17 million UMDs sold--only 9 million of them were games

by Dan Choi { Sep 1st 2005 at 9:12AM }

Sony UMD Judging by the headline over at 1up, you might be led to believe that 17 million UMD movies were sold since Sony released the PlayStation Portable, but you would be wrong: that number includes both 9 million UMDs for games, and another 8.2 million for (legally?) PSP-formatted movies. Sony's still set their sights high, however, with an expectation of 130 million total UMDs sold in (or by the end of) 2008 (depending on which site you believe). A Sony rep stated that the company's currently maxed-out manufacturing capacity of 200,000 Universal (er, proprietary) Media Discs per day will also be pushed to 500,000 discs per day (probably by the end of that same 2008 timeline).

The hardest number for me to believe, however, was the one claiming that UMD movies would be expected to make up more than 60 percent of all UMD sales, despite the fact that they've nearly reached 50 percent of sales already. So people really are buying as many movies for the little handheld with a big screen as they are games. I guess those GBA Video guys were on to something after all.

[via 1up; thanks mkp]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

White Rose Duelist @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

IIRC, Sony also says there are 6.5 million PSPs out there. Which means that the average user has 2-3 discs total. Not so good.

32_Footsteps @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't there been around 6 million PSPs sold, give or take a few 100k? Selling a hair under 3 software titles (and not all of them games) per system is not a good sign, given the amount of software available for it.

Seriously, that ratio of software to systems sold is almost N-Gage level.

steve @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

I can't believe that people are actually buying UMD movies! At least with DVDs you can watch them on your TV, PC, games console and rip them for portable devices. UMD just seems so limited to me.

treqie @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

You are wrong. I don't have the numbers in my head, but that's probably the amount of PSPs shipped. Not sold. I'd guess around half of that.

NergiZed @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

And even less if you consider the people that are trading in their PSP (me).

Eran Hawke @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

This is sad news indeed. Sony shouldn't need to run around and remind us that they aren't selling any games for their over priced toy.

I refuse to pay for a UMD movie since I can buy the DVD for less and get better quality video and audio. I can always copy it to a Memory Stick should I choose to watch it on the go.

Having said that: I never watch anything on my PSP any more. The PSP is a big gimmick that fails completely as a game system.

Thanks for making me regret the money I spent on it Sony. :(

Steve G @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

It looks like I'm not the only one insulted by having to buy yet another version of a movie I already own just to fill Sony's purse. Sony's making the one mistake they've never made yet. A system's success depends largely on the support of the game developers.

n8 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

UMD is limited, but convenient. Once the price gets down to $10 per, and the distribution chanels include airport gift stores, I can easily see 60% of UMD sales being movies.

As for the number of titles sold per unit, it is low, but not relatively low. Considering the console has been out just a few months, and that almost all the titles available now were (mediocre) launch titles, there's been little reason to have more than a couple games. IGN is reporting that there will be an additional 6 games on the shelves this month (most of them mediocre) and 17 in October, maybe as many as many 24 in November, and 60-70 with release dates "in 2005." October and November are going to be the make-it-or-break-it months for the PSP, with highly anticipated titles like Marvel Nemisis, Infected, GTA Liberty Stories, Armored Core, Star Wars Battlefront, SOCOM, LoTR, The Sims, and of course, Neopets. If those don't do well, maybe we can start comparing the PSP to the N-Gage. Until then, let's all watch movies!

NergiZed @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

Which actually means that it's more like 5-6 UMDs per PSP, that's not that bad, it's higher then my DS games to my DS ratio, which is 3 right now, but I'm getting Nintendogs once I can find it and Jump Superstars is still in the mail.

Michael McGuire @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

The only PSP I've ever seen "in the wild" was a kid watching Kill Bill at a fast food restaurant.

Chiablo @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

6 million PSP's may have been shipped to retailers, but it's a safe bet that a third of those had technical flaws (dead pixels, chipped screen, unresponsive buttons, etc.)

I know several people with PSP's, but only one has bought the UMD movie discs. Even then, he only bought one and traded it in to gamestop.

Eran Hawke @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

Why on earth are kids watching Kill Bill?

