Here come the bargain bins, goodbye Sony UMD for PSP |
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Let the fire sales begin, Sony is axing the UMD, says Gamespot. UMD is done, dead, zilch, kaput. So what does Sony do? Announce a new entertainment pak called the Memory Stick Entertainment Packs (MSEP) that contained movies on a Sony Memory stick, of course.
Sony, who isn’t a stranger to failed entertainment formats (Betamax, MiniDisc, soon Blu-Ray) has been losing support for UMD for awhile now. In march, Universal and Paramount stopped releasing its movies on UMD, and Wal-Mart and Best Buy recently decreased their presence in stores.
The emphasis on the Cinematical quote above is mine. Who is psyched about Blu-Ray now? Sure, if it comes with the PS3 it might get some juice like UMDs did on the PSP, but this clearly shows that having a cool gaming system doesn’t guarantee the success of a proprietary format.
Nearly a year ago I called UMDs a collector’s item when reading reports that they were selling well (August 2005) — was that just marketing spin or what? — and then came the stories that they were causing confusion in stores (January 2006). And now this. Talk about a short lifespan.
Keep your eyes peeled for the UMD bargain bins.
[…] format is in significant supply. In fact, I think there are almost as many PSP UMDs available and dying was the word on that format a year ago. Retail store shelf space, usually at a premium at least suggests availability, but as […]
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