Sony Preparing to Phase Out UMD Movies? Memory Stick Tester Planned

July 17th, 2006, 19:00 Posted By: wraggster

More on the UMD Movie Issue from Spong

As most movie and games industry pundits seek to write off the UMD as a viable format to host film releases, it looks as though Sony is set to rethink its offer to studios and retailers, with DVD movie combo packs set to ship with Sony Memory Sticks and PSP encoding software.

It was reported earlier this year on SPOnG that major studios were backing away from the format, and recently reports have flared talking of major US retailers backing away from UMD movies, or discontinuing their sale altogether.

Sony's answer, or at least the first stab at an answer, is to release Memory Stick Entertainment Packs. Two versions will be released, a one GB version (MSX-M1GSTEP) and a two GB (MEX-M2GSEP) version. In the US pricing will be $60 and $100 respectively, the same Sony asks for it's standard first-party Memory sticks.

Each pack will come complete with an installer DVD housing four Sony Pictures movies, Hitch, S.W.A.T., The Grudge, or XXX: State of the Union, and software that will install them onto the PSP ready-encoded. The only shortcoming right now is the resolution, with Sony offering the movies at a resolution of 320x240, much lower than the 480x272 the hardware can manage.

We'll bring you up to speed with this interesting development as more information is released.

There are 11 comments - Join In and Discuss Here