Girl gaming clans as next-gen booth babes
by Jennie Lees 
{ Apr 23rd 2006 at 10:00AM }
The idea of booth babes who are fanatical gamers
isn't a new one, but the booth babe cliché tends to overlook the fact that becoming a babe is one way for gamers to
get into E3. With a clampdown on the amount of flesh on show at this year's
E3, companies are looking for a few other ways to give their booth -- and its attached babes -- the edge.An interesting marriage of ideas is to employ girl gaming clans as "totty with triggers" -- a booth attraction that appeals on multiple levels. Arguably, that's what Ubisoft's "Frag Dolls" team is all about, but the Dolls won't be alone at E3 this year. g0d (girlz of destruction) will be bringing their VIA-sponsored "home of chrome" to the show floor, and the PMS clan will also be sending members to E3 to work for various sponsors.
There is a difference between groups which were set up specifically by one company, or which formed in order to seek sponsorship, and those which came together naturally -- though on the show floor, that's less apparent. Clans like g0d and PMS are becoming famous, and attracting sponsorship now, but they formed for fellowship rather than financial gain. With professional gamers in general getting more exposure these days, it seems that the gender of all-girl gaming teams makes them an immediate hot prospect to replace the stereotypical eye-candy booth babes.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
JimmyHACK @ Apr 23rd 2006 10:06AM
There is no "clamp-down" on flesh this year....
mike @ Apr 23rd 2006 10:07AM
great...this is all i need. now, all-girl gaming squads are ready to "empower" themselves by whoring their bodies on display at E3. why can't they just stick to playing games like everyone else?
AC @ Apr 23rd 2006 10:19AM
@ Jimmy ... yes there is. This was announced months ago
Danny @ Apr 23rd 2006 10:45AM
There isn't, though. That clause has been in the E3 manual for years. For some reason, it got more attention this year.
jennie @ Apr 23rd 2006 10:48AM
The 'clampdown' refers more to the enforcement of policy than any changes ('cause there haven't been any).
Richard @ Apr 23rd 2006 11:29AM
Why aren't there ever any booth hunks? I want to see some hot *male* totty for once!
Exo @ Apr 23rd 2006 11:43AM
Yea the rules have been in effect for years now, they only got attention recently, is because E3 said they would have stricter inforcement of the rules, but no body likes to read, they jsut jump to conclusions when they read article headings, and then they dont read the article.
as for being on topic, booth babes are there to look at, not talk to, so they should remain how they are. how ever, girl gamers should be the ones they use when actually talking about the games, or when they have a tv show and want to have a girl host.
look at g4, I dont really think the hsot of cheat knows what she is saying, while I belive morgan web is an actual gamer.
benjamin @ Apr 23rd 2006 11:51AM
#5:
*ew
That's a little more progressivist than I'm capable of being.
jay @ Apr 23rd 2006 12:51PM
That sounds like sticking an alcoholic in a free bar.
Ludnix @ Apr 23rd 2006 1:32PM
#6
Yeah, Morgan Webb is a gamer. The girl on cheats just reads her cue cards and smiles. Definately not a gamer.
DanOmite @ Apr 23rd 2006 1:44PM
When I was at e3 last year, the only booth babes that didn't make me want to steer clear of the entire booth were the ones from Nintendo. Not because I thought they were gamers, but because a) they were allowed to wear pants b) they were trained to actually run the booth and show off the product and c) because they actually seemed happy to be there (in the, this job is a job, but it doesn't crush my soul, kind of way).
So my criteria for enjoying booth babes is giving them respect as human beings, which is almost impossible if they are essentially presented as meat sticks, but doesn't necessarily mean they have to be gamers.
Then again, a criteria for getting a job at the Nintendo booth was big breasts and/or tight abs in addition to competency, which is a bit lame. But the same is true of the sponsored girl clans, so we've only really scratched the surface of the issue.
The ZeroCorpse @ Apr 23rd 2006 1:44PM
Can we PLEASE stop talking about girl gamers and girl clans as if they're something special or unique? I'm really kind of sick of it. You act as if women have been denied the right to form gaming clans until recently, and that's just not true.
Add in the fact that 75% of these girl clans are not so much advertising themselves as gamers, but as "gamers with breasts", and you get an annoying trend. The cheesecake poses, the sometimes misandrist names, and the whole "GRRRL POWRRR!" routine is old, and a bit insulting, both to gaming AND to girls. It's hard to yell "girl power" when you're advertising your clan with sexy poses.
