Blue Ray!! I've spent sixty dollars on it and I'm also a retarded chimp.
 
I'm not actually expecting a big blowout sale on UMD movies from any major retailer. The stock of movies just disappeared completely from stores. Wal-Mart, Target, and Shopko in my area completely quit carrying them and didn't have a sale or anything.

It would seem most places are just shipping the damned things back to Sony.
 
[quote name='epobirs']Not if UMD is off the table. The PSP will play full 480x272 video of the Memory Stick just fine. If your video file has the right security codes in the header. Some of the files you can download from Playstation Underground do this.

If the market opportunity demands full resolution for online distribution of PSP videos, that is what they'll do. Rather than UMDs you can use in any PSP, instead you'll have DRM on the files to restrict which PSP can play them.[/QUOTE]

No Sony ships it in low res in their new packaged memory stick deal...you can (as I have ) decrypt it using PSP 9 in full glory on your own memory stick ....perhaps you didnt read the gamespot article.
 
[quote name='epobirs']How so? There was no deception or dishonesty. Just aproduct that failed to find a market as offered. Nobody was forced to buy anything , nor was the product misrepresented. The only people who got screwed were Sony itself. Even the other participating studios have little complaint. Sony gave them so many incentives for participating it was almost impossible for them to lose money. They are, at worst, disappointed. But not damaged.

Nor can anyone claim the product failed to perform as promised. Plenty of people have stated they'd likely buy plenty of UMD movies for the right price. If Sony and the other participating studios had limited the titles to older films that no longer as high a price on DVD, they could have gone for similar pricing on UMD. Once you have the tools in place, most of the work to produce a UMD from an exiting digital master is fairly minor, especially since most of the DVD extended features are not included. But Sony wanted to push day and date releases with the DVD of the same films with a premium cost that just didn't make sense for the UMD's strengths.[/QUOTE]


SONY not lying crooks? you must be smokin something...and I want you to share b/c your losin it....lets see they remake stuff on their own products so YOU ARE FORCED to buy it like UMD,DUO-PRO STICKS, PS3 forces you into BLU-RAY I can go on for a while.....if your gonna argue think before you post

The only way to get around the UMD is to use an UN-SUPPORTED FORMAT on PSP9 for movies

The crook part is implied by the forcing of new formats used only by SONY, the lying part well...you can use many many exapmles of any system for SONY in that case
 
[quote name='Daddy']
The crook part is implied by the forcing of new formats used only by SONY, the lying part well...you can use many many exapmles of any system for SONY in that case[/QUOTE]

Yes, and those formats die because no one but Sony gives a shit about them, and subsequently people find ways around them to enjoy the same material.

There's nothing crooked at all about it, which implies some sort of law being broken. It's sleazy and it's meant to fatten their bottom line, but it's not illegal by any means.

There's a huge difference, and from a business standpoint it makes a lot of sense. It's the same reason NIntendo went with tiny DVDs for the Gamecube.

Did it work? No. Why? Because, again, people find ways around it due to the outrageous prices. Whereas a geek could rip a DVD to PSP format he bought for $10 as opposed to buying Sony's low-rez version for $25 makes sense to geeks, it doesn't for the average consumer. However, they voted with their dollars and the UMD is dead.

Stop with your nonsense arguments. You don't like Sony's push for proprietaryism? Fine. BUt you might as well be mad at MS, too, for pushing their XBL format so heavily, when EA rallied against it for years. Same idea here at the simple level.
 
[quote name='Daddy']SONY not lying crooks? you must be smokin something...and I want you to share b/c your losin it....lets see they remake stuff on their own products so YOU ARE FORCED to buy it like UMD,DUO-PRO STICKS, PS3 forces you into BLU-RAY I can go on for a while.....if your gonna argue think before you post

The only way to get around the UMD is to use an UN-SUPPORTED FORMAT on PSP9 for movies

The crook part is implied by the forcing of new formats used only by SONY, the lying part well...you can use many many exapmles of any system for SONY in that case[/QUOTE]

Actually, I think we all want what you are on. Don't understand BUS 1000, do you?

