Universal brings six films to UMD

Universal Studios Home Entertainment today announced the release of the first Universal features to be released on UMD. The intitial release will feature "Assault on Precinct 13," "The Rundown," "Van Helsing," "Dawn of the Dead: Unrated Director's Cut," "The Chronicles of Riddick: Unrated Director's Cut" and "The Fast and the Furious," all of which will hit stores July 26, 2005. While "Assault on Precinct 13" will sell for 29.98, the other five titles will sell for $19.98. Universal is expected to announce additional releases int he coming months.

"The PSP offers consumers an exciting opportunity to expand their entertainment experience beyond the living room," said Craig Kornblau, President of USHE. "In selecting the first wave of films to be released on UMD, we have chosen films targeting young male consumers who, not surprisingly, are the early adopters of the multimedia device."

Nirvana, Manson, Metallica, Snoop coming to UMD

Eagle Rock Entertainment has announced that it will release select music/video catalog titles on UMD for the PSP. The following titles will be available on UMD in 2005, with more to follow:

• Black Label Society: "Boozed, Broozed & Broken Boned"
• Busta Rhymes: "Everything Remains Raw"
• Jimi Hendrix: "Electric Ladyland Classic Album"
• Iron Maiden: "Number of the Beast Classic Album"
• Marilyn Manson: "Guns, God and Government"
• Metallica: "Metallica Classic Album"
• Nirvana: "Nevermind Classic Album"
• Pink Floyd: "Dark Side of the Moon Classic Album"
• Puddle of Mudd: "Live at the Key Club - Striking That Familiar Chord"
• Snoop Dogg: "Big Snoop Dogg's Puff Puff Pass Tour"
• Various Artists: "Up in Smoke Tour"

Image Entertainment to release video titles on UMD

Image Entertainment today announced it will be releasing several titles on UMD for the PSP. The company's initial rollout will take place on June 28 and consist of "more than a dozen exclusively licensed or distributed programs... that encompass many genres including feature films, music performances, comedy and television programming."

Image's releases will include: "The Hillz" with Paris Hilton, "Short Circuit," the IMAX classic "Magic of Flight," Jamie Foxx in "I Might Need Security," "Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel," Bruce Brown's surf classic "Endless Summer," "Godsmack Live" and more.

National Lampoon on UMD

National Lampoon and Genius yesterday announced a June 14 release date for the upcoming titles “National Lampoon Presents The Best of the Romp Vol. 1” and “National Lampoon’s Tooned Up.” “National Lampoon’s Tooned Up” features stand-up and sketch comedy acts brought to life through animation. “National Lampoon Presents The Best of the Romp Vol. 1” features the best web animations from The Romp.com.

“We are thrilled to have licensed the rights to distribute content on UMD,” said Trevor Drinkwater, CEO at Genius Products. “There’s nothing better than edgy, new technology to reach the growing generation of young men who play video games — a generation that enjoys National Lampoon animations every week on television and the Internet. Now they can laugh all the way to their next game competition with National Lampoon on their PSP.”

The titles, which are the first to be released from the two companies, will be simultaneaously realeased on DVD and UMD, and will be priced at $14.99.

Twentieth Century Fox announces UMD titles

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment said today that it will release film titles in UMD format for the PSP this summer. The first five titles will be: "Napoleon Dynamite," "I, Robot," "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," "Super Troopers," and "Predator." The initial wave of titles will hit retail shelves in July.

"The technologically advanced PSP enables our consumers to experience Fox movies with the same high quality picture and audio to which they have grown accustomed, while securing our film assets with a unique hardware-based copy protection" said Mike Dunn, President Worldwide, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. "We are extremely supportive of this new technology and are currently assembling a robust library of titles for release that are perfectly suited for the PSP and its core demo."