That is not a family friendly movie. :/

NergiZed @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

Haven't touched my PSP in 4 monthes, and I haven't seen any PSP's around.
Funny though, me and my friend were randomly doodling in Picto-chat, and two Sony fanboys came up and said how much the DS suked, yet I haven't seen a single person use a PSP in any way, including carrying, while I've seen more then 10 DSes being played in some way or another.
Were are all the PSPs? Do people just buy PSP movies and games for the sack of buying them and them not usa them at all?

Kamalot @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

Since when are Marvel Nemisis, Armored Core, Star Wars Battlefront, The Sims, and of course, Neopets "Highly Anticipated" titles?

Neopets? PSP must be for kiddies!

R-Bro @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

That's especially difficult to believe given the extremely limited number of UMD movies available (speaking of which, is there a list somewhere?). That said, I finally got around to watching Spider-Man 2 on my PSP (been using it exclusively for games up till now), and it was great!

n8diggity @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

I guess I am the only one who bought a PSP and still likes it. I've been ripping movies, but I am really not happy with the quality. The UMD movies always look great. The picture is better than DVDs on my cheap-o portable player. If UMD movies were to drop to 10 bucks, I wouldn't bat an eye at buying a movie I already own on DVD.

df @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

i bet that # includes the spiderman2 umds shipped with the first psp units

Michael McGuire @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

"That is not a family friendly movie."

Yeah, no kidding. The kid in the restaurant is the son of the owner, who is the wife of a former Green Bay Packers player. He seems fairly spoiled. :-)

Buck Q. Fitch @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

My cousin got a PSP and was talking about how you could hack it and also put your own movie clips on it. That's good for her, but she's really computer savvy so getting stuff on to her PSP is really tough, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna help. I don't even like doing it when I'm paid.

da greasy guide @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

you guys on here must all live in west bumtuck. I see people on the trains in NYC on a daily basis with PSP listing to music and playing video games. It's become a daily occurance for me to see at least 2-3 guys on the train playing a PSP game...esp. Midnight Club 3. So which leads my back to my thought that this blog is filled with Sony haters. I watch movies on my PSP all the time esp. when I have to fly. I have converted family guy and music videos to watch on my PSP.

Buck Q. Fitch @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

She's NOT really computer savvy. My mistake.

32_Footsteps @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

For all this talk of UMD movies, I can buy a portable DVD player with a larger screen than the PSP for under $125. Sure, the quality isn't perfect, but you can say the same about the PSP and its movies. And I don't have to buy a whole new format to use it. It's cheaper to buy a portable DVD player and a DS than to buy a PSP. Unless Sony is really ready to take a bath on the system, that price point is going to bite them in the ass.

dc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

If the damn PSP games were any good I would go buy more. I bought about six games so far and the only one I've kept has been Lumines and Ridge Racer. Thinking of getting rid of Ridge Racer now too. Game selection is awful.

BritPod @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

re: 12
You don't see people out and about with their PSP's because they need to have em plugged into the wall 90% of the time.

As for UMD Movies... what the hell. That many sold? people must be desperate. The biggest eye opener is that the PS3 won't even play them, meaning you will forever be stuck watching all your expensive movies only on the PSP. Now there's value for money.

Kamalot @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

da greasy guide:

You must be riding all the "cool" busses. I've only ever seen one PSP in the DC area and it was with a guy who was wearing so much "ice" he looked like he walked out of a freezer.

He was holding the PSP in his left hand, palm up, listening to music as if he was trying to show off. "look at me! I hot a PSP!" It was a completely unappealing image of someone flaunting money. On top of that, he wasn't even playing a game.

I do meet people on the DC Metro who play the DS and lots of people who still play GBAs. Truth be told, most people read a book.

Kev @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

I live in Toronto, Canada and have only seen 2 PSP's 'in the wild' I see GBA's all the time.

