PSP Movie Library Grows in Drips

Who says the PSP is just good for gaming?

With the PSP being readied for release in North America and Europe in the next few months, Sony has been eager to stress that the new portable machine will have a lot of interesting games available. But the PSP does more than just play games, which is why the company is also starting to push the PSP's movie-playback angle as well.

When the PSP ships in North America in March, the first batch will contain a free copy of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 on Universal Media Disc (UMD), Sony's new proprietary disc format. Square Enix is also finishing up work on Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, a computer-generated movie set in the world of the PlayStation hit RPG Final Fantasy VII and which has been confirmed for release on UMD.

But apart from these early offerings, few studios have committed to the UMD format. Sony's movie arm has recently confirmed that it will be experimenting with the format later this April by using the new format for four movies: XXX, Hellboy, Resident Evil 2 and Once Upon A Time In Mexico.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children will be one of the
first movies to find itself on a UMD.

According to recent statements from the company, Sony is negotiating with all of the major Hollywood studios to get their movies on UMD. But with two new high-definition formats - HD-DVD and Blu-Ray - also readying to hit the market, there is considerable room for reluctance on the part of movie studios and confusion from customers.

Apart from actual content, though, the big issue right now is pricing. There has been no indication of how much UMD-based movies will cost or exactly how they would be sold. Companies could pursue any of a number of avenues, including releasing movies on UMD or combining the DVD and UMD copies of a movie in a package.

The matter is complicated further by the PSP's ability to play back movie files that have been ripped from DVDs. Using freely available software, it's possible to transfer copies of movies from computer to memory card that can then be used with the PSP.

Right now, no one knows exactly what is going to happen with the format outside of games, but its clear that with the reality of low-cost DVDs, pricing is going to be key to Sony successfully pushing the UMD format.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games