1080p Porn? Blu-ray Reportedly Says "No Thanks"

In a last-minute change of porn allegiance, top adult studio Digital Playground has defected from Blu-ray to HD DVD for its upcoming next-gen releases -- and it seems that's just fine with Sony.

One-named auteur Joone, the founder of Digital Playground, recently told German magazine Heise Online that "Sony wants me to publish my films on HD DVD."

That's a switch from a year ago, when Digital Playground was planning to be the first adult studio to jump into the next-gen waters, and to support Blu-ray exclusively. Though we're sure "legit" studios like Sony can't be publicly associated with porn, we all know that, historically at least, adult content has driven the success of every major home video format. So we would have thought Sony would have welcomed the news, at least behind closed doors.

But according to Joone, Sony didn't want Digital Playground's dirty laundry on their next-gen platform. He went on to tell Heise Online that he had "wanted to publish his movies on Blu-ray Disc, but that all Blu-ray Disc copying facilities in the United States had refused to cooperate." Even further, the companies involved threatened to withdraw their Blu-ray licenses should Digital Playground attempt to make the blue movie industry even Blu-er.

As a result, Joone and company will now take their four initial high-def releases straight to HD DVD, followed by a large slate in rapid succession over the next several months and beyond. So watch for 'Teen America,' 'Island Fever 3,' 'Island Fever 4' and the big-budgeted porn classic 'Pirates' (the 'Gone with the Wind' of adult film) in early February. We know you're already fumbling through your wallet to grab the plastic.

Since High-Def Digest is a squeaky-clean family site, we can't offer you any reviews of Digital Playground's upcoming titles, or other adult releases in the future. But we will say this: as anyone taking in the very large adult convention right next door to CES can attest, it is never wise to underestimate the power of smut to drive new video formats. A little bit of wisdom that, assuming Joone's comments are legit, we think Sony -- and any other porn poo-pooing studio -- would do well to heed in the future.

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