IGN report on a wave of announcements from movie publishers of their support for the PSP's UMD format.Every major movie studio except Warner Bros. has committed to the new format, and owners can expect to see blockbusters, classic movies and even TV and direct-to-video content coming to the handheld soon. An extensive list of titles planned for release in the coming weeks and months can be viewed here, and that's only the first batch, with all the studios planning more releases in the future.
One criticism IGN have for the publishers is the absence of extra content on most of the UMD discs. Despite the fact owners are paying as much as a DVD, in most cases they only get the movie and none of the extras for their money:
Somewhat frustratingly, no publisher has committed to anything extensive regarding PSP extra content. The format is still being experimented with, and some publishers have already been able to cram some of the DVD extra features from the home video release onto the 1.8GB UMD Video disc. Buena Vista has, in the past, confirmed that it plans UMD Video extra features to provide portable watchers the full film fan experience (in fact, it was the first publisher to put extras besides advertising on its UMD Videos with Kill Bill Vol. 1), and most publishers are expected to follow suit where space is available. However, after the first set of UMD Videos came to market quickly and with none of the bonuses that make DVDs so cool, we're hoping publishers recognize that consumers are currently paying DVD prices for these PSP discs, and deserve DVD treatment whenever possible.
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