Let's Stop Pretending E3 Is A Professional Event
When the booth babes go, maybe then it?s about the industry.
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When the booth babes go, maybe then it?s about the industry.
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Let's Stop Pretending E3 Is A Professional Event
- Thread starter Dennis Scimeca
- Start date
I gave up on E3 a long time ago. I focus on GDC and PAX. they're at least honest about what they want to be. E3 is a marketing convention. just a convenient time for developers and publishers to throw out their last trailers before christmas. i was really hoping Escapist wouldn't even cover it this year after that whole SOPA ordeal.
Yeah, that's a pretty apt summary of the whole horrible affair.
If people are reluctant to identify themselves as "gamers", its likely because of horseshit like E3. Why in gods name would anyone wanna associate themselves with a: mindless, sexist, pointless overly commercial clusterfuck?
The vast majority of E3 is now and always will be pageantry designed to make it look like the AAA industry knows what its doing. Which if history is any indicator, it doesn't. This year's expo seems to put forth:
Kinect (a gimmick)
DLC (a price gouging tactic)
Using your devices with other devices (a service no one asked for or ever wanted)
& Pointless sequels to single player games that involve multiplayer (AKA the method that ruins dreams)
As the most important things in video gaming right now. And given that all of the above are the brainchildren of corporate dickheads with a 5th graders understanding of what gamers are like...
Well, you get the idea.
If people are reluctant to identify themselves as "gamers", its likely because of horseshit like E3. Why in gods name would anyone wanna associate themselves with a: mindless, sexist, pointless overly commercial clusterfuck?
The vast majority of E3 is now and always will be pageantry designed to make it look like the AAA industry knows what its doing. Which if history is any indicator, it doesn't. This year's expo seems to put forth:
Kinect (a gimmick)
DLC (a price gouging tactic)
Using your devices with other devices (a service no one asked for or ever wanted)
& Pointless sequels to single player games that involve multiplayer (AKA the method that ruins dreams)
As the most important things in video gaming right now. And given that all of the above are the brainchildren of corporate dickheads with a 5th graders understanding of what gamers are like...
Well, you get the idea.
Tin foil hat time.
What if this is the exact kind of image the games industry WANTS us to be seen as? Bear with me here. It's become pretty common where consumers are butting heads with the industry. Look at the Mass Effect 3 ending and Diablo 3 RMA controversies be make very quick examples. The industry is doing things that the consumer base does not agree with, and they get vocal about it, at the same time the industry is trying to milk as much money out of us as possible.
So what's the point? Would you rather have a group perceived as well-read and mature trying to fight your company, or would you rather have a group seen as socially-awkward basement dwellers? I can give you three guesses which one is easier to sell to the media right now. So maybe, just maybe, the industry wants us seen like this so we are unable to gain any real credibility with the national media, and those who don't hang out on gaming site.
/tinfoilhattoff
What if this is the exact kind of image the games industry WANTS us to be seen as? Bear with me here. It's become pretty common where consumers are butting heads with the industry. Look at the Mass Effect 3 ending and Diablo 3 RMA controversies be make very quick examples. The industry is doing things that the consumer base does not agree with, and they get vocal about it, at the same time the industry is trying to milk as much money out of us as possible.
So what's the point? Would you rather have a group perceived as well-read and mature trying to fight your company, or would you rather have a group seen as socially-awkward basement dwellers? I can give you three guesses which one is easier to sell to the media right now. So maybe, just maybe, the industry wants us seen like this so we are unable to gain any real credibility with the national media, and those who don't hang out on gaming site.
/tinfoilhattoff
I'm slightly confused, didn't this happen already? A couple of years ago they decided to make it truly press only and there was a hoard of complaints and everyone said it was the worst E3 ever etc and then next year it was meant to be the resurrection of E3?
Anyway this is also amusing because Checkpoint yesterday said the reason E3 felt like a failure to all of us was because it was a press event and meant for the industry. And now we have this explaining why it felt like a failure to journalists was it's not a press event and meant for the hordes
Maybe E3 in general just sucks (although Checkpoint raised the somewhat believable point that people like probably aren't E3's main goal in press. The reason they make a circus and get Usher and all the rest of it is to attract the attention of people who don't read gaming websites. Maybe that does work?)
Anyway this is also amusing because Checkpoint yesterday said the reason E3 felt like a failure to all of us was because it was a press event and meant for the industry. And now we have this explaining why it felt like a failure to journalists was it's not a press event and meant for the hordes
Maybe E3 in general just sucks
(although Checkpoint raised the somewhat believable point that people like probably aren't E3's main goal in press. The reason they make a circus and get Usher and all the rest of it is to attract the attention of people who don't read gaming websites. Maybe that does work?)
