Eurogamer Expo Bans Booth Babes

[RJ 17]

I'll keep my comments short and sweet:

1: Most booth babes are aspiring models just looking for work, so no, they're not likely to know much about the games they're promoting.

2: If your concern with a game is attached primarily to a curvaceous, scantily clad female protagonist, one such female being there at the booth isn't likely going to change your mind one way or the other about the game.

3: Has anyone done a survey or poll of people attending these expos and asked if they're bothered by booth babes? Shouldn't something like this take into consideration the thoughts of the attendees?

And 4: Tying back in with 2, sexy females in revealing outfits is already ingrained into the gaming culture. Take away booth babes and they'll likely just be replaced by literal cardboard cut-outs of these characters that will be used to catch people's eyes. The cut-outs will know even less about the game they're advertising, won't be as much fun to get a picture taken with, and certainly won't be getting paid at the end of the day. Why not give that job to a person and help them out?

 

[luckshot]

i was going to say this was a little extreme but it seems like they never really had to deal with booth babes and had already discouraged using them so it doesnt seem that heavy handed.

and like the first poster said a cosplayer is portraying a particular character because they want to, not just to attract attention to the game/product

 

[Smooth Operator]

So, let's get this straight.

We will not allow men and women who aspire in their career to be models and building their portfolio and help earn a living and develop a career. Also, apparently due to how risky these models dress and given the demographic we must have it remain child friendly because someone must think of the children.

Yep it's official, the video game industry now has a religious right enforcing their morality.

It's not about models nor about children, it is a gaming expo, and these people were selling all but the events agreed on product, every community has it's terms and this is no different.
But there are plenty of modeling expos where their bodies will be more then appreciated.

It's a shame such bans need to be made but I honestly can't blame organizers if attendees can't keep perspective, I mean ffs World of Tanks had a full stripclub show going on everywhere they went... it's a game about nothing more then bloody WW2 tanks...

 

[More Fun To Compute]

I find it odd that a lot of the embarrassment about booth babes is actually deflected embarrassment about how a lot of male gamers are, well, not very sexy or sophisticated. It makes people feel bad to see the two together. These women have their own lives though and probably are not that grateful that a chance to earn money has been removed even if they have been protected from having to have their photos taken with gamer dorks.

But other arguments against them make more sense. Like it isn't appropriate to have them in an environment where there may be families and that it makes female industry professionals feel like they are in a boys only club.

Expecting male gamers to all become sexless and only interested in extreme violence or less extreme activities like sports games because it's less embarrassing for the industry and commentators isn't going to work completely though. And should we want it to really?

 

[WindKnight]

(looks up what a QR code is).

So, they were basically encouraging people to take snaps of their models asses?
Classy, with a silent Cl.

Way to encourage the creepier elements of the fandom.

 

[Spearmaster]

If your product is any good at all you don't need booth babes...just saying

 

[Erttheking]

People are actually upset that people can't go "Check out our game TITS TITS TITS!"? Really? Frankly no, it's not like cosplaying, because they're not trying to have fun, they're flaunting everything that they have just so that they can attract customers, seriously alienating female gamers in the process. For fuck's sake, we've got the internet for porn. I think this is Eurogamer's way of going "grow the fuck up" and I agree.

 

[Wolf Hagen]

I honestly don't mind em beein taken off from the booths.

Honestly? I go there for the games, not some T & A Presented by a Company.
If I wanted T & , I'd go to a beach party or a strip club... or something like that.

And the Argument "Europe is turning into a right wing Catholic blah...blah...blah...".
Nope! They are private and have every right. Otherwise I'd say, we got a bit more class usually then THAT, but then I'd look over to the "Essen Motor Show" and would feel ashamed.

And let's just say: every step away from the eye catcher kind of marketing for the freaky virgin type of nerdy gamer, the better.

We got the internet, it ain't like theres a deficit of juicy Ladys.


And as for the Cosplayers: Thats defenatly a different kind of story, since those are at least in touch with the subject, unlike most of those booth babes.

 

[Baldr]

I've talked to Booth Babes at E3, most of them are models/actresses who like working the conventions(and it not just gaming) because it is a steady income, which can be tough in LA.

 

[lord.jeff]

I'm completely okay with this decision not because I hate booth babes, they're sexy as hell, but because I'd rather have game companies sell their game based on things like graphics, story, and gameplay.

 

[OldNewNewOld]

I'm with the idea of, rather than banning, enforcing an equal amount of booth-studs.

+1 Have buff guys with just a belt of ammo covering their privates for advertising shooter games to balance it all out.

Do I smell a petition starting?
We need to make this happen as soon as possible.

You mean a petition to justify keeping booth babes while pretending to care about equality by throwing some half-naked guys in the mix. Newsflash: objectifying men and women is bad. Having both be equally objectified does not solve the problem. But I'm guessing that the only reason any one would petition for this sort of thing is because they don't want the booth babes to go and need to half-assedly justify their position.

I don't think objectifying someone is bad. If a person wants to be objectified, go on, do it. It's her/his decision, not yours.

Also, some of us are gay and would like to look at nice looking halfnaked men. And I was joking. I would rather have developer or people who know something about the games give me information than to look at men/women.

 

[AngloDoom]

[Shnippy, das kleine Krokodil]

You mean a petition to justify keeping booth babes while pretending to care about equality by throwing some half-naked guys in the mix. Newsflash: objectifying men and women is bad. Having both be equally objectified does not solve the problem. But I'm guessing that the only reason any one would petition for this sort of thing is because they don't want the booth babes to go and need to half-assedly justify their position.

