Booth babe ban: we must support EG Expo’s initiative

To my mind this is still dictation to the women involved, whether it’s viewed as positive or negative.

I’m with #40 on this. Perhaps ask the women if they enjoy their job or not before telling them what they can and can’t do?

OG, I take it back. You’re not a liar.

You’re just stupid.

Go and learn to read. I’m shocked that you can come in here claiming that you agree with Pat’s article, since, if there’s anyone around here who wouldn’t understand a word of it, it’s you.

You have difficulty understanding basic points that I make, because you’re just stupid.

I never said that porn was a justification for anything.

Fool.

@49, I meant in this thread… Not the world in general

@GIGA, Woah, bro chill. Bygones be bygones & all that eh?

I thought it was about companies not being able to use sexist marketing in this way not dictating to women what they should or shouldn’t do to earn money.

Also I learnt a veritable cornucopia (shit load) of new words from that article and that’s never a bad thing.

@33 A good writer does know his audience. I quite like the fact Pat knows his well enough to throw this kind of thing at us now and then.

@50, “He’s not posing for a photo beside a person. He’s posing for a photo with a thing he’s seen. A beautiful, unattainable thing. An object.”

That’s ridiculous. I’m sorry but that just is. Now we’re dictating what other people think of those women too.

So a guy wants a photo with a good looking girl, unattainable or not, who cares? It’s not like these girls are being forced to give out kisses and a blowjob for money. They’re job is to promote something and look good doing it. Which often they do.

That’s it, shut down the porn industry, close the strip clubs, lock up all the strippers… It’s about time these women learn to do something they might not want to do because other women (and men!) are offended by them doing something they might actually want to do.

That’s freedom folks! The freedom to stop others from doing something because you’re offended by it! Good job, World!

Whoa.

I studied English at the University level for 5 years and came out with a degree and a pretty decent average at the end, & I have never before seen over a dozen of the words contained within this article.

I’d consider taking it down a few notches, for the sake of clarity.

@OM:

The guy deserves it. I’m sick of him accusing me of saying things that I never even came close to saying, and then running away when I challenge him to quote me (which he can never do, because I never said the things that he claims).

I’ve put up with his idiocy for so long, but I’m not pulling any punches anymore.

It’s funny how it’s not ‘kay to show half-naked women with big boobs, but it’s totally fine to show half-naked men with big muscles.
Surely men and women aren’t treated very differently in video games. Either everyone is Ken and Barbie or they are your average girl/guy-next-door.

Moreover, I usually buy stuff based on their qualities and shortcomings rather than on the number of boobs on the cover. Although to be perfectly honest, I have nothing against boobs on covers.

I struggled with many of those words. Not entirely sure they were all necessary.

I have no doubt ManuOtaku is working his way through deciphering them all as we speak

Do we ban revealing/sexily dressed cosplayers to such shows? for the sake of the parents and children? Or is it just that the ‘booth babe’ models are getting paid for it that makes it ‘wrong’?

@40 +10000000

As soon as I read the title of the article, I immediately thought, Patrick’s opened up the women’s studies books again.

@45 – completely agree.

@56,
“That’s it, shut down the porn industry, close the strip clubs, lock up all the strippers… It’s about time these women learn to do something they might not want to do because other women (and men!) are offended by them doing something they might actually want to do.

That’s freedom folks! The freedom to stop others from doing something because you’re offended by it! Good job, World!”

Shut them down. Because they dont serve any purpose whatsoever. In my country, it isnt even allowed, and people are fine with it. This is worst example of freedom you can give. You can run naked on streets, gangbang on streets and ejaculate on everyone who says anything to you. Thats freedom too.
They would better serve society if they do something more productive, like doing a job that requires brains, not boobs.

@64, Being contempt with something doesn’t mean things couldn’t be better. I don’t hate the house I’m living in but doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love to move out given a better option.

@64 – What country do you live in? That seems like a very sad place.

It isn’t Ireland, is it? I only ask because, for years, I’ve tried to find Irish-only porn and couldn’t find any.

