E3 Gaming Conference Says No More Booth Babes

While there's been plenty of controversy over the fact that many companies employ "booth babes" at various tech-related conferences, it's still a bit surprising to see E3, the video gaming industry's big show, officially ban booth babes at this year's show, threatening $5,000 fines for any semi-clad booth workers or sexually provocative material (presumably, fully clothed, yet still attractive, spokespeople are still allowed). The Reuters piece suggests that this decision may stem from last summer's controversy over sexually explicit material found in Grand Theft Auto (where stealing cars and killing people is fine, but cartoonish consensual sex deserves to be punished), though there are probably plenty of other, better reasons for the ban. While we'd hope that the lack of human flesh on display wouldn't impact the show, it'll still be interesting to see how attendees react to finding all of the booths manned by fully clad spokespeople rather than the more promiscuously dressed representatives they're used to seeing. Of course, it seems that this move will put one website completely out of business.