Sony owns the MSPD format. Hmm...might be cost effective to distribute that way? Why are we forced into Blu-Ray? No one is making you go buy all your movies again, which is pretty fucking dumb.

Are you going to argue that Nintendo is forcing you to buy their DS carts, too? Because if you are going to make an arguement that dumb, you need to bring everyone in on it.

PSP9 has worked for a lot of people. Sorry you are in the minority.

I'm still trying to figure out where the lying comes from in your post. As far as I know, Sony has delivered on almost everything they've touted about the PSP. If you are going to bring up old arguements from the PS2, you need to make another topic.

As far as crooks, then start tearing down the halls of capitalism Chairman Mao. Because like it or not, that's how it works. Companies release and re-release stuff all the time (go bitch at Lucas while you're at it). This is the stupidest post I've ever seen on here, except for maybe one created by Bodyshot.
 
[quote name='Strell']Yes, and those formats die because no one but Sony gives a shit about them, and subsequently people find ways around them to enjoy the same material.

There's nothing crooked at all about it, which implies some sort of law being broken. It's sleazy and it's meant to fatten their bottom line, but it's not illegal by any means.

There's a huge difference, and from a business standpoint it makes a lot of sense. It's the same reason NIntendo went with tiny DVDs for the Gamecube.

Did it work? No. Why? Because, again, people find ways around it due to the outrageous prices. Whereas a geek could rip a DVD to PSP format he bought for $10 as opposed to buying Sony's low-rez version for $25 makes sense to geeks, it doesn't for the average consumer. However, they voted with their dollars and the UMD is dead.

Stop with your nonsense arguments. You don't like Sony's push for proprietaryism? Fine. BUt you might as well be mad at MS, too, for pushing their XBL format so heavily, when EA rallied against it for years. Same idea here at the simple level.[/QUOTE]


Gimmie a break there is no comparison...SONY does it with all their stuff their cameras,tvs,games,systems....dont try to down play their GREED or even compare it to gamecube or LIVE. For what its worth LIVE happens to be the one of the MOST innovative and constructive things for gaming for quite some time. You are correct with gamecube however but I think the problem here isnt in the UMD itself but the fact that its the UMD and the DUO-PRO (which was OUTRAGEOUSLY priced for some time) as a memory format for the PSP,the combo of the 2 is retarded add the price point on UMD movies and your just in insane land (probably where PS3 will end up too). At no point did I imply or say SONY was doing anything illegal either...but then again we are typing and perhaps you misunderstood what CROOK meant then again I did type what I meant by it but you still misunderstood, I said lying crooks, not crooked lairs. For the record it costs nothing to copy a movie to your PSP using PSP 9 format so free vs. 25 UMD is a HUGE difference.
 
[quote name='CocheseUGA']Actually, I think we all want what you are on. Don't understand BUS 1000, do you?

Sony owns the MSPD format. Hmm...might be cost effective to distribute that way? Why are we forced into Blu-Ray? No one is making you go buy all your movies again, which is pretty fucking dumb.

Are you going to argue that Nintendo is forcing you to buy their DS carts, too? Because if you are going to make an arguement that dumb, you need to bring everyone in on it.

PSP9 has worked for a lot of people. Sorry you are in the minority.

I'm still trying to figure out where the lying comes from in your post. As far as I know, Sony has delivered on almost everything they've touted about the PSP. If you are going to bring up old arguements from the PS2, you need to make another topic.

As far as crooks, then start tearing down the halls of capitalism Chairman Mao. Because like it or not, that's how it works. Companies release and re-release stuff all the time (go bitch at Lucas while you're at it). This is the stupidest post I've ever seen on here, except for maybe one created by Bodyshot.[/QUOTE]

Ok perhaps your just not reading...I USE PSP 9 fool....I didnt post that I didnt I posted that SONY (lets read slow here for you) is releasing......a memory stick....with movies on it....in lower res....than what you can do yourself....using PSP-9. Did you get it that time....was i clear enough?

