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A L S O__T O D A Y
- - - - - - - - - - T A B L E__T A L K Is Web TV ancient history? Discuss the pros and cons of a browser for non-computer owners in the Digital Culture area of Table Talk - - - - - - - - - - R E C E N T L Y Bill's don Return of the hex-crazed wargamers Results of Challenge No. 9 No future in Tomorrowland Interstellar fireworks
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GROWING UP IN GAMELAND | PAGE 2 OF 2
One rumor had it that the IDSA (the Interactive Digital Software Association, which is responsible for the show) had regulated the traffic of the babes, limiting them to their respective booths. However, IDSA spokespeople denied any such regulation, saying simply that the association charged a fee for permission for someone to walk the floor distributing freebies, just like last year. Not that there weren't still women in what could be construed as degrading positions -- the caged dancer gyrating while a DJ spun records, the shadow dancers at MGM's "Tomorrow Never Dies" section and the bouncing Eidos women with white T-shirts stretched so tightly across their chests that you couldn't miss their nipples. (As they flung T-shirts into a large crowd of men fixed before the Eidos booth, they shouted "Who has the best booth?" at the crowd -- but I swear it sounded like "Who has the best boobs?" I kept waiting for the three girls to line up and have the crowd judge.) Still, some subtle shifts have occurred in the realm of games and their tortured relationship with women. Christina Kerzner of GT Interactive, the company behind the notoriously politically incorrect "Duke Nukem" games, pointed out that the woman modeling at their racing game wore a jumpsuit, and that while the ones in the "Duke" section were costumed like Vegas show girls, "at least their breasts were real." Another longtime industry vet, a woman, offered the suggestion that the booth-babe syndrome had gotten more "sophisticated." Years ago, it was simply cute, cheerleaderlike girls handing out goodies, she argued -- but today it's matured into the frank sexuality of the Eidos girls. In her view, the star of Eidos' "Tomb Raider," Lara Croft, took the traditional video-game vixen to new levels -- she may be busty, but she's also been featured in fashion magazines, given interviews and may yet make her film debut in a "Tomb Raider" movie. Still, even Lara (animated on a video screen) and the Eidos girls stayed in their own booth -- you had to go find them. More interesting yet, one of the greatest E3 rumors -- one that played perfectly into adolescent male fantasies -- was debunked for me this year. It's long been said that at a certain party given by a certain company, the upstairs VIP room holds a den of sin featuring prostitutes for selected press members and special friends of the company. At the party, you can actually see beautiful women upstairs, languorously sipping cocktails and gazing down with inviting eyes. As it turns out, a friend with carte blanche to enter this room at will told me there was only one difference between the upstairs and downstairs rooms: When downstairs ran out of alcohol, upstairs still had plenty. As for the women, well, apparently they just know where the good drinks are. No fantasy -- just plain old ordinary business reality. Next year E3 is going back to Los Angeles, where the first two conventions were held back in the golden, olden days -- three and four years ago. There's a sense that the move might reinvigorate the show, bring back some youthful freshness and excitement. Jason, a "beyond hard-core" gamer by his own account, e-mailed me a week or two before this year's show opened. He's 15, trying to start his own game magazine, and wanted advice on how to get interviews with the big guys in the industry and tickets to the parties. We corresponded for a while, planning his attack, when it suddenly struck me that his age would make it impossible for him to go to the alcohol-laden events or even get on the "You must be 18 to enter" E3 show floor. When I pointed that out to him, he instantly replied: "I have a fake ID (even a edited birth certificate! My Dad even helped! He encouraged me! I got cool parents), not that it matters, the brochures for E3 said 'NO ONE UNDER 18 ADMITTED!' and I saw little kids, so THEY don't care about that part, I guess ... Can I sneak in [to the parties]? I'm good at that." Maybe there's hope for E3 yet.
Moira Muldoon is previews editor at videogames.com. |
