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Sony Entertainment Games

Sony Refutes Low UMD Sales, Slow Production 62

Posted by Zonk from the when-news-isn't-news dept.
Sony has responded to recent media attention with corrective statements. Specifically, the widely reported 100K UMD sales figure, and the slowdown in PSP production. GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that the Japanese company actually pegs UMD movie sales as much higher, possibly in the half-million unit range. Similarly, Gamespot reports that the company denies that they've slowed PSP production. From the article: "I'm not sure where the 18 million claim came from...We announced in the Sony earnings call that the fiscal year 2005 PSP shipment targets were 12 million units worldwide. We are still on target and there has been no reduction in forecast."
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Sony Refutes Low UMD Sales, Slow Production More

Sony Refutes Low UMD Sales, Slow Production

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  • I honestly don't see any use for the (ironically named) "Universal" Media Disc for the price that it is set at.

    $20.00 per disc for a system that can't even display it on a TV at DVD quality? Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't they cheaper to make that VHS tapes?

    I pity anyone that actively buys UMD discs. Just get a portable DVD player and use the DVDs you already have instead of forking out another $20.00 for a substandard version. .02

    Oh, and first post I guess.
    • I am quite wealthy and don't mind paying $40.00 [UMD + DVD] for the convenience the double ownership affords me. You may pity me all you like but being able to watch a movie on my PSP from time to time is a very small luxury at a low price. A portable DVD player drops the total cost of portable movies by $20 but then I lose the functionality of the PSP that doesn't relate to playing movies. (I am not going to carry around both a DVD player and my PSP.)

      I don't think you need to either pity me or talk about

      • Re:What gives? (Score:1, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward
        You are the engine that keeps the economy running. We need more jackassish indiscrimate spenders like you to prop up the debt based black hole that is the world.
    • Even if one wants to use the PSP to watch movies, there are tools out there to convert video into a format that the PSP can play. Just get a large memory stick and load it up with a couple movies. Of course if one is ripping from DVD the copy protection may need to be cracked. But if this isn't a case of fair use, I don't know what is.

      • Except that the player that can read from the memory stick is intentionally crippled so that it can't play movies at the full resolution the PSP is capable of.

    • "I pity anyone that actively buys UMD discs. Just get a portable DVD player and use the DVDs you already have instead of forking out another $20.00 for a substandard version. .02"

      Ugh. You're talking about a device that's substantially bigger than a PSP. If I really had to have movies on the go, a PSP would be a much better choice simply for its size. As for movies, I saw a rack of them for $15 each over at Wal Mart.

      The thing is, though, I don't totally disagree with you. I think this is really a nich
      • 1. Anyone who is spending "weeks at a time" on the road is probably doing so carrying a lot of stuff for the ride. A portable DVD player and some discs (and access to innumerable rental outlets) wouldn't be a huge burden.
        2. I can't believe that spending an extra $150-200 on a PSP, and an extra $5-10 per UMD, is worth the difference in size if you want movies on the go - especially considering, again, the easy availability of DVDs.
        3. The number of movies available for UMD is so small that anyone choosi
        • "1. Anyone who is spending "weeks at a time" on the road is probably doing so carrying a lot of stuff for the ride. A portable DVD player and some discs (and access to innumerable rental outlets) wouldn't be a huge burden."

          That door swings both ways. If somebody's carrying a lot of junk, luxuries suddenly become too luxurious if they're too much. As somebody who has been on that sort of trip before, I can tell you that a portable DVD player is a pain in the ass if you're already carrying a heavy shoulde
          • No, the same couldn't have been said about DVDs at their [in]ception since DVD was an open format with many manufacturers on board.

            No, it's not like saying Nintendo shouldn't have released the Game Boy because of the Super Nintendo because GB had significantly different games from the SNES and vice versa, and there was no handheld SNES system. As far as I can tell, the only exclusive UMD movie coming in the forseeable future is Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children.

            Finally, you're wrong in at least a co

            • "No, the same couldn't have been said about DVDs at their [in]ception since DVD was an open format with many manufacturers on board."

              DVD is not an open format. It's a widely accepted format, but it's not an open format.

              "No, it's not like saying Nintendo shouldn't have released the Game Boy because of the Super Nintendo because GB had significantly different games from the SNES and vice versa, and there was no handheld SNES system."

              I really didn't understand that. Heh. Considering that the GB weather
              • In other words, both you and the fellow below are just playing devil's advocate. Well, glad that's out of the way. I'd hate to think that reasonably intelligent people actually thought that UMD movies were TRULY a good idea as anything but an intellectual exercise.
                • "In other words, both you and the fellow below are just playing devil's advocate. "

                  Pretty much. I used to have a really big interest in portable media players, so I've got some pretty strong opinions about what's good and what's bad.

                  Have a good weekend. :)
        • Although I agree with you that UMD is fundamentally a dumb idea (but the PSP is a good one), you are quie wrong when you say:

          A portable DVD player and some discs (and access to innumerable rental outlets) wouldn't be a huge burden.

          When you are out on the road on business, on a trail hiking, or anywhere that is not home, you want your load to be as light as possible. It is simple not convenient to anyone to be carrying around tens of lbs of "luxury" weight.

          If Sony was thinking for the future, like many

          • When you are out on the road on business, on a trail hiking, or anywhere that is not home, you want your load to be as light as possible. It is simple not convenient to anyone to be carrying around tens of lbs of "luxury" weight.