Good looking models are used to sell everything from tooth paste to cars – I have no problems with “Booth Babes”. I went to E3 in 2011 and they helped bring the show to life.

I hope the Feminazis don’t get their way again.

This is such a bunch of bleeding heart nonsense.

I hope these kinds of attitudes never make it to the core of the industry, because if every developer starts buying into the idea that games need to be three, four, or five times more politicially correct and morally sanitized – something that doesn’t apply to any other medium – then games are going to get considerably more boring and toothless than they already are, and gaming will pretty much have forfeited its battle to become relevant.

A medium that spans the tasteless as well as the high brow is in everybody’s best interest, even the puritans, although they’re not like to realize it.

@57 Experience > degree

I agree with #57…

Did Patrick swallow a Thesaurus this morning? This article reads like a piss-take…

This is a gaming blog not a forum for English literature professors!

@66,
Its not Ireland. Its very far and very big (and poor , even with exceptional growth due to stupid population ) in its comparison.

@64
Boobs are morale boosting. A morally boosted employee tends to be more productive. Therefore, boobs are good for productivity.
Besides, porn generates a shit ton of money. Lots of money means lots of taxes. So yes, porn brings money into the economy.

@66, Your welcome.

http://www.largeporntube.com/search/?q=irish

@71: It’s not india, is it?

What’s wrong with women wanting to be sexy? My guess is that they threaten women who aren’t–you know, the kind of women who become either puritans or feminazis.

OK, OK. I know that ruffled more than a few feathers. I realize how outrageous that statement was. But consider the subject of freedom before you go nodding your head approvingly when liberties are taken away, even the liberty to pose in skimpy outfits for the arousal of male attendees. Who wants that gone, and why? The women who do it? No. The men who watch it? No. It’s a meddling third party, with an agenda about . . . something. Could be anything, but usually it’s either religious or political, and has nothing to do with the actual events. Do we really want to let either of those crowds abridge our freedoms? Political correctness is already totalitarian enough. Let’s not encourage it to get worse.

#72, opiates are morale boosting. And generate lots of money too. So yes, let’s just implement them into economy circle.

@76
Why not. Selling cancer is legal after all.

@64, That’s amazingly sexist and ignorant in itself…

“They would better serve society if they do something more productive, like doing a job that requires brains, not boobs.”

Again, if they’re happy doing those jobs, who are we to tell them it’s wrong? How many people actually do a job that serves society rather than their own or their company’s bank balance?

Hmm. Well, fair enough, #77.

I think VG247 has a bit of a problem in that it’s clearly pushing this neo-feminist agenda, but then when a woman happens to make a game, while being John Romeros wife, the fact that she’s John Romeros wife somehow ends up capering the headline, and even being listed right next to her qualifications.

The problem with high horses is that it’s so hard to stay on.

Let me get this straight. It is okay for women to want to be viewed as sex objects, but it is wrong for us to view those women as sex objects?
Am i understanding that right?

Did I ever tell you I love you Viral You’re saying exactly what I want to say without me needing to write it :p

You’re welcome.

I’ve actually asked my friend who did the 3DS promo about her thoughts on it. I’m curious to know what she thinks about all this.

@69 Encounter the word unirenic much in your experience? Useful one, is that?

I’d argue that earning a degree is a valuable experience in itself, and one that forces a person to read, write and think about texts that they would never otherwise know about or choose to pursue on their own. I won’t try and make the case that attending University somehow automatically makes a person more well-rounded, (I met more than a couple of morons there just like anywhere else) but there’s no reason to think that real life experience can’t be gained during—or applied to—your studies at University. You get exactly as much out of it as you put into it.

Anyway, my point was, this article is understandable to almost no one. The author should know his audience, and write accordingly.

^Obviously you don’t spend much time here

@84
Universities rock. Especially good ones.
@Viral
In hindsight, you may be right. I just don’t feel people involved in porn are any better than animals.
In the case of Booth babes, if they know what they selling, guess I don’t have any problems with them.
@Young

Where are you from?

Animals? Porn? You never seen any porn then, because animals are better.. Well unless you mean beastiality that is o_O.

