Archived from groups: alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 (More info?)
http://www.breakingwindows.com/new/2005/07/umd_movies_are.php
UMD movies are hot. Why?
July 29, 2005
By Matt Paprocki
I'm the type of person who will completely admit when he's wrong. So, I
was wrong. Way wrong. So wrong that it's not even possible to be more
wrong. UMD movies have taken off. They're so hot, retailers are
scrambling to find space for all of the new product. Don't believe
they're selling? Movie studios are pumping out product so fast, we'll
already see Thumbtanic on UMD by the end of the year.
They don't seem to mind either, with over two million of the discs sold
to date. There's a bigger question, and that's why. I went into a Best
Buy store last week and scanned the sections. Some are $15, some are
$20, and some are ridiculously priced at $30. People buy them, and cost
doesn't seem to be a factor.
After an employee approached me (which is impossible not to happen in
their store, annoying or not), I decided to see what he thought. It was
a rare situation, where an employee actually knew and understood the
product, enough to have an intelligent conversation with at least. We
seemed to agree on a few points.
1. The first is that parents will do anything to keep their kids quiet.
They run into the store, grab what's appropriate, and run off. Price is
no object as long as they can have a quiet kid for two hours.
2. People think they're games. With a price point so high, it's not
hard to look at Pirates of the Caribbean and think it's a video game,
especially if they're uniformed. After all, the PSP is a game machine
first.
3. Video quality. These things are undeniably gorgeous. They likely put
out a better picture than most people's TVs.
4. Convenience is probably the most obvious of the lot. Grab a small
disc and pack it up. You have a game system, MP3 player, picture
viewer, and movie format all in one.
If you think about each of those, they can quickly be shot down too.
Why would a parent not buy a game instead, especially with playtimes
into the 10-hour mark in certain titles? The PSP owners are the tech
savvy type, and certainly know what they're doing, so they're buying
games they know are games. Even still, it's not enough to sell that
many discs by accident. Convenience is great, but why not just plunk
down the $80 or so for a portable DVD player and use your existing
discs?
That leaves us with video quality, and whether or not $250 is worth it
to play a movie format that can only be viewed on a single machine is
debatable. Parents aren't going to rush in and plop $30 each car trip,
and dropping that much money for the console alone for a 10-year old
probably hasn't happened very often.
That left us with even fewer answers and more questions. We dug into
the computer to look at some of the upcoming titles, and maybe even
pick a few out we ourselves would buy. I noticed Ghostbusters, one of
my all time favorite movies, and pointed it out.
Looking at this title, it's coming out on a special edition DVD and UMD
on the same day. The DVD comes in a set, with the original movie, the
lackluster sequel, and episodes of the cartoon series (not to mention
other extras). It was listed as $14.99. The UMD's price? The same, with
only the original movie and no extras. I quickly changed my mind.
Another employee came over and the guy I was chatting with told him
about what we had found. This new guy pointed out something even more
surprising. He cashiered a few nights back on a particularly busy day,
and waited on at least three people who were buying BOTH a DVD version
of a movie and a UMD (yes, the same movie). This gets even more
baffling.
It's safe to say again that PSP owners are the tech savvy type, falling
right in the core demographic entertainment companies rely on. With the
PSP, you can rip DVDs to a memory stick, the same way you can MP3s.
Illegal? Yes, in one of those legal gray areas. Why would someone who
bought the DVD buy the other?
There is that chance they were buying for someone else of course. The
sales numbers, well, they don't really seem to indicate that. I'm in no
position to determine how people spend their money; I'm simply curious,
especially considering what they cost. Who are these being sold to, and
why? What benefits do they offer a user, at least enough to warrant a
$30 purchase?
At this rate, I don't think I'll ever figure it out.
http://www.breakingwindows.com/new/2005/07/umd_movies_are.php
UMD movies are hot. Why?
July 29, 2005
By Matt Paprocki
I'm the type of person who will completely admit when he's wrong. So, I
was wrong. Way wrong. So wrong that it's not even possible to be more
wrong. UMD movies have taken off. They're so hot, retailers are
scrambling to find space for all of the new product. Don't believe
they're selling? Movie studios are pumping out product so fast, we'll
already see Thumbtanic on UMD by the end of the year.
They don't seem to mind either, with over two million of the discs sold
to date. There's a bigger question, and that's why. I went into a Best
Buy store last week and scanned the sections. Some are $15, some are
$20, and some are ridiculously priced at $30. People buy them, and cost
doesn't seem to be a factor.
After an employee approached me (which is impossible not to happen in
their store, annoying or not), I decided to see what he thought. It was
a rare situation, where an employee actually knew and understood the
product, enough to have an intelligent conversation with at least. We
seemed to agree on a few points.
1. The first is that parents will do anything to keep their kids quiet.
They run into the store, grab what's appropriate, and run off. Price is
no object as long as they can have a quiet kid for two hours.
2. People think they're games. With a price point so high, it's not
hard to look at Pirates of the Caribbean and think it's a video game,
especially if they're uniformed. After all, the PSP is a game machine
first.
3. Video quality. These things are undeniably gorgeous. They likely put
out a better picture than most people's TVs.
4. Convenience is probably the most obvious of the lot. Grab a small
disc and pack it up. You have a game system, MP3 player, picture
viewer, and movie format all in one.
If you think about each of those, they can quickly be shot down too.
Why would a parent not buy a game instead, especially with playtimes
into the 10-hour mark in certain titles? The PSP owners are the tech
savvy type, and certainly know what they're doing, so they're buying
games they know are games. Even still, it's not enough to sell that
many discs by accident. Convenience is great, but why not just plunk
down the $80 or so for a portable DVD player and use your existing
discs?
That leaves us with video quality, and whether or not $250 is worth it
to play a movie format that can only be viewed on a single machine is
debatable. Parents aren't going to rush in and plop $30 each car trip,
and dropping that much money for the console alone for a 10-year old
probably hasn't happened very often.
That left us with even fewer answers and more questions. We dug into
the computer to look at some of the upcoming titles, and maybe even
pick a few out we ourselves would buy. I noticed Ghostbusters, one of
my all time favorite movies, and pointed it out.
Looking at this title, it's coming out on a special edition DVD and UMD
on the same day. The DVD comes in a set, with the original movie, the
lackluster sequel, and episodes of the cartoon series (not to mention
other extras). It was listed as $14.99. The UMD's price? The same, with
only the original movie and no extras. I quickly changed my mind.
Another employee came over and the guy I was chatting with told him
about what we had found. This new guy pointed out something even more
surprising. He cashiered a few nights back on a particularly busy day,
and waited on at least three people who were buying BOTH a DVD version
of a movie and a UMD (yes, the same movie). This gets even more
baffling.
It's safe to say again that PSP owners are the tech savvy type, falling
right in the core demographic entertainment companies rely on. With the
PSP, you can rip DVDs to a memory stick, the same way you can MP3s.
Illegal? Yes, in one of those legal gray areas. Why would someone who
bought the DVD buy the other?
There is that chance they were buying for someone else of course. The
sales numbers, well, they don't really seem to indicate that. I'm in no
position to determine how people spend their money; I'm simply curious,
especially considering what they cost. Who are these being sold to, and
why? What benefits do they offer a user, at least enough to warrant a
$30 purchase?
At this rate, I don't think I'll ever figure it out.
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