The Sims, a popular computer game that's sold more than 100 million copies in the last eight years, has often been called a "dollhouse" game. What happens when the dolls break out of the dollhouse?
That happened last summer when Electronic Arts, publisher of The Sims, teamed with Swedish clothing retailer H&M to sponsor an online fashion runway featuring outfits designed by players of The Sims. The companies received 1,000 digital entries uploaded to The Sims' website, then selected 60 outfits -- worn by Sims, of course -- to feature on a virtual runway show hosted by Yahoo Inc. The show got more than 500 million views, and about 100,000 people voted on the outfits.
