Sony Pictures to offer DVD-UMD bundles

by Alan Rose { Feb 9th 2006 at 1:30PM }

Sony, the king of proprietary formats, has announced they will begin bundling select UMDs with their big brother DVDs. The two packs are expected to retail for $28.95--a dollar short of the current price of a standalone UMD.

Initial releases will include Sony flicks Resident Evil, Underworld, and the Fifth Element, but more titles should arrive soon now that other studios have committed to the UMD format.

Maybe Sony Music will follow suit and bundle DAT, MiniDisc, and Super Audio CDs with their traditional CDs.

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Kamalot @ Feb 9th 2006 1:43PM

So, it does not cost any less, you just get the movie 2x?

DUH!

What about, you buy the DVD and you get a free PSP-download-only-version from their online store? That would encourage people to use the Sony online service as well as encouraging them to use the PSP. It would also sell Memory sticks.

Sony has a bug up their but about selling plastic discs. Get over it. Discs are dying and the sooner they adopt the download-mentality, the better off they will be. Instead, they'll be the ones making buggy whips when we are all driving our flying cars.

techburp @ Feb 9th 2006 1:48PM

I always thought that including a coaster with a DVD would be a good idea! Kudos, Sony!

bd @ Feb 9th 2006 1:51PM

I love it when I send news tips in (I sent this in yesterday), and I never get my thanks. Not like I need to be thanked, but it is certainly odd when all other joystiq readers get thanked. Is it because Joystiq hates me? Maybe. I don't have any star even when I've sent a ton of news, and several of mine have appeared (and I've only been thanked two or three times).

Thank you Joystiq, I love you too.

bd @ Feb 9th 2006 1:52PM

Oh, and by the way, Sony already bundles CD with SACD. It's called "DualDisc".

Todd H. @ Feb 9th 2006 2:00PM

Why not just buy the DVD and rip it using DVD Shrink and then convert it to the proper format for the PSP?

No need for UMD's if you ask me...Then again, you could just download the movie off the internet already in PSP format, but I wouldn't know too much about any of this...

bd @ Feb 9th 2006 2:02PM

Pip @ Feb 9th 2006 2:13PM

^^ No one cares.

Also, Sony mentioned when the UMD format was being made that they were going to include them with their movies for free as an added incentive to buy the PSP.

Yeah, so much for that idea, huh?

bd @ Feb 9th 2006 2:15PM

"Why not just buy the DVD and rip it using DVD Shrink and then convert it to the proper format for the PSP?"

Instead of what? So you want Sony to do that instead of just giving the PSP disc away for 4 bucks?

OH I see, you are suggesting *us* to do that, because you think it is apparently easier that getting it with the DVD anyway for 4 dollars. NEXT

Stacey Donovan @ Feb 9th 2006 2:17PM

I think its cool! I will diffently buy new releaeses that come with this package.

Scott @ Feb 9th 2006 2:21PM

#4, you are incorrect. DualDisc disc that contains CD information on one side and DVD information on the other.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dualdisc

Alkaiser @ Feb 9th 2006 2:22PM

bd: Where's the send news link? I haven't seen it since the update to Joystiq.

UMD movies are one of the dumbest things ever. They cost more than the original formats, don't have all the extras, and you have a smaller screen size. Why the public buys these things at all, I'll never know.

m3mnoch @ Feb 9th 2006 2:34PM

don't feel bad bd. i sent it in yesterday morning too. tho, i also sent in the web on the 360 stuff too.

probably 1 in 3 of the things i send in that get posted actually get accredited to me. i guess you just have to find the really obscure stuff or just be the first one.

m3mnoch.

emacs @ Feb 9th 2006 2:36PM

#5: "Why not just buy the DVD and rip it using DVD Shrink and then convert it to the proper format for the PSP? ... Then again, you could just download the movie off the internet already in PSP format?"

the time it takes to rip, convert and burn the film is almost as long as watching the film itself. the time it takes to download a film is often longer than the runtime of the film itself. rather than wasting your time doing this unnecessary stuff, just pop in the disc and watch the film with a minute of opening the package.

rikimaru @ Feb 9th 2006 3:02PM

Well I think this is great news.. I've been holding out on buying any UMD movies, since they cost so much, and you can only play it on your PSP. But this fixes all that. Screw downloading a movie, or trying to rip the dvd and buying an expensive 2gig memorystick, just pop in a UMD and your done. Thats totally worth a dvd price +4 bucks. And you can still watch it on your big TV anytime.

RG @ Feb 9th 2006 3:03PM

#6. Joystiq doesn't care about it's audience. They are just a bunch of guys in a clique writting about gaming. They won't be the top gaming blog for much longer.

~NX~ @ Feb 9th 2006 3:22PM

You act as if buying a film twice is a new concept when these movie studios have been gouging for decades with movie theaters and VHS/DVD for home. I don't know about you but I would never pay twice for the same thing.

J B COugar @ Feb 9th 2006 3:39PM

RG, bitter much? I almost thought I was in high school all over again after reading that comment.

Anonymous Coward @ Feb 9th 2006 4:04PM

I don't see why anyone in their right mind would buy a standalone UMD, since it only works on one device.

This, however, is a good move I think. If you get /both/ DVD and UMD for a reasonable price, many people will snap them up -- hell, why not? You get a version to watch at home AND on the go... what's to lose?

Todd H. @ Feb 9th 2006 4:13PM

#8 "Instead of what? So you want Sony to do that instead of just giving the PSP disc away for 4 bucks?"

Instead of what? Instead of buying the combo pack, moron, RTFA!

"OH I see, you are suggesting *us* to do that, because you think it is apparently easier that getting it with the DVD anyway for 4 dollars. NEXT"

No, its not easier (didn't say that), but I don't want to buy movies twice.