Lying? okay thats easy SONY barely ever (if ever) comes through on their promises for anything they do in gaming (PS2 emotion engine rubber ducky and almost every spec on PS3 are some examples)

Crooks? Companies always copy each other and re-release stuff , yes that is correct but re-releasing using your own format,over promising and undelivering wether it be specs,coding or pricing, well in the gaming world SONY is king in that dept.

In regaurds to specifically the PSP...how many games came out for it?..Besides ports mind you....yeah and how long until anything even besides ports did?

Yes, very good grasshopper as far as formats go SONY does OWN the MSPD format just like the BLU-RAY, and that comment should have sealed your own doom...b/c guess what...you say your not forced to buy blu-ray games or movies at the point ? Well if you plan on using the system you are and the fact they failed with UMD I pray to GOD it happens to them w/ BLU-ray. If it does what are you gonna do with your PS3? The act that they put THIER system with a blu-ray drive to push its sales it the funniest thing ever...if it works yeah it would be great for them but to shove a format war into a consumers mouth when what they want is a gaming system is a pretty big blow. To be honest i dont even think most consumers are ready for HDTV let alone new DVD formats (except you I gotta have it video-philes)

PS- Forget BUS 1000, I think you should stick w/ the short bus you came in on
 
I think your posting allowances should be restricted to the MS boards, because you have clearly no idea how to talk or think logically, so maybe we should just give you a padded cell and a helmet so you can't hurt yourself.
 
[quote name='Strell']I think your posting allowances should be restricted to the MS boards, because you have clearly no idea how to talk or think logically, so maybe we should just give you a padded cell and a helmet so you can't hurt yourself.[/QUOTE]


agreed, except about the cell. it shouldn't be padded and there should be various objects that are ideal for bludgeoning one's self.
 
[quote name='Daddy']Ok perhaps your just not reading...I USE PSP 9 fool....I didnt post that I didnt I posted that SONY (lets read slow here for you) is releasing......a memory stick....with movies on it....in lower res....than what you can do yourself....using PSP-9. Did you get it that time....was i clear enough?

Lying? okay thats easy SONY barely ever (if ever) comes through on their promises for anything they do in gaming (PS2 emotion engine rubber ducky and almost every spec on PS3 are some examples)

Crooks? Companies always copy each other and re-release stuff , yes that is correct but re-releasing using your own format,over promising and undelivering wether it be specs,coding or pricing, well in the gaming world SONY is king in that dept.

In regaurds to specifically the PSP...how many games came out for it?..Besides ports mind you....yeah and how long until anything even besides ports did?

Yes, very good grasshopper as far as formats go SONY does OWN the MSPD format just like the BLU-RAY, and that comment should have sealed your own doom...b/c guess what...you say your not forced to buy blu-ray games or movies at the point ? Well if you plan on using the system you are and the fact they failed with UMD I pray to GOD it happens to them w/ BLU-ray. If it does what are you gonna do with your PS3? The act that they put THIER system with a blu-ray drive to push its sales it the funniest thing ever...if it works yeah it would be great for them but to shove a format war into a consumers mouth when what they want is a gaming system is a pretty big blow. To be honest i dont even think most consumers are ready for HDTV let alone new DVD formats (except you I gotta have it video-philes)

PS- Forget BUS 1000, I think you should stick w/ the short bus you came in on[/quote]

Dude...what game system makes their memory cards compatable with memory storage devices they dont make *boggle*. Nintendo did it, MS did it everyone does this! Thats why they used the memory stick duo in thier devices frankly I'm glad they did its a smaller medium taking up less space than a freaking flash card which seems to be twice the size for no apparent reason. Secondly as far as Blu-Ray goes ...who cares? Seriously if they want a game system that uses Blu-Ray great, kudos, enjoy! It dosent mean you have to go out and buy all your DvDs again unless your using it as your only DvD player and your silly enough to go out and get rid of your only regular DvD player in that case as far as I'm conserned its Darwinism at work. The Blu-Ray medium is being used for one primary reason ...THEY OWN IT! Its cheaper for them to put that in than it is to put in HD-DVD drives and it allows them more storage. For those of you who dont know HD-DVD stores 30 gig and Blu-Ray stores 50 gig.

