WHY NOT BAN NERDS WHILE YOU'RE AT IT?!

No booth babes at E3?! I guess I'll just have to make due with the ones at Comic Conventions from now on...

E3 Booth Babes Banned
Companies may have to rely on actual games to grab our attention.
by David Adams (www.ign.com)

January 24, 2006 - While the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is certainly about games, the show is notorious for its often ribald atmosphere. By now, our readers are familiar with the barely-dressed "booth babes" which each year are as ubiquitous as the giant flat-screen displays and screaming speakers.

Game companies have long hired titillating models to lure drooling males to trade event booths. When this year's E3 comes rambling along in May, it could be a fully-dressed affair.

The show's directors have always published a dress code which would disallow bikini-wear and similar attention-grabbing garb. According to the E3 handbook, "Material, including live models, conduct that is sexually explicit and/or sexually provocative, including but not limited to nudity, partial nudity and bathing suit bottoms, are prohibited on the show floor, all common areas, and at any access points to the show."

Of course, in practice the rule is hardly enforced. This year's handbook, however, mentions a $5,000 fine for violating the code.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the organization behind E3, says it will issue a first verbal warning for conduct violations. An second offense will incur the $5,000 fine, to be paid immediately. Models will also have to switch to more modest dress before returning to the show floor.

"What's new in 2006 is an update and clarification of the enforcement policies; as we do from time to time, we have taken steps to ensure that exhibitors are familiar with the policy and how it will be enforced," Mary Dolaher, E3Expo show director, told Reuters.