The Wii's controls still have a lot of untapped potential for design. It is no wonder we see a ton of companies still jumping to create party games based solely around the controller itself. EA's newest party title for the Wii, EA Playground, is jumping on this same party-game themed bandwagon. While they skip over classic childhood playground memories for me such as beating on bullies, watching the girls in dresses on the swing, and taking on competitors in king of the jungle gym, it does, however, have several safer selections of games that are far less likely to get you sent to the Principal's office.

The cartoony look and feel of the game helps the immersion a bit. It really does feel very kiddy and fun. Animations are smooth and simple and the environments are well done and stylized. The first thing I thought of when I saw it was that it reminded me of the book cover for "Sideways Stories from Wayside School."

It sounds and plays like a kid's game. The sound effects are over-foleyed and generic sounding. I think with a cartoon look they should really have the same feeling for the sounds. But, it just came off as there to be there, nothing special. The Simlish speak from EA's The Sims has spilled over. This saves on having to actually translate voiceovers for other regions. The kid's grunts were all high-pitched and sounded more like a Bruce Lee movie.

Welcome to the Playground. For some, the source of great memory hearkening back to a special time of childhood. For others, it is more a game of running from girls, or chasing them with frogs and the likes. I am sure that now, during work, you wouldn't mind a recess during the day. Here, though, we seem to be going to a Ninja academy. I really thought it would have been cool if I suddenly heard the old song "Everybody was Kung Fu fighting... Those kids were fast as lightning."

Anyway, you are dropped into a 3D environment where you can explore your surroundings. Other areas of this environment will be made available to you after you win a few of the competitions. But here in the beginning, you are just on the main playground.

So, you are here to go up against the kids on the playground. You want to be king of the playground? Well, first you have to dethrone the current king. In order to do this, you will have to be the best in seven different playground activities. Dodge ball, Paper Airplanes, Slot Cars, Kicks, Tether Ball, Wall Ball and Darts comprise the events. Not only will you have to beat the representative in each area, you must defeat their three other dares in order to be a master.

Your reward, besides the thrill of victory, is stickers you collect in your sticker book as proof of your conquest. You can get stickers that you purchase with marbles, also from the spoils of victory or found around the playground. These special stickers will give you an edge in the competitions. After you have thwarted the representatives from each area, you get to take on the king. Survive his gauntlet and you are the new king of the playground.

I didn't remember reading it anywhere, but apparently I am going to Ninja school, because everyone is doing Tai-Chi and jumping up and down. Even the volleyball isn't volleyball; it is combined with soccer to make the game of Kicks. I don't remember doing martial arts on the playground.

EA Playground is a kid's game and it has a lot of activities and an immersive environment to enjoy. After you complete the main portion of each individual area, you are able to go back and take their "Dares." Dares are typically more difficult than the main task themselves, but they come off as more of a continued tutorial for you to hone your skills. As you progress from the playground to the park and so on, you will notice quite a difference in the difficulty. There are a few side tasks such as the basketball challenge that you will be able to perform outside the normal seven events, but for the most part, they are only interested in forcing you to concentrate on those parts of the storyline.

EA Playground's seven games provide a lot of entertaining moments. These games are extremely easy to get into mechanically with the Wii controller, but there were also many other moves and more advanced moves you could learn. This made it interesting enough for a slightly older player, but easy enough that the younger kids can still play competitively and get a sense of completion. I would definitely have to say that as the game progressed, these more advanced moves became necessary to win; that it did take the end game out of the hands of the younger player. I don't really think that this was too big of an issue since usually, if they were that young, they were not into the discovery of marbles, the purchase of upgrades or the end game of becoming king. They just wanted to play the games.

This was a good game for adults to get used to the controllers, as well as a good game to start off with younger kids on the Wii. I really just wanted more games. I also just wanted it to be a little less Ninja and more real. I don't mean photo realistic, I mean games that were actually played at recess, or on a playground. I am thinking four square. I could totally see, for lack of a better term, patty cake games like the girls used to play. It was a fun game. I was expecting something different with more content, but a fun, simple game nonetheless.