E3: Sexism and Meh

Dashing your hopes and dreams since 1995

There was an especially large amount of disappointment in E3 this year, and while I hate to say it, it's been a long time coming (Link has strong language). One of the oldest trade shows in the game industry, E3 simply hasn't grown with it's audience, leading it to be a continual letdown, and become nothing more than a place for big companies to show off their repeats or sequels to last years "Triple-A" titles. There are multiple factors for why this has happened, but ultimately it comes down to the fact that many of the developers who show at E3, and the organizers of the show themselves, are growing increasingly out of touch with the market.

My all time favorite booth babe: The Panda.
Seen here fleeing a crowd of photo hungry pervs. 

The continued inclusion of booth babes has been discussed especially heavily this year, but honestly the criticism of booth babes has gone on for years. While I agree that hiring booth babes is a sexist and outdated way of trying to hawk goods, and they make E3 "feel like you've stumbled into a strip club on accident", they're probably not going anywhere soon. Many in the industry have the mentality that "nothing but sex sells", and to a part of the audience that's probably true, but those people are not the majority, and many of us could, and gladly would, do without them. Surprisingly, however, the sexism is actually only part of my problem with the practice of hiring booth babes. I can ignore the rambling of a half-naked girl trying to sell me something she doesn't really care about, that's not difficult. No, my problems with booth babes are they do the opposite of what they're meant to do. They get in the way of what you're trying to see/play, have huge crowds around them trying to get photos, blocking your ability to even approach some of the exhibits, or, worst of all, the booths have gone from showing off interesting and unique setups and items to being centered around a couple of supposedly "hot" models. If people walked past them and approached the employees manning the booths, many vendors would likely stop hiring them; unfortunately sex does sell, and getting a few women to stand around just "looking good" will always be a way to draw in crowds.

On the other hand Nintendo has gone so tame with their "booth persons"
this guy is taking a picture of a plant. Source 

I could continue to list off all the problems I see in E3, but that's been covered by so many industry writers it doesn't seem worth it. What I will say though is that I saw these same problems at E3 during my first attendance to the show over ten years ago. Half-naked girls, sweaty crowds in hot attendance halls, and poorly designed booths aren't a new trend, they're just coming under more scrutiny as the market finds itself with better ways to announce titles and reach it's audience. With reporters able to instantly speak their minds, and a increasingly broad audience, the marketing tactics seen in Mad Men aren't going to cut it anymore. Not to mention that the use of social media, and expos/events such as PAX and Gamecom for major announcements is starting to take the wind out E3's sails. Which, for many developers, raises the question, "why spend millions hyping a product at E3, when a social media/viral marketing campaign may work just as well?"

Ahh, the Kentia Hall at E3, less booth babes, more Canada.
This is where my argument starts to fall apart...

Personally i found that after a few years of attendance any excitement I had for E3 was almost completely gone, leading to the point where I actually started turning down the opportunity to attend (Mike thought I was crazy when I told him that). Recently discussing this with a friend of mine, who's an industry veteran, he summed up my feelings very succinctly by stating "The first year you go (to E3) it's awesome and exciting, but after you've been there a couple times it's just not fun anymore."

So, is this this the end of E3? No, not by any means. If I had to guess I would say E3 will continue on for many years, however, unless things change it's doomed to remain in a static, unending void of mediocrity, and disappointment. For everybody's sake, lets hope that doesn't happen.

Until next time, keep on gaming.