PrettyObvious @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

#20 your damn right. I take the train everyday and see at least 4 to 5 people playing their PSP. Ive had on a few occasions so far converted DS owners to PSP owners just from playing Wipeout on the train.
As for these movies, Ive bought Kill Bill recently for an upcoming 10 hour plane ride. Owning a UMD movie or 2 is fine but the fact that the movies are selling more then the games is ridiculous.
There are an awful lot of PSP haters in here, but well see what happens Burnout and GTA

PrettyObvious @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

#19 your damn right. I take the train everyday and see at least 4 to 5 people playing their PSP. Ive had on a few occasions so far converted DS owners to PSP owners just from playing Wipeout on the train.
As for these movies, Ive bought Kill Bill recently for an upcoming 10 hour plane ride. Owning a UMD movie or 2 is fine but the fact that the movies are selling more then the games is ridiculous.
There are an awful lot of PSP haters in here, but well see what happens Burnout and GTA hit the streets.

Dan @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

I live in Seattle, one of the best wireless cities in America, and I only saw a PSP out here once, some poor shmo at a Red Robbins by himself w/a basket of clucks and fries: The most pathetic things I've ever seen. Anyway, I just don't believe the UMD hype for all the reasons everyone has posted above. Sony is selling another proprietary product at a premium price and all you psp fanboys are drinking the koolaid. Wake up!

Kamalot @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

Dan Choi @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

Kev, BritPod, da greasy guide, NergiZed, and Michael McGuire: you've all spoken truthfully regarding the distribution of GBAs, DSes, and PSPs because you all know your own experiences. Of course, you all run into different people where you live and work, and you also fit into mostly different demographics (despite being the gamers that you are). So... everyone's right! (Within their respective spheres of influence, that is...) Total sales numbers for entire countries (and the world) can be analyzed and spun, but they don't usually lie, however.

InfoMofo @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

There are plenty of PSPs on the NYC subway. I've had a few Lumines matches on the 1/9 platform... although, does anyone else feel sleazy asking a stranger if they want to Adhoc?

I don't get UMD movies, I just like to transcode my own, but to each his own. I suppose if they fell to 10 bucks I might buy one or two for long flights and such, but it doesn't seem like a great investment.

cheese @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

I don't know what the big deal is. I have 4 movies on UMD including Spiderman 2 (Sin City, House of Flying Daggers and Hellboy). If and when I'm on a trip I'll probably break it out and use it, but geez quit with all the hating. Some of you guys act like you NEED to have a gaming system glued to your hands 24-7 for it to be viable. All us PSP owners are not little kids that you see zombied out by their gameboys as they walk into restaurants with their parents. Some of us actually have jobs (I play my PSP at work in between calls, mind you)!

Sean O. @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

Does anybody think UMDs will actually drop to $10. That's still a good deal on both DVD and VHS so I doubt a proprietary format for maybe 5 million people world wide would get that low... except for bad movies of course.

In any case it was obviously a good business decision on Sony's part since people are buy UMDs for more than DVDs with less features. But I guess they want it...

Christopher7xii @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

Eh, I own 2 movies(Spider-Man2, and Cowboy Bebop) and 7 games. Find it kind of crazy that movie sales are matching games. Suppose they are cheaper though, and I plan on picking up 3 more by years end.

I've seen 3 PSPs in public, and 1 DS for my first time the day after Nintendogs came out. A little girl(age 9'ish) was in the backseat of a car I was passing and she had a DS in hand, I'm assuming with Nintendogs.

Yes, this site is FILLED with DS fanboys. I think that's because more casual people buy Sony, they don't come on here as much. DS users get bored easily though and troll the boards. They can't help it, their games have about a 10minute lifespan before it gets repetitive.

As for "they're counting units shipped, not sold". You guys are morons. Shipped IS sold. They don't simply send out their stock to the store, and the store sells it for them and they get a cut. They sell to the store, and the store sells the game. If it sells well, the store buys more of it from Sony. So there's a direct link of "Games in players hands" to "games sold". I'm fairly certain Nintendo does it the same way, since there is absolutely no other way Nintendo could gather that kind of data as to units sold. It's not like the store has the choice of sending back unbought items to the manufacturer.

So safe to say, wether or not the players are playing(which they are, for the blind, dumb, and deaf who can't figure that out), Sony is selling all of these titles to the stores and making a killing.

