LOS ANGELES—Video game sites were abuzz Tuesday with the news that Vivid Chairman Steven Hirsch has issued an informal call for Sony to allow adult movies to be downloaded to Playstation3 (PS3) consoles.
Hirsch made his comments to gamer business portal MCV, saying that allowing the distribution of porn films on PS3 could be a boon for the adult entertainment industry.
“As long as proper age verification is in place, there is no reason why consumers should not be allowed to view adult movies on any device that they desire,” he said. “It’s too early to say to what extent this could help our business, but it certainly has real potential.”
Hirsch’s comments come on the heels of an August announcement that Japanese game portal DDM.tv plans to launch a porn-on-demand service for PS3. The service is expected provide HD adult movies to the consoles. Currently, DDM.tv does not appear to be a functioning website, but instead connects to a page on DDM.com.
Digital Playground, a leading adult producer, already offers adult content for PS3, but only in a streaming format. According to Digital Playground Vice President of New Media Farley Cahen, the company’s current policy does not encourage download-to-own of its movies.
“We’re pretty adamant at this point about not allowing content to be downloaded for people to own,” Cahen told AVN.com. Cahen demonstrated the company’s PS3-available content for CNBC’s Mellisa Lee as a “web extra” as part of the network’s recent documentary, The Business of Pleasure.
Sony has not responded to Hirsch's request, but that may be because it was made informally through MCV and not directly to officers of the consumer electronics giant.
