SCE powerless to stop porn on PSP

Sony Computer Entertainment has described the imminent launch of pornographic movies on the PSP's UMD video format as "utterly undesirable," but the firm is unable to stop the discs from being released, it claims.

Speaking to Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, in an article partially translated by US website GameSpot, a representative of Sony Computer Entertainment expressed the company's displeasure at the impending release of porn UMDs from adult publishers Glay'z and HMP.

Both firms plan to release porn titles on the movie discs, with seven titles already announced and a release schedule kicking off in July - although so far, the titles are only set to appear in Japan.

According to the SCE spokesperson, the releases are "utterly undesirable, but we cannot stop software makers from selling such videos" - since SCE is only responsible for approving game software, not movies.

Conspiracy theorists, however, have been quick to suggest that although SCE may officially frown on the porn titles being released, the firm may actually be happy to see them appear on the UMD format.

The company could well recall, they argue, that its Betamax video format was killed off by the competing VHS format partially because Sony refused to allow porn to be released on Betamax, giving VHS a significant competitive edge in the market.