Bye Bye Booth Babes

Rick Stirling

http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=14230

The Entertainment Software Association has announced that exhibitors attending this year's E3 will face a hefty fine if they attempt to promote their products using scantily clad women.

Delaney King

I suggest pulling funding of the entertainment software association.

What about scantily clad women helping with security for your booth... not exactly promoting as such.

Weiser_Cain

I'm oddly happy about this despite my life quest to see as many people naked as I can before I die; I always felt this cheapened the scene to me.

Toomas

I think its great, now they have to find creative ways to make girls sexier!

But:
"Exhibitors who break the rules face $5000 penalty"
Err what is $5000 to EA or Activision or UBI or Konami or whatever???

danr

i'm assuming the polygon-and-texture versions of the "material" they describe is still fine ...

flaagan

While I kind of think it's a good idea, I'm agreeing with Toomas on his point, and thus calling BS on the whole deal and labelling as nothing more than a quick scam by the ESA to scrounge up some cash.

KDR_11k

So they're not allowed to display Bloodrayne 3 at E3?

Paul Jaquays

Politically Correct BS. What next? $10,000 penalty ... er ... surcharge for selling games with scantily clad women in them? An extra $15,000 penalty if your game features guns, or appeals only to teenage boys? Do you get a credit for covering all skin areas on sales personnel in baggy flannel? arrrrgh. Time to move E3 out of SoCal and away from the crazy people.

hawken

what in the world?

thats why people go!

gauss

as the article mentions, the rule has been on the books in previous years, they're just looking to enforce it now. if they make good on that, i might very possibly return for my second E3.

not to be dramatic, but witnessing the spectacle last year made me feel dirty and cheapened, and seriously question my involvement in the industry. it was a thoroughly unpleasant affair, a gauntlet to get through in order to see the games.

and it's not like this will really change the vast majority of the booth babes anyhow, there will still be tight clothes and cleavage galore; it just won't be so shamefully overt.

Josh_Singh

I have been in the industry for almost 4 years, and I have never gone to an e3. I just dont feel like it's for the developers or rather the developers dont get much respect. There just doesent feel like there is any dignity in it. But I know a lot of guys who go and a have a great time.
I wish there was a galla event for game developers, where we could all dress in Tuxes and bring our wives for a classy evening, honoring the best in our industry.

Paul Jaquays

E3 is not about dignity, it's about attracting the attention of people long enough to make them aware of your game. We make games. We entertain.

I wandered the halls last year and don't remember being offended by the presence of booth babes, or that anyone's models were shockingly unclothed.

This all smacks of letting people with overdeveloped social consciousness run things. Next thing you know, they'll only be selling tofu and salad in the concession stands.

If they want to improve things there, how about putting in more sound baffling and requiring that no one be allowed to put on shows that you can hear outside your booth? I'd be all for that.

Daz

True, and neither was I ever particularly offended by the sight of scanitly clad girls. Far be it from me. What does make my skin crawl however, is the sight of unnattractive overweight men pestering, begging, slobbering and lining up for their once in a lifetime chance to be photographed with an actual real live human girl. It makes me ashamed of my sex. Id much rather not see that and concentrate on the event.

Wells

So as long as they're not scantily clad, hot chicks are still okay, right? Leather Catsuits cover everything.

Malekyth

I can't remember the last female character I modeled for a commercial game, whose tits weren't almost completely visible or whose armor happened to run out of funding right before it was to cover her legs or tummy. I hope they also ban scantily-clad game characters, just to present a united front against decadence, and then our dirty, disgusting little corner of life can slide further into the Puritan plane and Jesus can come back to save the babies.

PaK

They should have made the fine $50,000, cuz $5,000 wont detract anyone.

acc

I honestly don't think getting rid of scantily clad Booth Babes is going to help E3 not feel cheap.

Seriously, commercialized mainstream convention = crap. If you want info on games, the big gaming news sites will sift through all the shit for you, and even give you screenshots and videos you can actually keep. Why wade through huge crowds of sweaty nerds and stand in line for hours for a single preview trailer when you can load up 1up.com and browse at your leisure?

The only reasons to actually go to E3 are a)meeting up with friends, and b)booth babes. Hell, you can even see all the booth babes on gaming sites too.

So what has this change done? Now we'll have non-scantily clad booth babes and a lot of people walking around complaining about how they should have less clothes on. Huge improvement.

KDR_11k

I doubt they'll just ask for the fine and forget about it, the company will have to remove the boothbabes.

Asthane

[ QUOTE ]
I doubt they'll just ask for the fine and forget about it, the company will have to remove the boothbabes.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, in fact, the article says so pretty clearly:

[ QUOTE ]
"Exhibitors will receive ONE verbal warning when a violation of the policy is encountered. Should another violation occur, the ESA will impose a $5000 penalty, payable immediately on-site and require that models comply with the dress code before returning to the floor."

[/ QUOTE ]

Thegodzero

Its ok we don't need booth babes at E3, were getting them now at GDC slowly. Lets see, last year Nintendo had an entire booth full of them serving drinks. Another booth had them kicking geeks asses in doom3. A few other company's that i cant remember the names of had them too. Then the after hours party's had tons of booth babes from the show, plus another batch of fresh ones from porn sites. One party was even hosted by soul's favorite site the suicide girls.

So its not an E3 thing any more.

oXYnary

What about letting games sell themselves versus breasts?

That and if the game industry wants to get half of the population. Its in its best interest to minimize the sexual glorification of one side.

