PSP Movies

Sony finally launches the PSP in the UK this week, and that’s good news for me, because it finally means that I might be able to get a cheap memory stick for my US import.
But there are plenty of stories floating around about the so called success of UMD format films. They’re selling plenty in the States at the moment, but can those sales really be sustained? Why would I buy a film on UMD instead of the far more versatile DVD? Do I buy it instead of or in place of the DVD?
I guess some kind of pack that gave me both a DVD and UMD of a film might appeal, but it all seems a bit like pre-recorded minidiscs to me. You could buy them, but then you might as well have bought the more versatile CD, copied it digitally to a blank minidisc, and had the best of both worlds.
Copying a DVD to a memory stick (that’ll cost you the thick end of £50 at the moment) might be a bit of a chore at the moment, and not necessarily legal, but it’s doable.
As the BBC story suggests, others are doing the conversion for you already. It remains to be seen what format the BBC let their programming be downloaded in, but watching last night’s Eastenders (or whatever) on the way into work on your PSP, mobile or PDA does have some appeal.
The UMD thing is all moot for me anyway, since while games remain region-free, films aren’t. So I couldn’t use a UK UMD disc even if they were given away free.


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