I don't see any issue with a Blu-Ray player in the PS3 save it makes the system astronomically high so much so that I'm likely to never buy one till they come down to 400 or less. Trick is though if you want a DVD player that plays Blu-Ray ...ITS A GOOD DEAL FOR YOU! Thats right genius if you want in on the next gen of DVD tech the cheapest thing you can do is buy a PS3 thats assuming prices don't come down on the players between now and the release. Chances are good on any of the devices that their backwards compatable to play normal DVDs anyway I know the HD-DVD format players are suppose to be just the newer format looks prettier.
 
I actually bought a total of four UMD movies, all for a trip to Disneyland so that I could watch something on the bus ride down to the airport. I got Evil Dead and Freddie vs. Jason used at Hastings for $1.99 each, and I also bought a few WWE UMDs (Superstar Billy Graham, Bret Hart). But I'll never collect the damn things, even with a 2,000+ game collection to back.
 
[quote name='David85']I never say the point of them when you can just buy a memory stick and pyr whatever you want on them.

Now I'll watch Blu-ray die.[/QUOTE]
uh, FYI you play BDs on a TV, not a portable game system.

I fail to see the parallel...
 
[quote name='Daddy']Headache inducing...[/QUOTE]

Until you can learn to properly format a response, I'm not bothering to read what you post. I have enough things in life that aggravate my eyesight.
 
[quote name='CocheseUGA']Actually, I think we all want what you are on. Don't understand BUS 1000, do you?

Sony owns the MSPD format. Hmm...might be cost effective to distribute that way? Why are we forced into Blu-Ray? No one is making you go buy all your movies again, which is pretty fucking dumb.

Are you going to argue that Nintendo is forcing you to buy their DS carts, too? Because if you are going to make an arguement that dumb, you need to bring everyone in on it.

PSP9 has worked for a lot of people. Sorry you are in the minority.

I'm still trying to figure out where the lying comes from in your post. As far as I know, Sony has delivered on almost everything they've touted about the PSP. If you are going to bring up old arguements from the PS2, you need to make another topic.

As far as crooks, then start tearing down the halls of capitalism Chairman Mao. Because like it or not, that's how it works. Companies release and re-release stuff all the time (go bitch at Lucas while you're at it). This is the stupidest post I've ever seen on here, except for maybe one created by Bodyshot.[/QUOTE]

This is why we need to go back to Old School Capitalism, where Coporations could only last at max 30 years unless they were doing a Public Works project at the end of those years. Also they couldn't merge and could only exist for the GOOD of the people. As far as I'm concerned some Pharmaceutical companies should be charged with Manslaughter for subsidizing companies that produce food for convience and grocery stores. Subsidizing them for putting ingredients in food that will DELIBERATELY make people sick so they can go running for a drug. Be it Cancer or some other illness. The pipers going to be paid fucking around with peoples bodies whether they like it or not.
As for Public Domain as far as I'm concerned I should be able to use Mickey in whatever cartoon I fucking want since I know Disney were the one's who got that period extended and will keep doing it. In fact one day I may produce a free share cartoon of them as a fuck you, this is my right since it expired in Public Domain.
 
I watched Akira once on UMD...it was cool, but too small. my eyes were fucked afterwards...especially after reading subtitles.
 
