While we give The Gal a much-needed break -- we started the site in 1999, after all -- you'll ironically be able to catch our journalistic output without much effort at all. Here's a quick rundown of where to find us:

Libe Goad: Co-founder, Editor
Libe is currently in her second year running the editorial side of AOL's video game section. AOL recently acquired gaming site GameDaily.com, so as the Managing Editor of the combined sites, she's currently busy covering the PS3 and Wii launches.

You can also find Libe's work in print mags like Blender and she's a frequent TV talking head on video game matters for G4TV, Fox and other outlets.

AOL Games -- http://videogames.aol.com/
GameDaily -- http://www.gamedaily.com/

You can contact Libe at libenyc [at] aol.com

Dan Ackerman: Co-founder
Dan is currently a Senior Editor at CNET.com, and has recently taken over the site's Laptops section. He's also a regular TV talking head, appearing on CNBC, NY1, Reuters TV and BBC News. You can also catch his byline in WWE Magazine and in Blender's November Games and Music special issue. He's reachable at dan.ackerman [at] cnet.com

CNET Laptops -- http://reviews.cnet.com/Notebooks/2001-3121_7-0.html
Dan's CNET Blog -- http://crave.cnet.com/8300-1_105-1-0.html?authorId=145

Sure, plenty of women play games – hence websites like this one. But it's also true that the industry doesn't cater to us, and there's a huge untapped market out there. The BBC reports that EA's research shows only 40% of teenage girls played video games versus 90% of teenage boys.

The BBC article showcases David Gardner, chief operating officer for EA's worldwide studios. He says that girl gamers, "Don't want 'pink games'. They are not trying to play girly games where Paris Hilton and Britney Spears go shopping and put make-up on."

Check out the full story below.

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5271852.stm

Earlier in 2006, it was widely announced that the Booth Babe was an endangered species, and companies were put on notice that scantily clad spokesmodels were not welcome in the hallowed halls of the LA Convention Center. We, naturally, didn't believe it for a moment, and as our roving cameras found, the E3 Booth Babe is alive and well.

To be sure, this was the least Hall-of-Shame heavy year since we started attending the show back in 1999 (are we dating ourselves?), but there was still some room for eye candy for the teaming masses of XXL-shirt-wearing gamers who roam the floors of E3.

Finally, a word of warning to those who would think us humorless harpies: Our annual photo gallery isn't a swipe at anyone. We secretly love the Booth Babes, and E3 wouldn’t be the same without them. But if we can't laugh at ourselves, well, we’d probably be hardcore RTS fans. (We kid! We kid!)

Until next year!
--The Gal

Forget the costumes – what's with those giant boots?

The official Huxley dancers get ready to take to the stage.

Mini skirt, giant screen. Oh, the sweet juxtaposition.

The return of the infamous Nyko girls (who inspired the Hall of Shame in the first place).

Perhaps the single most disturbing image from the show floor.

It's time to play Wheel…of…Skank!

"Can we shoot this guy?"

A boxing ring card girl among the un-athletic E3 crowd. Too easy.

Hello, nurse!

Tecmo continues its fine tradtion of, uh, babes in short skirts. Sadly, no DoA bikini contest this year.

Trust us, telling these basketball-playing booth babes to "hit the showers" won't work.

An excited youngster points at a girl's open legs for the first and last time.

IGN plows brave new fashion waters by bringing back the denim mini.

And finally, this sneaky terrorist disorients the Rainbow Six: Las Vegas squad with a blinding upskirt grenade.

That's all for this year! Check out the history of the Hall of Shame below.

2005: http://www.gamegal.com/e32005/shame.shtm

2004: http://www.gamegal.com/e32004/gallery/shame.htm

2003: http://www.gamegal.com/e32003/showpics/shame.htm

2002: http://www.gamegal.com/e32002/2002-hall-of-shame.htm

We'll give you a post-show round-up with our picks as soon as we can catch a spare moment. In the meantime, we're excited but annoyed to report that despite assurances that Booth Babes were on their way out this year, there are still plenty of candidates for GameGal's annual E3 Hall of Shame.

In the meantime, check out our E3 coverage below.

Link: AOL Videogames
Link: CNET's E3 2006 coverage

We're long-time Elder Scrolls fans around here, despite our general misgivings about the sword and sorcery genre. Believe us, in our Oblivion review, we've only scratched the surface. Meanwhile, Perfect Dark Zero, from contributor Sarah Schutz is an no-nonsense critique of what could have been a classic femal-fronted shooter. Check out both reviews or more.

Link: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Link: Perfect Dark Zero

But seriously, look for some new Xbox 360 reviews this week, along with E3 previews and links to what we've been up to at our respective day job covering games and technology at AOL, CNET, Blender, etc.

In the meantime, check out how Libe and her AOL cohorts scored on Brain Age, the addictive Nintendo DS grey matter stimulator.

Link: http://videogames.aol.com/

Looks like there's some good in-depth posts over there (certainly longer than anything we write these days), with a lot of stuff about Guild Wars.

Link: http://ninthwavedesigns.typepad.com/guilded_lilies/

We found this through Kotaku, and here's an excerpt:

Henry Jenkins, sociology professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says the industry has always been populated by men.

"The video game industry has always been overwhelmingly populated by men, and there is a dwindling number of women who are actually involved," he says.

"The video game industry is based on intuitive design space, which means that the game designers will come up with games, develop games that they are interested in playing. This means that since men are dominating the development field regarding video games, the games that are put on the market will cater towards mainly men," he says.

Link: http://www.theeyeopener.com/storydetail.cfm?storyid=2699

Special care was taken to make each cybertrainer universally appealing. Anna and Matt [from EyeToy Kinetic] are robust but not so perfectly chiseled as to intimidate their trainees.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/23/fashion/thursdaystyles/23Fitness.html

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/23/technology/circuits/23basics.html

Not mentioned in any of the mainstream news coverage is that 575 Broadway also houses the NYC office of Take 2. GameGal founder Libe Goad was even had a meeting there this week (for her day job as Editor of AOL's video game section), which has now been rescheduled.

Take 2 and subsidiary Rockstar also have offices right up the street, coincidentally across from the Crunch gym where the GameGal crew works out – giving us a bird's-eye view of them from the front row of LifeCycles.

Link: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/384957p-326723c.html

She wasn't particularly pleased with the low priority response she got, which involved sending the console back for repair, which could take weeks, so she decided to keep a running blog of her tech support experiences so anyone else who ran into a problem with their Xbox 360 would know what to expect.

Currently up to Day 7, she says she expects her system back today, which is a pretty decent turnaround, all things considered. Check out her blog to get the latest scoop.

Link: http://ginaingr.1up.com/do/my1Up?publicUserId=5582459

Be there or be square…

Link: http://www.evergreenevents.org/events/digitaleroticentertainment.html

AOL's CES Central
http://videogames.aol.com/features/ces

Exer-Gaming at CES 2006
http://videogames.aol.com/canvases/articles?id=20060107214209990001

Dan's CNET CES Blog
http://www.cnet.com/4520-11405_1-6410952-1.html

Hopefully we'll know more before E3 in May, but until then, this should get you up to speed.

Link: http://videogames.aol.com/canvases/articles?id=20060110122309990001