Henry Jenkins, MIT professor and media convergence expert, spent a little time this morning writing about ABC / Buena Vista Games’ upcoming The Sims clone, Desperate Housewives, which is based on the television series of the same name. He details how he thinks the game’s use of episodic content distribution and advergaming tie-ins (brand-name washing machines, story elements shared with the ongoing television series, real world printable coupons delivered to your in-game mailbox, etc.) are harbingers of media’s future. I’m not sure if I agree with all of his theories, but he’s a pretty bright guy and it’s worth a read.
As for the game, Julianne and I saw it briefly at E3, on our way back from seeing the Wii. The game did not impress. Perhaps it suffered in comparison to Nintendo’s killer console, but then wouldn’t that still be true in the market place?