(goes and eats tofu and salad)

Malekyth

Meh, I like that e3 is completely ridiculous and stupid. It makes sense for an industry whose lives and talents go toward making frivolous things for frivolous people to spend lots of money on. I've never been to Vegas, or attended a party where any drunk woman ended up dancing topless on a pool table. Can't I have my e3 at least? I think I'm being made to go this year; can't they let it be silly and fun?

MoP

No. This year, everywhere you visit will be dull, colourless and boring. The booth babes will be over 50, and wearing full Russian winter clothing.

Wells

Malekyth, there's no rule on bringing your own booth babes!

Bronco

[ QUOTE ]
No. This year, everywhere you visit will be dull, colourless and boring. The booth babes will be over 50, and wearing full Russian winter clothing.

[/ QUOTE ]

someone get me some ref pics...might come in useful sometime.

As an observer E3 is one of those things I kinda wnat to go to,but then again I can't be arsed,even if I could afford it.

as has been said the magazines and websites cover the show and the babes and really the only reason id go would be to meet fellow artists and developers,which is soemthing i enjoy doing anyway...and i go to QuakeCon for that .

Which also has boothbabes btw..not many right now,but afew.

john

Toomas

If you go to expo for babes then better go to porn expo.
But whatever.

aesir

e3 needs more of a reform that just this. It needs to be entirely re-made from the ground up. Right now, I prefer getting news from a site like ign, than actually going to there.

killingpeople

well that's dumb. hopefully someone else will start an expo that allows it and i'll go to that one.

oXYnary

[ QUOTE ]
hopefully someone else will start an expo that allows it and i'll go to that one.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well as someone juust mentioned. You can attend a porn expo. At least the booth babaes will be even more scantily clad. Vegas has plenty of these.

Even better, the first adult industry video game conference is going to be held in Vegas soon. Hope to see you there Kills!

nitzmoff

Good riddance! Most of those girls were so hard on the eyes it was depressing. They looked like out of work, B-grade porn stars. Combine that with the cheap looking, cheesy costumes and you've got one aspect of an already sensory overkill experience I won't miss.

ScoobyDoofus

[ QUOTE ]
I wandered the halls last year and don't remember being offended by the presence of booth babes, or that anyone's models were shockingly unclothed.
This all smacks of letting people with overdeveloped social consciousness run things. Next thing you know, they'll only be selling tofu and salad in the concession stands.
If they want to improve things there, how about putting in more sound baffling and requiring that no one be allowed to put on shows that you can hear outside your booth? I'd be all for that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Here here! This conservative resurgence & overly PC trend in this country is pretty sickening to me personally.
Yeah, the girls arent what makes E3 seem cheap & exploitative. Its the entire affair! For an event that is supposed to be for adult professionals IN the industry ONLY, it's surprisingly low-brow & simplistic in premise.
I think things like GDC & its ilk will be the natural higher-IQ successor to E3, until they decay and are themselves replaced by other conferences.

Marcus Dublin

Is that $5,000 per chick and what exactly constitutes scantily clad?

Marcus Dublin

PS: By the way any one who wants to get their chick fix on can go to any porn site before walking in the E3 convention center. lol.

hawken

[ QUOTE ]
Is that $5,000 per chick and what exactly constitutes scantily clad?

Marcus Dublin

PS: By the way any one who wants to get their chick fix on can go to any porn site before walking in the E3 convention center. lol.


[/ QUOTE ]

your name constitutes scantily clad?

Asthane

[ QUOTE ]
Is that $5,000 per chick and what exactly constitutes scantily clad?

Marcus Dublin

PS: By the way any one who wants to get their chick fix on can go to any porn site before walking in the E3 convention center. lol.


[/ QUOTE ]

The term "chick" is not politically correct and therefore should not be used on these forums. The women in question should be refered to using their professional designation, which is "Babe". Thank you.

Marcus Dublin

I stand corrected, babe it is for future reference!

Marcus Dublin

malcolm

Wow, this is super shit. I now no longer have any desire to attend E3.

Moz

if you are going to e3 solely to see booth babes you might have other problems you need to address.

Jelmer

I like girls

TheRatteler

Just start selling games at the Porn Expo and #|?<]< E3 in their sanctamonious @$$!!!

KDR_11k

Da but you're supposed to stare at the girls on the computer screens, not the ones in front of it.

Mark Dygert

They had scantily clad chicks at E3!?

ebagg

This is an event to hype games, games with big chested babes wearing barely anything, to an demographic that loves such content. SEX SELLS, NUFF SAID.

Weiser_Cain

So put it in your spiketv commercial

Mark Dygert

Now that the eye of Jane-Everyday-Soccer-mom is upon the industry I think they (the providers of E3) feel they need to "clean it up". As games go more main stream we'll see more of this kind of crap. The sad thing is to your hardcore fans you look to be selling out or cowing down to public pressure. To the new customers it looks like you are starting to water down your stuff. But to the execs it looks like good PR.

So we all lose because a few think they know best, welcome to western civilization...

Jes

[ QUOTE ]
Now that the eye of Jane-Everyday-Soccer-mom is upon the industry I think they (the providers of E3) feel they need to "clean it up". As games go more main stream we'll see more of this kind of crap. The sad thing is to your hardcore fans you look to be selling out or cowing down to public pressure. To the new customers it looks like you are starting to water down your stuff. But to the execs it looks like good PR.

So we all lose because a few think they know best, welcome to western civilization...

[/ QUOTE ]'Amen'

(obvious stab at Locke Star and other "crusaders" of various religions-or-not)