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| Babes In Boyland | | By Cassandra | | April 17, 2000 | Its that time of year again, folks. E3 is just around the corner and you know what that means. Yup, its time for everyone to get together in Los Angeles for the industry's biggest convention. Time for the developers and publishers to show off their wares, check out the wares of their competitors and schmooze the press. Of course "E3" is also synonymous with "booth babes" as everyone tries to come up with the sexiest babe(s) at the show. So as the time draws near, I have to wonder just why it is that some companies feel the need to have booth babes in the first place. And I believe I have the answer.
I believe much of it is a distraction. Look at this really hot chick at my booth, isn't she gorgeous? Which of course, she is or she wouldn't be a "booth babe." But while you're busy looking at the hot chick and living in some fantasy world where all you have to do is look at her and she'll melt into your arms and go home with you, you fail to notice that the game she is supposedly pushing is a pretty terrible game. Its sleight-of-hand, you see. The games get covered by all the press and get vast amounts of attention primarily because of the babes and the games themselves merely get a cursory glance, mostly because you've spent most of your time ogling the woman and don't have enough time to check out the game in-depth because you have to rush off to your next appointment and oogle the next woman.
You see, despite reports that at least 35% of gamers these days are female, its still a man's world. And men are much more visually oriented than women, as several studies over the last few years have shown. Men are first attracted to how things look, whether its its cars, women or games. Or cars with women or games with women, or women with women. Dazzle a guy with a pretty face and boobs out to there and he won't notice much else, especially if he's a heterosexual male under the age of 70.
Don't get me wrong, women like looking at pretty things, too. But I don't think we are nearly as distracted by them as men. While I like looking at a pretty girl as much as the next person, all I tend to think of when presented with huge breasts is something along the lines of, "My God, her shoulders and back must really ache!" I also start to wonder what kind of super-harness she has under her skimpy clothes that enable her to keep them up off her knees. Guys don't think of practical matters, though. They're too busy being dazzled and trying to keep the drool from becoming apparent.
But as I think back over the past several years, my theory pretty much holds true throughout. I can really only think of one exception. Some of the most prominent booth babes that I remember seeing are Lotos Abstraction from Meat Puppet, Allison from Space Bunnies Must Die, and of course, Lara Croft from Tomb Raider. Sure, the first Tomb Raider wasn't really a bad game, but they've trotted ol' Lara out every year since she first hit the scene, pushing the latest episode, and having her do more and more interaction with people. It's rather disconcerting to see hoards of supposed professionals pushing and shoving each other in an attempt to get her autograph, talk to her, or just breathe in the same air as her. It's also kinda funny as you know that they are all pretty much thinking the same thing, you can see it in their faces: "If only I could talk to her, she'd fall in love with me and I'd have her for myself!"
Think about it for a minute. Each successive Tomb Raider game gets worse than its predecessor. Meat Puppet, by almost every account, was a horrible game. Space Bunnies weren't the only ones to die, the game died a pretty quick death as well. The ultimate low point was last year, in my opinion, when I saw the anatomically correct statue, I believe for Urban Chaos (another game that tanked) who was wearing flesh-toned, skin-tight tights. Her male counterpart, of course, was fully clothed. It just wouldn't be proper for his "attribute" (or lack thereof) to be displayed for everyone to see, would it? But they got considerable press time E3 reports before they were released, mostly because of the booth babes. Actually, the babes got more press than the games themselves, if I recall correctly. But afterall, wasn't that the point of bringing the babes along in the first place?
Now, contrary to what you may believe at this point, I have nothing against booth babes in general. I don't think the people who use them are exploiting women nor do I think they demean women. I do think they may tend to create a more hostile environment for female developers, though. Its got to be tough for women to be working the booths when confronted at every turn by oogling, drooling men. And I believe it probably does make it much harder for women in the industry to be taken seriously. And nature being what it is, I would imagine its even harder for an attractive woman to be taken seriously. I've actually seen a woman ask if she should dress provocatively in order to get in the door so that she can get in the position of dazzling the men with assets other than her body. Its sad that something like that would even occur to her. I can't imagine a man ever asking if he should stuff a sock in his jeans so that he can get a job making games.
I think the use of booth babes has its place. More and more computer game companies have been attending GenCon over the last few years and, as such, the use of booth babes has increased significantly. But they belong at GenCon moreso than E3. GenCon, for those of you that aren't aware, is North America's largest gaming convention. Its where game geeks congregate to trade Magic cards (and other card games of that ilk), play board games, miniatures, dress in costume, try to out-weird each other and, increasingly, check out the upcoming or newly-released video games. Booth babes work well in that environment because the point is to have the consumers linger in your booth long enough for you to convince them to purchase something. Unlike E3, the tens of thousands of people who attend GenCon are consumers and they all have money to spend. Some of the computer game companies who were the first to start attending (as well as some of those who continue to show) would bring all of their older games from the last few years and sell them in mass quantities. Great way to get rid of the excess inventory, as game geeks love bargains and they don't get any geekier than the gamers who go to GenCon. I know because I'm one of them. :)
However, I don't think booth babes belong at E3. I think its an inappropriate forum for them. E3 is supposed to be for professionals. Their webpage says it best:
E3 is where the industry converges to launch new products, exchange ideas and make connections. If you're in the business of developing, marketing or selling PC and video games, or want to invest, you can't afford to miss E3 2000. Join over 55,000 retailers, developers, investors, analysts and media for the three most intense days of the interactive entertainment year!
Only those in the industry, as well as industry or mainstream press, are allowed in. They've even become more strict in the last few years, requiring more credentials to prove you're really in the industry or legitimate press and not just someone running a fan website. As a matter of fact, their registration pages specifically states, with regard to the online media, "Only journalists with commercial news organizations qualify for media badges. Unfortunately, fan sites, personal web site writers, editors or creators cannot be registered as media." And believe me, they do check.
So if it's a show for professionals in the industry and not for the general gawking public, what exactly are the booth babes there for? The "babes" aren't even usually gamers. I've gone around interviewing a bunch of them at both E3 and GenCon the last few years and only one, who happened to be one of the ones at GenCon, played computer games. Most of them didn't even know anything about the games they were supposed to be promoting, so its not as if they could actually talk about the games to any degree. Most of them had never even used a computer. If the women are there to actually help promote the games, don't you think it would be a good idea if they had the slightest clue what the game was about? So if they aren't there to promote the games, what are they there for?
The funny thing is that the games that look extremely promising don't resort to the booth babe gimmick. Eidos trots out Lara and the Urban Chaos chick, but there was no babe representing Revenant, which was a pretty good game. Likewise for Anachronox and Deus Ex. I don't recall seeing Hecuba strutting around for Nox at E3, either, although there was a very scary/sexy Hecuba at GenCon. Even EverQuest, who pushes the use of female anatomy to an extreme in-game didn't have an overly-endowed elf woman running around. Guess its one of those things that makes you say, "Hmmm...."
Sure, we all know that allegedly professional men are just as hormonal as non-professional teenagers. You hear stories all the time about horny old men getting caught with hookers at conventions in Las Vegas. But that doesn't mean they should be drooling and gawking at OUR industry conventions.
I'll be attending E3 next month with all the others, and like the others, I'm sure I'll be posting a few pictures of the booth babes that I run into. Might even pose with a few just for the hell of it. But rest assured that this is one reporter who won't be distracted by a pretty face and a nice stack. I'll be taking a close look at the games they are supposed to be promoting and will let you know whether they look any good or if you're better off oogling the woman and saving yourself some money. |
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