Is this the Future for Blu-Ray too?

**LexLuthor** · 07-13-2006

Target discontinues UMD movies

Posted Jul 12th 2006 10:15PM by Ludwig Kietzmann
Filed under: Portable, Sony PSP
With dwindling Hollywood support and anemic sales dragging it down already, the UMD format is unlikely to be pleased by news that all Target stores will cease selling films stored on the proprietary PSP format. Though UMD games are quite safe, this latest move is likely to cast further doubt on the format's viability in the realm of movies. Those looking to place blame will likely find some good targets in the pricing of the discs, the general lack of bonus features compared to their DVD counterparts and the fact that for Universal Media Discs, they aren''t very "universal" at all.

One retailer's move is hardly a death knell for UMD movies, but perhaps the PSP would be better off by forgetting Hollywood and shoving its solid games library (which has made great strides in the last few months) back into the spotlight. Of course, those already enamored by portable movies should probably rush to their nearest Target before the shelves are empty and the format forgotten. Here are some of the titles you might want to remember it by (all chosen at random, of course)

Oh it was fun while it lasted!

For the last time, use quote tags in your post, and provide a link to your source!

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~ Lp Chris XII

**lordmadjack** · 07-13-2006

The way I see it Blu Ray and UMD are as different as night and day. with the exception Sony's backing both

**Ricokillercon** · 07-13-2006

Lex sony created CD's.....i still seee those around....

you know you win some you loose some...look at microsof...windows me...

Aleman · 07-13-2006

That's a completely different scenario. This should have been posted in the PSP section.

**Lefein** · 07-13-2006

4GB Memory Stick and growing!

Hmm, it's almost like you could fit a movie in there or something....

/strong hint

**Crazy Phat** · 07-13-2006

Originally Posted by Ricokillercon

Lex sony created CD's.....i still seee those around....

you know you win some you loose some...look at microsof...windows me...

Lex didn't type that. I think he tried to quote a article.

**P209** · 07-13-2006

PSP is a gaming platform but in all actuallity who wants to watch a movie on a 6inch screen rather than buy the same movie for their regular tv

**HighPs3** · 07-13-2006

Originally Posted by Lefein

4GB Memory Stick and growing!

Hmm, it's almost like you could fit a movie in there or something....

/strong hint

lol I agree. Doesnt this belong in the PSP section however due to it having NOTHING to do with the PS3.

**Redrider** · 07-13-2006

This is kind of a big leap to compare these two media formats don't you think?

PSP connectivity to the PS3...........hum.............

**fireras** · 07-13-2006

If sony wanted UMD to really take off they would allow third party to make UMD products...this was bound to happen. but as long as sony is not the only one making blu-ray products its good as money.

**Sufi** · 07-13-2006

Originally Posted by LexLuthor

Target discontinues UMD movies

Posted Jul 12th 2006 10:15PM by Ludwig Kietzmann
Filed under: Portable, Sony PSP
With dwindling Hollywood support and anemic sales dragging it down already, the UMD format is unlikely to be pleased by news that all Target stores will cease selling films stored on the proprietary PSP format. Though UMD games are quite safe, this latest move is likely to cast further doubt on the format's viability in the realm of movies. Those looking to place blame will likely find some good targets in the pricing of the discs, the general lack of bonus features compared to their DVD counterparts and the fact that for Universal Media Discs, they aren''t very "universal" at all.

One retailer's move is hardly a death knell for UMD movies, but perhaps the PSP would be better off by forgetting Hollywood and shoving its solid games library (which has made great strides in the last few months) back into the spotlight. Of course, those already enamored by portable movies should probably rush to their nearest Target before the shelves are empty and the format forgotten. Here are some of the titles you might want to remember it by (all chosen at random, of course):

Oh it was fun while it lasted!

LexLuthor, it's ironic you bring this article up and how it says if it's the future of Blu-Ray as well. Why? Let me show you something

Those looking to place blame will likely find some good targets in the pricing of the discs, the general lack of bonus features compared to their DVD counterparts and the fact that for Universal Media Discs, they aren''t very "universal" at all.

You know, I really hope Blu-Ray holds more space than DVD or HD-DVD or else it'd be in big trouble

D

**roosters93** · 07-13-2006

Well the UMD didn't go that well because it came out as a new media but had the same technology and quality as DVDs. It wasn't any better than DVDs so that is why it wasn't very good. Only working with one device is bad too.

**ejm91** · 07-13-2006

Originally Posted by Ricokillercon

Lex sony created CD's.....i still seee those around....

you know you win some you loose some...look at microsof...windows me...

Actuallt Philips created CD, Sony just furthered it.

Sony also made Betamax, I have not see one of them ever!

**Lefein** · 07-13-2006

Betamax didnt have pron. Also, you could not record as many hours on a Betamax tape as you could on a VHS until later in its lifecycle.. By then it was too late.

Almost every single problem and detail that got in the way of Betamaxs success is NOT a problem with the BluRay. Besides, UMD movies were destined to fail, as Memory Stick gets bigger and cheaper noone will pay $20 for a movie with less features that they can download play and delete.

**Naboomagnoli** · 07-13-2006

UMD's have more in common with SNES/N64 cartridges than Blu-ray, simply because UMD's were meant for PSP's only, not as a medium for any other device. It also amuses me when people refer to Betamax so keenly in fanwars, and when Dreamcast is mentioned they say "yes but it's completely different this time".. wow, you mean that you can't just look at history and instantly apply the same template to everything else over the next 5 or 20 years? You don't say!

**PhillyPhreak** · 07-13-2006

Typical Lex; how about you get back under that bridge you came from?

