Target drops UMD, Sony turns to MemoryStick Duo for movies

With
Sony's Movie Universal Media Discs (for PSP) turning the way of Sony's Betamax
format in the early 80's, Target has now decided to do drop the UMD Video disc
format from its shelves.  At this time, most of the movie labels that
offered movies on UMD have already decided to no longer make any new movies
available on the format due to poor sales.  As a result, Sony Pictures is
one of the last to offer new movies on the format.  They have already
pulled back from its large scale promotion of the format and may even pull the movie format
altogether.

However, Sony is not giving up yet when it comes
to making movies available for the PSP.  They have decided to
start releasing movies with MemoryStick Duo cards as Entertainment Pack
bundles.  The card comes with a DVD containing four titles, in which the
customer is entitled to watch one of the four movies on their PSP using an
unlock code.  Once the customer unlocks a movie, it is transferred to the
MemoryStick Duo card and can then be played on the PSP only.  The other
titles become disabled once the unlock code has been used. 

These Entertainment Pack bundles cost $60 for the
1GB card and $100 for the 2GB card.  The first Entertainment Packs to
hit the market will include a choice of Hitch, S.W.A.T., The Grudge and
XXX: State of the Union.  As these prices apparently match Sony's regular
1GB and 2GB MemoryStick Duo card RRP pricing, they claim that the movie is
included for no additional charge. 

Well, it appears that Sony sees the writing on the wall and is going with their backup plan for delivering content to the PSP. The company announced today that it will begin selling 1GB and 2GB MemoryStick Duo cards that come bundled with an installation DVD. With the installation DVD, one can use an unlock code to install one of four movies to the MemoryStick Duo card. In its initial outing, the movies available to choose from will be Hitch, S.W.A.T., The Grudge or XXX: State of the Union. "The Memory Stick Entertainment Pack bundles fun with function. This collaboration with Sony Pictures provides a quick, simple way to get a full-length movie onto Memory Stick media at no extra charge," said Mike Kahn, senior manager for Memory Stick Media at Sony Electronics.

If these movies can only be got as part of a bundle with a MemoryStick Duo
card, I cannot see these even doing anywhere near as well as the failing UMD
format, unless the consumer is given the ability to purchase unlock codes for
the remaining titles in the pack.  It is also unclear whether the consumer
will be able to delete the movie off the card and be able to load it back on
later.  If not, then if the consumer wishes to keep their movie, they may
have to permanently sacrifice a large portion of their card for the movie. 

Finally, while they claim the movie is included at no cost, this is of no
real benefit for consumers who generally go for cheaper branded products,
which may be half the price of what Sony is charging for their MemoryStick Duo
cards of the same capacity.

Source: Daily Tech