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E3 'Booth Babe' Interviews Reveal Comedy, Tragedy
Thanks to GameCritics.com for its series of interviews with 'booth babes' at this year's E3 videogame show, discussing "the tales these women had to tell." A model promoting Saga Of Ryzom is asked "if she's comfortable with so many guys posing with her", and answers: "It's weird when they put their arms around me... but then I feel them shaking and I'm like, whatever, if it's so important to you... it's funny when guys come up to me and tell me that it's their first time touching a girl." Girls at the Nintendo booth are also interviewed, complaining of the trade-show melee: "It's funny that people act this way over little stuffed toys... there have been people attacking us for free stuff. People will walk up to us and just try to grab it."
--head explodes--
"It's a wonderful idea. But it doesn't work." -- Tad Danielewski
Apparently slashdot is stumped for words. I guess the idea that booth babes can talk scared them into hiding under thier desk.
Great headline, though, Simon!
Somehow, it just seems fitting that I got a dating service popup when I followed this link...
This was another high volume spot, so I knew I would have to be brief. I approached Jessica, Kelia and Alicia and asked what it was like to sit there all day. "My mouth hurts," Jessica responded
Kind of makes you wonder...
It's interesting to see one sterotype (women objectified by male-oriented games) discuss another (many gamers are male, lonely, and have no interaction with women). I'd hoped to hear some kind of positive comments as well, but I suppose when you're modeling, most people don't have long and involved coversations.
:)
I notice at the article ends with, "Hey, why did she get a plushie?" I would've liked to hear the apparently female author give more discussion about what she personally thought about the situation. Clearly, some games objectify women. The racing game's "booth babes" seem to be a clear example. But what did she think about the woman dressed as the sword-wielding character? Was she affected differently than the horse jockeys that seemed to be nearly up for sale? And did she buy what the Swedish developer was saying about "just dressing up in a skintight outfit for fun"?
And why are all outfits in the future skin-tight anyway?
-Zipwow
I don't know which is more depressing, that 2/3 didn't care enough to vote, or that 1/2 of those that did are crazy.
--slashdotter "explodes"--
"My mouth hurts"
Out of context, that sounds kind of sexy...
Posting anonymously, because I don't wanna seem like a prick.
But, women check me out and hit on me almost everywhere I go. It's actually kind of weird. They didn't do that a few years ago, but now that I've actually grown up...
Now I know what it feels like, it's just weird. You almost feel dirty. But then, you think back on it, and you're like "what was I thinking, I should have hooked up with her."
In any case, I don't think anyone likes being objectified.
Home liposuction kits.
Does narcissism count as a hobby? --Shawn Latimer
It's incredibly fucking sad that there's a large enough group of people from whom contact with members of the opposite sex is such a foreign concept as to induce such atypical physical reactions - the article refers to the awkwardness the male conventiongoers have around the so-called "Booth Babes".
I freely admit I'd likely be in the same category. I don't think I've actually touched another human being in a couple years.
The question is, what does one do about it?
-- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
...that finds these girls, for the most part, unattractive? I suppose a few of them have good bodies. But none of them would make me "shake when I put my arms around them." I can't believe there are actaully guys who are that deprived. I think it's a very inaccurate stereotype that "nerds" don't get any action. I find that most girls are very attracted to intelligence and to guys with a passion for technology.
If you're one of these guys who goes to E3 conventions and freak out around girls that are halfway attractive. Do us slashdotters a favor and stop giving us a bad name by freaking out these poor women! At least pretend that you've touched a girl before or something.
Abaddon: An Xbox 360 Indie game
" it's funny when guys come up to me and tell me that it's their first time touching a girl."
Okay, time to come clean. Which one of you was it?
"Derp de derp."
Clothing Style? Weightloss? Attitude? Stopped programming?
We are modern day hunter/scavengers!
With issues (and lots of tissues)
(Voice of Comic book guy) "So, do you like ... comic books?"
Not one of the front-rankers, she said, but she had to admit that she thrived on the male attention. It was just a great big high for her.
She had a good time, but at the end of the day it was exhausting - 12 hour days on your feet will do that to you. File it under the kind of experience you're glad you had but not terribly keen to repeat.
She said she was one of the few babes who didn't cut up the provided clothes to be sexier and I guess get more photo ops. It's pretty funny since a friend of mine hates her normal, um, lack of modesty in dress, so we were both thinking she would have gone to town on it.
But she got plenty of attention anyway, and it definitely made her a little high on life for a while, which I cheerfully admit I enjoyed seeing.
