Sony VP Ray Maguire claims UMD 'wasn't brilliant' for third parties, forgets we're living in the present
By Paul Miller 
posted March 11th 2009 4:04PM
posted March 11th 2009 4:04PM
[Via Joystiq]
posted March 11th 2009 4:04PM
A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
I think UMD's would have stood a fighting chance if they made them recordable and sell a UMD burner for cheap. Even then, it would still be a tough sell.
haha. funny comment.
Sony intentionally made UMD least compatible, unlicensed format (a-la SACD) as a way to limit piracy.
It's always puzzled me y psp is failing hard..I have ds n psp. Can Some one give me best reasons y ds is killing psp,,? Besides price.
* roughly 10x more games to choose from (my estimate).
* touchscreen introducing different, more interactive gameplay experience.
* microphone being standard on the console since being introduced (and not some lame add-on that almost nobody buys and no games publisher will want to make mandatory requirement for their games, in fear they won't sell)
* some hot-selling games, like Nintendogs, using the mic to its advantage (and selling boatloads), as well as those Brain Training apps.
* doing crosswords on a DS, for example, is possible in a very natural way. So are so many other genres where writing, pointing, drawing, colouring, cooking and so on are made far more palatable to the masses than hitting a dpad. Meteos is addictive as hell on the touchscreen and I can't imagine it being half as fun without one. I can go on....
As far as I know the psp is not failing hard. Yes it is not having the same sales as the DS but that is not failing. I would not say 10 million units sold is failing.
One of the major problems they have had is that many people are just buying the psp and using it as an emulator. Just like most game systems sony sales the psp at a loss hopping to make up the lost revenue through game licensing. If people buy the psp and don't buy games because they are using emulators then sony is just loosing money.
Still sony has made the only portable game system that has been able to compete with nintendo for more then a few short months. The fact that there is talk of a psp2 is amazing. I personally like the psp more than the ds.
Now we have the ipod touch and the iphone entering the market of portable gaming. I don't think anyone saw that coming. Who would have thought that apple would market a phone and a music player as a gaming device. It leaves us with just one more option when it comes to portable gaming.
Sure, in hindsight UMD was a horrible idea. But you have to remember that using flash or hard drive storage for the PSP wasn't exactly the most cost-efficient (energy-wise or price-wise- I remember spending almost $100 for a 512mb card). If anything, they should have used mini-DVDs that should have been able to have played on regular DVD players (or added a TV-out from the get-go). Nowadays, it's a lot more feasible to roll out a larger digital library of games/movies because flash memory is much cheaper.
Sony just needs to understand that it does not have to create a new format (i.e., betamax, ATRAC3) just so they can maximize their own profits, because in the end it's these proprietary formats that drive consumers away (thus losing money in the long run anyway).
"Q: What's the future of the UMD?
Ray Maguire: It still represents a reasonably cost-effective way of getting data to the consumer. My gut feeling though is that people are looking for more snack-type content, and the downloads side of it will increasingly become a bigger part of its future.
It's also something that development can get into at a much, much lower entry cost, and I think we can see this everywhere, whether it be iPhone applications, whether it be mobile phones - there is an appetite for smaller, snack-type games. "
-------------------
I really dislike it when people are selectively quoted out of context and then the UMD hate is taken to extremes. That is also what he said. More snack-type games via downloads (ie. dumbified titty and fart apps and DS-type games, I presume, har), and mentioning the UMD still represents a cost-effective way of getting data to the customer.
I agree. UMD is great for storing as much as it did (up to 1.8GB) and selling that to the masses in-store, and still is. Yes downloads are playing a bigger role, but see if you can think of something better for the years that PSP sold (and still will) and justify it to management (ie. make money on it, not lose or increase prices) while in this transitional 'downloads-are-growing-and-flash-memory-is-getting-cheaper' period of the next few years.
From: Engadget/Joystiq
so it looks like either way we know where Sony's emphasis lies, and we won't be shedding too many tears if / when it comes to pass.
Q: What's the future of the UMD?
Ray Maguire: IT STILL REPRESENTS A REASONABLEY COST-EFFECTIVE WAY OF GETTING DATA TO THE CONSUMER. My gut feeling though is that people are looking for more snack-type content, and the downloads side of it will increasingly become a bigger part of its future.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/ray-maguire-part-two?page=2
Congrats Engadget/Joystiq for you sensationalisim. Next time please bother to read past page 1 before you you make such sweeping generalizations.
I for one prefer umd's because i dont want to go download anything. I think that sony should modify the umd drive so that it accepts both a a umd disc and a cartidge shaped like a umd with a special notch in it that dosent screw up the laser when put in and metal contacts somewhere on it. That way they could release solid state games i the store and sell a storage umd so you could download the games yourself
haha FAIL just like there Mini Disc players, why don't they just stop all this bull shit with tryin to establish there own format, the only thing that really popped off is Blu Ray but hell there was already gonna be a high Def disc so to me they didnt make that, now if they would of made a smaller disc or some bull shit like that then yea id have to say fail again
Only Blu-ray took off? What about CDs (with Philips), 3.5" floppy disks, HDV, AVCHD (with Panasonic) and all of the broadcast variants of Beta? In reality, MiniDisc was a huge hit nearly everywhere except North America. So while Sony has obviously had some very public failed formats, they've also had a lot that you're still using to this day.
