'Booth Babes' at Video Game Fairs Meet Chinese Government's Restraints

By Emma Koonse, Christian Post Reporter Friday, July 29, 2011

The Chinese government has cracked down on companies hiring scantily-clad female models during the online gaming fair this year in Shanghai. The annual ChinaJoy Expo was a target of the government’s directive against “vulgarity”, according to a Chinese newspaper on Friday.

Online game showcases of previous years featured “spicy girls” or “booth babes”, who dance and pose at company booths while wearing very little clothing. The Shanghai Daily reports that the new government policy requires costumes at the ChinaJoy Expo to cover two-thirds of showgirl’s backs and prohibits the girls from placing printed logos on “sensitive positions”, such as on their breasts.

Zhou, who has been a showgirl at ChinaJoy twice, told the local newspaper, “The length of my dress is longer than before.”

Many online gaming companies feel that the girls are just as much of a draw for men as the games on display are, and that the new policy may hurt business.

“To be honest, I came here largely for the spicy girls,” says Xaiver Du, a college student ChinaJoy attendee. “I’m satisfied with the female models, I care more about then rather than only sexy clothing,” he continued to tell Shanghai Daily.

The motion from the Chinese government follows a recent ruling that the nation’s video games are too vulgar. Violent and sexually explicit video games have become a problem everywhere.

A decision similar to China’s was made in the United States in 2006 during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. Company vendors were threatened with a $5,000 fine if models were dressed improperly at the convention.

Many companies participating in E3 ignored the morality hint and instead opted to take the $5,000 fine to maintain the “booth babe” tradition though.

However, in 2009 when attendance to E3 was low, convention organizers caved in to financial pressures and changed the rules for female models. Their preference of finance over morality unfortunately proved commercially successful and higher numbers of people were again attracted to the event.