She had much more of a natural look than the booth babes I've seen in pictures. Curiously enough I felt she was much more attractive than the women who actually got photographed, but, well, that might have to do with her personality and 10,000 watt smile more than her looks. Not that the latter were deficient, you understand, but it's that personality that keeps me coming back for more.
The game she was representing was someting called 25 to Life. Her comment was that I wouldn't like it. Smart girl; I have no interest whatsoever in killing people or pretending to kill people or being in the ghetto because it's "cool".
I'd rather be in my house at the top of the hill with my PowerMac G5 and Cinema HD display.
Why do people, in games and in music, find such repellant environments attractive?
D
I went to the GDC in San Jose in 2002. Almost every booth had a beautiful woman that would approach me when I walked by, give her little 30 second schpeel and then bring me to someone who "really" knew what they were talking about.
I started getting cocking as I figured out how this worked (it was my first conference.)
Late in the day I was looking through some literature at a booth and another beautiful woman approached me asking if I had any questions. I said that if I had any questions I'd find someone who "really" knows what they are talking about.
Her reply: "Um, I'm the vice president."
Ooops...
A speech...
Alright, fess up!
How many of us read the article just to see the pictures of the booth babes?
More importantly after this quote from the first page I know what went through my head! Hell yeah 5 girls at one time! where do I sign up I would call that over stimulation.
I laughed, I cried, it was an emotional roller coaster.
Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
I, too, didn't realize that the author of the article is female until the "why did she get a plushie" line. I suspect being female helped the booth babes open up more willingly.
I wonder if/why so many of the attendees were lonely males? And why they shake when getting close to touching a woman? The last time I was playing video games with other people, it was with four other males. All of whom are married.
Personally, I might also be shaking, but that's because I don't feel comfortable being in close physical contact with any scantily-clad woman who is not my wife. Perhaps the reason the babes had such a strong impression of pale-skinned, shaking nerds was because all the happily-married men weren't clambering for a photo op.
Help find a cure for cancer. Join the [H]orde
I find that most girls are very attracted to intelligence and to guys with a passion for technology.
Would you mind tell us how you came to this determination? I'm not being an ass; I really want to know. I've never found any indication that this is true of "most girls" like you suggest. Oh sure, I find lots of women who claim they are attracted to intelligence. But I think many say this because it sounds a lot better than stating that they are attracted to good-looking morons. There's also a question of what they mean by "intelligence". Many people (not just women) seem to think that those people on Jeopardy who have crammed tons of useless trivia into their heads and can regurgitate it at will are intelligent.
While I am not a techie, I am a mathematician. And you know what? When I tell women that I'm a mathematician, they give me an obligatory "ooh" or something along like that before starting to tell me about how much they suck at math or hate math or didn't understand math. That's pretty much where the conversation ends. Sometimes, I'll get someone who still wants to know more about what I'm working on. But even that conversation doesn't go on for very long.
I'm sure some here will argue that it's unfair to expect a non-scientist to ask too many questions of a mathematician they are meeting socially because there is such a large barrier to entry in the field. I disagree. Hell, I don't know shit about marketing but when some woman tells me that she works in marketing I can ask enough questions to keep the converstation going. Hell, even generic questions like "Can you describe for me what a typical day at work for you entails?" or "How much interaction do you have with coworkers/bosses/customers?" or "How much stress is involved?" It's hard to take their lack-of-questioning to be an indication that they are secretly attracted to my intelligence.
Again, I'd really like to hear how you came to the conclusion that women are "very attracted to intelligence and to guys with a passion for technology." I haven't really seen any clear evidence of that. I think the women are mostly looking for someone who is (a) kind, (b) stable, and (c) fun to be with. I don't think your IQ or ability to recompile your linux kernal really enters their decision process to any signficant degree.
GMD
watch this
The funniest part of the article was that Swedish chick wearing a futuristic, skin-tight outfit, and wig. She claimed she wasn't a booth babe and talked down on the other booth babes for selling their bodies.
I would so mod you up if I had the points. I love watching women cling desperately to the fading vestiges of their youth.
That might be the single most unique and lol-worthy article I have ever read. I feel bad for the girls in one way.
But then WHY?? They got to spend the day, if not with video games, with thousands of guys in a room.
There's also the question of whether your four other male friends were game-crazy enough to go to E3 in the first place...
I'd venture that the people who care enough about these events to travel to LA and spend a shitload on tickets are more often single guys with money to spare (due mostly to being single guys...)
For me, the best were Lauren and Leah, and I thought the second Jessica was cute (I'm guessing it's a bad picture)
Because they're easier to model than loose fitting clothes.