I use MiniDisc (Hi-MD) daily. They have many unique qaulities that no flash or HD players have. Live track-marking, for one. A focus on excellent recording. Excellent remotes. Removable batteries for power anytime, anywhere without downtime or silly expired batteries that can't be removed, so your unit doesn't get tossed out when the battery eventually can't hold a charge. Recording from optical, line and mic with excellent pre-amps, allowing the use of quality microphones. Native gapless. Upload and download to/from PC, not just one way.
They rule.
Downsides?
SonicStage. Slow transfer rates. 1GB limited capacity per disc. Etc. But they are nearer to the perfect device for me than anything out there selling now.
So I gladly use their great proprietary technology. It's too bad they DRM restricted it for so long, turning everybody off what really were great products under the hood. Good thing most of those restrictions have been relaxed now.
1. PSP is not failing. They have only sold 50 million units compared to DS' 100 million, but they have a different target market. If they were selling the same product, then they would be failing. 50 million = success + profit.
2. I love PSP, but UMD is stupid. Optical drive uses more battery than flash, makes a noise when spinning. Now that flash memory is so cheap, UMD is legacy hardware.
3. I am so glad they made PSP, if you want to play another Mario game, please go buy a DS, cause I dont want one. I played kids games when I was a kid, now its about Metal Gear Portable ops, Silent Hill, and God Of War, Crisis Core on the move - yes please, PSP rocks.
I have real high hopes for the next gen PSP.
I know this discussion has been done over & over with everyone hating on UMD... and thinking we are all smarter than SONY. But we have the PSP to compare our wishful revisions to, Sony had to start from scratch!
Sony has listened to our input, a little, and made some minor upgrades to the current model...video out, skype, new LCD, switch placement, slimmer, battery improvements. From a business perspective, its hard to make all these changes, while still supporting the original model as superior to the competition...they need to encourage repeat business and customer loyalty, and not screw the early adopters that gave them the market research to start with. Its similar to yearly changes in auto models, Ford F-150s stay the same, with minor changes and enhancements because of feedback, and debugging. Eventually, after a few revisions, an all new model is rolled out.
With all the feedback, current tech available, and new markets and trends, its time Sony rolled out an all new model. And like the auto industry, the motor and tranny from my 2005 F-150 will not fit into the chassis & frame of a 2008 F-150, but both vehicles are regarded as superior to the competition by Ford.
So here's what could happen....(if you read through my rambling so far... this is what I think could be realistic... )
No more UMD.. hopefully. Sony has a thing for proprietary formats, thats's why we were all force fed UMD to begin with. My opinion, much like everyone elses', is that UMD was a dead end from the start, but flash was not what it is now, and optical media was the best option THEN. I'm sure SONY did a ton of homework, and didn't come to that decision lightly. It seems obviousl now, but in 2005 it was'n so clear.
Its possible, a Blu-ray style UMD with increased capacity could be used, which would ensure backwor compatability wit gen 1 UMD, but very unlikely for too many reasons... # 1 is cost, but also batt drain, weight, and possible digital disto of old titles. The PS store, PS3 model of digital distro of legacy games and PS1 titles for current PSP enforces this.
Which brings me to that...Digital disrto will be key to the new system. I highly doubt a 3G - 4G - WiMax or any type of WWAN. No PSP phone, no Kindle2 type3G modem... SONY is not likely to get into license agreements with wireless carriers. The T-Mobile experiment with PSP did not work out.
We will get WiFi, prob b/g/n and Bluetooth- headset, file transfer, PS3 remote, and interaction with PS3 similar to what we have now. And knowing SONY's love of all things proprietary, its own network protocols for future use? WWAN means media extender potential... music & videos streaming from NAS?
Games & media also available on MS or M2... Magic Gate will be used to control piracy, it is already there, and I believe it could work.
For the meat & potatoes... look at the current netbook & mobile phone systems ... lots of strength in a tiny form factor. These will be the basis for the PSP...tons of RAM for lightening fast loads...SSD... but no optiopn for size. SONY likes to tell you what you want. I would guess around 32GB, mainly for OS, and system uses. And web browser cache... The browser in our new PSP wont suck. It will have to be outstanding, because were in a digital distro ecosystem. Software will control batt life. The radios may chew it up, but switches & no optical drive keep it going longer. The latest display is good, but by the time this is in mass production, OLED price will be in perfect reach, and OLED uses a lot less energy.
And touchscreen will be a major player, along with all the buttons people have been crying for...second analog (and virtual touch screen analogs?) with 2 shoulder triggers per side. Kiss that horrible text entry system goodbye. Thank God. The touchscreen will be cool for games...as proven by the DS, and even on its worst day, the touchscreen qwerty is way better than that reject text message input
Everyone has seen that cool render of the sliding screen PSP. Its not from SONY, but SONY does make a UMPC in that same form factor. PSP is not a PC, netbook, or UMPC, its a game console wit PMP abilities. I think the first PSP was successful, and the new one will be kickass. The Pandora is basically a DIY PSP, to try to fill in some of the missing pieces. The official firmware of our new PSP wont be open source, But it may gain market share by catering to hombrew users...SONY released a Linux in the PS3, so why not give the people what they want and offer dual boot PSP with linux.
just some random thoughts.