Like many a young starlet, turning up in Hollywood with a dream and a hot bod only to end up waiting tables or poledancing in some sleazy strip joint, it looks like PSP may not become the big movie star it had hoped to be.
According to Hollywood Reporter and Reuters, the flow of movie releases onto the UMD format has slowed to a trickle, with at least two studios - Paramount and Universal - said to be pulling out of production altogether. Meanwhile, retailers are reportedly reducing the space given over to UMD discs.
Although a couple of releases did well, most have underperformed to such an extent that even the supportive studios are cutting back drastically on UMD production. From now on, it is expected that they'll carefully select movies for the perceived target audience (that'll be comic book movie conversions from now on then). One exec is quoted thus:
""No one's watching movies on PSP. It's a game player, period."
Pundits are blaming this disappointing performance on the arrival of Apple's video iPod, while the studios themselves are apparently moving their focus toward HD DVD formats. Sony is not going without a fight, however. As the Hollywood Reporter story concludes:
"But next week, Sony Computer Entertainment executives will begin making the rounds of the Hollywood studios to discuss plans for making the PSP able to connect to TV sets"
So will the ability to record directly from TV reinvigorate the PSP as a viewing platform, or is the sleek handheld yet another victim of the cruel and capricious Hollywood system, which can lift young hopefuls to the stars or dash their dreams against the barren rocks of apathy in the blink of an eye?