Beatboxing comes to the PSP

Beatbox.tv announced today that they are making a series of PSP-formatted beatboxing tutorial downloads available. Beatboxing is the element of Hip Hop that employs a series of oral techniques to create human beats using nearly any sound featured in popular music today. PSP users can download "Snare" Tutorials 1 and 2, a harmonica/beatboxing combo from beatboxer Yuri Lane, and a more advanced short beatboxing video mix.

"We've been waiting a long time for a quality portable video player for deployment of our video content," says co-founder Berry Blanton. "It's really an ideal medium for short-form, engaging video."

Fox, Universal, Paramount eye UMD releases

Fox, Universal Studios and Paramount's home entertainment divisions are all discussing the release of their studio's films for the PSP's UMD format, Now Video Business Online reports. Fox is said to be closest to inking a deal, with an opening release that could include Dodgeball, Napoleon Dynamite, I Robot, Super Troopers and Predator, while Universal may announce something as soon as the Summer. Sony Pictures and Buena Vista Home Entertainment have already released UMD movies.

BVHE bringing more movies to UMD

Buena Vista Home Entertainment has announced the release dates for six more UMD movies. "King Arthur: Extended Unrated Director's Cut," "Tron," "Hostage," and "Cursed" will be released on June 21, while "Kill Bill: Vol. 2," "Armageddon," "Gone in 60 Seconds: Unrated Director's Cut," and "From Dusk Till Dawn" will hit shelves July 19. Daniel Silverberg, business development executive director at Buena Vista Home Entertainment, said that the Disney/Pixar hit "The Incredibles" might be available before Christmas. UMD versions released simultaneously with Buena Vista's conventional DVDs is going to become standard, Silverberg said. Pricing was not announced.

Slew of new UMD movies coming soon

Sony Pictures' DVD & Video site has serveral new UMD movies listed, as does Amazon. Among the new movies listed on Sony's site are: "Are We There Yet?", "Charlie's Angels," "The Grudge," "Hollow Man," "Hitch," and "You Got Served". Amazon now has listed "Terminator 2," "National Lampoon's Van Wilder," "The Punisher," and the thrillers "Saw" and "Open Water". All UMD movies listed on both sites have expected release dates between May 17 and June 24.

Spider-Man animated series being released on UMD

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced that "Spider-Man: The New Animated Series" will be released on UMD on June 14 for $19.95. The animated show aired in 2003 on MTV.

"Peter Parker is attending Empire State University, where he struggles to balance his new responsibilities as Spider-Man with the problems of being a freshman at college with MaryJane and Harry. Multi-talented performer Neil Patrick Harris, television star Ian Ziering, and singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb, lend their vocal talents to this thrilling, computer-animated version of the comic book classic and mega-hit feature film, Spider-Man."

Amazon adds new UMD movies

Amazon.com has added five new UMD movies from Buena Vista Home Entertainment. The movies, which are being offered for 30% off retail, include: "Kill Bill Vol. 1," "National Treasure," "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Hero," and "Reign of Fire." Depending on the title, they're scheduled to ship on either April 19 or May 3.

As previously noted, Amazon also offers five moves from Sony's movie studio at cheap prices ($13.97): "Hellboy (Director's Cut)," "Resident Evil: Apocalypse," "XXX," and "Once Upon A Time In Mexico."

Amazon offers cheap UMD movies for PSP

Amazon.com has added its first batch of UMD movies for the PSP. The online retailer currently has five movies — four of which are priced at only $13.97. These low-priced UMDs include: "Hellboy (Director's Cut)," "Resident Evil: Apocalypse," "XXX," and "Once Upon A Time In Mexico." Amazon is selling the fifth UMD movie, "House of Flying Daggers," for $20.97. If retailers are able to keep prices below $15, expect sales of UMD movies to soar this year.

Hashimoto speaks about Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

Games Industry on Friday posted an interview with Shinji Hashimoto, the producer behind "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" who is also involved with the development of Kingdom Hearts 2. Although he speaks about both projects, the interview focuses more on Advent Children, which will be released first on UMD sometime this year.

