'Miami' Draws Gamers' Criticism For 'Urban Hellraisers'

[CSI Files]

Last Monday's episode of CSI: Miami, "Urban Hellraisers," has drawn a lot of ire from the gaming community for its extreme representation of video game players.

In this episode, college students decide to play a Grand Theft Auto-like video game in real life, encouraged by not only the game's violence, but the gaming industry as well, to rob banks, murder and rape innocent people, and even infiltrate into the lab to steal the evidence that ties them to their crimes.

Gaming communities all over the web instantly took offense to the way gamers were depicted in the episode. "In conjunction with the venom and disgust that effuses the word 'gamer' when it's spoken by star <font color=yellow>David Caruso</font>, it is made clear that people who play games are but one step removed from pedophiles or suicide bombers in the social hierarchy of evil," said <font color=yellow> Andrew Leonard</font> from Salon.com.

Leonard's criticism not only stems from the extreme crimes the gamers committed, but also from the suggestion that perhaps the writers of Miami failed to read what recent studies regarding teen violence have suggested. "Never mind that in the real world, teen violence has steadily declined, almost in parallel with the rise in sales of video games," he added.

The episode even has female gamers up in arms. In "Urban Hellraisers's" last revelation, the team discovers the most elusive of these video game crazed college students is actually a girl, who confesses to Calleigh Duquesne she never liked video games per se, but began to play them so boys would pay more attention to her. <font color=yellow>Dilandau</font>, from the CSI: Miami thread at TWoP, was at first delighted to see a female gamer on the show.

"Unfortunately my happiness didn't last long," she said. "It faded when the girl started telling some sob story about how boys didn't notice her so she playing the games which eventually led to her crimes. I'm a girl... I play games, and it's not just to get the attention of some boy. The misconception that girls don't play video games drives me up a wall!"

"Normally I like every CSI: Miami, but this show just rubbed me the wrong way," said poster <font color=yellow>saskboy</font> from the gaming section at Slashdot.org. "Maybe I'd feel about any CSI where I'm familiar with the subject matter, but this one seemed 'forced' or preachy. It's almost as if it Jumped the Shark, if they keep going with this lame social consequences route."

Head over to Salon.com to read the rest of Leonard's article, and to read or take part of a discussion regarding gamers depiction in this episode, visit Slashdot.org.<center></center>

 

[beautiful_loser]

I can understand why they'd be offended. Not that I watched the episode or anything, but everyone takes offense to something. I can only assume that the hard-core gamers in this episode just didn't care that what was going on in the game was wrong, half of the time people KNOW this and still go out and do it anyways, if they do it either way. Besides, it's just a story, the writers are not geniuses (well, not all the time). It's just a story, there are a lot more things to be offended by...

And if the gamers didn't like how they were portrayed on the show...they should think about how the killers are portrayed on the show, eh? I bet they don't like that rep a whole lot =P

 

[Guest]

I find the uproar rather idiotic myself. I happen to be a rather hardcore gamer -- a female one at that -- and I saw the episode, and, yes, the concept was a little dumb to me, but I found absolutely nothing offensive about it.

The writers' jobs are to entertain you, they're not out to send some kind of "message". If it is a fact that crime has gone down since video game sales have gone up, then good, be proud in that fact, and I have never heard of any misconceptions that girls don't play video games. I have no idea where that came from.

Yes, the game was horribly titled and, especially from the box art, it was obviously evident that the game was based from Grand Theft Auto, and while I find that fact a bit amusing, it absolutly blows my mind how anyone could try and acutally defend a game that bases it's plot on making a deal with a hooker only to later brutally kill her afterwards.

Utterly rediculous.

 

[Carrieattheprom]

I missed the episode so I might not know what the heck I'm talking about, but I can sorta guess why they're upset. I saw an episode of Law & Order SVU that was based on the same premise as this episode. People who hate these games seem to think that by playing them it teaches kids to kill. It doesn't. People who would imitate stuff that they see in t.v.s or movies are already an accident waiting to happen. I went to a "special" high school for kids who for one reason or another couldn't fit in at a "normal" high school. It was a very small school with teachers teaching more than one subject. At lunch time some of the kids would bring in their game system from home and play games like Grand Theft Auto. These were very bright, very nice kids who just happened to like that game. Although It's not a game that I'd want to play myself I can see why they'd like it. It's a great way to blow off steam without anybody really getting hurt.

