Kaisis, something tells me that's unlikely.

I caught the last 15 minutes of the show without really meaning to, only staying because I'd heard about it beforehand. Technologicialy and graphicly, anyway, they did not use SL as a model. The interface looked like that of old Myst games but with limited camera zoom and pan. The 3d didn't even look as nice as Myst, somewhat cartoonish and even a skilled SL creator could have done better, but I suspect they were done on the cheep. Then again it had things it didn't have; an offline avatar sleeping in a bed, objects casting correct shadows, etc. And apparently the writer never heard of SL's "Force Sun" option. Anything technical that happened seemed to be on the level of tap several keys and wave a magic wand. ("I can write a program to compare the virtual reality landscape to RL geographical data...give me five minutes!")

I can't speak much to the plot, except that the acting sucked and everything seemed incredibly contrived, if creepy. But it's a show that deals exclusively with sex crimes...is anyone really surprised at the subject matter?

Meh they find killers in all walks of life why the PC nastzisim over this eh?

Mostly video games + tv series = bad.

i still remember the cringeworthy X-files episode entitled FPS.

That one was extramely really stupid...

Anyone got the airtime?

10pm Eastern, 9pm Central on NBC.

From the previews, it looks based on Second Life.

Reminds me of one CSI episode(not sure which one, maybe New York?), and I can't remember it all(brain is too tired to make google work).

One female CIS character asked if the suspected killer had played the GTA games.

The guy replies something along the line that the suspected girl is a child prodigy.

Same female character then says something like "Well, I play them and think they are fun."

... So who knows where this one will go.

From the commercials that were on last night, it seems that the villain was meeting girls in some online sex game and then going after them. So the game was not anything main stream, but they will probably demonize all games.

I don't know much more than that.

they have done a "games made me do it" episode before, based on that GTA killer incident. the end scene however has the DA destroying the "games made me do it" defense in court. not bad but only the last 10 minutes could be considered a positive thing for the image of most gamers and the gaming community as a whole.

I doubt this will be that bad. From what I've seen of Law & Order: SVU, the male cop will spend the whole episode questioning his daughters internet access. The other characters will likely express the gambit of opinions on the internet (a few will support it). In the end, the only person who will look bad is the criminal.

I hope.

@jonc2006

Yeah, that was the first thing I thought of when I read the headline.

@ Gameboy

Hehe...that sounds about right, actually =)

I've seen prime time dramas do video game episodes that weren't bad. JAG comes to mind (the ep was about a programmer for the U.S. military who basically stole software when he left the service and then got hired by a developer, where he used it to make an FPS...really didn't cast games in a bad light, just that one guy). But that GTA ep of SVU made my blood boil.

Law and Order did a Video Game themed episode before.

And they portrayed it in a positive light. The Asian therapist for the police department had made comments that it takes more then a video game to make someone kill. And that video games are not to blame.

I only caught the end of the episode...but video games were portrayed in a positive light.

I myself won't be watching it cause I got lots of other shows to watch (I especially can't wait to see how the premiere of Las Vegas is going to tie up the 50-some cliffhangers that were left at the end of last season's episode:

A robbery
An explosion
A murder
A kidnapping

and then some.

But I am interested to know how they portray games as a whole, Second Life, and so on.

Keep us posted, please! :)

~Otaku-Man

I like Law and Order but hate SVU, and well...all of them have went down in quality the past 2 or so years...

Law and Order SVU goes virtual with "Avatar" episode...

Beating CSI:NY to the virtual punch, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit tonight features a sex crime linked to a remarkably Second Life-looking virtual world called AOI. As described by a character in the preview: People do everything in AOI:...

There is one TV series that portrayed MMRPGs in a positive light: Noah and Saskia. In it, an two teens from opposite sides of the world fall in love inthe online world (very much like SL, despite being made before SL was even created), despite never actually meeting each other face to face.

I'm a big nut for Law & Order, but not SVU overall. Unlike some of the "other" programs, the franchise is typically fair and intelligent, however.

This isnt the first time that I SVU has done a game related episode. They had one previously related to GTA where a person beat up a hooker. They didnt buy the video game defense in that episode but this is a new episode so we shall see.

"Another Youniverse", looks like a Second Life parody.

It looks like from the commercials, that a pervert was going around and cybering with teenage girl's. Then he goes and finds them, kidnaps them, and possibly kills them also. Hooray for good press.
Quote from commercial:
"You had her in the virtual world, so you wanted her in the real world too! Didn't you?!"

@ Sean

Yeah, I saw it. IIRC the girl masterminded the whole thing to pay back a few students that were responsible for her rape at the hands of a jock, because the mathematician found that one of the shooters were targeting certain people as opposed to randomly shooting people.

SVU is my favorite of the Law & Order series, but this episode is not good at all.

Yeah, that is pretty much crap.

My favorite part is how the killer coordinated where he kept the girl on the game with where he kept the girl in real life. That sounds EXACTLY like what a killer would.
Also:
"But I can't turn the sun on in the game to help catch a killer! It might scare people on the game!"

@ Playitbogart: Munch is barely even in a lot of the newer episodes. A shame, too. He'd be awesome in this episode, but it appears they've had him neutered.

Saw the episode and I believe it remained neutral quite nicely. If we analyze it even further, a lot can be said about media in general and quite frankly i like the episode.

I should probably give my opinion in my blog and not rant it here.

I was very very very irritated by that episode. I was quite a few times sitting on the couch screaming "that's not how it works!" or "old men don't go from computer illiteracy to scripting in 6 months!" I dunno, it just seemed like they were presenting Second Life just accurately enough to keep old people paranoid. Seriously, they cross-referenced a virtual map with a topographical map of New York state in 10 SECONDS. And they kept track of EVERY character you'd ever interacted with in this game? WHO DOES THAT?

What happened to Munch. Did he leave the show? How did they explain his leaving on the show?