Ah the playground. The ice cream. The screaming kids. The warm sunshine. The innocence of youth. Those were fun times, an experience Electronic Arts intends to replicate with its latest Wii video game, EA Playground, a light-hearted adventure that should strike a chord with kids as well as nostalgic adults.

EA divided the game into two segments, mini games and exploration. In the first, gamers enjoy an undisclosed number of playground games such as dodge ball, RC racing and tetherball. Furthermore, all of the games make use of the Wii remote in some fashion, and EA mentioned to GameDaily that thus far, the dodge ball mechanics work great.

Conversely, the DS version of the game includes playground games that fit the system's strengths. For example, in the spitball game, players blow into the DS' microphone in order to launch saliva-coated spit wads. During Bug Hunt, they'll use the stylus to search for creepy crawlies.

Performing well in these games earns the player stickers that can be used to create a picture book that can be shared with friends. However, they'll need to see them in person, as the game doesn't support online play/emailing, a shame, considering the possibilities. Even worse, EA won't support the DS' Wi-Fi connection, a puzzling decision seeing as how Nintendo delivered online functionality for its hand held. Because of that, DS owners must rely on AdHoc to see their collections.

The second part of the game, exploration, allows people to explore a 3-D world (2.5-D on the DS) at their leisure, interacting with various non-player characters. How this impacts the game remains to be seen, as EA won't discuss this at length.

Playground will appeal to children, thanks to its colorful, cartoon visuals and fictitious kids. Adults, on the other hand, may avoid it, but that all depends on EA. The company won't change the graphics to please older gamers, but if the mini games rock, there's no reason why players of all ages won't get into them. Wii Sports, after all, looks unrealistic but stands out as one of the Wii's most popular games.

Considering the sparse details, unannounced release date and tentative title (it likely won't be called EA Playground), GameDaily expects to see this game again later this year.

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