Sony UMD movie format failing to excite gamers

31 March 2006 18:03 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Sony's Universal Media Disc used in its PlayStation Portable handheld console days look to be numbered as a movie format if reports in the Hollywood Reporter are to be believed.

According to the magazine, Hollywood support for the format as a film medium are waning.

The article says that Paramount, Universal and Imagine have dropped UMD releases completely, with one Universal exec saying: "Sales are near zilch. It's another Sony bomb - like Blu-ray".

20th Century Fox and Buena Vista Home Entertainment have drastically slashed release schedules.

"We continue to evaluate the PSP platform for each title, and if it makes sense for business reasons and the target audience, we will release them", spokeswoman Brenda Ciccone for Paramount told Reuters. "Our focus right now is much more aimed at HD (high-definition) at the moment, though."

Rumours are also rife that Wal-Mart is about to stop stocking UMD movies in its stores however there is no official word as yet.

Observers say one of the problems is that studios have released too many movies in too shorter time.

Full tags

Gaming, PSP, Gaming hardware, Sony