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.

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.

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]

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...

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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!]

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.

At E3, we hoped to see some ladies wearing a little more than in previous years. Despite any enforcement of rules, there were still a lot of assets on display on the show floor -- here's some of the best (and worst) from day one.

To our right is a classic uncomfortable, gimmicky costume. She (we assume it's a she) doesn't have to keep smiling, 'cause it's pasted on. Warning: repeatedly raising your arms in the Ms. Pac-Man gesture of welcome may cause injury.

A lot of the casual conversation at E3 revolves around girls, girls and more girls. Overheard at Webzen's display of whirling skirts and crop-tops:

Gamer 1: Which game is this?
Gamer 2: Dude, I don't even care.

Overheard amongst the cluster of gamers who were gathering around these fetching lasses to take photographs:

• gamerdude: Here, hold my bag for me.
• dude's buddy: Why? Ok.
• gamerdude: I need to take a shot of my future wife.

 

One MMO company definitely wants to get noticed at this E3. Webzen's booth is big, almost as large as nearby THQ and Activision, and they're putting on a show for the crowds. With dancing booth babes, a loud emcee and armour-clad models -- as well as plastering all the cafeteria tables with ads -- Webzen's attack on the Western world is well and truly here.

Of Webzen's three games being shown at E3, only one is out in the near future -- Huxley. Soul of the Ultimate Nation will make its way to the U.S. in 2007 (no word of an European release), and Project Wiki is slated for a Korea-only release at the moment. So why the big fuss?

Webzen believe that in Huxley they have the tools to break into the Western market, and make a name for themselves worldwide. The joint Xbox 360/PC release is at once a risk and an adventure for them -- and they want gamers to sit up and pay attention to it.