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When Booth Babes Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Booth Babes

Once upon a time, when men were men and E3 was E3, booth babes populated crowded convention centers full of men who wouldn't know what to do with them if they had the chance. But not long before the death of the old E3, booth babes were abolished, causing an uproar from convention attendees who would no longer have the chance to get their pictures taken with women who clearly loathe them. This has always been a confusing reaction, because--from my perspective--if you're a man there's never any shortage of women who loathe you.

Fortunately for Tokyo Game Show attendees, Japan has not ditched the idea of the booth babe as a negative stereotype that does nothing but reinforce the idea of women as helpless playthings who subsequently make our industry appear to be chock-full of horny teenagers. 1UP.com has decided to document the adventures of these booth babes in a new [feature/gallery/mom don't come in here] that shows these women working hard for the money. So hard for it, honey. Like From Software's Village of the Damned dancers:

Gender Equality Fail: Kombo For Women

Kombo launched a new microsite for female gamers today, called 'For Women". At first glance, you might think this is a real step forward for the fairer gender in the world of interactive entertainment, but then you dig deeper.

Booth babes? Really?

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.