Can somone explain this "booth babe" thing to me?

[Kargathia]

One way to solve this little conundrum of yours would to be talk to them. Discovering there's a person attached to the boobs might just help you realise they're actual people, doing their job.

Realise that, and you'll be a lot less fazed by what exactly they're wearing. (Or more precisely: what they're not wearing.)

 

[Sansha]

Sex sells.

Putting a pair of titties or a hot ass next to your product is a very efficient way of getting attention. Video games is, really, a male demographic, so I guess it works.

And hey, it makes conventions more fun. Eye candy can improve any event.

 

[someonehairy-ish]

Should have made this a poll really.

Do you like boobs?
Are you indifferent to boobs?
Do you dislike em?

Thats pretty much what it comes down to, as far as I can tell. Most of those results would be the top one, and that would give you your reason why booth babes are employed. Tis eye candy.

 

[someonehairy-ish]

One way to solve this little conundrum of yours would to be talk to them. Discovering there's a person attached to the boobs might just help you realise they're actual people, doing their job.

Realise that, and you'll be a lot less fazed by what exactly they're wearing. (Or more precisely: what they're not wearing.)

I think the OP was well aware of that, just asking why its necessary to have them doing that particular job.

 

[EHKOS]

And no amount of breasts make a game better.

I disagree, The Saboteur Midnight Show.

You forgot God of War 2....

 

[Strain42]

I don't mind it. It's simple advertising. Like the OP said, it's no different than having hot chicks at car shows, or even in commercials. Unless the game gives a serious vibe of "You should check out this game, we have a hot chick at our booth" then I don't have a problem with it.

Like right now there is a game coming out for the 3DS called...something something: Portraits of Girls. It's a hack and slash game that looks mediocre at best in its gameplay. However, wanna guess what this game is being sold on? 3D BOOBIES!!! with BIG JIGGLE PHYSICS. Seeing so many people drooling over this game almost makes me ashamed that this is what it's come to. This is how your average gamer is seen. (and yeah...if it gets localized I'm probably gonna get it...but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it )

Like Yahtzee said, to a nerd the promises of boobies are what a bacon sandwich is to a starving wolf.

A while back there was a big video where they wanted to test if booth babes actually knew anything about video games and so they asked them five "General Knowledge" Questions. The reason why I put general knowledge in quotations is because it's laughable. The closest they had to general gaming knowledge questions were asking who were the original 3 starter Pokemon and who is the hero in Ocarina of Time. The other questions asked about specific knowledge into games like Bioshock and Bayonetta. They weren't general knowledge, they were stuff that you'd know if you played the games.

The worst part is though that the gamers flipped out, insulted the women for being dumb and said that they weren't "worthy" of being booth babes.

Booth Babes are what they are. Their job is to lure you in, it's the games job to keep you there. If they ever try to shift that balance, that's when things start to fall apart.

 

[Slayer_2]

Nerds. Closest that many of them will come to a scantily-clad woman. Good for promotional purposes, and I guess it makes 'em happy. Which is nice.

It does, however, ignore the fact that some nerds are women - the only thing this gamer needs to do to see a scantily-clad woman is take off her own clothes.

Do I have a problem with it? No, not really - the women are being paid, nobody's breaking any laws. Do I think it helps discourage women from becoming involved in games and the gaming industry and community - yes, actually I do think it does. It helps tell women who are interested in games as clearly as anything possibly could that they are not the target audience.

thats the ONLY problem I would have with...I havnt been to any conventions of the sort but I would find it a little off putting

but then again the "male-ness" of gaming in general doesnt bother me (was a little unsure when I started) so this kind of stuff doesnt make me want to quit

but I do feel it kind of re-enforced a negative sterytype...then again its the same withcars and such

so yeah I agree mbaye its not worth banning

Attractive women unarguably attract (straight) male attention. 99% of gamers are male, and most of those are probably straight. From a marketing perspective, it's a perfect solution to drawing more attention to something that might not be worth any.

In my personal opinion, it's slightly insulting that someone out there thinks that my smaller head does all my thinking. Yes, I'm a teenage male, and yes I'm straight. I definitely enjoy attractive women, BUT having some beside your booth does not make me want to buy your stuff. In fact, it makes me opposed to the idea, as I feel a bit peeved about being treated like a drooling sub-human.

If the roles were reversed, and the conventions were filled with females and a few attractive males wearing speedos, I dunno how much I'd care. I suppose it might be a little off-putting, but from either perspective, it's not terrible, just slightly annoying.

As it is, males dominate the gaming market, and booth babes are likely to be a popular marketing tool for the foreseeable future.

 

[SckizoBoy]

There's no typo
Pasties - plural of past·ie (Noun)
1. A decorative covering for the nipple worn by a stripper.

Damn... how young and naive I am, here I was thinking Cornish pasties! =P

 

[Kargathia]

One way to solve this little conundrum of yours would to be talk to them. Discovering there's a person attached to the boobs might just help you realise they're actual people, doing their job.

Realise that, and you'll be a lot less fazed by what exactly they're wearing. (Or more precisely: what they're not wearing.)

I think the OP was well aware of that, just asking why its necessary to have them doing that particular job.

Necesary on a level of necessity: as much as games are necessary in the first place - not at all.