So, please Joystiq, on behalf of my fellow readers: ENOUGH with the girl gamer clan stories. Stop giving them special attention. If they want to be gamers, then they should put up or shut up. They need to make a choice: Are you models, or are you gamers?
Thank goodness none of the male gamer crews do photo layouts like some of the girls do. Can you imagine? Yechh.
bounchfx @ Apr 23rd 2006 1:49PM
this is the dumbest shit i've ever heard, clans, especially girl clans, getting sponsorship and going to e3 and getting famous just because they are women who play games is rediculous. like the above poster said: they aren't special, and they should stop getting treated like VIP's, they are just freaking girls, you know, HALF THE WORLD.
KwadDamyj @ Apr 23rd 2006 2:18PM
Enough of the girl gamer crap. Honestly.
I mean, Christ, this is 2006. By now, it should be a common and accepted and perfectly MUNDANE fact that there are females who play video games. Big effing whoop.
The game industry is ridiculous at this point. I'm starting to think it should have ended with the original Myst. Honestly, that's the only game of lasting intellectual value I think I have ever played at this point. That and the Miller brothers are cool.
It seems that the bigger the guns we try to use here, the more we plain miss the target.
Natali @ Apr 23rd 2006 2:42PM
What TheZeroCorpse said.
It's one thing to want to be treated like a human being by the industry and my fellow gamers... it's another thing to use feminine attributes to attract attention under some misguided idea that I'm special because I'm a girl gamer. That only keeps the movement to be treated *fairly* back in the stone age. Personally, the whole girl gamer clan crap makes me feel nauseous.
Lane @ Apr 23rd 2006 3:05PM
I definitely agree with you ZeroCorpse. I've been thinking along the same lines.
TxdoHawk @ Apr 23rd 2006 3:06PM
I always have a good chuckle at these articles, because inevitably the "what the hell is the big deal, they're GIRLS!" comments start flooding in from guys, all seemingly pissed off that their female counterparts have the path to easy street with this type of thing.
But what can you do? Women will be treated differently until the world explodes. It seems the average guy is biologically programmed to do just that (not to mention most of them make no attempt to change the fact). Me personally, I could care less, but I seem to be in the minority...if they're not being screamed at over how they deserve no such treatment, they're being put them on a pedestal like they're some kind of higher race of human being, and each side of the male opinion on women only seems to agitate the other into becoming even more vocal.
Equal treatment will come when guys stop making a big deal out of women, i.e. never. In the meantime, gentlemen, don't lose sleep over it.
that one dude @ Apr 23rd 2006 3:13PM
Everybody knows girls don't play video games. They just say that so they can get into guy's pants.
jennie @ Apr 23rd 2006 3:29PM
ZeroCorpse - you seem to have missed quite what this post is about! I'm not evangelising the crazy new-fangled idea of girl gamer clans -- instead, I'm pointing out that these well-established organisations are becoming an alternative way for companies to advertise their products, a form of savvy booth babe that appeals on both a visceral and intellectual level. I think this ties in really nicely with an earlier piece we linked to by Kim Rom which complained about the sponsorship-seeking breast-baring camera-happy nature of girl clans. The clans getting the sponsorship for E3 didn't form with that explicit aim (though the Frag Dolls are a special case). They formed because they were gamers that had something in common -- and they're the ones getting the sponsorship, not the "ooh look at us we have BREASTS and we're GURLZ" lot.
refinedsugar @ Apr 23rd 2006 3:59PM
Yeah alright... so 'out' are models for booth babes and 'in' are "real girl gamers". I wanna see how long before this angle gets exploited. Maybe someone can slap together some silicone ladies and call them a clan.
The point is loss, moot. Girls who game, girls who don't.... are they attractive? Check. The pretense of girl gaming clans... leagues... whatever... has become absurd. It could have been a cool concept, but now it's merely stupid marketing hype with everyone jumping on the bandwagon to write stories praising the innovation of girl gaming. Give me an F'ing break already. I mean have you seen these girl clans? Being moderately attractive seems to be a prerequisite for the sign-up sheet. Whatever happened to real girls?
Hence the difference and why you have to read between the lines. Booth babes were seen as marketing slush through and through and there was little spin. You knew they were models, likely didn't game, but they were hot. This real girl gamers concept... what can I say? How about, trying too hard. Attractive or not, whenever they game or not, girls don't influence my interest or buying habits in games. Booth babes = eye candy; this girl gamer marketing drive = headache.
jake @ Apr 23rd 2006 5:10PM
If you boob it, they will come.
