I was thumbing through some of the websites that have the best info on the mmo industry today and found an article on mmosite.com (link:http://photo.mmosite.com/content/2009-06-14/20090614192108605.shtml).
Basically it's a piece covering a PR event for Warhammer Online over in China. The event basically boils down to very sexy, very scantily clad women cosplaying characters for whatever game they happen to have been hired for. Basically think of E3 booth babes, but usually even better looking.
Point in case being the stunning sorc model above.
This form of PR has been popular over in Korea for years now and only just recently have western companies picked up on it. This could either be because models wouldn't 'lower' themselves to being paid for such events (I doubt it) or because companies weren't willing to shell out the cash. It could also be that somehow a basic mantra of advertising was forgotten by game developers: sex sells, period.
I'm not saying these types of events haven't been done by western companies before, but those done in the east generally seem to be a bigger deal. That is, of course, because gaming itself is a much more widely accepted hobby over in Asia.
I think the recent showing at E3 has shown us a turn of events as far as things are concerned. Last years E3 had even more sex appeal. These events don't say anything about the games themselves, but some tantalizing eye-candy should always be welcome when trying to sell something.
MMORPG.com writes:
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