I don't see how the failure of UMDs pertains to Blu-Ray.

**playstationjunkie** · 07-13-2006

i agree, the umd was only created to use on the psp, whereas the blue ray format will be widely used similar to cds, which obviously did very very well, i doubt blue ray will go down like umd did, i dont think it was sonys plan in the first place for umd to be all that sucessful, as long as they still use it for games and they keep on coming out with them

**soldier one** · 07-13-2006

PSP is a gaming platform but in all actuallity who wants to watch a movie on a 6inch screen rather than buy the same movie for their regular tv

A person like me that goes on long trips and dont want to buy just a game player then spend another 200 bucks for just a dvd player etc...

If you ask me its just target who cares, if it was bestbuy or somebody then its a big deal. Just bring into the fact that the psp hasnt really begun yet, right now is like a pre season for it, soon sony will start backing it and inventing things for it then those movies companys and now target will come crawling back to it. You can say it failed yet as long as sony starts to back it.

You know of any UMD players other than the PSP? I don't see how the failure of UMDs pertains to Blu-Ray.

When the ps3 comes out then sony can contentrate on other things, right now they are tied up trying to not only get UMD going but bluray and the ps3 also. Im sure sony has something, if all else fails mabe a psp 2 but hopefully thats plan z.

**Panda Bear Shenyu** · 07-14-2006

Oh it was fun while it lasted!

Lex, I thought you didn't even have a PSP...

**Ridge Racer** · 07-15-2006

The problem with UMD is that they're portable and can only be played on a portable system. Maybe if they either had...

A. A UMD player that would play your movies at home on a tv or
B. Incorporated it somehow into the PS3, say with a slot for both UMD movies and games

then maybe you'd have something there.

**roosters93** · 07-15-2006

They should of made a UMD burner for everyday people to use. Then more people would like UMDs.

**ejm91** · 07-15-2006

Blu-ray is not the medium yet so I really think that it is stupid of Sony to include it as their disc drive. It is not the same as PS2 with DVD as DVD had no competition and everyone who bought a DVD player could see a big difference in PQ over VHS. This is extremly different to Blu-ray, Blu-ray has HD-DVD, a cheaper and so far more reliable format, to compare to, a lot of people will see no difference in PQ of the two (Blu-ray and DVD) as majority of people have SDTV's and the fact that Blu-ray movies will also be more expensive and that people already have a lot of DVD's and they do not want to have to upgrade them all to a new format.

I think that both HD-DVD and Blu-ray are coming onto the market far too soon and they would have been better to be released in 5 years or so time as by then they would have ironed out all the faults and far more people will have a HDTV. I for one will not be buying either even though I do own a HDTV, DVD is just fine for now.

**roosters93** · 07-15-2006

Originally Posted by ejm91

Blu-ray is not the medium yet so I really think that it is stupid of Sony to include it as their disc drive. It is not the same as PS2 with DVD as DVD had no competition and everyone who bought a DVD player could see a big difference in PQ over VHS. This is extremly different to Blu-ray, Blu-ray has HD-DVD, a cheaper and so far more reliable format, to compare to, a lot of people will see no difference in PQ of the two (Blu-ray and DVD) as majority of people have SDTV's and the fact that Blu-ray movies will also be more expensive and that people already have a lot of DVD's and they do not want to have to upgrade them all to a new format.

I think that both HD-DVD and Blu-ray are coming onto the market far too soon and they would have been better to be released in 5 years or so time as by then they would have ironed out all the faults and far more people will have a HDTV. I for one will not be buying either even though I do own a HDTV, DVD is just fine for now.

You do know that the blu-ray drive is fully backwards compatible.

People can keep their DVD's and play them on a PS3. You already have a free blu-ray player (If you bought the PS3 for gaming) which gives you money to buy a HD-DVD Player.

I don't think HD-DVD is cheaper than Blu-ray and if it is not by much. Why do you say HD-DVD is more reliable? It hasa smaller disk capacity, doesn't have Java DVD menus, and isn't backed by most of the competition.
(most of the companies backing HD-DVD are also backing Blu-ray)

**Ridge Racer** · 07-15-2006

Originally Posted by ejm91

Blu-ray is not the medium yet so I really think that it is stupid of Sony to include it as their disc drive.

But there are Blu Ray players out there already. I mean it's new but not new to where the PS3 will be it's first appearance. I agree however that Bluray wouldn't be a factor for most, like me for instance, because I don't own an HDTV. Also the fact that the movies cost about twice as much as DVD's and the fact that I've got tons of DVD's in my collection deters me from moving onto Bluray for the time being. As it was stated above it is backwards compatible to DVD's so there are no worries there as to whether your DVD's would work on it or not. Sony is just going with what they feel will be the future and they want to make sure that their system will be the first to utilize it. Will the Bluray go the way of Beta? Probably not but only time will tell.

**ejm91** · 07-16-2006

Have you both not noticed thaat HD-DVD player out is $500 and the lu-ray player that is out is $1000 odd dollars?

Another point that you failed to comment on (not Ridge Racer) is what will the PS3's blu-ray player be like? As crap as the PS2's DVD, I bet ya' it is. Go read on AVS forums and AV forum and everyone there who has bought a Blu-ray player has taken it back as they are not as good as the current HD-DVD players.

How many companies actually want to change format? I bet only a few want to change all their movies, production equipment to a new format, most would prefer DVD to stay.

I like it how you bolded "Blu-ray is not the medium yet so I really think that it is stupid of Sony to include it as their disc drive." That statment is 100% true, blu-ray is not the medium, DVD is, so why try to argue that point? Blu-ray is not even a certainty for the next-gen formate like DVD was to VHS.