From what I've gleamed from the spoilers and this article the episode seems to be saying that if you play violent video games it will make you a killer.

 

[beautiful_loser]

There's always been that theory that your exposure to violent video games will make you, in turn violent. Because essentially when you are exposed to violent video games, you are exposed to violence (albeit not REAL violence). And with this theory comes the theory that excessive exposure to violence will de-sensitize you to violence, and that does happen.

What some people fail to realize is that it doesn't happen to everyone. It all depends on how strong your morals are, how strong you are to your convictions.

People like us are smart enough never to go out and beat the hell out of a prostitute that we just slept with to get our money back. We'd never go out and kick a bunch dogs around, we would never go out and shoot a cop because we were already wanted by the police, you get the point. But, we can't leave out the fact that there are very easily suggestable people out there, the fact that there are people who are out there who would do those things despite the fact that they are wrong, with or without the influence of a few games.

And unfortunately, I've heard the misconception that girls don't play video games all too much. And those who choose to believe that I play games, still might not think that I'm any good at them, because why? Because I'm a girl.

 

[CSI_Grissom]

so true beautiful loser, i laughed when i saw the article, all i could think is you losers, get over yoursef,i just could not believe that some people would complain, i watched the episode, and i thought that it was a good one, the gamers are protrayed as being a little crazy and obssesed, but aren't we? , i mean everybody loves something so we could all be considered obsessive freaks, but we are not, the show is not saying that anyone that plays games are like that and that games like that need to be taken off the shelves, it just showed some people that had taken a game way too far, and turned it into reality, and were committing crimes based off of the game. but all crimes come from some sort of suggestion, i mean no would murder, if we did not know about murder, all crimes are based off of something i think, wheather it be a game, a show, a past, the news, a book, i mean anything could influence someone, this time it was a game.

 

[Guest]

And with this theory comes the theory that excessive exposure to violence will de-sensitize you to violence, and that does happen.

I'm not sure how true that is, but that has had that effect on me. To fictional violence. Actual blood and gore? I can't stand it.

I can't tell you how many people I've met who can just blow through an entire game of BloodRyane or Resident Evil without even flinching, only to later faint at the first sight of a paper cut.

What some people fail to realize is that it doesn't happen to everyone. It all depends on how strong your morals are, how strong you are to your convictions.

No, it depends on how sane you are. Morals and convictions have nothing to do with it. Sociopaths have no compasion for human life. That may be their moral, but it has nothing to do with conscience.

In the episode itself, the kids themselves(and they were hardly kids, they were all in college) did not pick up the game and say "Hey that looks fun, lets acutally try that". In the end it was found out they were hired by the company that produced the game to commit crimes similar to the levels in the game to help produce publicity.

And about that issue about the girl in the end who said she only palyed video games so boys would notice her, I wouldn't put it past any girl who was really that dellusional. Everyday there are girls who go out to get plastic boobs and become anorexic because they honestly believe it's the only way they'll attract guys.

 

[beautiful_loser]

I'm not sure how true that is, but that has had that effect on me. To fictional violence. Actual blood and gore? I can't stand it.

I can't tell you how many people I've met who can just blow through an entire game of BloodRyane or Resident Evil without even flinching, only to later faint at the first sight of a paper cut.

Well see, those are the people you've met, and regardless of how many people you've met, it's not everyone in the world who has picked up a violent video game. People who excessively play violent video games can become very de-sensitized to REAL violence, not pixelated blood and chunks on the screen. Take watching violent television for instance, and you're always more involved in a video game. Besides, Resident Evil and BloodRayne are people fighting monsters, not people fighting people, and yes, there's a difference.

What some people fail to realize is that it doesn't happen to everyone. It all depends on how strong your morals are, how strong you are to your convictions.

No, it depends on how sane you are. Morals and convictions have nothing to do with it. Sociopaths have no compasion for human life. That may be their moral, but it has nothing to do with conscience.

I beg to differ. Sociopaths are not sane people, they do not know what they are doing is wrong, you could also say they lack 'morals' and fail to follow the norms as defined by society. I read your entire post, and while I didn't watch the episode, I'll take your word that the company actually hired these kiddos to stir up some publicity (hey, what says BUY THIS GAME then a couple of bank robberies?) for their game.