The ones in Kentia Hall were especially sad, particularly Dragon Lady and the ladies in cheap $5 plastic platemail. I felt sorry for them, as they kept trying to wrap themselves in their skimpy cloaks.
I wonder if/why so many of the attendees were lonely males?
This is a convention for members of a particular trade. It's not necessarily that the guy is lonely, it's more that the wife is back home, in a different city/state/country.
Booth babes have been around long before videogames, and they will outlast us all. They are there because sex sells. The guys that get a picture taken are mainly subscribing to the "while the cat's away" philosophy, in my opinion.
I've been to E3, and it's not all that different from a car show. Lots of attractive ladies, loud music, flashing lights, and guys trying to score with a good looking chick because the wife will never find out.
I've seen a few undeniably sad pasty lonely guys get their picture taken with a booth babe, but it's not as though you walk into the convention center and are overwhelmed by the stench of lonelyness and asthma meds. Is the geek stereotype accurate sometimes? Sure, but it's overused.
"Inattention makes clowns of us all" -Bean
Was the only reason that the article author was able to get any information out of these booth babas was that she was a girl? I'm sure at least one of the booth babes has heard the "I'd like to do an article about you" line from somebody. Sure, her press credentials probably helped, too.
I'm probably going to get labeled as gay for this, but:
I have been to E3 once. I have met these booth babes. I still recoil at calling them that.
I find the booth girls actively repulsive, not due to how they look, but how obviously false they are. I value honesty over pleasantries, and truth over superficial beauty.
No, I'm not gay. In fact, I'm rather solidly hetero. However, I'm not going to set myself up for disappointment by investing any amount of emotion or biological impulse in someone who so obviously merely tolerates my existance.
Happiness is relative, Based upon the way we live.
Is it OK to say "No, your fat makes you look fat."
Of the 5 years I have gone, three of them have been with my girlfriend. So it's a bit awkward being around her. Of course, if it's any X-Men or Roman person, SHE wants her picture taken.
Don't talk about Star Trek, Slashdot, Linux, or quote Monty Python. They don't have the slightest interest in any of those topics
Dear God no, I'd never date a man who had never heard of Monty Python or Linux. Not all girls are the same, there is no topic that is either perfect for/disasterous for a conversation like that. If you think every girl on the planet has the same interests, you've got some re-thinking to do my friend.
Damn my little brother and his Pokemon, damn them all to hell.
Had a chat with a few of the booth babes at ECTS, and also at the free pub that was open afterwards (still can't remmeber how I managed to blag my way in there). Found the best approach was to put myself in their position and ask them how difficult it was to maintain a smile, deal with all the attention etc etc. Treat them like people instead of lumps of meat, and you'd be surprised what you can get away with.
Ended up with one of them playing footsie with me - was a real shame that my other half was with me otherwise....
"guys come up to me and tell me that it's their first time touching a girl."
Why Not "Just Be Yourself"
And apart from navigating that site there's also "Fast Seduction 101: Art of Pick-up and Seduction" that could also help you get laid.
It's not to be taken as a ruleset, it's like shaking your social world's knowledge and take a new view that not only conforms with what you think is right but also with can work for you.
But whatever you do don't say "Just be yourself", it's the lamest thing I've heard and I'm glad I'm past that thing. Hey, it doesn't mean I'm not myself, it simply means that there was a game I didn't know how to play and I know how to play now. Just being yourself does not explain those rules.
Now go out and game som women!
The second major problem is too much media coverage on booth babes. We know they exist. We know they look hot. We know when the show ends all the makeup comes off and the costumes are presumably destroyed in an act of corporate waste. We don't need thousands of pictures of them on hundreds of different webpages in "post-E3 coverage" reports. We don't need web contests of 'which E3 babe was the hottest looking this year?' contests. I don't know about other Slashdotters but after reading my 4th or 5th E3 coverage I'm getting kinda tired of looking at pictures of women I'll never speak to, hear about ever again, let alone meet in real life.
Curiously enough I felt she was much more attractive than the women who actually got photographed....
You can't say that in a slashdot story about booth babes and not provide a link.
All the creatures will die, And all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai. (Jubai, 1605)
Forgot the URL: Project Entropia
All the creatures will die, And all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai. (Jubai, 1605)
That's one booth babe that probably has accses to beta builds of Doom III. And Half Life II. And just about anything else out there.
--LordPixie
This isn't a new idea. People tend to get less involved in games that are so open about in-game wealth being based on how much real wealth you spend. Particularly when the game is described like this, primarily in terms of its business model, instead of in terms of gameplay and atmosphere like other games. When they are willing to spend money on auctions its because they want to be ub3r in a game where everyone else had to sink a lot of time into being ub3r. I like MMOGs in theory, but in reality I'm turned off by almost all of them because of the blatant time (and in this case money) sinks.
