It’s truly the end of an era; streaming services have long ago done away with the once billion-dollar movie rental industry, and, with internet connections speedier and more reliable than ever, reliance on physical media is at an all-time low. Gone are the days of bringing disc spindles and portable DVD players along on a trip, and, as per Twitter user Wario64, the time-honored tradition of watching the 2006 Robin Williams comedy classicRVon aPSPis now extinct.
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Released in 2005,the PSP was a surprisingly versatile media playerfor the time, capable of playing music, movies, and near-console quality games. That said, well over a decade later, the quality of Sony’s UMD movies really leaves something to be desired—most releases were encoded in 480p—and the shoddy battery life of these aging handhelds makes watching anything on them for an extended period of time a real pain.
That said, there are a few Sony fans out there eager tocollect any and everything to do with the PSP. It was Sony’s most successful handheld, and, though undeniably niche, some collectors may find owning a complete collection of releases—UMD movies and all—to be worthy of bragging rights. Plus, while they were once somewhere between twenty and thirty dollars new, they’re ostensibly worthless at this point, meaning those interested in tracking them down need not worry about the price point.
Quite when GameFly plans on updating its stock ofPSPmovies is unknown, if it ever plans on restocking them at all, but those hoping to be next in line to rent a UMD copy ofRVfrom the service may not want to hold their breath. Given the advent of game streaming andall-digital subscription services like Xbox Game Pass, it’s surprising that GameFly continues to hold a place in the market considering how heavily it deals in physical media. Perhaps there will always be a place for lovers of PSP UMD movies—right alongside the Xbox 360’s HD DVDs.
