How to explain the phenomenon that is Discovery Channel's hit reality series "Deadliest Catch"?

The high seas, the extreme conditions, the danger, the payoff of a big catch of Alaskan king and opilio crab. It has all the elements of a great adventure game. So, no surprise, newly formed game publisher Greenwave announced today that "Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm," is due out for the Xbox 360 and PC in April, just in time for the show's fourth season.

ALAN BERNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Brothers Norman, left, Edgar and Sig Hansen have been crab-fishing aboard the Northwestern for decades. Now they're starring in a video game about it.

According to a press release, "The game was inspired by Sig, Edgar and Norman Hansen -- three brothers who have made their living crab fishing on the Bering Sea aboard their family's fishing vessel, the Northwestern." Again, no surprise to fans of the show that it's the Hansen brothers -- who seem to have taken best advantage of the new attention paid to their vocation -- that would work with game developers Liquid Dragon Studios on this project. Check out this 2006 Seattle Times story on their line of lingerie, among other things.

The local tie-ins don't stop with the Hansens, who are Shorewood High School grads.

Liquid Dragon Studios is in Bellevue. Greenwave is a "recently established" Seattle company whose offices are in Ballard not far from Fisherman's Terminal.

The game looks like it's packed with features to keep the amateur seafarer interested. Here's some more detail:

"Weather and fishing conditions are based on authentic weather and storm data and get progressively worse each season, increasing the challenge. The ultimate goal is to return safely each season, upgrade your boat and crew, and attempt to break Captain Sig Hansen and the Northwestern crew's actual lifetime catch of twenty million pounds."

To underscore the danger, the game will be the first to feature U.S. Coast Guard helicopters and boats.

The developers are also boasting "the best wave effects in a video game to date." We'll see, but if so, I hope they'll come out with a good surfing game next.