            Welcome to Exaggerationville. In terms of weight, a portable DVD player with battery is going to be about two pounds. The DVDs themselves will weigh the same, if not less, than UMDs given that the latter have their caddies as well (this is assuming one uses a sleeve-type system

            • I wasn't implying that portable DVD players weigh 30 lbs. WHat I am implying is :

              1)Portable DVD players are significantly bulkier and weightier than their PSP counterparts.

              2)Packed with other "luxury" items that only weigh a couple of pounds, this can lead to tens of pounds of extra baggage being loaded..any traveller/hiker knows this.

              In terms of sheer traveling portability the PSP murders portable DVD players. But their primary fault, their one Achilles' heel that will prevent widespread adoption is

  • Sony "Sales" (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Neon Spiral Injector ( 21234 ) on Friday June 24, 2005 @08:08AM (#12899622)
    Don't forget how Sony counts sales. An item is sold to them when it ships for the store.
    • I suspect that is where the 100,000 comes from. The "maybe up to half a million" more likely comes from items that stores have committed to selling in future.
  • To be fair, there are movies to be had on UMD at my local Evil-Mart for $15... but for just $5 more, you can get it, with special features, in a format you can watch on any DVD player or your computer, to watch on a big screen with your friends.

    But what I really don't get is why so many PSP games are going for $50. You can get a new-release console game for that much! And most PSP games, from what I've seen so far, look like console-style games made for a portable, instead of with portable gaming, the si
    • Actually, I think it's more surprising that games for HOME consoles haven't gotten a price increase in the past many years. The profit margins on videogames are going to reach a breaking point sooner rather than later considering how the costs of development keep going up and up. Charging $50 per game for portable games doesn't seem unreasonable in today's context, and I think folks need to brace themselves for $60 being the standard opening price for home console games in the very near-future.
      • Actually, I think it's more surprising that games for HOME consoles haven't gotten a price increase in the past many years.

        You'll be getting your wish the next generation. Not that I'll be cheering -- all three console manufacturers are planningon $60 games.

        Anyway, GBA and DS games still tend to be around $30.
        • Don't get me wrong - it isn't my wish and I won't be cheering, either. I'm not in the gaming industry, so higher prices don't do anything for me.

          It's also worth pointing out that lower GBA game prices are subsidized partly by the volume which they sell and by the fact that companies are able to make a LOT of money selling older games. I wouldn't be surprised if the profit on Nintendo's Mario games alone make it so that they can drop prices several dollars across the board and still make scads o'cash.

          • Don't get me wrong - it isn't my wish and I won't be cheering, either.

            I figured that -- I was merely joking, sorry.

            It's also worth pointing out that lower GBA game prices are subsidized partly by the volume which they sell and by the fact that companies are able to make a LOT of money selling older games.

            There are fewer remakes, as a proportion of total games sold, among the GBA library than it is popularly represented as being, and it's been some time now since the last Super Mario Advance title was

  • refute != dispute (Score:3, Insightful)

    by cahiha ( 873942 ) on Friday June 24, 2005 @08:47AM (#12900011)
    "Refute" means to demonstrate conclusively that something is false. Sony hasn't done that. They have merely disputed the claim.
  • "Ya see baby, it's not really that small... it's er, an optical illusion, yeah... caused by ... my raw animal magnetism. Yeah. Animal magnetism as raw as mine can be hard to control, baby, hard to control."

  • Denial (Score:3, Interesting)

    by alvinrod ( 889928 ) on Friday June 24, 2005 @10:28AM (#12901009)
    Sony seems to have a large problem with denial. They simply choose to beleive that the problem doesn't exist, usually in spite of the fact that all evidence points to the fact that there is problem.

    Case 1: UMD discs selling poorly.
    Denial: We meant to say singular title, and failed to mention we could units sold differently than most people in order to make the numbers deceptive.

    Case 2: PSP's have dead pixels in the screen.
    Denial: This is common with all LCD devices (true to some extent) and is therefore not our fault. Lalalalalalala, we're not listening.

    Case 3: PS2 DRE (This has happened to me).
    Denial: As far as we're concerned there's absolutely nothing wrong with your PS2. However, you can pay $70 and shipping costs to have our technitians hit it with a putty knife.

    Rather than actually admit that something might be wrong, Sony has time after time tried to sweep the problem under the rug or use smoke and mirror diversionary tactics. The end result is some terrible customer support.
    • I agree, infact I have found SONY's "magic" formula and this is it. 1. Hype like there is no tommorrow 2. When hype != reality, change documents and lie.

  • Sales Metrics (Score:3, Informative)

    by pipingguy ( 566974 ) on Friday June 24, 2005 @12:31PM (#12902389)

    Marketers usually have about four levels of reported performance adjectives for any given product introduction:

    - Great
    - Super
    - Super-Duper
    - Overwhelming

    Any marketer caught expressing anything other than the pre-approved terminology is summarily shot (or so I hear).
  • Ok, a Sony marketing spokesdroid puts UMD sales at 'between' 200,000 and 500,000.

    It's hard to believe they don't have more reliable data, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt. What the heck. I have nothing against Sony ( except a distaste for proprietary memory card formats and MagicGate, admittedly ).

    500,000 still seems like a small number when you consider that's the same number of PSPs that sold in the US during the first two days after it's launch. Especially when you consider there's no way

    • What I'm really curious about is the previous statement that "25 movies" would be available on UMD for the European release. It seems like an odd statement because there are 113 UMD movies listed on Amazon right now. Why wouldn't the same 113 titles be ready for europe? Is the market not there ? Odd...

      Probably because 85(!) of the titles listed at your link are "Not Yet Released" which, of course, means that there's a thrilling 28 UMD movie titles available for the PSP in the US right now.

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