I find nothing wrong with the picture. I find nothing wrong with booth babes. I also find nothing wrong with how I, as a consumer of video games, is viewed by "non-videogame players". I don't see any of this ever having a negative impact on the industry and making noise about it just isn't all that necessary in my eyes. Maybe I just enjoy staring at beautiful women too much.
This. A lot of the splash at E3 is designed to get a news organization other than Kotaku and the Escapist to care.BrotherRool said:
However, I've got to disagree with Mr. Scimeca about a couple of points. I've never been to E3, but I imagine that part of the attraction is the spectacle, the gathering of people devoted to the pursuit of gaming. While it's true "...we get announcements that already leaked prior to the show and a smorgasbord of trailers and hands-off game footage we could view from our homes", the same can be said of live concerts, Comic-con or other such events. Having a meeting of who's who in the industry, at an expo based around that industry, is the main focus, not the announcements.
On a side note, are you sure that guy is a tourist? People from the gaming press are so busy that they don't pick up any swag, or look at the booth babes? You may have schedules to meet, but the companies can and will do anything to keep you at their booth, or get you to spend a few spare minutes listening to their pitch. It's not a pretty picture, but it can just as easily be someone from the industry, loaded down with the goodies they normally receive in press packs, as it could be a tourist.
Honestly, I don't really see an issue. It's not like gaming conventions have some sort of lock down on booth babes. This is what happens at every single convention from car shows to electronics/gadget shows to beerfests. Because sex.
I think there's more of an issue with the footage they show than anything else. I didn't really think to hard about it before, because, well, new footage is new footage. But RPS had some neat entries about it and basically it goes like this: Some games there like Tomb Raider and Far Cry 3 are trying to be more than just another shooter/adventure/action game. They're trying to bring up real issues, make the gamer feel something more than "har har I kill with teh gunz", but all we see in the trailers is pandering. I get that booth babes is an extension of that pandering, I do. But it's the actual media (demos and trailers) that is going to float around in the spotlight, not pictures of some loners taking pictures of girls.
Basically, booth babes are a local show of disrespect (for men and women, really), but the trailers like the stupid Hitman trailer and the gratuitous boobs in Far Cry 3 are demeaning the gaming culture on a global scale.
At least we have the good grace to act offended by that.
EDIT: Also, did he make fun of cosplayers??
I think there's more of an issue with the footage they show than anything else. I didn't really think to hard about it before, because, well, new footage is new footage. But RPS had some neat entries about it and basically it goes like this: Some games there like Tomb Raider and Far Cry 3 are trying to be more than just another shooter/adventure/action game. They're trying to bring up real issues, make the gamer feel something more than "har har I kill with teh gunz", but all we see in the trailers is pandering. I get that booth babes is an extension of that pandering, I do. But it's the actual media (demos and trailers) that is going to float around in the spotlight, not pictures of some loners taking pictures of girls.
Basically, booth babes are a local show of disrespect (for men and women, really), but the trailers like the stupid Hitman trailer and the gratuitous boobs in Far Cry 3 are demeaning the gaming culture on a global scale.
At least we have the good grace to act offended by that.
EDIT: Also, did he make fun of cosplayers??
Or alternatively, Hanlon's razor:shadowmagus said:
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."
Maybe "the industry" isn't thinking/ self-reflecting at all, but is stuck in outdated routines, too lazy to question their worth.
As a queer female gamer, I never know what to do with booth babes. They're pretty, and I look at them because they're pretty, but I also know that they've been hired to be professional oglees, and while obviously they knew what they were getting into, I kind of feel sorry for them. Part of me goes "ooh, boobies" and part of me goes, "how the hell as a fellow woman would I feel if I were in her shoes?"xrogaan said:
I mean, I don't stand there and drool on booth babes but they're kind of hard not to notice. And sometimes I get greeted happily by one, who is maybe happy that the person who is staring at her might also have boobs but is also not drooling and has obviously showered this morning. But sometimes I get a weird look, like, "Uh, you're not the clientel I was hired to... can you go away now?"
So notice them and then I feel guilty and then I flee the table and don't buy the product/sign the mailing list/take the business card and I think there's a failure of marketing at work here.
If straight male attenders of cons are also feeling more awkward or uncomfortable then maybe it's not as good as a tactic as once thought.
I think it'd be a good idea to check whether or not he is a journo, sounds like you're making assumptions based on prejudices there. Perhaps justifiably, I wouldn't know. What I do know is that while you have a picture of him, he has a picture of them. I think he wins that round.
