The Problem With the PSP UMD Movie

Ever since the PlayStation Portable (PSP) was launched, folks have been interested in much more than the games that could be played on it. There was also a lot of demand for the PSP UMD movies that it could play. It seems like there are many more movies that can be played on these systems than there are games and other PSP stuff. Then there’s the popularity of converter programs such as PSP Movie Creator that can convert other formats to something that can be watched on your console.

However before long, individuals mostly stopped buying the PSP UMD movies. This drop in sales prompted the producers of these disks to cut back their inventory or even stop making them, in addition to selling them at bargain prices. What was the cause of this unanticipated drop in sales? The reason is quite simple actually. It is just like the circumstances the CD and DVD industries are facing, where individuals download music and movies instead of buying a physical product. Why pay good money for something that is freely available on the internet?

Sadly for the PSP UMD movie manufacturers, they seem to have overlooked this rather vital aspect of producing digital products. The same thing occurred in the music industry when individuals started downloading songs, for which there were plenty of free sources. There are now so many sites where you can get pirated copies of PSP UMD movies that it has impacted the manufacture of the hard product.

Manufacturers tried to counteract the situation by selling special editions and lowering their prices. They even tried to sell the movies for a reasonable outlay on their own websites. But it hasn’t made much difference to those who simply don’t want to pay for their entertainment.

There’s a huge amount of sites out there that convert movies into PSP formats that are easily downloadable to your console. And it’s not just on the internet that you can get these movies at no cost. You can purchase a software program that will easily convert your regular movie files to PSP UMD format. Even though this is theoretically illegal, it’s still a popular practice. Then they can upload their converted file and distribute it to anybody else who’s interested. There are so many alternatives to getting a movie that it almost seems crazy to do so.

So how do you solve the problem? Perhaps there needs to be an organization that monitors these illegal downloads. Large companies might be interested in taking part in this sort of undertaking. Moreover, a crackdown on those who break the copyright laws must be pursued more vigorously. Of course, it’s not difficult to think up a solution, but implementing it is another story. If you want to do your bit to keep the PSP UMD movie industry alive, just pay for your movies instead of sharing them.