My favorite is Velvet Express!

Mark, good question about actual images vs. animated ones; I would argue that while the level of agency in both 3D Sex Villa and VirtualFem seem overly simple (based on what I’ve read about them), at least the animated one is set in a simulated 3D world, where there is the *potential* for more procedurality, and therefore more agency. That is, video-branching games, pornographic or not, are doomed to be very limited, because the content is obviously canned, with very coarse-grain-sized pieces; animated games at least have the possibility of more fine-grain-sized, intermixable content, and therefore the potential for more richness and responsiveness. Even if a specific animated game and specific branching-video game had the same amount of content, and of matching grain-size, experientially one might believe in the potentiality of the animated one more, even though the animated one’s imagery may be cruder. Again, agency and procedurality go hand in hand.

Anyhow, following a few links from the VirtualFem review reveals that 3D Sex Villa itself is a sequel, to its predecessor 3D Slut — perhaps that was actually the first fully 3D porn product. For the sake of completeness, there exist several similar, mostly technically cruder products listed here, here and here. One exception is the new eGirl, that appears to be a slightly more tasteful, high image-quality virtual stripper.

Actually, the most eye-catching 3D virtual female I’ve seen to date is NVidia’s Dawn, a few years old now.

You may also want to look at virtualfem although its makers seem to have no trouble plugging it themselves. From its web advertisement, this set of bots seems to speak to Andrew’s last comment on animated bots being more like video porn. By contrast, the use of actual images, I would imagine, makes VirtualFem seem more “interactive” than the 3d graphic versions. In some ways, the images also make the exchange more disturbing to me with their indexical relationship to their objects, as a case of object fetishism. How do you all respond?

That said, it’s ironic and apparently unfulfilling that these bots are built around responding affirmatively to input (robotic wish-fulfilment), which isn’t quite what we look for in a partner. At least, when I was looking for a rl chatmate, I sought out and found a one, with keywords of her own and entirely unexpected responses, not to mention, the occasional “keyword not found.”

Is that enough of a move from the sickening to the sickeningly sweet?

But if those older 2D games took interactive virtual sex with virtual women to first base, you have to admit the bump-up in fidelity and moving camera of Virtually Jenna (or actually 3D Sex Villa, thanks Shawn) is an attempt to steal second. Or, depending on your sensibilities, maybe they’re all just foul.

Although porn doesn’t need much sophistication to be successful as porn — and I think interactive porn will be a big underground hit when implemented well, with the choice of either female or male virtual partners — it could be these initial 3D products, due to simplistic execution and somewhat robotic behavior, qualitatively may not be much different than non-interactive video — in fact, it’d be a bit like watching two mannequins getting it on.

Hey, I’ve got the perfect title for the next xStream3D porn game: The Uncanny Valley.

Sorry.

What looks real sad is that Jenna is just a new head put on their existing model, and placed in the same lame room as the original 3D Sex Villa. No fluffy pink pillows or even a Jenna poster added?

The 3D Sex Villa simulation is interesting probably only because of it’s massive homophobia. It’s like actually reading the Marquis de Sade — nothing quite like it to make sex seem tedious and boring and a little offensive.

For instance, MacPlaymate (complete with disembodied hand and sex toys) was developed in 1986 by Mike Saenz, who went on to create Virtual Valerie, definitely one of the venerable ancestors of Virtually Jenna. It’s unlikely that was the earliest computer game of this sort, though. Martin Minnow wrote in Risks Digest 9.68:

My friend also mentioned that the graphics system [of SAGE] could be used to display pictures of young women that were somewhat unrelated to national defense — unless one takes a very long view — with the light pen being used to select articles of clothing that were considered inappropriate in the mind of the viewer. (Predating the “look and feel” of MacPlaymate by almost 30 years.)