'CSI' and 'The Office' Coming to 'Second Life'
Online virtual worlds are taking over. It would seem as though World of Warcraft and Second Life are cultish phenomena inhabited primarily by the uber-dorky, but if mainstream television is an indicator, things are changing.
Recently, 'South Park' aired an episode in which much of the animation was modified in-game footage from World of Warcraft, while 'The Simpsons' parodied the virtual world in an episode in which Bart and Marge become engrossed in an online role playing world called Earthland Realms.
Second Life isn't left out of the party either: 'Law and Order:SVU' chased a rapist through a fictional virtual world called AY, and, in the October 25th episode of 'The Office,' Dwight Schrute explores Second Life proclaiming his desire to calculate an exchange rate for Linden Dollars (the currency in Second Life) for Schrute Bucks.
The most inventive tie in is coming soon from an upcoming episode of 'CSI: NY,' in which a killer escapes into the world of Second Life. The episode will end with a cliffhanger and pick up in the the virtual world of Second Life, where viewers will be able to help solve the case in a virtual crime lab. In the Spring, the show will pick up where the virtual story line leaves off.
Already, 'The Office' has created its own social networking site / virtual world called Dunder Mifflin Infinity, where branches of the fictional paper company hire employees and compete for Schrute bucks. Sadly, at the moment, the site is barely functional and some have speculated that it's one big ironic joke.
From Virtual Worlds News and Information Week
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