[quote name='Sarang01']This is why we need to go back to Old School Capitalism, where Coporations could only last at max 30 years unless they were doing a Public Works project at the end of those years. Also they couldn't merge and could only exist for the GOOD of the people. As far as I'm concerned some Pharmaceutical companies should be charged with Manslaughter for subsidizing companies that produce food for convience and grocery stores. Subsidizing them for putting ingredients in food that will DELIBERATELY make people sick so they can go running for a drug. Be it Cancer or some other illness. The pipers going to be paid fucking around with peoples bodies whether they like it or not.
As for Public Domain as far as I'm concerned I should be able to use Mickey in whatever cartoon I fucking want since I know Disney were the one's who got that period extended and will keep doing it. In fact one day I may produce a free share cartoon of them as a fuck you, this is my right since it expired in Public Domain.[/QUOTE]

Do they let you have anything sharper than crayons in that institution where you're kept?

I cannot imagine what 'old school capitlaism' you mean since the conditions you speak never existed in this nation, nor most others in the Western world where many companies can be traced back to the 16th Century. There are some bizarre business rules under Islam that requires the dissolution of a business if one of the partners dies. It made it impossible for corporations as such to exist since everything relied on the continuing existence of a small number of persons.

It was adherence to these rules laid down by Muhammed that contributed to the Western nations becoming the economic engines of the world.
 
[quote name='jkam']It's all about pricing which for UMD was wrong from the get go.[/QUOTE]So true. I would have gotten some at $9.99, but $29.99 is rape. UMD had a lot of potential, especially since the quality was a lot better than those ridiculous Video Now or Juicebox players. Oh well, hopefully Blu-ray will fare better.

Going OT here, it's not that I'm in a rush to replace my DVD collection with Blu-Ray, then have to replace my Blu-Ray Discs with the new downloadable content revolution that's upon us, I just think the next generation is in serious need of more the 4.7 GB of storage. I mean, with all these detailed textures our new games will have I doubt in the long run even DL DVD's will be able to fit everything, San Andreas alone took up a full DVD. Oh well, we'll see.
 
[quote name='Daddy']SONY not lying crooks? you must be smokin something...and I want you to share b/c your losin it....lets see they remake stuff on their own products so YOU ARE FORCED to buy it like UMD,DUO-PRO STICKS, PS3 forces you into BLU-RAY I can go on for a while.....if your gonna argue think before you post

The only way to get around the UMD is to use an UN-SUPPORTED FORMAT on PSP9 for movies

The crook part is implied by the forcing of new formats used only by SONY, the lying part well...you can use many many exapmles of any system for SONY in that case[/QUOTE]

Have you tried listening to yourself? Do you realize you make no sense at all? How does anything you list constitute lying or criminality?

Who has been FORCED to buy a UMD of anything? If Sony could force people to buy UMDs they wouldn't be gathering dust on retail shelves.

Gosh, the PSP offers remakes of some games from older platforms on its own proprietary media. How does that in any force anyone to buy anything? Someone who bought MediEvil for the PS1 is under no obligation to buy the PSP remake. Are you under some absurd belief that the PSP should use PS1 CDs? Sony looked into it a long time ago. The bulk and power requirements for doing a handheld PS1 make it a non-starter. Were you whining when Super Mario World was revived on the GBA in a cartridge that would only work on the GBA and no other platform in existence at the time? Were you really expecting a handheld SNES from Nintendo that would handle the large original carts?

Have you wondered why Nintendo doesn't just make an accesory for the Wii that offered cartridge slots for all their past machines. Could it be that Nintendo is only interested in those old games if they can sell them anew rather than using 15 year old garage sale buys? They are surely the most evil people imaginable.

How is UMD evil but it's perfectly normal for Nintendo to introduce a completely proprietary SNES cartridge when the Gensesis was already on the market? Should Nintendo have been forced to make their media compatible even though the code wasn't going to run on a non-Nintendo console? That is essentially what you are arguing when you say it was wrong for Sony to create UMD.