Now, if they were hired, then it means that they were bought off. If Rockstar Games came up to you and offered you 1 mil, would you rob a bank? Would you sleep with a prostitute and then beat her up in the end to get your money back? Would you take out a few cops? I seriously doubt you would, even if you were flat broke. And if these college students had any kind of a problem with this, they could have said no, but obviously they didn't, and how did that come to be? Your morals tell you it's wrong, and no matter how cool it looks on television, you don't do it, no matter how much somebody pays you, you don't do it, because your morals tell you it's wrong.

In the episode itself, the kids themselves(and they were hardly kids, they were all in college) did not pick up the game and say "Hey that looks fun, lets acutally try that". In the end it was found out they were hired by the company that produced the game to commit crimes similar to the levels in the game to help produce publicity.

When was the last time Rockstar did that? It's CSI, they needed to have another motive behind it instead of immature teenagers.

And about that issue about the girl in the end who said she only palyed video games so boys would notice her, I wouldn't put it past any girl who was really that dellusional. Everyday there are girls who go out to get plastic boobs and become anorexic because they honestly believe it's the only way they'll attract guys.

I wouldn't play video games to attract someone, and that's only some people. The entire world is not as sane or as morally sound or SANE as you or I.

Now...you wouldn't put it past any woman out there to go out and play a game and do something that she actually didn't like so that she could attract the attention of boys, what makes that any different then someone who plays violent video games to go out and shoot up the town?

Just because you wouldn't, and you claim that you aren't phased by this graphic violence, and you and the people that you know aren't phased by this make-believe violence, doesn't mean that everyone is. There's a reason that there is backyard wrestling and people end up breaking their necks doing suplexes on each-other. They don't know, or don't care that it's stupid, and a bad idea.

The debate about whether or not video-games can lead someone to become desensitized to violence can go on for hours, days, years. I'm not saying that it can happen because Nancy Reagan is my hero, either, because I've met just as many people who have been desensitized to violence by it, to real violence, and while it hasn't gone as far as it could, it's a scary thought.

RESULTS MAY VARY.

 

[Guest]

I'm not sure how true that is, but that has had that effect on me. To fictional violence. Actual blood and gore? I can't stand it.

I can't tell you how many people I've met who can just blow through an entire game of BloodRyane or Resident Evil without even flinching, only to later faint at the first sight of a paper cut.

Well see, those are the people you've met, and regardless of how many people you've met, it's not everyone in the world who has picked up a violent video game.

I'm not sure how true that is

I beg to differ. Sociopaths are not sane people

When did I say they were?

When was the last time Rockstar did that? It's CSI, they needed to have another motive behind it instead of immature teenagers.

I'm not sure. Did Rockstar do that? If you want to complain about the lame plot idea, talk about it to the writers not me. That's just what happened in the episode.

Now...you wouldn't put it past any woman out there to go out and play a game and do something that she actually didn't like so that she could attract the attention of boys, what makes that any different then someone who plays violent video games to go out and shoot up the town?

Um, none? A girl does something she doesn't like to attract boys. A person plays a game and then decides to go out and commit crime. I'm not catching the analogy here.

And yes, it's CSI. It's a television show. Which comes to the reason why we're discussing this topic. Gamers' reaction to this episode is stupid and ridiculous, and they should just change the channel.

 

[RBC]

I think it's absolutely proposterous. I think it says more about the people who feel offended than it says about CSI.
They didn't treat gamers as some kind of evil. If those people are offended by that many more people should be offended too.
Little people (CSI 3.4)
Super models (CSI 2.23)
Drug addicts (CSI: Miami 1.23 and others)
People with weird sex fetishes (CSI 2.8, 3.15, 3.15 & CSI: NY 1.16)

And so on, and so on

 

[beautiful_loser]

I was never claiming that Rockstar did pay people to promote their games. The idea behind the story was that the video game's developer paid these people to go out and commit crimes that resembled te crimes in their game. From what I've read it's quite clear that this game was like Grand Theft Auto.

It did almost sound like you had referred to sociopaths as sane people.

Gamers are a subculture in the world, albeit a growing one. When something is published/hits the news/etc that attacks them, of course they would take offense to it.

Some food for thought. While they don't show this in Bowling for Columbine, the suspected training tapes had one of the shooters imitating DOOM on there.