Notwithstanding that people are no better than animals of course.

Isn’t this taking the PC thing a bit too far?! Honestly you would think they had nothing better to do.

@87
Tokyo Jungle is better in that regard.

Is this to make up for that “Psycho written” Borderlands 2 review?

Anyway, I hoped that this “no boothbabes/sexy boothbabes on the showfloor” bullshit would stay confined to Penny Arcade and its expos, but sadly globalisation proved me wrong.

What is so wrong in having boothbabes at an expo?
As people said before me, they’re morale boosters and serve their purpose in marketing games and alluring people to their booths before the others.

Sure, there’s no need to have them dress with mankinis (unless it’s for a Saints Row game), which we can all agree are vulgar, but we shouldn’t be either such bigots and almost throw a girl out of the show because her cheerleader top is slightly more revealing than the real life one.

@90
Because everyone gets offended by everything. If it were up to certain people here we would live in a sterile world where there are no such things as sex, alcohol, music and in general entertainment, because some might find it offensive…

Came in expecting the obvious culprits to display rampantly sexist behaviour.

Was not disappointed.

If you want to look at women treating themselves as objects, go to a porn site. The Internet isn’t lacking in them.

As for the wordiness of the article, it’s a bit wordier than some, but it’s nowhere near as bad as it could get. lrn2education.

Although I know Pat already knows that simplicity and approachability is the preferred way of writing something. He usually doesn’t write this “flowery”. Why did you make such an obvious exception for this piece?

Anyone know if you can still show titties in the games themselves? God of War Ascention’s sex for orbs scene just screams for a tit free environment, right?

@64 “You can run naked on streets, gangbang on streets and ejaculate on everyone who says anything to you. Thats freedom too.”

The difference between a porno movie and what you’ve said is choice. You have the choice to watch a porno or not.

If you don’t want to watch a porno then don’t. But accept that some people do want to watch. That is freedom.

@94
see #86

I don’t know, I think on this instance I’d like to side with G1GA, and DSB also. In the past I said that how I view this issue, but I think Pat went a little too extreme this time.

If people start taking actions like these, like banning booth babes on a video game expo, or in any sort of fair, you’re taking away the freedom and choice, people are allowed to make their own choices. Choice is a good thing to have even if we tend to make the wrong ones all the time, it is still our choice. We can let people know how we think about matters like this but we can’t force them into thinking like us. To me this is radical way of thinking, much like what is going on in middle-east and Muslim countries.

@86: Germany. Land of the pervs.

Dunno if you’re aware of it, but India isn’t really known for it’s female rights. Matter of fact, there was recent poll done by the Thomson Reuters Foundation showing the best and worst (G-20) countries for women. India was last on that list. Came even after Saudi Arabia.

To quote an article from forbes.com:

“What would you say has been one of the most shocking findings of this survey?

Perhaps the fact that India was ranked worse than Saudi Arabia. Virtually, every aspect of a women’s life in Saudi Arabia is controlled by men. They cannot drive or enter the Olympics. They’re generally forbidden from leaving home, travelling outside the country, working, studying, marrying, filing a court case or seeking medical care without being accompanied by or receiving the written consent of a male guardian. In India, women, to a great extent, have many of these freedoms and some people may be surprised by the fact it polled worse than Saudi Arabia. However, Saudi Arabia’s wealth means schooling and healthcare for women are of a good quality, while practices like infanticide, child marriage, wife-beating and trafficking are commonplace in India and maternal mortality rates are extremely high.”

These are peoples jobs on the line cunt, seriously consider both sides not just one

The respectability of video games is on the line here. How can THE MEDIUM MOVE FORWARD if people are still oggling boobs?

How can gaming compete with the arch nemesis Cinema while still catering to the people that made it popular in the first place?

Do you want Video Games to continue to be a niche medium like comic books and sci-fi TV shows? Or do you instead desire more jokes on the Big Bang Theory?

As an industry I say:

“Down with this sort of thing.”

“Careful now.”

So… Women huh? They’re cool and stuff.