So the movies part didn't work out but the need for a high capacity format for the games still fully justifies the development of UMD. There was nothing on the market in terms of size, weight, and capacity that met the requirements for what Sony wanted the PSP to offer. Whether any other product in existence can use the UMD discs is hardly of any importance. They are ROM material for a specific platform. There is no legitimate reason to use them elsewhere. If such arose you can bet Sony would be quite pleased to offer a product for that application. And if you know of an alternative that can match the feature set of UMD for a handheld gaming application, there are several companies that would be interested.

Proprietary media has long been the rule in game consoles. Even where a standard like CD-ROM is adapted, measures are taken to prevent easy access to the content to prevent piracy. Machines that failed to do this were noted for their losses due to piracy, such as on the Dreamcast.

Nobody is being forced into Blu-ray by the PS3. If you only play games the nature of the disc format is mere trivia. It just means a far greater likelihood of games spread across multiple discs, which some silly people think will be a fatal flaw of the Xbox 360. A PS3 can go right ahead and buy a HD-DVD deck for the HD content viewing and there isn't damn thing Sony can do about it. All they can do is try to make Blu-ray attractive by making it a heavily subsidized part of the product, just as many millions of PS2 owners have never used their console to play a movie. The DVD format qualifies itself on the basis of its high capacity for game data. Sony is making a bet that game content will become so bulky in the next few years that the Blu-ray format will be regarded as a significant benefit to the platform regardless of whether it is used to play movie as well. For someone who just uses it for games, the disc format on the PS3 is little difference than numerous proprietary cartridge formats thoughout the history of the game console business.

If things don't work out as Sony hopes it is Sony who takes the big hit and nobody else. Purchasers of the PS3 will be getting it for so far below its cost to manufacture that using DVD in place of the Blu-ray would not alter the high price point Sony has set. Due to the massive level of R&D investment and poor production yields, Cell is that expensive.

Duo-Pro sticks? When was anyone forced to buy those in a way that is unreasonable compared to the GameCube or many N64 games? My PSP came with a 32MB unit that would still serve all of my save game needs if that was all I used it for. Until very recently the industry has used proprietary memory cards almost exclusively. Even machines with built-in storage had non-standard memory card options, as seen on the Xbox and the Saturn. The Saturn's SRAM battery was very unreliable and anyone who was really intent on keeping their saves safe had to buy a flash memory cartridge that worked in the Saturn and nothing else in the world. And data portability requires a proprietary memory device on the Xbox. If anything, by capacity for the dollar, the use of Memory Stick is a bargain compared to past platforms. Compare Memory Stick prices to GameCube memory cards for what your money gets you.

Memory Stick carries a small premium compared to more widely licensed formats like SD. (The lion's share of patents relating to SD are held by Panasonic/Matsushita.) If Memory Stick had been introduced earlier, before MMC and SD became so entrenched, it might be as widely used as SD and CF. A much bigger pain in the ass has been Fuji's xD-Picture Card that nobody really wanted and is more expensive than Memory Stick because it serves an even smaller market since Olympus shifted to SD and CF. The increase volumes for Memory Stick since the PSP launched have allowed for the premium to be decreased. If the PSP took SD cards you would save perhaps $10 for a 2GB unit compared to current deals on 2GB Memory Sticks.

Every new console and handheld represents a new format 'forced' on the market. Yet nobody is under any obligation to buy. If consumers don't perceive value for the price, the product failed. Such is what has happened to movies on UMD while games on UMD are doing a good business.

Sony personnel have engaged in hyperbole at press conferences and in interviews but that is a different thing than lying. Whether you find Sony personally objectionable is entirely up to you. That doesn't excuse making unsuportable accusations. It just makes you look dim.

