I ask Lauren if she's had any embarrassing experiences. "Only a few guys attempt to get fresh. They're not really that caliber of guy. They're more nerdy and wide-eyed and so excited that you're actually talking to them. They seem so un-used to seeing girls. I guess they just play videogames and don't go outside much. It's so cute they way they're so enthusiastic and enamored."

Chrissi dressed up as Jill Valentine

I take a picture of Lauren. She asks to see it, so I show her the image on my digital camera's LCD display. She studies it for a few seconds, and wrinkles her nose. "That one's not very good, could you take another one?" I oblige, using the flash this time, and then take a few of Leah and Lauren together. This time they both approve.

Moving on to Capcom's booth, Chrissi is dressed up as Jill Valentine and handing out Resident Evil postcards. "Other than my feet hurting, it's a lot of fun," she says in the brief moment that I'm able to grab her attention between photographs. We're then forced to pause as a deluge of guys who walk up to her, cameras in hand, demanding pictures. "I just want a picture," one interrupts as Chrissi attempts to talk about Resident Evil.

I stand back patiently, taking the opportunity to observe Chrissi's routine. "Hi, how are you," she says, smiling. Five pictures are taken by different cameras in quick succession as she twirls this way and that, responding to cries of "Jill!" A British guy with a Polaroid asks her a few details about herself: she's a model from Long Beach.

When they leave I have her to myself again for a few seconds. "I've been working for Capcom for the past three days," she tells me. "Yesterday I was passing out these lotion packets and everyone thought they were condoms."

As another wave approaches, I decide to take my leave. "I think your article is a great idea,"

Candice for Rome: Total War

she says, shaking my hand. "It was nice to meet you."

Activision's Rome: Total War is a giant display of pseudo marble pillars and semi-circular walls. On the outskirts I spy two booth babes dressed as Roman maidens in white tunics and sandals. The crowd here is relentless. The girls cuddle together and smile; occasionally a guy walks up and presses himself between them while his buddy snaps the picture. I stand for a full five minutes waiting for an opening, but soon realize the futility of trying to talk to these popular babes.

Luckily as I head deeper into the Total War exhibit, I find a third booth babe reclining on a sofa holding a bunch of purple grapes. There's a television crew there, and the cameraman is slowly panning across her body. Beginning with her feet, he moves slowly up her legs, then to her stomach and breasts, before lingering for a few seconds on her face. They leave, and I'm able to kneel down beside her.

Candice tells me she studied Journalism in college, but is now an actor and model. "I work one trade show a month to pay the rent," she says. Her accent is a sultry New Orleans drawl tempered by six years spent in Atlanta before coming to California. She's nonchalant about the men she interacts with. "They come up to me and they're shaking. At a show like this, they're all nice and polite." I ask if she's a gamer. "I used to play the old-school Nintendo in college. Mario and Zelda. But now I don't play."

As I thank her and get up to leave, a second TV crew from MTV approaches and asks her to pose with a sign. After they leave, a fellow booth babe comes up squealing, "MTV, girl!"

Heading through the concourse to the West Hall, I spotted a trio of babes seated in tiny chairs in front of a racecar promoting IHRA Drag Racing 2005. This was another high volume spot, so I knew I would have to be brief. I approached Jessica, Kelia and Alicia and asked what it was like to sit there all day. "My mouth hurts," Jessica responded. Kelia has a PlayStation but the other two aren't gamers. One guy asks Kelia to pose while holding a T-shirt. She glances at it, then holds it up to her chest as the photo is snapped. I ask if they're obligated to pose with everything and everyone, and they tell me they're allowed to say no if they're uncomfortable with the item. My final question was an estimate of how many pictures had been taken of them that day. "Maybe 500," Jessica ventures. "No, no, more than that," Kelia says. "A thousand."