Video-game consoles, which are increasingly being used to surf the Internet, aren’t generally equipped with antivirus protection like personal computers.

Security vendor Trend Micro thinks they should be, though. It has launched software for Sony’s PlayStation 3 that promises to block malicious Web pages and those dealing in sex, drugs and violence.

The company bills the software as the first of its kind for a home gaming system. It was released earlier this month as part of a PS3 upgrade and will be free until April.

Some industry experts wonder whether consumers will leap for the technology the way they snap up security products for PCs and whether protection for video-game consoles is really necessary.

"I think the jury’s still out," said Daniel Ives, an analyst at Friedman Billings Ramsey. "Over the coming years, as the console becomes more common in terms of Web browsing, that’s when you can really try to gauge what type of opportunity it is for the antivirus vendors."