When guys think about E3, the one thing that pops into their heads – besides the gaming glory and standard L.A. debauchary – are the babes. Those notorious "booth babes" get ogled and groped by thousands of hapless and not-so-hapless attendees each year, spared only slightly from the wolf pack by virtue of video games' inherent male-distractionary principle. With their come-hither smiles and scantily-clad bodies, one would think that they simply bring it upon themselves. But is that really what's going on?
Over the years, the (whoever it is that runs E3) has tried to, in their words, "crack down" on what these women are allowed to wear. Meaning they have to wear more, if that sounded like they were being forced to wear less, which would probably be a somewhat more interesting exposé. For years, most of the vixens-for-hire wore next to nothing, perhaps only put to shame (or to modesty, depending how you put it) by would-be models posing for car show photo shoots. This year, officials were allegedly stricter on just how much skin was "in", but the more things change, the more they stay the same. Especially if they don't really change, such as this case.
Throughout the halls, there's a notable variety and creativity in the costumes of the various booth babes, though the ideas are still all drawing from the same well. Nintendo's girls, for instance, have traditionally worn some of the most "family friendly" attire, favoring form-fitting gear over the Bangbus school of thought. However, when your cups runneth over, so to speak, there is only so much that is left up to the imagination. In South Hall one company's booth featured two models in skin-tight silver dresses, writhing around on platforms like strippers. Cosplaying girls were everywhere in sight, as were fake hair, eyelashes, and above all else, boobs.
Booth babes are known for their... endowments, and they're encouraged to do whatever they can to show them off. Fake or real, chicks (and many of the male attendees) have boobs, so if you've got ‘em why not flaunt ‘em, right? For sanctity's purposes, it's not a big deal, since it is an 18+ convention and frankly, I couldn't care less what most of these chicks were wearing. But the guys, well, most of them had to bring a change of pants. So does this attention mean anything to the booth babes themselves?
I went around talking to various girls to try to understand their take on the E3 experience. At first flat-out ignored me, but once I said that my ID listed "Site Owner" as my title, they were all more than happy to turn their attentions away from the drooling masses and pay attention to what I had to discuss. Nearly 90% of the women I talked to were nothing more than hired models pining to be actresses; babes looking to get a break with the many producers that attend the show. The other 10% were receptionists and the like at their respective companies who were offered bonuses to wear something tight and hand out junk. Not that there's anything wrong with that, since I'm sure they'd be proud to display their 75-cents-for-every-dollar-a-man-makes paychecks to anyone who cries sexism. Some were in school, using their modeling funds to pay their tuition. Admirable. Others, however, were in it for their own version of swag.
Swag (promotional items handed out by companies showcasing their products, sometimes pronounced "schwag" by cretins) at E3 ranges from t-shirts to key chains, posters to demos, and more. I myself come home with a suitcase full of junk that I'll never need, simply because it's free and towards the end of the convention, companies just start shoving their products at attendees so they don't have to pack it up and ship it home. Booth babe swag, however, ranges from simple jewelry to cold hard cash to finely-engineered automobiles. That's right, folks: cars. Four different models told me that at some point during their years at E3, they were given brand new autos. Oh, but these cars weren't gifts from companies, they were presents from gamers trying to buy their way into these lovely ladies' affections.
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