booth babes
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The booth babe is alive and living in Haier's TVs
I can think of hundreds of brands I'd rather write about than Haier. It's a second-tier manufacturer that creates functional, but uninspiring products. But after walking through its booth yesterday on the way to the Engadget stage, I noticed something worth writing about. Booth babes have been a fixture of CES ever since the show started in the '60s, and in recent years they've guided bewildered buyers and journalists through Haier's eclectic mix of HaiPads, TVs and wireless blenders. At CES 2015, there are no alluring women to be seen, but as much as I'd love to be able to praise Haier for halting the practice, I can't. Instead, Haier has found a horrible new way to use attractive women to market its products. Digital booth babes.
PAX Prime 2012: Hands-on with PlanetSide 2
Sony Online Entertainment's PlanetSide 2 is still in the process of development and beta testing, but the team brought the game to PAX for its North American tradeshow debut. If you really want to know what it's like, you can always sign up for the beta yourself. Otherwise, you can skip below this cut to hear about our hands-on time with the game on the show floor.
Dante's Inferno team apologizes for 'Sin to Win' booth babe contest
A lot of folks were understandably upset by EA and Visceral Games' San Diego Comic Con contest promoting Dante's Inferno. It probably had something to do with the fact that it objectified women in a brutish, almost caveman-esque manner. Your protests were heard -- the game's creators recently published a clarification of the contest rules, and apologized for "any confusion and offense that resulted from our choice of wording."It's nice that they responded to the negative sentiment this stupid, stupid promotional stunt created, but this kind of undercuts their whole "Circles of Hell" marketing campaign, doesn't it? Apologies just aren't very hellish. We can't imagine Beelzebub begs pardon from those he makes swim through a sea of fire and brimstone for all eternity. "Oh, man. That looks like it hurts. I'm like, really sorry about this, guys. Do you want some aloe?"[Via Kotaku]
EA giving away booth girls as Comic-Con swag
We thought we'd try and come up with some clever way to convey the following information, but figured that sometimes it's just best to let the facts speak for themselves. That said:EA is holding a contest during Comic-Con to promote Dante's Inferno, whereby one attendee will receive a "night" with two of EA's booth girls. There's also a limo ride, "paparazzi" and "booty" of an undisclosed nature. Photos of the booth girls and their potential "dates" can be found on the Dante's Inferno Facebook page. Our faith in humanity can be found in the corner, curled up and mumbling something to itself.[Via ArsTechnica]
Overheard@E3: Booth babes 'still allowed to have big boobs'
E3 has returned to its roots, albeit with a scaled-back "booth babes" policy. Although we aren't sure if someone from the ESA is checking skirt lengths with a ruler, they can't prance around half-naked anymore. We overheard this exchange between two E3 attendees:Swag-laden Guy #1: "Check it out! Booth babes!"Swag-laden Guy #2: "Oh yeah. I heard they can't be scantily clad anymore, but they're still allowed to have big boobs."Swag-laden Guy #1: "Sweet."Oddly enough, E3 attendees, both male and female, are still allowed to have big boobs as well. Now that's progress.
Craigslist shows E3 exhibitors need male models, little people to 'run amok'
Superannuation notes two recent Craigslist postings for E3 2009: One seeks a male promo model, while the other needs two little people to "run amok" outside the convention center. We know times aren't easy, so if you've got a hot body, the model pay is ... $200 a day?! Times are tough -- or is beauty cheap in LA? The model is expected to work seven hours for the three days of the show. A perfect cruising opportunity for gay models with a geek fetish.The two little people will be expected to be under 4' and "dress in costume and run amock [sic]." The pay is $80 an hour and they'll be expected to work six hours for four days.Totals: Hot male model: $600; Little People: $1,920.[Via Superannuation 1,2]Source -- Male Promo Models Needed [Craigslist]Source -- Little People Needed for Fun Event [Craigslist]
GDC09: The lone booth of booth babes
There's definitely been a steep drop in the amount of booth babes over the past few years at GDC, and the lone holdout seems to be N-Gage. They have a lot of silver jumpsuit-clad babes, complete with space-age utility belts around their waists, urging people to come into their mobile space. One girl was actually clapping loudly to try and lure in the shuffling hordes of developers, not to much avail. We still salute you, oh valiant babes of the booth. In a very non-sexist manner.
How to be a Macworld Booth Babe or Bouncer Boy
As Macworld creeps nearer, locals may want to start searching Craigslist for part-time Macworld jobs. Typical listings include Booth/Promo Girls, Spokesmodels and Bouncer Type Males. If last year is anything to go by, you should be able to get hired up until the last second. SFGate writes that models could earn from $100 per day and bouncers from $150 up. I suppose that hiring and payrates will depend on your Macbabalicious or Frankenscary-bouncer quotient but given our reader pool, I'm sure you guys will be earning top Macworld dollar!
TGS 'best of' video roundup, yeehaw!
Our must-see-Tokyo Game Show list of videos delivers a jab straight to your optic core. This year's standouts are embedded after the jump. Click the links for larger and downloadable versions.Tell us what your favorites were from the show and we'll add 'em to the lineup.
The booth babe lineup, a TGS tradition
It's a TGS ritual: when the clock strikes five, booth managers round up all of the lovely female 20-somethings that they paid to prettify their booths and line them up for a five-minute photo opportunity. Show attendees oblige, whipping out their massive camera rigs, kneeling, zooming and snapping thousands of photographs in the fleeting moments before the booth managers lead the women away again. Though we don't typically engage in such flights of fappery, we think it important to document this spectacle. (It makes us feel dirty to take these photos, but for you, readers, we subject ourselves to all manner of difficult game blog assignment.) Click "continue" for more photos.
