A Mass Effect 3 Voice Cast promotional video appeared on Giant Bomb recently, unleashing a torrent of hatred for Jessica Chobot in the comments. Ms. Chobot, who does voice work in the game, is a staff writer and on-screen host for IGN. She is probably best-known on the Internet for a series of parody glamor shots for the Sony PSP, including one of her licking the device. I posted a comment in her defense and received a couple of PMs in reply. One GBer thought I needed to raise my standards and suggested that I pick up a drunk college girl in a bar instead. The other was more polite, patiently explaining to me that the gaming community resented Ms. Chobot's system-licking her way to the top.

I saw those photos years ago. Here's how I think it went down: A very capable writer with an interest in gaming casts her satiric eye on the hype surrounding the PSP and decides to skewer it, Madison-Avenue-style. She happens to be hot, so she doesn't need to hire a model for the satirical photos she has in mind. She posts her pics on the Interwebs, not realizing that the gaming community is so filled with thwarted testosterone that it will hardly notice there's a PSP in the shot. Instant, unintentional celebrity ensues. As a result, this capable writer is hired by a video game review site and gets the chance to show her real chops, which she does.

I think what really irks gamers about Jessica Chobot is that their own sexual obsessions unwittingly opened industry doors to her. Seen in that light, all this catcalling seems a little mean-spirited, doesn't it?