Despite the fact that the platform hasn't quite taken off like Sony was hoping it would the company is still asserting that UMDs are going strong. In the face of the medium not becoming a hot spot for movies as originally planned, the PSP running a distant second in the handheld market, and the fact that Sony itself has released a form of the PSP that doesn't need to use a UMD at all the company says that UMDs are still where it is at.
At a session for independent developers at GDC the company described the format as "alive and well." Further elaborating, they said that they had absolutely no plans to stop supporting the strangely shaped disc/cartridge hybrids and will of course be continuing to ship the physical UMDs to retailers as well as distribute games digitally.
I suppose as long as the platform is there to support it UMDs will always be "alive and well," and with Sony saying that there are 17 million PSPs in North America and 60 million worldwide it doesn't look like it will be "dying" any time soon. Can we really think that this is where Sony wanted the UMD to be when they launched the PSP, though? Maybe "alive and slightly disappointing" might be a more apt description.
UMD "alive and well," says Sony [CVG]
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Contest:
11:00 PM on 03.14.2010
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I fail to see their logic here.
As far as I'm concerned, the UMD is dead beyond PSP games. Every other aspect they tried to achieve with it died.
So how about that PSP-4000? Still got a UMD drive? I hope so.
I've got at least 500hours+ logged on various games on my PSP. Playing through PS1 games on it is also the most awesome thing since... ever.
Not to mention it's ridiculously popular in Japan.
I fail to see why "leagues of thoughtless western dopes haven't bought PSPs en mass" means it hasn't taken off
Oh, and on-topic, I've always thought UMDs were fine for games. Huge failures as movie devices, though. The only time I think I ever bothered to watch one was during Hurricane Katrina, when me and 3 of my friends crowed around my PSP and watched Kill Bill Vol. 1 while the power was out in my dorm.
Oh wait.
X000 screen
2 nubs (allows for more robust shooters)
Really go for the gold and give full psn access! I want my psp to be able to connect, see my friends, message them, voice and text chat and if possible, add trophies...that would be hot!
Also, don't go the GO route. Give me X000 style Digital and either a better UMD or cart system.
Though right now I would really enjoy a redesign that reduced hand fatigue and the trophy thing cause in the back of my mind, while playing a psp game I know I could be playing a PS3 game with a bit more comfort and earning trophies.
And now I use my PSPfat as a PSPgo whenever I happen to play it :)
The PSP Socom's are fantastic online, Monster Hunter Freedom (1, 2 + Unite) are possibly my favourite single player / co-op games ever, The portable GTA's were brilliant, God of War, Killzone Liberation, MGS Portable Ops, etc etc.
The PSP and UMD format have some fucking brilliant games, it's crazy that mainstream westerners have kind of missed out on them.
I'm currently playing and really enjoying (downloaded) Gran Turismo PSP, and Holy invasion of Privacy Badman, what did i do to deserve this!
Sure if i'm in my living room, i'll probably play on the PS3, but if i'm smoking in my den, or if the Mrs is watching TV, I'll grab the old PSP 1000 and play some of it's fantastic perfect-for-pick-up-and-play games.
I had my PSP before my PS3, so back in those days I used to play it over my PS2, I used to play a metric fucktonne of PSP, and that was before there were downloadable games for it.
PSP just has a lot of problems. UMD games still have awful load times, ProDuo memory format is priced far more than its worth. Sorry, 8GB is not worth $40 when I can get the same on an SD card for $20. Then again, we're talking about a company still sell 2 PS2 memory cards for $25 and those are only 8MB. What a crock of shit.
I also buy movies on UMD, I got The Dark Knight the other day for £2 and the whole first series of 24 for a mere £8. A local second hand store also got some PSPGOs in and thought they were the future so reduced all his PSP games to stupid prices.
Long live the UMD I say.
I fail to see why people say the UMD format failed they just switched strategy when movies werent succesful. The things are still selling and keeping a format around for 5 years is an accomplishment by itself.
Im not saying it is what they originally intended it to be but I doubt anyone at Sony cries itself to sleep over it.
… Oh, right.
^THIS^
Because you own a PSP and have a whole bunch of PSP games to play on your PSP with your other friends who have a PSP does not mean that the UMD format is a success. I would probably rank it just below Mini-Disc and perhaps a step above Laserdisc. i.e. firmly in the FAIL category.
When PCs/HIFIs and other Multimedia devices come equppied with UMD drives straight off the store shelf, then you might be able to consider the format a WIN. In fact, I would venture to say that any new fangled physical format for games introduced from this day on is going to be fighting an uphill battle to make any kind of impression.
"I also buy movies on UMD, I got The Dark Knight the other day for £2 and the whole first series of 24 for a mere £8."
The first sign that a format is heading towards its inevitable doom. Price cuts, heavy levels of second hand bargain trading. Ever consider that the cheap price is because nobody else wants them? You probably wouldn't find a Dark Knight DVD for 2 quid.
As an aside: I'll disagree with Robbo the Hood on one thing. Bluray made more of an impact as it is supported in many other industries aside from games, and is more of a universal format in that respect. In other words it wasn't a PS3 mission the PS3 just supports it. You can buy a BluRay player and BluRay discs from movie stores without even knowing what a PS3 is. I still don't think it is a particular success though.