Yahoo today launched its new initiative called "Brand Universe," taking the form of a series of websites concentrating on popular subjects. The search engine company hopes that these sites will stir up some interest (and some clicks) for the web portal whose growth hasn't been matching competitors, like Google.

This is notable to gamers, since the first such site is devoted to the Nintendo Wii console. Even without much promotion, the site apparently attracted 1.2 million visitors in November. While Yahoo eventually plans to launch 100 such websites for Brand Universe, only the Wii portal is currently live.

The other brands will include the popular gaming franchises The Sims and Halo. The TV series Lost and The Office will also be included, along with the multimedia franchises Harry Potter and Transformers. The remaining brands will apparently be revealed by the end of this month.

Vince Broady, formerly of Gamespot, is leading the charge for the Brand Universe initiative. He's hoping to cooperate with the features products/brands/celebrities in order to make the most out of Brand Universe.

"We are totally open to driving a result that makes a partner want to work with us," Broady said.

Yahoo's Wii web portal can be found at wii.yahoo.com.