LOS ANGELES, CA – Apparently, what’s good for the digital gander is not so good for the “real world” variety.While sexually explicit content in video games has been grabbing a lot of headlines lately (and plenty of sales, too), at the video-gaming industry’s flagship conference, the powers-that-be have let it be known; eye-catching cleavage and garments that leave little to the imagination are unwelcome on the show floor.
According to reports from the Reuters news agency, booth models and other female “spokespersons” at this year’s E3 Expo, the video gaming industry’s largest annual convention, have been told to expose less skin or face a fine of $5000.
According to a handbook of regulations published by The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which owns and operates E3, nudity, partial nudity, bikini bottoms and “sexually explicit or provocative conduct” are all prohibited.
One model told Reuters of another who received a warning from show organizers for wearing an outfit that was unacceptably revealing.
“Apparently her cleavage was a little too distracting,” said Pauline K, who declined to give Reuters her full name.
The tough new rules, which ESA first outlined in January, are a reaction to complaints generated by the skimpy attire worn by some models during previous shows.
“Last year there were a lot of complaints about how the models were beyond, in many cases, what was decent,” said ESA President Douglas Lowenstein on Monday.
Under the new rules, exhibitors get a verbal warning for a first “violation,” while a second violation results in a $5,000 fine.
Regardless of the new rules, there’s still plenty of skin on display, judging by photos which attendees of the event have posted online. Many exhibitions feature models dressed in the same fashion as the digital dames depicted in the games themselves, and Reuters reports observing a “group of women wearing sexy nurses’ outfits” around the showroom floor.
Some exhibitors say they don’t really see a substantial difference between this E3, with its stricter fashion guidelines and its predecessors.
“They’re wearing slightly more clothes this year,” Gail Salamanica, an E3 exhibitor, told Reuters, “But not much.”
