The Office Does Second Life

From crime to comedy, this is prime time month for virtual worlds. Earlier, Law & Order tackled investigated a fictional world called "Another Youniverse." On October 24, CSI's Anthony Zuiker will begin a months-long tie-in with Second Life. The next day, The Office will take a presumably lighter stroll around virtual worlds. According to the synopsis, "When the Scranton branch is asked to participate in a Dunder Mifflin ad, Michael seizes his chance to exhibit his creativity. Meanwhile, Dwight explores the online world of Second Life." [via Justjared.com]

There's no sign that this will take on a CSI-level of virtual world-TV integration, but NBC is exploring fairly novel, technological ways of promoting the show. Beyond offering original webisodes and the ability to watch full episodes online, NBC is using an alternative reality game to connect viewers to the show.

In Dunder Mifflin Infinity, users form branches of the paper company, market them, hire new employees, and compete for Schrutebucks. Unfortunately, the game appears to be fairly broken.

"I think it's fair to say this is supposed to be a sort of ARG and so far I'm not very impressed," wrote Mike Krahulik at Penny Arcade. "The branch sites still have very little functionality and the stuff that does work doesn't work very well. It's got probably the worst forum system I've ever seen." Apparently its bad to the point that some have suggested that it's one big, ironic joke.

While the CW hasn't brought Second Life into "Gossip Girl," Millions of Us has been steadily bringing the show into the virtual world. And it sounds like it's working fairly well. What with The Electric Sheep Company's CSI  and I Am Legend projects and the previous "The Nines" ARG from Metaversatility--just to name a few--maybe "The Office" should look at working with virtual worlds instead of just putting them on screen.

Comments

[mrmr]

Wasn't that the stupidest most embarrassing moment for VR?

VR has lost its Keyboard Cowboy aspect.

too bad.

Whats next? SL in Desperate HOusewives?

[mrmr]

Because of SL, I now think Snowcrash had a bad influence on VR. We should have stuck with darkness of Neuromancer. If SL suddenly went away today, the 3d world WOULD look dark and mysterious.... just the way its supposed to be today.

but right now, it feels like a barbie doll convention. oooo!! fashion!oooooh!!! lets chat and chat and hug and lol and emote!! oooooohhhhhh!