Tell us how you really feel.
- Practice
- Resilience
That's right, number 2 means you have to lose your fear of rejection. When you leanred to walk, when you learned to ride a bike, did you ever fall? And after that did you give up and never try again? Of course not. You got right back up again and again until you got it right. You will need to do the same for dating.Dating is a skill that needs to be learned through practice. This way, you can not only learn how to be yourself in a way that does not come across as offensive, you also run the chance of locating a woman who find your "nerdy" qualities charming.
Do you want to date? Do you really want to date? Resolve that you will ask out 100 women in the month of July. Realize that many times you will get shot down. But certainly you'll get several dates and you'll refine your style/technique.
No fear, man. Chicks like confidence.
"Avoid employing unlucky people - throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them." -- David Brent
- Remember that you were gonna meet your buddy and he's gonna be pissed
- Compliment her dancing, smile, eyes, blahdyblah whatever. Chicks can't seem to get enough compliments
- Say you'd like to pick up the conversation some other time when it's less noisy
- Get her number
- WAIT 2-3 DAYS
- Call her and ask her out to lunch (or dinner, but lunch is less pressure for both of you).
Best of luck next time!"Avoid employing unlucky people - throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them." -- David Brent
Comment removed based on user account deletion
If you spend any time in LA, you'll meet actress/model/waitress types. I've had friends in that trap - a minor screen credit, a few TV commercials, occasional extra work, and a day job as a waitress. It's sad when they have the acting bug but can't break into the industry. Some spend years in that state, until they're over the hill and stuck in a low-paying job in West Hollywood. Even the ones with SAG or AFTRA cards don't typically make all that much.
Trade show work is one way women in that situation make a few extra bucks. It's not a full time job.
Ask trade-show models if they've done any film or TV work. Either they have, or they want to.
This isn't all that useful to those of us who are not slugs and snails. If you're in either category, trying to pick up on booth babes is probably a mistake for you.
Tech Public Policy stuff
Good to see that a) They don't seem to be getting hassled by women (although the Swedish chick is in denial about her true appeal), b) The nerds, while a bit cliche, all seem to be very well-behaved and polite which I like to see and c) Yes, the ladies DO seem to have brains, and take the social backwardness all in stride.
I used to do a lot of "bellygrams" (belly dancing at parties, been dancing for about 17 years now) and I used to really hate dancing for the 20-35 year-old middle-class white male set, because the men were just atrocious - nasty little Neanderthals who thought I was no better than a stripper (I don't strip, my performances are perfectly okay with children present) and who treated me like crap. I mean I really hated dancing for middle-class young white males (young middle-class black males, interestingly, are far easier to deal with - my second-favorite audience after children). It is good to see, though, that the (I assume) largely middle-class white male geek set is much more polite and respectful of the young ladies who function as "booth babes."
I remember once again why I like geek guys so much!!!
THIS is why you can't get a date...I won't talk to a guy who's not fluent in Monty Python, and won't talk about Linux, Slashdot, or Star Trek with me!!!
Okay, I'm really not THAT interested in Star Trek...maybe we can talk about how much we miss Buffy the Vampire Slayer instead. ;)
Not all women are attracted to buff and handsome losers. (And yeah, some of these guys are MAJOR losers. I went out with a major hottie a few years ago who was the DUMBEST MAN ON THE ENTIRE PLANET!!! I mean, we are talking someone who makes George Bush look like a Rhodes scholar!) And guys, if we DO like geek subjects and you won't talk to us about them, you are OUT on your @$$! Last year I went out with a doctor who was clearly a geek, had won trophies in high school in robotics tournaments, was a Ph.D. in molecular biology and was a sci-fi movie fan...and I couldn't get him to talk to me about anything! I wanted to talk about his robotics victories because I'd just read an interesting article in Wired on affective computing; he shut up like a clam. I tried to talk sci-fi movies with him, it was like talking to dilithium crystal. I asked him about his work, even asked him if he thought I wasn't intelligent enough to understand what it was about, which he denied, but he wouldn't tell me anything! What a crashing bore he was. And he WAS the stereotypical, cliche geek - I strongly suspect I was only the second woman he'd ever been intimate with (and he was pushing forty!)
Alternatively, I almost always seem to attract the guys who can barely turn on their computer without consulting the manual, and are majorly impressed with my ability to listen to streaming audio over the Internet. I'm ready to crawl into my RJ-45 port and blubber like a baby...