Booth babes eat your heart out
We all know the booth babes look good, but can they play games too? That seems to have somewhat been the motivation behind British fashion label Joystick Junkies' search for the perfect model. The site set up their own little tournament of champions in the search for their bangin'-est gamer hottie. As they say, "We're not just going for model looks though, we've been looking for true gaming passion as well ..." They now have a list -- with pictures -- of some finalists, all ready for your gawking and voting pleasure. See, girls really do play video games.[Thanks, cringer8]
The Pipeline: The press gets game, Mossberg ignites Apple frenzy
Welcome back to The Pipeline, a weekly feature where we dig through the mainstream media and see what the pundits, prognosticators and and pencil pushers have been discussing over the past week. This week, not surprisingly the scribes from the mainstream press joined us at E3, checking out the latest from Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft -- though, from the looks of things, many of our ink-stained cohorts seemed more interested in seeing how the "booth babe" ban was going. The Los Angeles Times, E3's hometown paper, had excellent coverage overall, but that coverage was somewhat overshadowed by the booth babe reportage, which included text, a photo gallery and videos. A few miles up the coast, the San Francisco Chronicle didn't have the Times' wall-to-wall coverage, but still managed to pay homage to the girls of E3, pointing out that the highly publicized crackdown on the raciest attire has had results: "Where once cleavage, upper thighs and midriffs were almost impossible to avoid, they have been more or less hidden behind baby T-shirts and more-modest tank tops. And it seems like there are fewer booth babes overall." Of course, the biggest E3 scoop by the mainstream media came from Time Magazine, with its exclusive preview of the Wii, which appeared in the magazine a full two days before the conference started. For those of us who considered ourselves lucky to get a chance to try out the new console without having to wait in line for an hour, it was a stark reminder that the MSM still have a lot of clout when it comes to getting scoops from big companies.
E3 booth boi at N-Gage
I am so offended. Do these companies really think that having some H-O-double-T, hot Booth Boi with a St. Tropez spray-on tan, a Colgate smile and wearing nothing but a skin-tight t-shirt parading around their E3 booth will get me to buy and play their games?!?! Show me a Booth Boi who looks good and knows how to handle his Wii and then I'll be impressed, okay? Besides, don't these Booth Bois have any respect for themselves at all?!?!? All it does is continue to objectify men...
Female at E3: a look back
Being a female attendee at E3 puts one into an interesting niche. The number of women present at the show this year was surprisingly high -- a quick non-scientific headcount showed about 3 in 20 to be female. However, booth babes flashed their wares from a number of stands, gleaming cars and trucks advertised games with no cars in them, and Paris Hilton trundled out to wow the crowds.With all this advertising clearly targeted at guys -- and, by the look of the crowds, working well -- it's easy to believe the "neglected demographic" hype.
Paging Dr. Booth Babe
With booth babes prancing about the E3 show floor dressed as warrior princesses, dragon slayers, futuristic mercenaries and (rarely) realistic independent females, it's fair to say that their role-played lives are vastly different from their real ones. There are exceptions, however, and just such an exception could be found at Atlus' colorful booth. Celebrating the announcement of Trauma Center: Second Opinion for Wii, Atlus' booth babes were all dressed as alluring nurses (the best kind). In Wendy's case, this wasn't much of a stretch at all.Self-proclaimed Halo addict, Wendy told me that she is currently in her fourth year as a medical student at Western University. In what is an unusual transition from model to medicine, Wendy hopes to become an excellent doctor with equally excellent bedside manners. It's an amusing coincidence that may just shatter that old booth babe stereotype collecting dust within the recesses of your mind.
Joystiq Video: Joystiq Booth Babe Tour
Our very own Adams Briscoe toured around the E3 digs and grabbed a few interviews with some of the booth babes working the floor. Check the video out here. (3 minutes, 16.7MBs, iPod-compatible).
Waiting for Wii: When box babes attack
In an effort to keep the people waiting (and waiting) to enter the Wii area somewhat occupied, Nintendo have put up a couple of large video displays on the walls nearby their booth, each one depicting an attractive woman staring out of a cold, white prison. That alone would normally be enough to satisfy most E3 attendees, but Nintendo has gone the extra mile and made the displays fully interactive. A small camera and microphone situated above the screen allow people to engage in some inane banter with these boxed babes, hopefully helping them to pass the time and touch the Wii that much quicker.
Overheard at E3: We're your props
Booth babe # 1: "We're your props. We'll do anything you want."Booth babe # 2: "Should we get on our knees?"Attendee: "No. For God's sake, where's your self respect?"Actually, I didn't hear that last part.
Overheard at E3: You're all nerds! [update 1]
For the "Women at E3" gathering today, a number of female industry professionals gathered to wear special "Girls FTW" shirts in a show of solidarity. Morgan Romine, aka Rhoulette of the Frag Dolls, led the crowd:Rhoulette: Who knows what "FTW" means?[Women cheer loudly]Rhoulette: Thank God! You're all nerds![Update 1: "FTW" means "for teh win". Added at the request of at least one Joystiq staffer. For shame!]
Booth babe protest: Bikinis, not bullets
Seen at E3: as the convention closed for the day, three booth babes wielding signs saying "Bikinis > Bullets" and "I'm rated E for Everyone". We're not sure what the aim of the protest is, as these ladies seemed happy to smile and have their pictures taken.The question that springs to mind is: why not both bikinis and bullets? We met up with the PMS Clan at Microsoft's booth party, women who are just as much at home in bikinis as in full body armour. When you can dual-wield both SMGs and lipstick at once, you shouldn't have to choose.