Oh, and heads up for everyone PSP friendly - some(all?) games from the first batch are going to be dropping $10 pretty soon. My bro works at a store and he said the Sony rep that came by told them about that. He didn't give me a list since he was working at the time, but I'll grab one and post it up here when I do.

BritPod @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

re: 34
I doubt they will drop that low mate. Quite frankly Im sure they don't cost an incredible amount to manufacture in the first place. Sure more than DVD, but DVD's have dropped in manufacturing costs a vast amount in the past 5 years but DVD's still come to retail at similar prices than when they were new. They sell for so much because Sony know that people who are willing to pay that much for the PSP in the first place are also probably willing to spend alot on the movie discs too. Simple as that.

re:33
I think the reason everyone seems to go angry-bonkers over UMD movies is that they are more or less useless. If they were less, instead of more expensive than DVDs, and could at least be played in a normal DVD player, a PC or (especially) the PS3, at least they would be somewhat viable as a media format.

Why any PSP owner would purchase a UMD over a DVD is beyond me. Can't the PSP play movies from memory card? Why not just rip your DVD to the pc and throw it on a memory stick?

Christopher7xii @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

"Does anybody think UMDs will actually drop to $10. That's still a good deal on both DVD and VHS so I doubt a proprietary format for maybe 5 million people world wide would get that low... except for bad movies of course."

Yeah, you'll see a LOT of new $10 UMDs during 2007 I can guarantee. Once all the production plants are paid for that manufacture the UMDs, you'll see a drop in price. Since then it's a lot more profit after you break even. It's something that I like now, so I'll support it to make sure it gets to that point.

Christopher7xii @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

"Why any PSP owner would purchase a UMD over a DVD is beyond me. Can't the PSP play movies from memory card? Why not just rip your DVD to the pc and throw it on a memory stick?'

Clarity of image, and conveinence. The idea that I don't have to prep my memory stick for a long trip, I can just bring the 2-3 movies I wanna watch(or bring them all, and have an on the fly choice). I plan on doing it mostly for clarity though. I bought Cowboy Bebop on UMD(already own it on DVD, one Hong Kong version before it made its american release, and then the US release). Then I ripped it at a pretty high quality from the DVD(despite the room eatting), and then I compared that video file to the UMD. There were seriously worlds of difference. I'd imagine it even more so for stuff like Final Fantasy Advent Children, where it's diamond sharp CGI, or the Incredibles if that were to be released. Definitely going to pick up some classics though (Akira for sure). I'm definitely not in favor of the 2 episode per UMD anime series though. Just the idea of having to buy 13 UMDs for the entire season, even if it matches the DVD costs($15 per umd with 2 eps VS $30 dvd with 4 eps). It's just bulky to have 13 little discs, especially since every 45min you gotta switch discs. I honestly think 6-7 DVDs is too bulky already.

OtakuCODE @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

Movies are cheaper.

Therefore more are sold.

Why does this surprise people?

Dan Choi @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

Christopher7xii, regarding your sales-related remarks in comment #35: while it's true that publishers like to tout their numbers for many copies of a title shipped, there is a difference between how many copies shipped and how many sold through (to the customer). The sell-through numbers actually matter a lot to retailers and anyone interested in knowing how consumers actually reacted to the product at hand. Not only that, most large/big-box retail chains have distribution agreements where unsold inventory is actually returned to the publisher, freeing these retail giants to order as many copies of an upcoming blockbuster title as they can handle. If Wal-Mart can differentiate between units shipped and units sold, then I'm sure that Nintendo can, too. So to summarize: shipped DOES NOT equal sold.

Christopher7xii @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

Last I heard retailers DON'T have that ability, hence bargain bin games. I'll ask my brother and find out how his store works to be certain. I understand feedback being good ("we sold 34% of the games we ordered, so next time lets just get half as many"), but I really doubt that Sony has a conscience and will care wether or not the store sells the games they ordered. I mean, if I bought 50 burger buns for a barbecue and only used 30, the grocery store sure as hell isn't going give me my money back for the other 20.

Actually, just the other day up at GameStop when I was talking with my friend(the manager), he explained why they had .hack used but in perfect condition still. Some store had about 10 extra copies that weren't moving, so they traded it into gamestop for $$. So I guess that kind of trashes the "return bulk non-sales" theory right there.