NEXT? What are we playing hoops (If we were, I'd be saying NEXT)?

mercatfat @ Feb 9th 2006 4:37PM

"You act as if buying a film twice is a new concept when these movie studios have been gouging for decades with movie theaters and VHS/DVD for home. I don't know about you but I would never pay twice for the same thing."

it's two very different experiences. most people don't have a real theatre in their homes.

if you're also complaining about VHS and DVDs being sold twice, the DVD versions actually offer more features and better video and audio, as well as the fact that they'll look just as good forever. it's not some crazy industry trick. In contrast to DVDs, UMDs have the latter, but not the former.

"#6. Joystiq doesn't care about it's audience. They are just a bunch of guys in a clique writting about gaming. They won't be the top gaming blog for much longer."

giggles

LaughingTarget @ Feb 9th 2006 5:41PM

Hmm, given the average DVD new release is $15.99, why are they charging $12.96 just for the "honor" of having an inferior UMD version? Sorry, I am willing to wait the 2 hours to rip the DVD and load it on the memory stick (if I ever had that urge to begin with) rather than spend the additional $13 to be a lazy-ass.

Or I can just save money in the whole long run and just get a portable DVD player, which tend to be cheaper than the memory that you buy for the PSP anyway.

JacKal @ Feb 9th 2006 7:17PM

This is intriguing to me. The one thing that I don't like about the PSP is all the media features built-in that I don't want, that I have to pay for anyway. I know it's useful if you don't already have those devices, and everyone likes the say that the DS doesn't have these features and therefore is less flexible... but really I wanted my PSP for the main reason: the video games. I don't care about UMD movies or whatnot, and I think the system would have been cheaper without it. I mostly also hated that for most of the year last year, that everywhere I found aisles and aisles of UMD movies but hardly any video games. I already own a bunch of DVDs of movies I like, and I have no reason to ever buy a UMD, especially for it's price (which is high now because it has yet to flourish in market and become as cheap as DVDs, need to give it time). If there were places that rented UMD movies in my area, that would make more sense, especially on long road trips I could watch a movie on my PSP. I see how that makes it useful but I haven't seen a single store anywhere that rents UMD movies. I find no use for it or its cost, I want the games... but if UMDs get bundled with DVDs in the future, that would be very nice. I buy DVDs anyhow, and getting the UMD bundled would be a nice feature I think and makes more sense to me.

Chris @ Feb 9th 2006 7:44PM

Consumers are always getting gouged by the studios. Take Terminator 2: Judgement Day. How many versions of THAT came out. Let's see:

Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Terminator 2: Judgement Day Extreme DVD
Terminator 2: Judgement Day The Ultimate Edition
T2: High Definition
Terminator 2 for PSP

I mean come on...how many times to I have to buy a damn movie?? I don't care about most of that crap but still, the studios keep doing this crap.

I remember buying a few DVD's only to have the "Special Edition" come out..I consider buying that only to have the "Anniversary Edition" come out, then the "Special Anniversary Edition" and then the "Special Edition Anniversary Ultimate Edition"...

..and all that for ONE FLICK! WTF

Mike @ Feb 9th 2006 8:14PM

I've always thought it was interesting that TV commercials don't market UMD's as UMD's, but as PSP. It always says "available on DVD and PSP".

I guess if Sony ever wanted to make a UMD walkman, then almost all of the marketing money they've spent on the UMD format so far has been wasted, since they rarely refer to them as UMD's.

I've always thought of the whole UMD thing as kinda bogus, it seems like it is a pretty bad value. But, companies are still making them, so maybe they are selling better than I thought. I still have to admit that the worse portable video concept was those "GBA Video Cartridges". Yikes. Of course in Nintendo's defense, they were just trying to make a novelty item, not trying to invent a whole new video standard like Sony is with UMD.

JP @ Feb 9th 2006 8:44PM

lol sorry microsoft and umd haters but disc media will be around for a long time yet...simply for the reason that main stream america is too stupid to trust that a movie solely on a hard drive can be just as good as one on optical media. btw pick up family guy seasonsone and two on umd, $30 for the set what a deal!!!11

soupbun @ Feb 10th 2006 10:20AM

"simply for the reason that main stream america is too stupid to trust that a movie solely on a hard drive can be just as good as one on optical media"

Really? Is that why DVR units sold more in 2004 (and probably just as much in 2005) than UMD movies in 2005?

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/tech_stats/dvrsales050303.htm

Or do you think UMD movies are doing better than the iPod Video in the few short months on the iPod Video launch with a million video sales in one month:

http://news.techwhack.com/2312/011101-apple-sells-a-million-videos-on-itunes-for-ipod-video/

Nah, main stream America is clearly "stupid" and "paranoid".

JP @ Feb 10th 2006 6:12PM

Get a clue soupbun you're compaing apples to oranges. The vast majority of DVR's application is in disposable media...you record a 30 min. tv show, watch it, delete it and record the next episode much different than investing in a full length feature to cherish forever...anyways I wouldn't be surprised if more PSPs were sold than all other PVPs combined just because people like being able to buy a movie to watch on a physical media as opposed to having it on the hard drive of a pvp, because it's so much easier to go to the store and buy a movie than rip, recode, and transfer a dvd.

And BTW, I didn't say "paranoid" so don't say I did. soup you must be part of that stupid mainstream america.

soupbun @ Feb 11th 2006 7:42PM

wait, JP. I wasn't the one who brought up "disc media will be around for a long time yet...simply for the reason that main stream america is too stupid to trust that a movie solely on a hard drive can be just as good as one on optical media." You know, "too stupid too trust" eludes to "paranoid". And I wasn't the one who started "comparing apples to oranges" first. So, get a clue about your own words. Doh!! Maybe we're both sitting in the same boat perhaps, ass.