If you're arguing that hiring booth babes is a bad thing, for some reason, I don't really think you have much of an argument. Your problem with that guy is what, that he perpetuates the stereotype of the socially awkward gamer? Your problem is that you don't like the way he looks. That is shallow and judgemental, not to mention hypocritical since you say you want this image spread far and wide. Why not find images of gamers more aligned with your personal tastes, and attempt to popularise them? All you've done there is attempt to shame someone for not appearing to be the kind of person you would like associated with your hobby and profession.
I'm going to hypothesise that booth babes, like the giant posters, flashing lights and sounds, are decoration to interest you in the property on display. Not to attract you to it, mind, since I shall accept your stated dedication to your schedule as ironclad. No, the display is all there to imprint upon you a certain state of mind in which to receive the pitch. Do you think E3 would be better if each game simply had a small square cubicle, white painted walls, a desk and computer, no flash, no drama? Perhaps. Do you think it would make no difference to your experience of the game? If so, I disagree. The presence of booth babes along with all the rest will absolutely alter your perception of whatever it is you're there to see. Which is the point.
I think there's probably an objection to be made against the use of people as furniture, but that has nothing at all to do with anything in the article.
If you're arguing that hiring booth babes is a bad thing, for some reason, I don't really think you have much of an argument. Your problem with that guy is what, that he perpetuates the stereotype of the socially awkward gamer? Your problem is that you don't like the way he looks. That is shallow and judgemental, not to mention hypocritical since you say you want this image spread far and wide. Why not find images of gamers more aligned with your personal tastes, and attempt to popularise them? All you've done there is attempt to shame someone for not appearing to be the kind of person you would like associated with your hobby and profession.
I'm going to hypothesise that booth babes, like the giant posters, flashing lights and sounds, are decoration to interest you in the property on display. Not to attract you to it, mind, since I shall accept your stated dedication to your schedule as ironclad. No, the display is all there to imprint upon you a certain state of mind in which to receive the pitch. Do you think E3 would be better if each game simply had a small square cubicle, white painted walls, a desk and computer, no flash, no drama? Perhaps. Do you think it would make no difference to your experience of the game? If so, I disagree. The presence of booth babes along with all the rest will absolutely alter your perception of whatever it is you're there to see. Which is the point.
I think there's probably an objection to be made against the use of people as furniture, but that has nothing at all to do with anything in the article.
The E3 you see in the coverage is not the E3 that actually exists. We write articles that tease out the relevant info from the marketing boilerplate text. We shoot videos that are carefully blocked and edited. You get the cleaned-up content that E3 is meant to generate. E3 is actually very messy in my experience. It's loud, crowded, hot, often disorganized, and hectic, and game journalists are there to do a job, not celebrate an industry.Thunderous Cacophony said:
The parties, if we attend them, take place after the show, not *at* the show.
Concerts and comic-con are not industry events. They're entertainment venues. E3 is sold as an "industry event." That's what the crackdown on badges was all about last year, but it's a joke. There are fans and tourists all over the place at E3.
My point is that if E3 isn't a serious industry event, let's just admit it and set our expectations accordingly. And this isn't even to talk about the fact that social and mobile gaming were almost nonexistent at E3, and they're huge segments of the marketplace.
E3 does not represent "the gaming industry." It represents "One of, but not the only, profitable markets in the video game industry, i.e. 18-35-year-old males who buy shooters." As I said, I have no issue with that because I fit into the demographic, but part of being a game journalist is having an awareness of and acknowledging what the entirety of the industry looks like...and it sure as hell ain't what we see at E3. That's just the truth of it. Gaming has changed. Period.
There is no way in hell that guy is a journalist. We talk to one another. If that was an employee of any major outlet word would have gotten around very shortly after that tweet went out. But because that's not very useful to you as an argument, consider the following:Thunderous Cacophony said:
There are several outfits whose reporters are either obligated to turn down swag or cannot keep any of it, and later give it away to fans. I personally know many colleagues who don't take swag because they worry about the ethical questions it raises. Swag is there for fans and tourists, not working journalists.
Also, if we took swag at every booth we hit on a day at E3 we'd have a huge bag of crap to lug with us around the show. When you're going to and from appointments with your laptop/netbook and maybe a camera and notebooks and other gear in a messenger bag the last thing you need is more crap. That X-Play bag is nothing but a pain in the ass to a working journalist.
We tend not to advertise other peoples' outlets, so unless that is an employee of G4, which he is not, that's not a journalist.
Note that he is wearing an N7 sweatshirt. I know few journalists who wear clothes like that to events.
None of us would be caught dead taking that picture. It just doesn't look professional.
Finally, note the lack of any gear which would designate a professional journalist. I rarely see any of my colleagues walking onto the floor with only a notebook and a pen jammed into a pocket. That kid has the clothes on his back, his badge, and an X-Play bag in his hand.
As demeaning you think it is for men, imagine how it is for women.
This is why PAX is a better alternative. Not perfect, but better.
