Poll: Should we get rid of Booth Babes?

[Enigmers]

If I ever become a Games Director, and people are still using booth babes, I will hire Booth men.

Yeah... That'll put 'em off.

Calumon: I can't see that going well in marketing. :S

Booth Agent Smiths.

 

[Iron Lightning]

Booth Babes are the symptom. The disease is the male-dominance of the games industry. If a recent (too much so to be archived, sorry) issue of The Escapist is to be believed, women make up 40% of the gamer population but only around 15% of the games-making population. If more women took up an interest in the games industry then we'd probably see less booth babes. They'd still be around as they remain a profitable form of advertisement.

 

[MarineSquadDeployed]

Don't tell me you're honestly comparing booth babes to the Birth of Venus...

Perhaps not the Birth of Venus, Greek Gods are expected to be painted nude.

However Goya's La maja desnuda is just a naked lady. She has no historical context, it's just a naked women sitting in her bed. It was considered extremely scandalous at the time. Henry Scott Tuke pretty much made artistic soft child porn.

That said, pretty much any artistic medium has examples of porn, at least historically (Rule of First Adopters). I don't really see how booth babes affect the medium, I would say a worse problem is terrible female characterization IN THE GAMES. You know, the whole thing that gaming is based around? Gaming.

I wouldn't mind booth boys though...gender equality!

The nudity of La maja desnuda at least served some purpose: It provoked. The booth babes are there only to titillate. In this case, for instance, I strongly doubt that Francisco Goya sat himself down one afternoon and thought "I'm going to paint a naked woman, because naked women are hot."

Though I do agree with you that when compared to female characterization in gaming, booth babes are a significantly smaller problem.

 

[AgDr_ODST]

I think so, if we ever want to be taken seriously as a medium by the more established mediums.

I suppose it's really their choice whether they want to do it, but it's still fairly patronizing to gamers like me who aren't adrenaline addled sex mad killers in waiting.

I wouldn't say ban them, but there should certainly be a reduction. I'd like to think we're evolving past that, but it's a long ways yet.

Hell, if it's going to stop in the games industry, it might as well stop everywhere. I get sick of advertising treating me like nothing but hormones and a wallet.

Or perhaps add Booth-hunks as well? I mean, girl gamers should be catered to.

well said Furburt. I agree

 

[Veleste]

I think so, if we ever want to be taken seriously as a medium by the more established mediums.

I suppose it's really their choice whether they want to do it, but it's still fairly patronizing to gamers like me who aren't adrenaline addled sex mad killers in waiting.

I wouldn't say ban them, but there should certainly be a reduction. I'd like to think we're evolving past that, but it's a long ways yet.

Hell, if it's going to stop in the games industry, it might as well stop everywhere. I get sick of advertising treating me like nothing but hormones and a wallet.

Or perhaps add Booth-hunks as well? I mean, girl gamers should be catered to.

Damn straight! If you're going to have women dressed up like Kerrigan I'd not mind a Drake or Commander Shepard around

I've been to a few conventions, in one in Tokyo I remember seeing Pole Dancers and thinking 'really?'. It's a desperate marketing ploy and you don't usually find respectable companies like Bioware or Blizzard indulging although their fans tend to dress scantily enough as it is.

Everyone knows guys prefer to get their pic taken holding a giant claymore or a rocket launcher than standing next to a hot girl.

 

[Archetypal_Maniac]

I'd like to bring your attention to the latest Penny Arcade comic.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/6/14/

This comic showcases the "booth babe" present at most (if not all) gaming conventions and frankly... it's embarassing. We say we want our medium to be taken seriously yet we have things like booth babes that continue to make us out to be the "immature boys club" that I thought we wanted to grow out of.

You could say it's all harmless fun but when you think about it, these women are being treated like prostitutes. They're being paid to stand there and look pretty so us guys can say "Holy shit dude look at this photo of me with a hot chick!"

To me, this needs to end. But I want to know what you think, should we get rid of booth babes once and for all, or am I simply overreacting and this isn't a big deal?

Women are free to do as they please, some of them are too dumb to get real jobs so they work as models. If anything they are the ones taking advantage of the mens high quantity of testosterone. Shame on these women for using their great looks to entice me into their gaming booth! They are playing on our weaknesses, for CASH!

How dare you try to put a stop to these womens only way of making any money because they are void of any creative, or intellectual capability! Sexy women need to make cash too, are you really trying to take that away from them hmmm? YOU WANT THEM TO STARVE! MURDERER! YOU SHOULD BE ARRESTED FOR THIS POST!

I am calling the F.B.I right now to tell them about your plans.

P.S. Some of these women (probably not though have you seen their bodies? I'd really like to get some honey and wax and talcom powder, spre..ugh..) have children, so you could also be a BABY KILLER! SICKO!

 

[Brandon237]

How about we go for a one-year gag? Get a bunch of guys to dress up like booth babes.

I once saw a "It doesn't work this way" thing with a bunch of guys dressed as race queens making sexy poses on a car & it was hilarious.

Spoiler

Before:

After:

You should really, really have spoilered that for safety, my brain hurts, but point taken.

They should have less, but don't remove them altogether, some people actually get money like that. It's a mutually beneficial relationship.

 

[IamQ]

I'd like to bring your attention to the latest Penny Arcade comic.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/6/14/

This comic showcases the "booth babe" present at most (if not all) gaming conventions and frankly... it's embarassing. We say we want our medium to be taken seriously yet we have things like booth babes that continue to make us out to be the "immature boys club" that I thought we wanted to grow out of.

You could say it's all harmless fun but when you think about it, these women are being treated like prostitutes. They're being paid to stand there and look pretty so us guys can say "Holy shit dude look at this photo of me with a hot chick!"

To me, this needs to end. But I want to know what you think, should we get rid of booth babes once and for all, or am I simply overreacting and this isn't a big deal?

I don't think they need to go. I don't care if they go, but I don't see a reason as to why they should leave. We've all heard stories of them saying that they don't always enjoy their job, but it's not like their forced to work there exactly. They get offered a position at a both at E3 and they either accept the job or decline it.

Being paid to stand and look pretty, you might call prostitution, but I think that's going a bit extreme.

And the part about "Immature boys club" isn't really the case. Most conventions of this magnitude has them. If you're going to use the term "immature boys club", then I think it should be directed at the entire convention medium.

If a guy takes a photo of him and a booth babe, and shows it to his friends all while going "look, it's me. AND A WOMAN!" then let him be like that. Maybe it's a really happy memory for him to remember.

I'd say you're just overreacting.

 

[Junkle]

I'd rather leave them off, they're frankly annoying to me. Of course, it's their choice, and I respect that.

Basically, I'm ambivalent.