Gaming on the Go

Pocket Pool

Not only would it be great fun to scare off a flight attendant with Mile High Club 38, being able to take adult entertainment anywhere you'd like is alluring to... some people. Not to say it isn't already an option. There are numerous free programs able to rip common video formats into the PSP's, provided your memory card can store it, but that's not as easy a method (or as profitable) for porn to bleed its way into a developing medium. Porting successful titles to the UMD format could offer consumers new ways to enjoy suggestive content on the go. It might be a bit creepy, but it would also tap into the lonely businessman market. Imagine someone on a business trip, alone in his hotel room on a weeknight, and instead of buying a cheaply produced hotel movie, he pops in his UMD version of his favorite skin show.

However, UMD is still fighting an uphill battle. Portable DVD players sport longer battery life, bigger screens, and a well established library. The current price point for normal movies in UMD format ranges between $20 and $35, with Glay'z's prices at $15 and $37. This just isn't competitive with DVDs. But prices always drop when it comes to media. If publishers can drag things down to the $5 impulse buy range, we could see a very interesting focus market develop. The porn industry traditionally can't do that alone. But publishers have other avenues to exploit. Namely, the PSP does more than play movies.

Even if portable porn isn't your style, what about Leisure Suit Larry, or even Hentai games? There's yet to be a handheld billed as an adult device, but the technology has grown up, and so have the prices. The PSP is roughly as powerful as a PS2, and costs twice as much. I've yet to see anyone much under 16 toting a carrying case; the PSP is for the iPod generation, new yuppies with a flair for gadgetry. Why not provide content for the age group? Beyond just porn, tossing out some "Adult" rated titles has a chance at moving more units off the shelves, just by piquing curiosity.

Porn has helped make decisions and stimulate growth in emerging markets before, and it might just do it here, too. The voyeuristic addition to the world's oldest profession packs a financial wallop few people like to admit to, but even fewer are able to ignore. With Glay'z's recent announcement, Sony is in a good position to bolster interest in not only Japanese porn, but their "legitimate" UMD titles as well. And with memories of the Betamax still floating around, they'd make a tremendous folly to look a gift horse in the mouth twice.