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Everyone Hates UMD

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the right-there-with-you dept.

PSP-Fanboy writes "More bad news for the UMD, which is already dying a speedy death at retail: not only are stores not stocking them, but no one really wants to buy UMD movies either. Although 40% of PSP owners claimed UMD media was a big reason why they plopped down a few hundred on Sony's pixel-spurting game brick, the complaint from actual owners is there just isn't anything worth goddamn buying on UMD."

2 of 275 comments (clear)

  1. Related news: 4GB Memory Stick Duo now available by MojoStan · · Score: 5, Informative
    I'm surprised TFA didn't mention UMD's competition from high-capacity memory cards for playing movies. Note that the max capacity of UMD is 1.8GB and the PSP has a flash memory card slot for Sony's Memory Stick Pro Duo format. Movies can be played from these memory cards and several easy-to-use utilities exist for ripping DVDs and encoding into MPEG-4 at the PSP's 480x272 resolution.

    Movies on memory cards don't have DVD-like menus like UMD movies do. However, I'm sure many users like the memory card's rewritability, PC compatibility, and ability to use existing DVDs to make PSP movies.

    4GB Memory Stick Duo cards were released this month and Dell sells it for $136 (most sellers price it around $200). 2GB Memory Stick Duos have fallen to around $80-$90.

    Also, the PSP displays photos and plays MP3 and AAC. UMD is not dead because they distribute their games on it. Remember, the PSP actually plays games, too.

    --
    TO START
    PRESS ANY KEY

    Where's the 'ANY' key? I see Esk, Kitarl, and Pig-Up...

  2. (-8 Million, Ignorant) by tm2b · · Score: 5, Informative
    making song files incompatible with any portable player other than an iPod.
    What in the blue bloody hell is wrong with people that they keep claiming this?

    ONCE AGAIN: AAC is the standard for MPEG4 audio, every bit as open as MP3 (both encumbered by licensed IP, less open than Ogg Vorbis). It's Apple's "Fair Play" DRM, wrapped around the AAC format, that's exclusive to the Apple iPods and the Motorola ROKR (excusably, people also like to forget that beast). Note that Fair Play is not a factor when you rip the songs yourself.

    AAC is supported by tons of players, including (just from a quick Google) the Sony Network Walkman and the Viliv P1. Hell, there's a press release from 2000 when Toshiba first announced theirs.

    I'm sure there are tons more, AAC support is integrated in a number of the chipsets available now.

    Jackass.
    --
    "It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny