When Microsoft announced Internet Explorer for the Xbox 360 at E3 2012, the crowd’s reaction was expectedly mixed. Television web browsing will certainly be a lot more palatable with voice searching thanks to Kinect, but it’s not exactly a dramatic change. Nintendo and Sony have had web browsers on their consoles for 6 years. The real appeal of Xbox 360 IE, though, is access and video streaming. It makes IE one more feather in Microsoft’s growing cap of video entertainment apps, but it’s also going to cause some headaches for the company. Case in point: YouPorn is promoting itself on Microsoft’s family-friendly gaming machine. The pornography website illuminates a far bigger problem facing Microsoft and the Xbox going forward though.
“Thanks at long last to the introduction of Internet Explorer for Xbox, you can now tap in to and stream all your favorite YouPorn videos right from your Xbox,” reads YouPorn’s promotion, coming off like a Microsoft PR rep’s nightmare and Fox News anchor’s fantasy simultaneously, “Whether you’re pwning n00bs in CoD: Modern Warfare 3, annihilating Bullymong in Borderlands 2, or taking the Saints deep in Madden NFL 13, you’re never more than a few simple controller clicks away from being face deep in hot free porn.”
Microsoft for its part was unperturbed by the announcement, nor was it impressed by the proper plural usage of Bullymong. “To be clear, we are adding Internet Explorer to Xbox Live, not specific adult content providers like YouPorn or any other specific website content,” the company told Kotaku, “Additionally, we give members and parents the option to turn this feature on or off for their accounts. Access to Internet Explorer for all Child accounts is blocked by default.”
Microsoft won’t be able to dodge the issue of providing adult content through the Xbox if it plans to move forward as a competing television provider though. Rumors to date have suggested that Microsoft is planning to either launch its own cable-style television service or that it will partner with an existing company like Comcast or Time Warner to sell the Xbox 720. Its hiring for former CBS Television Studios president Nancy Tellem reinforced those rumors in September. If Microsoft is going to compete in the space, however, it’s going to have to officially offer adult content. Comcast, Time Warner, and the General Motors-owned DirecTV all rely on pay-per-view pornography and adult channels for their profits. $1 billion of the annual $10 billion in revenue generated by the adult film industry comes from television services like these.
Microsoft has worked hard to build Xbox as a family brand, but it’s going to have to broaden its content options soon or its television ambitions will remain unrealized. Xbox porno may be an inevitability.
also did you even know that in san fran they celebrate gay pride month in ELEMENTRY SCHOOL. To be gay is a sexual act and/or feeling. they teach 6 yr old first graders on what it is to be gay. I have nothing against gay people but teach first graders on what gay is in sex ed class seem a lil more problematic than a lilporn. besides i was 7 yrs old when iwatched my first porno it was 1987 on vhs from a friend parents “hidden” collection and they didnt have the ability to clck a few buttons to restrict us. they coulda locked the door but they didnt even know we done it there was who came into my room history like xboxs search history.
*there was NOT a who CAME INTO MY ROOM HISORY* TYPIN WITH MY XBOX CONTROLLER NOT AS GOOD AS KEYBOARD
grow up. family friendly gaming machine?!! I can see it now playin grand theft auto with my 7 yr old nephew?!!
ITS ONLY FAMILY FRIENDLY IF YOU HAVE A FAMILY ACCOUNT WHERE THE MAIN ACCOUNT CAN RESTRICT THE OTHERS FROM VEIWING STUFF OR PLAYING GAMES THEY DONT FEEL APPROPRIATE. Im 31 yrs old and if I wanna watch porn then Ill do so. its people like you that should never step foot on american soil. its a free country quit tryn to control what people watch. live your life and let others live thiers. I could see if I was killing innocent civlians like our military does on a daily basis. there you go you wanna help someone help people like that reporter who died from a US apache while he was being robbed by insurgents. their are real lifes at stake and your worried about some damn porn on xbox live. get a life and grow up.
there is no freedom with control!!!!
p.s. how has microsoft worked hard to make xbox a family brand? last year they just started its family functions and its in its like 8-9 year! did you ever play the original xbox not a darn thing family there?! xbox started as a hardcore game consule thats where most of thier profits are made from the core gamers. the average age of gamers on xbox live is around 22-26 yrs old. to say its microsofts fault for the availibility of porn on xbox is like sayin its a car companies fault for DUI deaths. they provide the service and it your choice to use it. if you have child its your choice to be a responsible parent and block it with the options provided like it is the persons choice to drink and drive without responsible friends to stop them.