Woah, generalise much?

[unimportant bit]I personally don't see the big appeal in booth-babes, if I want to look at a female form for sexual arousal then I'll just go full-on and look at pornography: the same reason I don't understand strip clubs. Why pepper sexuality throughout your day and just suffered a prolonged blueballing experience?[/unimportant bit]

What's wrong with objectifying people if they have no problem being objectified? When I couldn't see my girlfriend at the time for a couple of months and she asked me to go on Skype and get naked for her, I imagine she wasn't looking at my beaming personality. She was objectifying me and I certainly enjoyed the attention. Similarly, when people get naked or semi-naked so a group of people can look at them then they are either enjoying the attention or don't mind the attention due to some other reward at the end of it all. What's so wrong with that?

I don't see what's wrong with objectifying people who want to objectified - you can't possibly argue that the gaming community is full of people so impressionable that seeing any woman dress up for the male gaze means that they're going to assume that all women serve no other purpose than this?

Sure, sex shouldn't be used to sell unrelated products - but it will be anyway because it works. We're never going to get rid of objectifying attractive individuals without pushing ourselves back through another sexually repressed Victorian Age and I certainly would rather be happy and comfortable in my sexuality rather than have to feel guilty because I occasionally see a woman for something other than their personality.

 

[Ledan]

Agree with the idea that there should be less both babes, don't like how they did it. IDK what the perfect way to do it is..... but there should still be room for the DOA:Beach Volleyball games.
There should be less of those games than there are currently, but they should still be allowed and not be discriminated against.

 

[Frankster]

snip

Reading through the other comments, i was under the impression the whole "ban the booth totties to protect the kids" was just ane excuse?

Either way, dont agree with any restriction on the matter, ive seen how crazy shameless cosplayers can get, so if its the sight of naked flesh thats the problem, banning the "booth totties" (am liking that expression btw ) then this wont fix much, youll still have all kind of cosplayers running around.

Cmon, ive seen obese guys in very tight and revealing outfit. Dont tell me that is more appropriate and acceptable then a sexually attractive person (whether male or female)in skimpy clothing just because one is getting paid whereas the other one is doing it for kicks.

You mean a petition to justify keeping booth babes while pretending to care about equality by throwing some half-naked guys in the mix. Newsflash: objectifying men and women is bad. Having both be equally objectified does not solve the problem. But I'm guessing that the only reason any one would petition for this sort of thing is because they don't want the booth babes to go and need to half-assedly justify their position.

Weird my inbox didnt alert me to this, almost missed to reply this.

Mmm, you clearly have your loaded generalizations and am guessing we have had VERY different life experiences for our conclusions to be so different but disagree with you on just about every level.
Its equality all right, you have buff girls for guys to drool over if they wish and you have buff guys for the girls to drool over.
Objectifying men and women isnt bad, its NORMAL when it comes to sexually attractive peeps of the opposite gender, and certainly not something to feel guilty about.
Having both be objectified does not solve which problem? Im guessing you mean the wider context of gender relations and equality in which case no it definitly wont solve it, but its a step in the right direction in my personal experience .

As for your last comment, funny thing is despite my stance, id likely be the person most unfazed by a pretty booth girl, precisely for the reason that sexuality isnt that big of a deal to me, and this relates to my aforementioned life experience that is clearly very different to you xD
Basically tldr is my dad was a player and was surrounded by sexy women since i was born+lived an extensive period in france where open and free sexuality was the norm and led to very relaxed relations between the 2 genders and also way more openess and honesty. Will spare you the raunchier anecdotes but suffice to say, in france its common to have billboards showing the naked form of BOTH genders, litterally have an attractive ass as advert for a pharmacy product.
In plain street, with all the kids, i might add. And because its so routine and normal, it barely raises a reaction. Adding to this that most of my friends were female and some became models (one even had stints at gaming expo), hope you can start to see how ive come to my views without going "loool you just wanna see boobs", because frankly, ive seen enough boobs that i can control myself better then most
Open and free sexuality does promote equality, much more then equally enforced puritanism, and furthermore thats just plain unhealthy and rather lame tbh.

 

[Daveman]

With regards to booth babes vs cosplayers the obvious difference is one is doing it because they enjoy it and the other is doing it because they're getting paid. Really rather obvious difference.

I don't have anything against modelling or revealing clothes but it really has nothing to do with video gaming. It's purely pandering to the disgusting stereotype that games are for boys and those that play them are horny anti-social shut-ins and it is bound to push women away. If it's relevant then they can obviously have cosplayers in sexy outfits where appropriate but as I understand it they just had a bunch of girls in hot pants with logos on. The former at least makes sense, the other is just pervy and weird. It's a business event ultimately and it would be incredibly inappropriate.

So yeah, thumbs up to Eurogamer from me.

edit: and for the record, a woman who is genuinely interested about these things I like and intelligent is far more attractive to me than somebody who is capable of doing more sit-ups.

 

[Daverson]

Is the woman in the photo above a booth babe or a cosplayer? And if you can't tell, then how do we determine where to draw the line - and why?

Cosplayers are people who've worked hard on a costume because they love the medium, booth babes are hired by agencies. Pretty obvious, that's where you draw the line. It's not like people are going to start hiring covert booth babes to pretend to be cosplayers, is it? (If they do... well, they should probably be allowed to, because that'd just be mad. And I respect that.)

 

[Zeren]

I don't care about them banning the booth babes. I just want to know where those QR codes linked to.