Dudes love boobs. So that's why they put them on display next to games. It gives crappy games just what they need to see the light of day. Plus if a dude has fun over at a booth, then he is more likely to write some column about it. I personally love booth babes. What could be better than a girl in next to nothing, that wants you to play video games? Or a girl that dresses up like one of the characters and jumps around and poses in pictures for you. Cherry!
JimmyHACK @ Apr 23rd 2006 5:20PM
like #1 says ... there isnt a "clamp-down" this year... the same rules have always been in affect... just that some blog or someone posted it like it was some shocking new rule months ago... and you know how the internet is, everyone gets all excited over it for no reason
tonedef @ Apr 23rd 2006 8:02PM
i totally agree with #5. i want more girls to become gamers, so perhaps we can see some glorious objectification of the (allegedly) less fair sex. i'm sure there are some hot male gamers out there, and i'd love to see them shirtless, running demos of nintendogs 2.
huh @ Apr 23rd 2006 9:09PM
The should have booth hunks. That would be my ticket into E3. Why do the girls get a chance to goto E3 abd I dont?
Rare Hare @ Apr 23rd 2006 9:57PM
the whole "girl gamers" trend is a very irritating one. it seems to me to be one of those "yeah well, i'm female and i can do it too!!" kind of occurences.
frankly, no one really cares whether or not you play games. we don't care if you play dress-up instead, either.
and the way girl "gamers" attempt exploit the fact that they don't have penises and are thus taboo is painfully obvious. calling your clan 'PMS'?? give me a break.. do you see any clans made up of male gamers called something like "Blue Ballz Boys" or "Er3ct10n In Public"?
no. you don't.
girl gamers.. just give it a rest, please? it seems to me that if you strive for "equality", you should actually attempt to be equal, and not to set yourself apart from the majority..
Rare Hare @ Apr 23rd 2006 11:15PM
just to clarify, because i realize that my comment sounded a bit harsh.. i'm not in any way attempting to be sexist. i think it's great for girls to be gamers. of course there are PLENTY of girls that are gamers, and i know that there are many that could definately kick my ass or the ass of a lot of other guy gamers.
i just find the need for a distinction between male and female gamers irritating. i'm still waiting for the day when it's no more ok to have a black or asian only club than it is to have a white club.. likewise, i feel that girls only gaming clubs seem to just be begging for ridicule from the male population of the industry.
girl gamers: why not just join a regular old gaming clan? or, if you feel the need to start one of your own, by all means do so.. just try not to make it so gender-centric that the exclusive element of the group is all people see when they look at it.
(k, i hope that sounds better)
Quentin @ Apr 23rd 2006 11:23PM
I don't really have a problem with girl gamers. The problem I have is these clans are manufactured by gaming companies and feature women who are unrealisticly attractive (do you think they just pick ANY woman to be featured in their clans?) While companies do sponsor predominantly male teams for tournaments and convention appreances, etc, these companies are just using these women simply for sex appeal to sell more games, not for the benefit of girl gamers.
I wish we could see more girl gamer groups who are just for the sake of gaming and not to fill the means of promoting a business.
Richard @ Apr 24th 2006 12:28AM
GIRLS WHO KNOW GAMES ROCK. (except the ones on xbox live)
Rex @ Apr 24th 2006 1:57AM
Umm... The PMS girls were there last year in the Ziff Davis booth... Nothing new to see here. I got the chance to talk to a few of them last year at the GGL/Ziff/Intel party and they were really cool.
And for some reason their website is not working.
bobsaget @ Apr 24th 2006 2:48AM
I've now seen this picture too many times to not say it ... does the pic remind anyone else of an Alien 3-era Sigourney Weaver? With the hairlessness and melancholy and such. I doubt it.
Christian @ Apr 24th 2006 8:03PM
Bring back the booth babes! E3 is such a big sausage fest, a few scantily clad women never hurt anyone.
Rob @ Apr 24th 2006 11:08PM
@bobsaget
I've only seen it at flickr (where I uploaded it), here, and my friend's post about it. Where else is it turning up?
And maybe it's just that Sigourney Weaver looked a lot like a mannequin :P
Steve Savage @ May 3rd 2006 2:29PM
Why ban booth babes? I don't like "all-male" anything.
I can understand if it was being held in a muslim place like Dubai where women are segregated from men in public, but come on, we're westerners.
And eventually, you will have to kiss a girl, so E3 can be very educational and will get you ready for dealing with, gulp, women!