SAN JOSE, Calif.—Silicon Xtal Inc., a San Jose-based company, has apparently filed a trademark request for the name “SexBox,” which is the same name it is using for a console it intends to produce and market that will play only Adults Only (AO) video games.
The company describes the device as “a video gaming system console comprised of computer hardware with unique user controls which plays interactive Adult Only-rated (AO) video game software titles, and has proprietary software and firmware that provides access to associated AO content and entertainment in all other digital forms.”
More specific information about the console, such as how much it will cost, how many games will be available on it and when it will be released, are sketchy at this point, but at least one video game connoisseur, Stephen Johnson of G4TV, questions whether the box will ever see the retail light of day.
“I doubt this console will ever see a store shelf,” Johnson opines. “It seems like vaporware to me—but what if it does? Right now, the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii will not allow "Adults Only" rated games on their systems, so in a sense, there's a market for a console that only plays AO games, but I gotta wonder, is there enough of a market to support the SexBox? Be honest, now: Would you play a SexBox?
“Personally,” he adds, “I'll pick one up as a curiosity in the unlikely event that these are ever sold, but I just don't think the small minority of players who would play an X-Rated game would result in worthwhile AO content... even if I was into that kind of thing.”
Over at The Escapist, Earnest “Nex” Cavalli sees more of a potential market for such a product. “Given the ridiculously huge pornography market both in America and around the world (the porno industry is estimated to hit $3.3 billion by 2011, and that's just in naughty cell phone pictures), it seems like a no-brainer to create something like this,” he says.
Until Silicon Xtal releases its SexBox, it looks as if adult players interested in AO games will have to find their own way to the Promised Land, such as it is. We actually know of only one bona fide X-Rated action adventure video game, BoneTown, which also has the potential to make a pretty sweet MMO when the time is right … and ripe.