"The only way to get around the UMD is to use an UN-SUPPORTED FORMAT on PSP9 for movies"

Do you see the contradiction here? I use PSP Video 9 specifically because it creates files that are fully supported by the PSP for playback. Some others have been made available by the homebrew contingent but so what? My PSP running the latest firmware lets me run any content I choose to put in MPEG-4.

Are you perhaps bitching about Sony not allowing the use of the full screen resolution by non-UMD video? Weep! Whine! How terrible, a company restricted a feature because they wanted to sell another product. If Sony switches to an iTunes style of downloadable video content for the PSP they will likely support the full screen res but still keep it reserved for purchased content rather than material ripped from DVDs. They have this funny desire to want to make moeny on this stuff. All of this info i readily available and nobody can blame anyone but themselves if they buy a device whose proimary purpose is to run commercial software of various types and is then shocked to discover he cannot bypass that to use the unit in ways that break the business model.

If you want compelte freedom of a hardware platform, you'll have to choose something that sells for a profit and isn't concerned with software sales. There are PDAs and PMPs out there that provide that at the appropriate price point. You get what you pay for. If you want to develop games with a low invenstment, write for the PC. The consoles are reserved for more capital intensive projects.
 
By this guy's logic JVC were complete and utter bastards for introducing VHS to the world when we already had Beta. How dare they bring a new choice to a luxury item. JVC, BTW had to license a number of patents from Sony to do this. A lot of people don't realize that VHS is largely a cost reduced and mechanicaly improved version of Beta. So, although Sony lost the consumer video market they still reaped a lot of royalty payments from the format that took over the market.

People make ridiculous statements about Blu-ray and HD-DVD being forced on us poor consumers. But they can never explain how this actually works. Does a sales guy at Best Buy hold you at gunpoint until you buy a player and a library of discs? They aren't doing it with exclusive software. It could be three years before any major movie is released exclusively for an HD disc format and not DVD. And that only if the formats achieve a really serious installed base. If they take a decade to truly take the place of DVD in the majority of homes, then that is how long just about everything will get a DVD release.

So these companies are really twisting our arms, aren't they?

Nobody has been forced to buy any Sony game system ever. Considering that Sony became a contender in console around the same time the WWW started catching on big, the failure of anyone to make an informed decision regarding the actual cost once things like memory cards and accessories were added can only be blamed on the consumers. If you think the PSP is a bad value but bought one anyway, who is to blame? Not Sony.
 
[quote name='Strell']Yes, and those formats die because no one but Sony gives a shit about them, and subsequently people find ways around them to enjoy the same material.

There's nothing crooked at all about it, which implies some sort of law being broken. It's sleazy and it's meant to fatten their bottom line, but it's not illegal by any means.

There's a huge difference, and from a business standpoint it makes a lot of sense. It's the same reason NIntendo went with tiny DVDs for the Gamecube.

Did it work? No. Why? Because, again, people find ways around it due to the outrageous prices. Whereas a geek could rip a DVD to PSP format he bought for $10 as opposed to buying Sony's low-rez version for $25 makes sense to geeks, it doesn't for the average consumer. However, they voted with their dollars and the UMD is dead.

Stop with your nonsense arguments. You don't like Sony's push for proprietaryism? Fine. BUt you might as well be mad at MS, too, for pushing their XBL format so heavily, when EA rallied against it for years. Same idea here at the simple level.[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't invoke the EA vs. XBL argument. EA's problem was not with Microsoft's proprietary format. That would be silly for a compnay so heavily invested in the console business. (At least after that period they were constantly in court with Nintendo and Sega over their unauthorized cartridge games.)

EA's real complaint was that they had over $100 MILLION sunk into EA.com by the time Xbox Live became real. I've met one former employee who claimed over $10 million was sunk into a Harry Potter MMORPG that never became a product but added to the red ink in a big way. If EA weren't so heavily invested in its own online infrastructure it would probably have been an early supporter of XBL.

It wasn't so much that they objected to eating Microsoft's dog food as their need to justify all the horses they'd already fed into their own dog food factory.
 
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