"We don't really think of it as a feature film. It's more like a collection of clips; it's become quite long, but we don't take that too seriously in terms of having a massive concept behind it or anything like that. It's just naturally come about," Hashimoto said of Advent. "We do have some ideas about (a theatrical release), but because we're working in conjunction with other companies to provide the film, we can't talk about it yet. We're making the film, but we're using others to actually provide it."

Buena Vista Home Entertainment announces UMD offerings

Buena Vista Home Entertainment today announced plans to release five titles on UMD. The titles announced today are "National Treasure", "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl", "Reign of Fire", "Kill Bill Vol. 1" and "Hero", which are coming to the United States and Canada.

"Buena Vista Home Entertainment is excited to move forward with our movies on this format. With its crisp picture, ease of use and quick response mechanisms, the PSP is poised to revolutionize portable entertainment systems throughout the world," said Bob Chapek, President of BVHE. "We are confident that the five titles we announced today appeal to the new PSP consumer."

More titles will be announced and made available throughout the year.

Original Resident Evil comes to UMD

Capcom today announced it will be the distributor in Japan for the original "Resident Evil" film, which will carry its Japanese moniker of "Biohazard". Pricing was set at 2,990 yen (1,000 yen less than the expected price of other UMD releases). The release date for Japan was set for April 13, the same day as the release of the sequel. No North American release details were given.

Lions Gate announces UMD support

Lions Gate Entertainment today announced plans to format movies in UMD format, reports CNet. Initial UMD releases are to include recent films such as "House of the Dead" and "Saw," and older action films such as "Total Recall" and "Step Into Liquid."

"Lions Gate has embraced each new viable technological advancement in the home entertainment arena as it has appeared on the horizon," Lions Gate President Steve Beeks said in a statement. "The PSP is truly an incredible machine that will quickly become a popular format with which to enjoy filmed entertainment...From the time it was initially announced, we were preparing for ways we could mileage our extensive library to deliver content for the platform."

Sony announces more UMD supporters

IGN is reporting that Sony Computer Entertainment Interactive in Japan recently sent out a press release that revealed a slew of newly-announced supporters of the UMD format—twenty-seven, to be exact. There are a few surprises on the list, including several videogame companies not traditionally known for video content. Among the whole of these companies, very few have released specifics on actual release dates or titles. The complete list and the box art for Spider-Man 2 and Hellboy are on the next page (Images from IGN).

Continue reading 'Sony announces more UMD supporters'

Sony announces new UMD movie, clears up pricing

Sony Pictures today announced that the Academy Award-nominated "House of Flying Daggers" will be released on UMD along side the DVD release on April 19th. The UMD version will be priced at $28.95. Pricing was also set for the four previously announced films. "Hellboy", "XXX", "Once Upon a Time in Mexico", and "Resident Evil 2" will be priced at $19.95 each, which is expected to be the price of future UMD catalogue releases.

Continue reading 'Sony announces new UMD movie, clears up pricing'

UMD format movie pricing to be same as DVDs?

When Sony recently announced that it would begin offering movies in UMD format the company didn't provide pricing details. Well, Sony said this week that it will also offer UMD movies in Japan at about the same time as the U.S. and said they would sell for 3,800-3,900 yen (roughly $36-38). "This is basically the same cost of DVDs in Japan, which are typically cheaper in the states. So we can assume that UMD prices will reflect a given region’s DVD prices," reports Joystiq.

PSPunch seeking short films for PSP

Newly launched site PSPunch is looking for short films to distribute for viewing on PSPs. Their site states they plan to "offer a space for film creators to distribute their work and PSP users to get nifty short films to store in their extra memory of their PSP." More than 10 films are already available, all in the PSP-friendly mpeg4 codec. For previewing the movies before loading up your PSP, we recommend Apple's free QuickTime software.