New 'CSI' game lets viewers in on the mystery
The 'CSI' series has launched a new era of crime dramas leading the way in TV ratings.
By Saira Peesker
CTV
December 5, 2006
CSI creator Anthony Zuiker says the launch of the CSI: Senses board game realizes a dream he's had since before the idea for the show ever popped into his head.
Anthony Zuiker, the creative brain behind the "CSI" empire, never thought he'd be a television mogul. Growing up as an only child in Las Vegas, he often spent his days making up games for himself, dreaming of one day having his name on his very own board game.
"I would roll dice and play cards by myself, and make little funny stupid board games like boxing or salt water fishing," he told CTV.ca while in Toronto promoting his most recent accomplishment, the CSI: Senses board game.
"I'm an idiot game savant... I'd created 523 different board games by the age of 15 and thought someday I'd be a great toy creator."
While ending up as a great television creator (with credits including the number one show in the world, "CSI: Miami") wasn't a bad trade-off, the fast-talking and even faster-thinking Zuiker finally has his wish. After spending the last year "in a room writing on a piece of cardboard," his multi-faceted four-person game is now available in stores.
Equal parts trivia, Pictionary, deduction and charades, the game allows players to assume the role of one of the investigators from the original "CSI" series while trying to solve one of six Zuiker-penned mysteries.
"(The game has) cool Vegas storylines called things like Mob Deep or Dead Ringer," said Zuiker, his gold skull cufflinks flashing as he eagerly pointed out the coolest aspects of the very busy game board. "There's always three suspects and one victim. It's a race of fun challenges around the board to get to that final clue."
While the keenest of "CSI" fans may be aware of two other board games bearing the series' brand, Zuiker says this one is drastically different due his personal involvement.
"When I created CSI, Specialty Board Games came and wanted to make our board games," he said. "I gave them the rights but wanted them to help me learn the toy business. I asked if I could create a board game from scratch, that was completely me, top to bottom... My signature on the box saying this is not a vanity credit."
As far as he sees it, the game is another jewel is the crown he likes to call "The Zuiker Brand."
'Zuiker' brand
The television revolution started by "CSI" began when Zuiker's
wife Jennifer showed him one of her then-favourite shows, a Discovery
Channel program about crime investigation.
The idea of bringing forensics to the masses struck home with the young writer, who jazzed up the format with creative filming, hip music, an attractive cast and the series' signature snappy dialogue. And of course, lots of the highest-technology gadgetry known to modern lab science.
"We feed the machine in terms of doing more and more shows that are on the cutting edge of technology," said Zuiker. "People can not get enough of that. If you go to all of our testing dials, emotion of the show and character stuff (don't test as well). But when we ask about the rock music and the eye candy, dials go way up... They love it."
On the topic of the accuracy of the show's portrayal of lab science, Zuiker is quick to note that all gadgets used on the show exist in real life -- just not in every crime lab.
In fact, the series' portrayal of technology's ability to solve crimes -- compared to the reality in most parts of the U.S. -- has come up so often that Zuiker has been asked more than once to lobby Congress for more federal funding for forensics.
"Crime labs across the country don't have near what we do on our sets and are severely understaffed," he said. "It runs the risk of sending false hope that there is a bunch of geniuses in a lab with the greatest of technologies and you are safe at night.
"One could argue that you could either spend $2 billion a day on the war or you could put a fraction of that money into your own country."
Despite this assessment, Zuiker believes he's made a positive difference in the world with the series by sending the message that being caught is more likely and possible than many criminals ever imagine.
He's also proud of the increased interest in forensics programs in post-secondary institutions and the higher level of terminology knowledge among jurors, which he believes are products of the show's popularity. These benefits, he says, outweigh the concerns of naysayers who say the show doesn't match up to real science.
"It's not a very good argument from CSIs who say, 'hey, we don't get DNA back in four seconds,' Zuiker said. "I tell them, 'you also don't do television.'"
"CSI takes gives tech geeks -- and lots of other people -- a show they can really get into. That's what it's about -- a fantasy love affair between the viewer and science."
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