October 25, 2007

TV: CSI-NY AND "SECOND LIFE"

Another milestone for TV. Last night, CSI-NY rather successfully incoporated a plot involving a murder that involved the interactive role-playing website "Second Life." The older detective (Gary Sinise) had to learn from his younger colleagues how to navigate Second Life's virtual world. Sometimes the TV screen was filled with the website, other times we were looking over a CSI-NY character's shoulder, and then they blew up theh screen wall size and interacted with it. Very well done. Very postmodern! The killer had secret identities. Man, woman? Identities were stolen. People dressed like their avatars in real life. Sleuth-work was done in part by trying to find out exactly where people were getting online in real world geography. Pretty darn fascinating. And colorful. The episode was an elaborate ad for Second Life, teaching viewers how to use it. The fun continues at cbs.com (pairing with Second Life) where, in the future, we'll be able to examine crime scenes as we watch episodes. If this catches on, it could be a "second life" for "Second Life"!

No comments:

Post a Comment