Buck Q. Fitch @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

"but I really doubt that Sony has a conscience and will care wether or not the store sells the games they ordered."

Oh, so THAT explains why Sony stuff is so crappy! J/k, but you really set yourself up for that one.

Jeremy @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

"I bought Cowboy Bebop on UMD(already own it on DVD, one Hong Kong version before it made its american release, and then the US release)."

Same movie in three different formats???

Now I see why people buy UMD movies...

"Yes, this site is FILLED with DS fanboys. I think that's because more casual people buy Sony, they don't come on here as much. DS users get bored easily though and troll the boards. They can't help it, their games have about a 10minute lifespan before it gets repetitive."

Yes, Christopher, you have found us out, all the DS games are sleazy 10 minutes of boring fun with a rinky-dink DS. Sony, being immortal, know how to feel our needs for gaming by delivering AAA titles.
Nintendogs- Girly game, it's stooopid
Mario 64- for retards and people who like rehashes, thankfully GTA on the PSP will be totally new
Kirby CC- who wants to play with a pink puffball, (as everyone knows you define your maturity level by the games you play, and not by your behavior.)

Christopher7xii @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

Hey, I'm not gonna deny it. Sony's PR and support sucks. They're a business, they exist solely to take your money, as are all companies. I have no false thoughts of "Nintendo wants to hold my hand and raise me into a well rounded adult" or "Sony is my homey, he's got my back". Nintendo aims for kids because they're the most impressionable(and its hard for parents to say no now-a-days), and Sony aims for the sleek "i'm James Dean" cool. ms is just fucking evil to the core.

Christopher7xii @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

Wow, thanks for putting words into my mouth. I just said that the lifespan of DS games suck. Mario64 is a bullshit rehash though, I'm suprised you can't admit that. I personally don't care for GTA:LCS, but atleast it's newly created from the ground up. It's a unique game in the GTA line, even if they are repetitive, atleast its not just "we added 30 more stars and destroyed metal, invis, and flying mario in order to incorperate the illusion of new character challenges".

Nintendogs, while I'm not saying it's for little girls... I've only seen girls playing it. One nine year old, and one 21 year old. I played it personally and found it pretty boring, didn't live up to the hype at all. Glad I gave it a test play, cuz I almost picked up that Toys R Us bundle advertised on here thinking I wanted Nintendogs.

---
Oh, and yeah, 3 of the same film. I'm not one of those people who likes to watch everything that's out, I just like to buy a slim few things that I'll watch repeatedly. First version was because I had to have it, second version was because it was the American voice cast, the third was because it was for my PSP(and part of my video sample comparison). And while it may be true that I could get a DS and a portable DVD player for the same price of a PSP(or cheaper), its just way to bulky. For one, a portable DVD player doesn't even fit in your pocket, let alone both of 'em. Two, the PSP and the DS offer different gaming experiences, the PSP being more fun for me.

Buck Q. Fitch @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

Hey Chris, wouldn't it have been cheaper to buy Nintendogs for $35 and buy the "alarm clock" DS from your friend from work for $50? Something smells fishy.

White Rose Duelist @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

"Nintendogs, while I'm not saying it's for little girls... I've only seen girls playing it."

PSP, while I'm not saying it's for nobody... I've only seen nobody playing it.

BritPod @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

re: 47
Haha
I think I just split a gut!

But seriously.. ahem.. I think the video quality Chris speaks of being poorer on the media stick version he ripped was either how it was done, or that Sony has built totally useless video codecs for the PSP.

This wouldn't surprise me in the least.. have video support to help sell/hype systems but make it pretty much useless, forcing people to go out and buy their movies again.

Obviously if the PSP is capable of playing H264/UMD Movies it could read video encoded in the format hardware-wise from ANY source. If you don't get that high standard from self-made video content then its either due to source/user or Sony is giving you crippled formats.

Blarrrg @ Dec 18th 2005 9:36PM

I don't understand how you can say there are a bunch of DS fanboys (Read: Appreciate both systems) when people who HAVE PSPs are expressing their distaste for the product at the moment.

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