Universal Studios

[civicspeedny]

why arent they making movies on bluray?

[JTK]

Originally Posted by civicspeedny

why arent they making movies on bluray?

Because they got burned badly on UMD/PSP discs so they're not real big fans of Sony right now.

Can't say I blame them, really. The PSP is a ripoff and a disaster and UMD was/is a needless, expensive proprietary format that is useless to anyone that doesn't own a PSP to begin with.

Completely redundant and needless. Sony should have just made the PSP a game system/portable DVD player or *gasp* just concentrate on making it the best portable handheld gaming system instead of worrying about being a "jack of all trades that does a lot of things ok but nothing great."

Frankly, that's my worry with the PS3. Same talk. Same rhetoric. Same approach. I would have thought Sony would have learned from the disasterous failure of the PS-X in Japan, of all places, a year ago but apparently not...

[Applefiend]

I'm really happy with my PSP, a lot happier than I am with my DS. This whole thing where we have a handheld that weighs your brain, has a puppy poo cleaning up simulator, and lots of games where you scribble really fast.... I ain't with that...

Tekken Dark Resurrection, Loco Roco, Gitaroo Man, GTA, Katamari, Ace Combat, SSX, PSP just keeps giving man. We're getting a real Metal Gear game just for PSP soon.

But yeah, video on UMB disks are kinda silly. I got a movie, I paid DVD or above price for it, I can only play it on one device. Screw that.

Although at least Sony where bright enough to use MPEG-4 AVC on it....!

[Psiweaver]

PSP is okay but I much prefer my DS for the sheer fun of it and be able to play easily with my friends as well as the fact that less dead pixel problems. There is a reason that the DS was the best selling console last month and is the best selling console currently and thats not just for portable systems but for all formats.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Applefiend

Although at least Sony where bright enough to use MPEG-4 AVC on it....!

Quoted for supreme irony and making me chuckle.

Originally Posted by Psiweaver

PSP is okay but I much prefer my DS for the sheer fun of it and be able to play easily with my friends as well as the fact that less dead pixel problems. There is a reason that the DS was the best selling console last month and is the best selling console currently and thats not just for portable systems but for all formats.

For all the naysayers out there...somehow Nintendo just keeps on making big profits, quarter after quarter after quarter.

I love the DS myself. It's a nice PURE gaming system that doesn't try to be any more or any less.

[mainman]

Originally Posted by Applefiend

I'm really happy with my PSP, a lot happier than I am with my DS. This whole thing where we have a handheld that weighs your brain, has a puppy poo cleaning up simulator, and lots of games where you scribble really fast.... I ain't with that...

Tekken Dark Resurrection, Loco Roco, Gitaroo Man, GTA, Katamari, Ace Combat, SSX, PSP just keeps giving man. We're getting a real Metal Gear game just for PSP soon.

But yeah, video on UMB disks are kinda silly. I got a movie, I paid DVD or above price for it, I can only play it on one device. Screw that.

Although at least Sony where bright enough to use MPEG-4 AVC on it....!

Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops only makes me buy a PSP. Just waiting till the game comes out and the stick controller on the left side is incorporated in the PSP (allready out in Japan).

[phloyd]

I love watching UMDs on my PSP when I travel.

Based on the second hand prices of the movies there is still a decent market for them.

If what Universal said were true I would be able to get the movies on eBay for pennies on the dollar. Sadly (for me) that is not the case.

[Psiweaver]

If only they were pennies on the dollar i might buy some UMD movies to watch on my psp rather than buying 4 gig memory stick cards to put movies on.

[BTBuck1]

funny how this became a psp thread when it was entitled something about why Universal doesn't make Blu Ray.

I think the "universal got burned on UMD" is a pretty weak argument on why they don't support BR. Theres way more behind it than UMD movies. Remember when Universal backed Divx. They backed the wrong format, and I think they are just hesitant to bet against DVD again.

Many companies "got burned" on UMD, and I believe it's their own fault. $24.99 for a movie only playable on a PSP is ridiculous. Had they been $14.99 for new releases & $9.99 for catalog titles, there may have been much more success. The movie studio's however flooded the market with UMD titles with outrageous prices, and after most people bought a few movies they realized, this is a waste of money, where had they been cheaper most wouldn't have even concidered it "A Waste"

So once again, if we go back to the "burned" theory, then why are all the other movie studios (who also got burned) all backing Blu-Ray?

Hmm...

only Universal knows the answer to this.

[suprmallet]

Perhaps Universal was the only one who felt that the burn was unacceptable. Also, we know that Fox is with BD for BD's copy protection, and that Disney is with it because it has a thicker interactive layer, which in theory allows them to do more.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by suprmallet

Perhaps Universal was the only one who felt that the burn was unacceptable.

Very likely. That's about the best theory going anywhere on the whole thing, really.

Also, we know that Fox is with BD for BD's copy protection, and that Disney is with it because it has a thicker interactive layer, which in theory allows them to do more.

Yup.

[Psiweaver]

Unless you know someone at universal who was in on the decision about it we won't know. Can you imagine if sony or time warner bought universal though and started releasing its stuff on blu-ray too. What a coup that would be.