Sony offers flicks on Memory Sticks

It's probably a bit of a stretch to call this the beginning of the end of movies on UMD, but Sony is set to offer at least one other means of getting flicks onto your PSP. Starting next month, you'll be able to grab a bundle consisting of a Memory Stick and a DVD pre-loaded with four PSP-ready movies, along with a code that'll let you unlock and transfer one of 'em (just one) to your PSP. Available for your choosing are four classics of modern cinema: Hitch, S.W.A.T, The Grudge, and XXX: State of the Union, although it's not clear if you can buy additional codes to unlock all four movies. The bundles will be available with either 1GB or 2GB Memory Sticks for $60 and $100, respectively.

[Thanks, Kevin]

[ECM @ Jul 12th 2006 5:44PM]

I think Target yanking UMD movies from their shelves was the "beginning of the end" earlier this week.

[carl @ Jul 12th 2006 5:51PM]

sounds like it would be pretty easy to just use the same key on a different pc or just play with the registry :-)
unless their still using that rootkit?? ha ha

[Edward Palumbo @ Jul 12th 2006 5:53PM]

so... now its even more expensive to watch movies "officially" on your PSP?

hahahaha

**opens DS lite**

[Sean DL @ Jul 12th 2006 5:53PM]

Target wasn't the first, so the "beginning of the end" came long ago....

[deadmonkey @ Jul 12th 2006 5:57PM]

If they just embedded a pre-ensquishenated, PSP optimized video on their regular DVD releases and included a PC program that required the DVD to be in the drive on the PC to transfer/unlock the video to the Duo that would seem to make everyone reasonably happy. No? If I want the movie I buy it once. I can watch it on the big screen or on the PSP and there's a reasonable copy protection mechanism built in. No transcoding fuss. You are soooo close Sony.

[greg @ Jul 12th 2006 5:57PM]

XXX:State of the Union a "Classic of modern cinema"?
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAAAAH

[bliss @ Jul 12th 2006 5:59PM]

I don't really see a market for preloaded movie bundles...maybe music, but not movies.

[Diogo Mendes @ Jul 12th 2006 6:02PM]

How long will it take us to crack these "codes"? :D

[scott @ Jul 12th 2006 6:05PM]

the codes will never be cracked because nobody wants any of those lousy movies!

[Reality Check @ Jul 12th 2006 6:32PM]

All you have to do is buy a regular DVD, rip it, then transcode it to the PSP format. That's what I do.

No need for any of this stuff.

[Smokey The Bear @ Jul 12th 2006 6:33PM]

Smokey Says - Bleh..
Not Interested..

[RyanV @ Jul 12th 2006 6:36PM]

that is what you do, but by no means is you ripping and encoding your DVD legal. It seems resonable enough that you should be able to encode your DVD to watch on a portable device, but anything that bypasses the copy protection of a DVD has questionable legality.

[Mike @ Jul 12th 2006 6:39PM]

Silly

[sracer @ Jul 12th 2006 6:43PM]

RyanV you are correct that digital ripping (of encrypted DVDs) is illegal in the US. However, playing a DVD into a TV tuner card on a PC is perfectly legal. I use Windows Media Encoder to capture the A/V stream from my TV tuner card and record it directly into the format needed for my smartphone. This method is 1:1 (1 minute of capture for every minute of video) but it works, and for those concerned with legality, it is legal.

[m-p{3} @ Jul 12th 2006 6:49PM]

@RyanV

Maybe it's not legal, but I bought the movie AND the media to bring it at my hand, so I don't care if it's legal or not, I paid for it and I will listen it the way I want, after all.

It's like ripping a music CD, who cares if it's an mp3 file, it's the same result. You paid it for your personal use, and they can't say anything about it if you use it only for you.

[jason H @ Jul 12th 2006 6:50PM]

hey Reality Check i wonder if you could erase those movies on the preloaded sticks cuz if you can. isnt $100 cheap for a 2 gig stick?