Necessary as in: why does it exist - a very simple "sex sells", nothing new to see there.

These things are pretty straightforward, my post was based on that apparently the OP feels slightly alienated by the whole concept, and I'd rather post the pragmatic solution than to get out my soap box and start protesting against the objectification of women.

Especially as the best way to fix objectification of women is to stop treating them as objects in the first place.

There's no typo
Pasties - plural of past·ie (Noun)
1. A decorative covering for the nipple worn by a stripper.

Damn... how young and naive I am, here I was thinking Cornish pasties! =P

Don't worry, I've also only known these as "nipple stickers".

 

[Phoenix Arrow]

You really need this explained?
Men like tits. It's nothing to do with games, it's the same thing they do at other shows, on billboards and newsagents usually employ young girls on checkouts. At least the place I used to work did, but then the owner was a pervert. Point is, it's nothing to do with stereotyping gamers, it's stereotyping men.
It's harmless enough really, they get paid well to do it.

 

[nicksdrago0]

I actually find them really awkward, I would just prefer a straight up pitch rather some girls trying to be all cutsey cutesy. Something about it just seems...off.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I really don't care either way having them there or not is not going to make gaming anymore or less mature.

 

[stormcrow5]

Its be around for awile, not just Booth babes but even boat shows and car shows any big event pretty much will have some attractive gals to draw attention. I even know a few girls that like to see them strangely

 

[diddykonger]

two words for you buddy.....sex sells!

 

[Dags90]

I have to wonder why booth boys or booth hunks or whatever isn't a thing, though. Can you imagine the mad cash you would get.
It'd be like selling ice-cream in a desert.

"Booth boys" and "booth hunks" brings up a surprisingly small amount of gay pornography on an image search. Google, I am disappoint.

I'd wholly endorse the idea, it's not like games aren't already busting at the seams with meaty pecs and rippling abs.

 

[Brutal Peanut]

Game cons: This actually seems to be happening less then you think. I had gone to Blizzcon and I only actually saw two or three 'Booth Babes' and they weren't all humongous tits and chain-mail thongs. I saw more scantily clad cosplay ladies come in from the street playing Harpies from World of Warcraft, that usually requires string bikinis with carefully placed patches of feathers, and not much else.

My favorite Booth Babe was this lovely lady playing Sarah Kerrigan (I assume).

They had more regularly dressed women in jeans, black polo shirts with logos, and sneakers talking with people, handing out fliers and buttons. Whether you found them attractive or not, is up for you to decide I guess.

But being attractive and smiley is the point of the woman being hired in the first place, whether it's for dressing up as a character from the game, or just being the person behind the booth. It's to lure people over with a nice smiling pretty face, and then try to sell them something, or sign them up for something. If this was a convention based around a more female perspective, would you have been offended if they used handsome men to sit and talk with people at the booths? Probably not. This also just isn't for cons or auto-shows - I've seen grocery stores with nothing but smiley slim female cashiers. It did get more attention and not just from men. Most advertisers find that approaching smiling female salespeople, especially attractive ones, can be easier for a majority of customers and they don't even have to be dressed 'sexy' - this isn't a new concept.

As a woman am I offended by it? Not really. Takes more then a woman standing around in what is essentially a bikini to offend me, and I like looking at a pretty woman as much as anyone else, but I'm not going to buy anything, so jokes on them. My husband is the funny one. He likes to act like he isn't looking at them, and sometimes it looks like he is going to strain his eyes right out of his head trying to catch glimpses. I usually manually turn his head towards her and then say "There we go, doesn't that feel better?" lol

 

[Mr. Google]

It simply boils down to sex sells.

Booth babes bring people's attention to their booths. The more people which pay attention to the booth, the more people which may talk about the content of that booth.

And, let's face it; many people are still under the false impression that the vast majority of gamers are male. So, booth dudes don't exist --to my knowledge-- to bring in the female gamer/reporters.

False impression? I didnt realize it was a false impression that video games were mostly male. I will guarantee that over 50% of games are male. Which in turn makes it a majority.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

however to be honest I dont feel right condemning it for some reason (probably because I hate coming off as a angrey feminiest) and I guess since I like a medium that...has a somwhat "imature" aspect to it..it feels a little hypocritical

Yeah I get the impression that I'm being somewhat of spoilsport but I can't really change how I feel and react to something. It's not really on a concious level it just makes me feel uncomfortable.

 

[Colour Scientist]

I find it amusing that there was this typo:

Every copy of The Saboteur ships with a special card that contains a code to turn on The Midnight Show, which removes the bras and pasties from some of the dancers in the Belle du Nuit.

Nothing more erotic than a stripper taking her pasties off... (though to be fair, I'd imagine they make terrible underwear...)

It's not a typo. The little things covering her nipples are called pasties. I had to find a photo that wasn't too adult.

Spoiler

 

[SckizoBoy]

Don't worry, I've also only known these as "nipple stickers".

Same, I know what they are... but this is the first I've seen them referred to as 'pasties'... a word that I typically associate with 'satisfying if a bit bland a lunch' and 'ginsters'...(!)

It's not a typo. The little things covering her nipples are called pasties. I had to find a photo that wasn't too adult.

Yah, was 'enlightened' of its contextual definition here earlier... first time I'd heard them referred as such. -_-

Oh, the joy of homonyms in English...