Universal to release movies for PSP

updated 6:50 p.m. ET May 16, 2005

LOS ANGELES - Universal Studios has become the latest studio to release movies specifically for the Sony PlayStation Portable, a handheld game device that also plays movies in a special format.

Universal said Monday it will release six titles on Universal Media Disc (UMD), the proprietary format devised by Sony for the PSP.

Sony, The Walt Disney Co. and Twentieth Century Fox have previously said they will release films on the miniature disc.

Initially the studios are releasing films that appeal to young males, the audience most likely to buy the portable games device.

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Among the titles Universal will release this July are widescreen versions of "Assault on Precinct 13," "The Rundown," "Van Helsing," "Dawn of the Dead: Unrated Director's Cut," "The Chronicles of Riddick: Unrated Director's Cut" and "The Fast and the Furious."

Earlier this month, Fox said it will release five titles this July, including "I, Robot," "Napoleon Dynamite," and "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story."

Studios are embracing the format because, unlike current DVDs, the new discs include robust features to prevent the movies from being illegally copied.

The UMDs, which can hold 140 minutes of DVD quality video, typically cost about $20.

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