It looks as though the hoards of men trooping to E3 this year in the hope of some female contact will be somewhat disappointed, as show organiser ESA puts the kibosh on sub-nudity on the showfloor.
Page 13 of the exhibitors' guidebook outlines new guidelines that seek to prevent any and all sexually explicit content, including any that may be on live show, from corrupting the entirely adult audience.
Material, including live models, conduct that is sexually explicit and/or sexually provocative, including but not limited to nudity, partial nudity and bathing suit bottoms, are prohibited on the Show floor, all common areas, and at any access points to the Show. ESA, in its sole discretion, will determine whether material is acceptable.
The fact that bathing suit bottoms are mentioned so specifically does seem to hint that all female talent at E3 will be covered up, with most pointing to the Hot Coffee scandal as rationale for the decision.
As most publications seek to bemoan the news, perhaps its worth pointing out what E3 is actually like. Battling through masses of lecherous men queuing to be photographed with generic glamour model X isn't exactly fun. There's also the fact that draping semi-naked women over sub-standard videogames doesn't really do anyone any good, let alone the huge numbers of women working within the games industry at all levels.
Rather than bemoaning this guideline, perhaps we should look to why it's been put into place. Surely it's embarrassing that a sector turning over billions of dollars globally relies so heavily on base-level gratuity to draw attention to products that after half an hour, all look the same anyway. A girl in a bikini throwing cheap caps at a bunch of fat men trying to take pictures of her crotch isn't exactly the golden future of interactive entertainment we have collectively pictured.
Remember to stick with SPOnG throughout E3 for all the 10X optical zoom upskirt smut you can drain your nuts with, every day.