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Since the time that the first PSP was introduced, what has captured the interest of many individuals isn’t the games that it offers, but instead its PSP UMD movie capability. It seems like there are many more movies that can be played on these systems than there are games and other PSP stuff. And the spin-off has been software programs that can convert movies into a format that’s playable on these systems, such as PSP Movie Creator.

But before long, folks mostly stopped buying the PSP UMD movies. This drop in sales caused the producers of these disks to cut back their inventory or even stop making them, as well as selling them at lower rates. What was the explanation for this unanticipated drop in sales? The reason is quite obvious really. What’s happening is that folks started downloading their PSP movies from the internet, just like they download other audio and video files. Why pay good money for something that’s freely available on the internet?

Unfortunately for the makers of PSP UMD movies, this is a situation they probably didn’t foresee. Just like the music industry slumped when digital downloads gained in popularity, the same has happened to PSP movies. There are now so many sites where you can get pirated copies of PSP UMD movies that it has affected the production of the hard product.

Some manufacturers have created promotional items such as older videos that were previously available only in obsolete formats such as beta, and offered them at a reduced price. A few producers even tried to set up sites where they charge a modest fee for streaming these movies. But it hasn’t made much difference to those who simply do not want to pay for their entertainment.

There are innumerable websites where you can get a movie converted into a format that can be played on your PSP, and then download it. And along with this easy accessibility to free movie downloads, there are also conversion programs you can buy that make it easier than ever to convert movies you already own into UMD format. Certainly this is against the law, but most folks don’t really care. And of course these files are shared freely online. When you have these kinds of options, there does not seem to be any reason to buy something that you can get free of charge.

So how do you solve the problem? Perhaps there needs to be an organization that monitors these illegal downloads. No doubt the movie manufacturers would like to be involved in something like this. Furthermore, it’s important that the laws against piracy are implemented more forcefully with wider coverage. Of course, it’s not challenging to dream 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.