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Good Riddance To Booth Babes
Colin Campbell has an editorial at Next Generation in which he applauds the decision to fine risque outfits worn by the traditional 'booth babes'. From the article: "Exhibitors at E3 employ a whole range of human beings to attract attention to their booths and excitement to their live events. The ones who attract the largest crowds are either celebrities (fair enough), well-loved industry-creatives (quite right) or so-called 'booth-babes', often behaving in ways that at least mimic the lowest sort of strip joint. People do not dress this way in normal life, not even in Los Angeles. There are some companies that seem more susceptible to this kind of technique than others. It's difficult to imagine, say, EA or Sony or Microsoft or Nintendo bothering with this nonsense."
Those vile practices reinforced the social trend to objectify females. I solemnly applaud the decision to ban them. Now take me to the pictures! What? No pics?!?!?!?
yeah, Sony would just have guys to rape you.
What? Too far?
Considering that in reality E3 is supposed to be an industry event (I have attended the seminars wearing my game programming hat) and yet recently it has become a giant circus similar to Comdex right before the collapse, I think this is a good move. The press day in particular will be helpful (more so that the clothing requirements): the poor people in the booths are besieged by loser fan boys while the real interviewers can be recognized by the desperate looks of someone under time pressure they wait for a bunch of store clerks to stop hassling their interview target. Or they just get pushy, which I don't blame them for.
Reducing the booth babe exposure (literally) won't prevent people from hiring pretty young women and placing them in the booths. I don't think that practice will ever end (check any other convention and see who is most prominently displayed in each booth: the best looking women of the company or some "spokeswoman" who they hired because the women at the company refused to be so exploited). It will hopefully reduce the circus like atmosphere and restore the event to something that industry actually interacts at.
(On the flip side of the coin, the private parties are even more outlandish than the show floor. Make of that what you will.)
Sig under construction since 1998.
Well, dada21,
This will come as a shock to you, but I agree with Colin Campbell's take on the booth babes. I do think that they are silly.
My problem with booth babes is that while hiding behind 'free expression', these companies are trying to push their moral standards upon me trying to tell me what I should be looking at while going to a game show. I don't associate games with scantily clad women at all and resent these companies trying to merge the two. I say, get rid of the booth babes and make a product that can stand on its own feet. If people want to see scantily clad women, they can go to places that specialize in that.
Did you just say GOOD riddance to booth babes?
That ain't right.
I noticed that weird wording also.... I can only imagine that this is because this is slashdot. I mean, only slashdot could be UPSET about a mostly naked woman getting between them and a game...
I am unamerican, and proud of it!
Thing is, E3 isn't really supposed to be a "family event", is it? I mean, didn't they move it from weekend to weekday scheduling like four years ago because they thought it was getting to be too much like a "leisure time" attraction? And haven't they always required that all attendees actually be verified company employees, i.e. NO KIDS? I think the organizers want to turn it into some dignified, somber stuffed shirt convention. Not likely. GIVE US OUR BOOF BABES!
Conclusion: the Empire squashes the Federation like a bug. Accept it.
3840 entries... That's what I call comprehensive media coverage.
Is there no social position you don't color through the lens of your pet theory on "anacro-capitalism"? That organizers and many participants find explicit sexual behavior at a public trade convention distracting and unrelated to business should be enough. The issue of a woman's right to strip and prostitute herself is actually "OFFTOPIC" and not "INSIGHTFUL". Please go away.
Wait... get laid? I've not been to E3, but if the normal crowd who discusses it is any measure of the people there.... shudder. Also, it's not like there are hot men there to attract geek girls (assuming that that WOULD do such a thing), so enlighten me on exactly why you think E3 is the same nirvanna of pleasure persuits that say a real estate convention is?
On second thought, I'd rather you didn't. shudder again
I've had about 20 people link me about the new booth babe regulations, but no one seems to be talking about the other changes that have happened to E3 this year. To me, it doesn't seem like this is some arbitrary regulation that they just happened to start, but rather just a part of an overall restructuring of the event. For example, one of the other rules that I know which has changed is that retail folks can no longer get in just by being your regular Joe working at a game store. They are only distributing a certain number of passes for those involved in retail companies, and the upper management in said companies gets to choose whom they would like to attend. This will hopefully limit the number of gawkers and people who have a very loose connection to the industry, and keep the place less crowded. There are probably other changed rules, how come we never hear about them? Oh, because... sex sells. ;-) Or the lack of it, in this case.
I looked at several different news sources and I didn't see anywhere where it said that the convention center was making the rules, but rather the organizers of the convention, the Enterntainment Software Association, made the new rules. Look like the free market spoke afterall.
"Government loves to try to control morality."
No government intervention involved or called for. RTFA.
You have your own blog in which you can bemoan government as much and as often as you want. This isn't it. Fight the power somewhere else please.