The Scatterbrained Syncretist
Saturday March 1, 2003
Glenn Reynolds thinks this is surreal. It may be an innovation in cross-branding but fictional characters with mascots or pets have been around for a while.
The popular Sims game has an expansion pack enabling the characters to acquire a pet...and clean up after it too. Barbie is fortunate to be spared this duty.
In Final Fantasy VII the player navigates Cloud through the world. Cloud visits an amusement park called the Gold Saucer where the character plays video games. Cloud also learns to capture, train and race Chocobos. At least Barbie doesn't have to travel to the ends of the world to feed SpongeBob Squarepants.
Kingdom Hearts is a Squaresoft game that combines Final Fantasy characters with Disney characters. That's cross-cultural cross-branding.
