About
“Intimidation Games” is an episode of the American TV police drama Law and Order: Special Victims Unit which was based on the movement GamerGate movement. Following its broadcast in mid-February 2015, the episode was quickly met with mostly negative reactions and mockeries from both pro and anti-Gamergate camps due to its corny screenplay, as well as its oversimplification of the actual events.
Episode Information
“Intimidation Games” aired on February 11th, 2015. The episode follows a female video gamer who is kidnapped and abused by a group of gamers who call themselves “Killed or Be Slaughtered” in allusion to Quinnspiracy and its aftermath. The episode also features references to 4chan and Reddit, as well as Anita Sarkeesian.
Online Reactions
The Law & Order episode was poorly received by those both for and against GamerGate in part for its perceived bad writing and cringeworthy delivery. The gaming news site Kotaku[1] wrote a review of the episode, in which it heavily criticized the episode for “turning complicated conversations over misogyny in gaming into a cartoon caricature of good vs. evil.” The episode was also criticized for demonizing gamers and a perceived lack of knowledge of the gaming subculture. Largely due to its “so bad it is good” appeal, the episode quickly spawned an ironical fanbase who quote lines from the episode to the likes of Baneposting. On February 13th, 2015, the 8chan board /redchanit/[2] was created, the name being a portmanteau of Reddit and 4chan, which is referenced numerous times in the episode as the online hub where KOBS members congregate.
PoV Pistol
One of the exploitables features a member of the group KOBS pointing a gun to a police officer in a similar fashion to a first-person shooter game. The image is often photoshopped with different items and HUD’s from classic FPS games.
KOBS Uniform
This exploitable consists of changing certain characters to fit the pattern of the gamer terrorist group featured in the episode.
Search Interest
External References
[1]Kotaku – So That Was Law & Order’s GamerGate Episode
[2]8chan – /redchanit/
[3]The Verge – The Law & Order Gamergate episode manages to be even more depressing than Gamergate
[4]Jezebel – Gamergate and Its Victims Hated the Law & Order Gamergate Episode
[5]Mashable – ‘Law and Order: SVU’ takes GamerGate to extreme to show ‘this could go too far’
[6]ArsTechnica – Law & Order SVU takes on GamerGate, everyone loses
[7]PC Magazine – ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Goes Gamergate
[8]Washington Post – This is the final word on Gamergate -- and it’s from ‘Law & Order: SVU’