This is why PAX is a better alternative. Not perfect, but better.
I have to agree with this, both babes are nothing but eyesores and E3 can be done without them.
We'll have our own E3 in the black citadel! Without the booth babes!
We'll have our own E3 in the black citadel! Without the booth babes!
TL;DR: "Booth Babes" are artifacts of gaming's early days more than specific marketing gimmicks.
Did anyone else catch that special Blizzard ran for their anniversary? The video where they delved a bit into their history?
Well, if you didn't, they talked a lot about Blizzard's early days a good deal. Now, bear in mind, this is Blizzard here - a company with a history of extremely high-quality game products and franchises - and the early days in Blizzard HQ sounded like a bunch of dudes hanging out on a weekend with a bit of game design thrown in for good measure, not a tier 1 company. They played Magic, they played DnD, Samwise has a story where he beat some dude in Mortal Kombat using only his feet - this is not exactly a modern-day AAA studio in terms of serious business. I'd imagine that the early days of game design resembled this setting pretty closely - a bunch of dudes having fun and making games.
Dennis describes how the modern-day attendees of E3 - journalists and businessmen - have highly regimented schedules and don't have time to lackadaisically float around from booth to booth. But what about the early days? Take those early Blizzard guys. I highly doubt that they would have gone to an early E3 with a super-set plan. It probably looked like "Give a presentation, meet with some dudes, drink heavily, dick around, go home." When you want to get a bunch of nerds with free time to come to your booth when there are a lot of other booths out there, scantily-clad women is a great draw.
So, if the industry's changed so much, why do we still have booth babes? Because it's easier to do what you know to do. When the PR/Marketing teams are putting together an E3 presentation, they probably go more "well, what did we do last year?" and less "what goals are we trying to achieve?" Booth babes are a pretty simple, 'sexy,' catchy aspect of E3 - we know how to integrate them, might as well throw them in this year!
/mytwocents
Did anyone else catch that special Blizzard ran for their anniversary? The video where they delved a bit into their history?
Well, if you didn't, they talked a lot about Blizzard's early days a good deal. Now, bear in mind, this is Blizzard here - a company with a history of extremely high-quality game products and franchises - and the early days in Blizzard HQ sounded like a bunch of dudes hanging out on a weekend with a bit of game design thrown in for good measure, not a tier 1 company. They played Magic, they played DnD, Samwise has a story where he beat some dude in Mortal Kombat using only his feet - this is not exactly a modern-day AAA studio in terms of serious business. I'd imagine that the early days of game design resembled this setting pretty closely - a bunch of dudes having fun and making games.
Dennis describes how the modern-day attendees of E3 - journalists and businessmen - have highly regimented schedules and don't have time to lackadaisically float around from booth to booth. But what about the early days? Take those early Blizzard guys. I highly doubt that they would have gone to an early E3 with a super-set plan. It probably looked like "Give a presentation, meet with some dudes, drink heavily, dick around, go home." When you want to get a bunch of nerds with free time to come to your booth when there are a lot of other booths out there, scantily-clad women is a great draw.
So, if the industry's changed so much, why do we still have booth babes? Because it's easier to do what you know to do. When the PR/Marketing teams are putting together an E3 presentation, they probably go more "well, what did we do last year?" and less "what goals are we trying to achieve?" Booth babes are a pretty simple, 'sexy,' catchy aspect of E3 - we know how to integrate them, might as well throw them in this year!
/mytwocents
Huh, From what I heard, yes there were booth babes there but it was a lot more toned down and less exploitative than previous years and the girls were more modestly dressed. The worst of it was the darksiders 2 booth babes and the lolipop chainsaw girls but for the most part it was an improvement on previous years.
Some, like the Nintendo girls, were not only dressed demurely, but also knew a great deal about the games they were demonstrating. To me, they're the ideal booth babe - cute, but also helpful. Some of the girls at E3 were straight up dressed like hookers. (Expensive hookers, in fairness, but hookers.) If more of the ladies at E3 were like the former - actually knowing something about the games they're presenting, and fully dressed - perhaps fewer people would feel awkward.Sneezeguard said:
I'd feel that would be expected of nintendo considering they're more child friendly and more family orientated, and hookers aren't exactly family friend stuff despite what the film "Milk money" would have you believe.Susan Arendt said:
But any way I do agree that booth babes should be more like the that (the nintendo kind) But my point was that from what i've heard of previous e3's it's improving and getting less sexist and shallow, and perhaps while it isn't perfect and it's still a problem, it was getting better and there was a failure to recognize this improvement.
On side note how much do you thing the hitman trailer controversy effected this years e3 and how much effect do you think it will have on the next? Considering the whole backlash and will it make industry rethink about booth babes?