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CSI Takes On Grand Theft Auto

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the let-the-indoctrination-begin dept.

Tycoon Guy was one of many to write "Looks like another 20 million viewers will be fed the 'video games promote violence' story tonight. Today's CSI: Miami episode will feature a group of kids who are inspired to go on a city-wide crime spree by a game that looks suspiciously like Grand Theft Auto. From the description: 'Delko witnesses a bank robbery and the CSIs soon discover that the culprits are playing out the action from the videogame 'Urban Hellraisers' on the streets of Miami. As they score points for each crime committed, the CSIs must discover what consists of getting to the next level in the game in order to stop the culprits before they strike again.'"

4 of 595 comments (clear)

  1. I can't speak for anyone else, but . . . by div_2n · · Score: 5, Interesting

    After I played GTA (can't remember which one) at a friend's house for a couple of hours, I found myself thinking about ramming into other vehicles and stealing their cars. I'm really not joking. Of course, I also once pointed at a cop checking for speeders during my Quake years and yelling audibly, "Look at that camper!!!" Again, I'm really not joking.

    While I neither rammed other people's cars nor pulled out a rocket launcher to teach the cop a lesson, I certainly KNOW that games can bleed into reality and if the person is just messed up enough in the head already, I don't doubt they could live out the game.

  2. Well, there are some causes for concern... by Space+cowboy · · Score: 4, Interesting
    The problem with CSI is that it's not just the bad guys that believe it...

    Consider a jury: 12 people too stupid(*) to get out of jury selection wonder why the scientific evidence is so bad. They compare it with what "scientists" say on CSI with all the flashy graphics that seem so convincing, and conclude that the real evidence is not compelling. Reasonable doubt surfaces and joe bad-guy walks.

    One of my father's friends is a reasonably-high-ranking policeman back in the UK, and there is a genuine concern that people's expectations of phorensic evidence is being pushed too high by programs like this.

    Here's a use for 'mythbusters' - get them to take a CSI show's flashy effects, and then compare to the real world... Some points:

    • When you're searching for fingerprints (a computationally-intensive task) you don't put every image up on the screen - you don't even store imagery, you store an encoding of the fingerprint and compare encodings (numbers). In reality it's done by humans, not computers.
    • You can't zoom-in infinitely, or even much. Why people think crappy security cameras are "better" than their personal digital zooming cameras is beyond me. You can't "clear up" an image when it's zoomed-in, you already have all the data. The best you can do is some thresholding/sharpening/convolution operations...
    • Results take days or weeks but definitely not minutes.
    • There are not unlimited manpower resources to throw at every problem.
    • Cameras cannot see around corners without the aid of a mirror.
    • The reflection off someone's eyeball is not sufficient information to read a car numberplate.
    • There is usually more than one place in a city where a given tree type grows.
    • The city databases are not (a) completely correct, and (b) anywhere near as pervasive as portrayed.
    • ... ad nauseum.


    CSI is a fantasy - an enjoyable fantasy, but a fantasy nonetheless. Just once it would be nice if their technological approach failed (the database was wrong, the drivers licence pointed them in the wrong direction, etc.) but no, they're perfect. It would be nice if fingerprints were shown to be not 100% accurate as well (it might trigger some debate!)

    Simon

    (*) I don't really think jurors are all stupid, some of them are true servants of the state, but some of them... sheesh.
    --
    Physicists get Hadrons!
  3. Bad season for CSI by FullCircle · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The only one I've seen this season is the first episode of CSI:NY.

    Within 2 minutes they pulled out a fucking tricorder and I turned it off.
    I complained about the image enhancements for years.
    I complained about pseudo-science for years.
    Star Trek tech is just too much.

    All CSI's are off my (short) list of watchable TV now.

    --
    If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. - James Madison
  4. Re:Eh... so what? by p0rnking · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If TV (and other media) doesn't inspire some people to commit crime, then explain this http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,975 769,00.html.

    "Four years ago, Bhutan, the fabled Himalayan Shangri-la, became the last nation on earth to introduce television. Suddenly a culture, barely changed in centuries, was bombarded by 46 cable channels. And all too soon came Bhutan's first crime wave - murder, fraud, drug offences."