| MikeB said: @ HappySquirrel UMD also outpaced DVD adoption, and look where it is now ... IMO UMD and the PSP are doing well. UMD is still supported despite only being used by the PSP. I think Sony made the right choice to add movie playback for the PSP as an optional feature. It allows for more consumer choice and more mass production of UMD discs, helps to bring production costs down. Better than having UMD only for games as of course standard DVDs are too big in terms of form factor for the PSP. IMO it was clear UMD wasn't going to take over the market. I already watched many DVD movies on my laptops while on the road and of course the bigger screen is much nicer. But even so, I think it was right to add movie playback support for the PSP, but judging from the many Blu-Ray vs HD DVD arguments, many people have a far more narrow view on these things, if it doesn't become a dominant format it was a failure decision.... |
UMD can be considered a success if you measure it in terms of how many PSPs and PSP games use it, but not by media company support.
http://julia-roy.blogspot.com/2008/07/umd-sales-in-sharp-decline-studios-pull.html
"Hardly surprising, UMD sales have taken a sharp turn for the worse and the phenomenal sales figures of the initial months are a thing to be fondly remembered. UMD sales have become so low at this point that many studios currently pull out of the market altogether. Even Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, for example, who is directly tied to the PSP, of course, has decided to pull back on UMD releases for the time being. Don't expect any more catalog titles to surface on UMD, and don't expect every new movie to be released for your PSP either. Pickings will become very slim simply because people have stopped purchasing movies for the platform and seem to have – finally – embraced the PSP for what it really is, a gaming platform."
Blu-ray has the support, currently, of many studios, but if it follows the pattern of UMD, it will fade into obscurity as the laserdisc did, which is sad because I liked laserdisc (I have 90 movies) and I like HD movies in general.
EDIT: fixed my text in bold.
