TV on UMD: Spiderman - The New Animated Series

[Angel Tarragon]

I found the following article at TVshowsonDVD.com.

On March 24th, Sony's Computer Entertainment division released the Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable) videogame system, a hot new portable gaming unit with a 16x9 widescreen display a bit over 4 inches diagonal, whose games come on a format known as UMD (Universal Media Disc). At this time UMDs are exclusive to the PSP, and easily recognized. It's 60mm in diameter (a bit under 2.5 inches), comes in a small caddy to protect it while being transported, and it stores 1.8GB of digital data.

That may not sound like a huge number, but Sony's proprietary format stores film data in a way that allows an entire movie - like Spider-Man 2, which the first 1 million PSPs in the USA shipped with - to fit on a single disc. Compare that to the "Mini-DVD" discs which, as we mentioned in the 3rd paragraph of our January story on the format, require two discs to hold a typical-length feature film.

Given the nature of the UMD, and the target audience, it's a cinch that it was only a matter of time before television shows started becoming available for it, like they have for Mini-DVD. Naturally, it's Sony Pictures Home Entertainment that is the first to announce a TV-on-UMD release, and not surprisingly it is...Spider-Man!. The 2003 animated show that has aired on MTV, that is. Here's Sony's description:

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 (Doogie Howser, M.D.), television star Ian Ziering (Beverly Hills 90210), and singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb (Life With Lisa Loeb), lend their vocal talents to this thrilling, computer-animated version of the comic book classic and mega-hit feature film, Spider-Man.

Spider-Man - The New Animated Series on UMD arrives June 14. List price is $19.95. We're not sure to what extent we'll be covering the UMD format in the future, but it made sense to cover the first TV Shows On UMD announcement and test the waters. If you want more, let us know. Here's the cover art:

 

[Ranger REG]

[ message deleted by poster. ]

 

[Rackhir]

Personally I have to question the sanity of someone who actually picks up stuff on UMD to watch. Especially given that Sony is pricing them at or above the price of the regular DVDs that can be played pretty much anywhere vs. on one single device. If they included the UMD with the DVD at a small price boost that would be one thing, but it's not like the UMDs have any advantages over DVDs in terms of quality or features.

 

[Ranger REG]

If you ask me, UMDs are nothing more than a "cassette" version of the "vinyl" DVDs.

Can someone tell me why didn't they do an entertainment gaming console that can accept 5-inch optical disc media (CD, DVD, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, etc.)? Too bulky?

 

[Kesh]

If you ask me, UMDs are nothing more than a "cassette" version of the "vinyl" DVDs.

Can someone tell me why didn't they do an entertainment gaming console that can accept 5-inch optical disc media (CD, DVD, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, etc.)? Too bulky?

Way too bulky, IMHO. Not to mention other problems, like skipping and/or disc insertion, the desire to have a bigger screen in a bigger device, etc.

 

[Rackhir]

Battery life would also be a major issue if a standard DVD driver had been used. Larger disk and mechanisims take more energy to spin/operate and the PSP already has a fairly minimal battery life for such a device.

 

[Ranger REG]

Way too bulky, IMHO. Not to mention other problems, like skipping and/or disc insertion, the desire to have a bigger screen in a bigger device, etc.

It can't be as bulky as those portable DVD players with a 5-inch screen. Or does fitting the device in a shirt pocket a requirement?

 

[Hopping Vampire]

sony just likes to cram their new media formats down peoples throats. we all know what happened to Atrac.

 

[Kesh]

It can't be as bulky as those portable DVD players with a 5-inch screen. Or does fitting the device in a shirt pocket a requirement?

Keep in mind that it has to be comfortable to hold as a game machine. I can't see something the form factor of a portable CD player being comfortable for more than 10 minutes at a time.