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PlayStation Home And Porn - No Problems

Posted by Zonk on from the match-made-in-dallas dept.

Via Eurogamer, a post on the 'semi-official' ThreeSpeech blog essentially saying that Sony doesn't see porn as an issue for the upcoming Home PS3 service. Sony's Phil Harrison was on the other end of the blog's questions, and after reminding us that avatars won't be able to interact, it will be easy to blacklist people, and they will have lots of filters in place: "Well I'm disappointed that you would use those as the first questions ... I think Home should be used for a much wider and more beneficial scope than [porn], but I think that people can express their creativity inside Home in a wide variety of ways and it's not necessarily for us to dictate what that should be."

12 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. unless you want porn by mgabrys_sf · · Score: 4, Funny

    Then you have a problem.

  2. To quote family guy by antifoidulus · · Score: 5, Funny

    "N'uh, it's my turn with the sex box, and her name is Sony"

    --
    Monstar L
  3. Wow. I'm impressed. by Runefox · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I think that this is an incredibly mature, forward-thinking thing to say, coming from the inherently egotistical corporate giant. While it sounds like I just like my pr0nz0rz, which may or may not be true (you, the reader of this drivel, decide!), I honestly do believe that censorship, even in pornography, is the exact opposite to being beneficial to society as a whole. I'm all for cordoning off the areas and age-checking, however.

    That said, on a completely unrelated note, apparently Firefox doesn't underline the word "pr0nz0rz" as being a spelling mistake. Hmm.

    --
    Screw the rules, I have green hair!
  4. It's obviously not an issue. by Ravear · · Score: 5, Funny

    Because everybody's playing with their Wiis.

    Duh.

  5. Sony shouldn't care by cowscows · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I think Sony's best bet is to not really worry about what individuals are doing on their service in terms of porn, and just make sure it's possible for a parent to fully lock out their kids from the home service if they so desire. Trying to monitor what everyone's doing isn't realistic without taking out just about every way that individuals can customize their "homes." And once you've done that, then what's the point?

    They should just not care, and let people make out of it what they want. Sure, it'll probably end up just like Second Life with better graphics, but pretty much anything with significant user created content is 95% crap, and a large percentage porn.

    Maybe all Sony's going for is a glorified chat room. If that's the case, then I don't see the initial excitement about it lasting much beyond release. If they're instead trying to tie in to more of the myspace/flickr/blogging mindset, then they're going to have to give people some free reign to be creative. And yes, that means there's going to be a lot of people trying to do dirty things. But you know what, give the customers what they want, and they're going to be more willing to give you money.

    --

    One time I threw a brick at a duck.

    1. Re:Sony shouldn't care by cowscows · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yeah, I've read all that. But I don't think it's going to work. Almost everything you've listed there has been solved in simpler and more convenient ways already on the web.

      If this place is basically just a big online marketplace dressed up as some sort of graphically rich virtual shopping mall, I don't think consumers are going to flock to it the way they hoped. When I want to spend money on stuff, I want to find what I'm looking for, enter my credit card, and get whatever I'm buying as quickly as possible. Having to run my virtual avatar through a store and window shop to find what I want might be fun the first time, but it's not something that is going to keep me coming back for more.

      "Persistent Worlds" are not made interesting just by the fact that they're persistent. They're made interesting by the fact that the players can seriously modify what's going on. It allows creativity, showing off, and hopefully leads towards collaboration. I don't care what sony is providing third parties, unless that third party is anyone who owns a PS3. Because otherwise it's just another way for companies to shove their wares in front of me, and the internet already provides me with lots of easy, efficient, and varied ways to shop.

      If they're going to provide some real creative opportunities, then that's awesome, it could be a lot of fun. But my original point was that if they provide those opportunities, lots of people are going to find ways to turn it into porn/sex/etc. You can't keep that from happening without either locking down the content creation to the point where it doesn't really exist, or having moderators constantly policing everything that's made. Both of those will drive away the creative types that would find such a thing interesting in the first place.

      --

      One time I threw a brick at a duck.

    2. Re:Sony shouldn't care by joystickgenie · · Score: 3, Informative

      Except with way less features and customizability.

      In second life anyone can make models/animations, scripts, and textures upload them and use them however they want. In home users can only upload textures and can only display them in their "personal space". The only people who can develop models and scripts or anything that can occur in public space are 1st and 3rd party developers.

  6. Betamax never had porn, look where it ended up... by FlameboyC11 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is actually quite interesting as Sony refused to release Porn on the betamax format, which some argue was a deciding factor on the adoption of VHS. Granted, this isn't a format war but still interesting...

  7. Re:To rephrase the question: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    There is going to be no adult oriented content in any public space on Home.

    However, personal spaces are getting their content from each person's personal PS3. So if you have have adult content on your PS3 it can be used as a media source for your personal space. The only way you can enter and view someone else's personal space is to be directly invited by that person. So unless you actively seek out someone to invite you into their personal space and watch their streaming porn, it isn't going to be an issue.

    Sony has said that they will have moderators in the public spaces to make sure no abusive or inappropriate things go on much like GMs in MMORPGs.

  8. Re:To rephrase the question: by Cadallin · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Here's a hint: If your kids are still so young that they need this kind of supervision, DON'T give them unsupervised access to on-line social networks, or the internet at all. You are the parent. It is YOUR responsibility. Don't want them surfing for porn? Don't let them surf the internet unsupervised! Because if you think Net Nanny et al are infalliable, boy are you in for a surprise. Gaming is an ADULT hobby. If you are letting your child have unsupervised access to Multiplayer Online games, you are giving tacit approval to whatever anyone wants to put out there. Your Responsibility, Your Problem. Not Mine, Not Society's.

  9. Re:To rephrase the question: by Ant+P. · · Score: 2, Funny

    Gaming is an ADULT hobby.

    Damn right! I _tried_ to tell them Pokémon was a satan-worship and bestiality simulator, but all I got were funny looks!
  10. Re:To rephrase the question: by allanw · · Score: 2, Funny

    Haha, reminds me of this Something Awful article:

    http://www.somethingawful.com/d/second-life-safari /mtv-virtual-worlds.php

    He seduces a "lifeguard" (who's supposed to be keeping the game PG-13!)