Sadly this doesn’t seem to be gaining much steam as an upsetting event happening in the game industry. Maybe that speaks volumes about the issue itself that this incident is going unnoticed in a lot of circles.

CVG recently posted pictures of some “booth babes” at E3 and asked it’s readers to “get out their scorecards” as if to encourage their viewers assigning some sort of numerical value to the women’s physiques.

Rachel Webber, of Games Industry, has a good rebuttal to this stupid move by CVG and we agree with her.

“And that’s exactly why things like CVG’s recent booth babes gallery and its grimy intro is so disappointing. Because the industry isn’t like that and CVG is doing it a disservice to present it that way, nevermind a disservice to its readers by telling them that it’s an acceptable way to discuss women.”

I can’t agree more. I think this represents a bigger problem with the game industry. We’re constantly upset that games are being made for non-gamers, people who are less likely to be male if you let me go out on that limb. And by we I mean the general Internet Gaming Community.

Catwoman is portrayed fairly strong as she has been in comics in Arkham City

Every time a dancing game is shown an ocean of male gamers groan and complain that “this is bullshit” and that casual gaming is destroying their industry. First, if you could truly support the entire industry on the backs of those who label themselves “hardcore” gamers these publishers wouldn’t need to expand to non-gamers would they?

And I’m not saying dancing games that seem to be marketed towards women primarily are correct in saying “Hey girls we’ve got something for you too!” But the issue is that whenever the gaming community sees something that isn’t directed squarely at the T and A loving male demographic they act like it is a mortal sin and I believe this exposes a lack of the ability to share by our industry.

While fun, Just Dance shouldn't be the limit to games being aimed at women

If we hope to improve the gaming industry we need it to stop being a male-dominated hobby and encourage the breaking down of these gender walls. I hope that someday that means blockbuster AAA releases can provide L.A. Noire-type experiences that is aimed just as much at women as it is men but for now it seems like the only titles marketed directly at women are games that reinforced gender stereotypes.

Webber goes on to say:

“Yes, the women are paid to be there, and yes you’re encouraged to photograph them by publishers hungry for exposure, but that doesn’t mean you have to post the photos with the words “not with yours, mate.” It’s not just about principles or sexism or big Guardian style debates, it’s about manners, and letting your female readers (or what’s left of them after this) know that you like having them around, and you’re not going to score their arses while they’re trying to tell you what they think of Beyond.”

I do think if places like CVG took a firm stance and stood against the portrayal of women as items whose worth is measurable by the consensus rating of how nice they’re ass looks that it would eventually spill over into what game developers are designing.

If every major gaming news outlet decided to stop condoning this type of behavior in their comments section, forums and articles I believe eventually publishers would listen and set in motion change in how women are displayed in video games. I’m not saying Grand Theft Auto needs to lose strippers or prostitutes because that helps define the universe of Liberty City or Los Santos. But if we all started criticizing stereotypical portrayals of women in games in the 99% of all other games that show them in flawed ways I would hope the industry would listen to us.

To read Rachel Webber’s full article check it out on Games Industry.biz