[Scott @ Jul 12th 2006 6:56PM]

it'll be a week or less before someone will figure out how to get all of those movies. =D

[Torontoguy @ Jul 12th 2006 7:12PM]

So Sony is giving away a free movie for the PSP. You have your choice of one of the four. I wonder how long it will take the cracker pigs to try to get all four off the disc? This is the modern 'net community' way of saying thanks.

[crlake @ Jul 12th 2006 7:13PM]

@RyanV

Bypassing the "copy protection" is ONLY illegal, if I intend on making copies for all my friends and family members, and also, to sell several copies to strangers for $2 bucks each.

However, if bought "it", watch "it" in my house, and put "it" on my iPod or my PSP for my eyes only. (As of this moment in time) It is legal for me to do so. No matter how much Hollywood may wish it otherwise.

[Anonymous @ Jul 12th 2006 7:16PM]

BUt if this were to catch on, could I eventually buy a movie on a 2GB memory stick and pop it into my new UX180P and play it there since UMPCs lack digital drives?

[Silver R. Wolfe @ Jul 12th 2006 7:18PM]

If you own the DVD, you able to rip it to your PC and do whatever you want with the movie unless you begin to distribute it.

So it's not illegal to rip your DVDs, convert them to PSP format, and stick them on a memory stick since you owned the movie anyway.

[cycomachead @ Jul 12th 2006 7:22PM]

It might be useful if you got all 4 movies
BTW- whats this w/ a disc and memory stick- why not sell preloaded sticks
or just the disc- cuz I can prolly find a 1gb stcik for around 20-$30
if I try

[cycomachead @ Jul 12th 2006 7:25PM]

Also does PSP ready mean that they have already been made for a lower res screen and/or compressed
And once its on a Mem stick
copying it
putting it in ANY mem stick reader- connected to my TV?

[LongshotX @ Jul 12th 2006 7:36PM]

Another failed and unnecessary format. Blu-Ray is next...

[scott @ Jul 12th 2006 7:37PM]

Sony really cant do much that will improve my opinion of it, the only thing would be for them to just chuck a lousy 30 gig drive in the psp, call it the psp2 and make firmware on it opensource.

sell games on those cards, make them so they cant be backed up to the drive and everybody gets happy, they get to do their homebrews but you have to buy the psp's developer made games

oh, and make a deal with invisible sheild so it comes with the dang thing protecting the screen...

this will happen when pigs fly, thats why ill never buy one *picks up DS lite and laughs meniacally*

[Xiro @ Jul 12th 2006 7:44PM]

From the start they should have used a locked memory format of some sort a la DS. Battery life would have been a hell of a lot better. Not to mention a lighter unit.

[balagan @ Jul 12th 2006 7:54PM]

It makes me wonder. I think these people coming in here, telling you it is illegal for you to rip your own movies/music for your own personal use are just people from those industries or hired by them to scare people into not doing it. If you notice they never say (And I have noticed this in many postings)you cannot rip movies for your own personal use. Call me crazy...paranoid but these people are just trying to plant the seed of fear in your little CDDVD ripping soul!

[Wyatt_Z @ Jul 12th 2006 7:57PM]

It seems to me that this whole memory card thing isn't new tech and it isn't even a clever new marketing strategy. People have been ripping their DVDs and downgrading them to fit on a PSP memory card for a while. Sony is just disappointed that those movies didn't make as much money as they wanted. So they cross-promote the movie with the memory. Its pathetic, really. There was a whole lot of unlockable crap preloaded onto my Vaio.

[Jason @ Jul 12th 2006 8:02PM]

THIS WON'T WORK...DEAR SONY, AND AM AVAILABLE FOR HIRE TO ASSIST YOUR MARKETING DEPT. MY FEE IS SOMEWHAT NEGOTIABLE:)

[capagotks @ Jul 12th 2006 8:05PM]

you could just use one of those disk recovery utilities (for recovering data of hard drives) on the memo stick to obtain the movies.

