Buena Vista getting <i>Desperate</i>

If there's one thing massive media conglomerates love, it's synergy. Need proof? Look no further than the Walt Disney Company. Today, the multibillion-dollar corporation announced it is bringing together its resurgent television network, ABC, and its nascent games division, Buena Vista Games. Hoping to replicate the success of PC games based on series from ABC rivals NBC Universal (Law & Order) and CBS Corp. (CSI), the two Disney divisions are making a game based on the hit satire Desperate Housewives.

Developed by Liquid Entertainment, most famous for the real-time strategy titles Dragonshard and Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring, the game is described as a "lifestyle simulation" game. Clearly oriented at the Sims demographic, the game puts players in the high heels of a new housewife who moves to Wisteria Lane, the fictional neighborhood the show is set in.

But while Desperate Housewives' popularity is in large part due to its ensemble cast, apparently none of its five stars have signed on to the project. Eva Longoria, Nicolette Sheridan, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, and Teri Hatcher were not mentioned in the game announcement outside its footnotes about the show. Only Brenda Strong, who narrates the show as the disembodied voice of dead housewife Mary Alice Young, has publicly signed on to the project.

Desperate Housewives is set for release later this year for the PC. No rating or price has yet been set.