*Simple*

[Reggie @ Jul 12th 2006 8:36PM]

3 Things for everyone to Remember:

1. This was a great idea when it came out, and yes Sony has had its problems (many indeed), but this was one of its few bright spots, and that is one of the main reasons why everyone is dogging them now about the UMDs. The UMD was actually pretty cool because it made the PSP into a complete mobile media center, something that the IPOD was not at that time, however not having a better infracture for movie supplies such as an ITunes service helped lead to the UMD downfal.
2. Hitch was a very good movie, and helped me out on many occasions while on dates. Hint: Girls love this movie. However, XXX, I can't phathom up some sort of support for.
3. Everyone is wrong, Target dropping the UMD was not an early "beginning of the end" for the UMD this clealy was: http://www.engadget.com/2004/12/21/how-to-get-videos-and-dvds-onto-your-sony-playstation-portable/ . Damn Weblogs Inc. watch out for the monster lawsuit coming your way.

[RyanV @ Jul 12th 2006 9:42PM]

you guys need to read up on copywright law. US copywright law DOES NOT have the consumer's best interest in mind. just because you arent planning to distribute or sell the material doesnt make it legal under US law. Movie studios and record companies (for the most part) only prosicute if you are distributing or selling copywrighted material.

that being said i back up everything - but i do it knowing the legal side.

[Finished.Law.School @ Jul 12th 2006 10:50PM]

Is this what Sony is coming up with as an alternative to the failed UMD? How do the UMD lovers feel about this?

[Matt @ Jul 12th 2006 11:24PM]

PSP < DS

[Jamesology @ Jul 13th 2006 1:30AM]

UMD Movies failed... not the games.

#3 Edward Palumbo
lol you open your DS Lite, cuz you couldnt afford a PSP. I own both. I love my Video Games.

[simon @ Jul 13th 2006 1:45AM]

RyanV,
Don't assume that US Copyright law is the end all and be all. Those of us in Canuckistan know that our copyright law lets us make as many archival copies as we want as long as we aren't distributing them. Heck some would aregue that even the "no distribution" part is open to debate in our courts.

S

[t crown @ Jul 13th 2006 2:07AM]

why is everyone so down on UMD? can someone please elaborate. I don't understand why they are so bad. I mean , they do exactly what they are supposed to do, rtght?

[HolyJaw @ Jul 13th 2006 4:43AM]

So, who wants to start a pool on when the cracking of the "codes" for these things will be complete?

[shirizaki @ Jul 13th 2006 7:06AM]

The problem with UMD was that it only worked on the PSP. You bought a regular DVD movie, and you were meant to buy another copy to watch on your PSP. Granted the price was less, but the fact stuck in people's necks that they were buying the same thing twice. And for a smaller, less high resolution copy.

When it was found how to backup movies on your computer and transfer them to your PSP, that became the downfall. Some people had the dough to shell out movies twice, but most of the people wanted to pay only once for something.

Every portable device has had a proprietory format for it's games, so it doesn't mean the end for games it just means that you won't be viewing UMD movies anymore.

[goody24 @ Jul 13th 2006 8:29AM]

Sony failed by developing the UMD in the first place. They should have put in a HD, and set up an itunes service for movies, games, and music or let us buy pc cd that we can synch with the PSP.

Sony your having a bad year.

[Sam @ Jul 13th 2006 9:06AM]

The one thing keeping UMDs alive was the fact that ripping your own DVDs to memory sticks resulted in video that wasn't as crisp as UMD video (Sony's firmware limits the resolution of homemeade videos. Some homebrew apps allow full-res ripped video for earlier firmware versions, but not for the latest FW).

Sony had planned (and maybe is still planning) to release other devices capable of playing UMDs, like a UMD player, but I doubt that will catch on, either.

The UMD format was an interesting move by Sony, but the high price point was just stupid.

[Matt @ Jul 18th 2006 1:38PM]

Sony really is have a shitty year - but hey don't at least you can still watch XXX: State of the Union on your rad PSP - lame