EA channels Wii Sports and comes up with EA Playground
by Jared Rea 
{ May 1st 2007 at 9:20PM }
We know exactly what you want for that white box with that bowling game that most likely isn't sitting in your house right now: more minigames! Thank your lucky stars that Electronic Arts, in an effort to bring more waggle into their portfolio, has debuted EA Playground for both the Wii and Nintendo DS.Best described as Wii Sports for the kids (as in, specifically), EA Playground is a mixture of remote-only minigames and obsessive collecting. The current line up for the Wii includes childhood classics like tetherball, dodgeball and RC car racing, with the DS sporting unique games featuring bug hunts and spit balls. The whole thing sort of reminds us of the PlayStation 2 network title, My Street, only without the whole networking part.
With an official announcement to come and a press event rapidly approaching, we'll definitely be seeing more of this in the weeks to come. In other news, Sony has replaced EA's Wii development unit with a PSOne. Do you think they noticed?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ian Von Porter @ May 1st 2007 9:26PM
Wasnt WiiSports for kids and senile in the first place... you know, people who dont know how to press buttons. So, who is EA targeting now... babies?
Oh well, its good that nintendo is covering the entire spectrum of people... except for GAMERS!
Rob Accomando @ May 1st 2007 9:33PM
At first when I heard EA wants to support the Wii, I was pleased to see another 3rd party on board.
This is their idea of 'support'? lol
zwarrior @ May 1st 2007 9:52PM
Great picture! EA playground reminds me of "My street" too, I think EA is being unimaginative and is feeding to the stereotype of Nintendo systems being for kids. A wii exclusive of a more serious game would have been more succussful than this imo
Shockgamer @ May 1st 2007 9:58PM
It makes me sick just to look at it.
Is this what opening the market to non-gamers/casuals will bring?
Rubang B @ May 1st 2007 10:00PM
I'm all for a new game with dodgeball involved.
That said, EA is pretty dumb, like Ian Von Porter.
Aberu @ May 1st 2007 10:04PM
OMG another 50 dollar demo. Go wii!
Rubang B @ May 1st 2007 10:05PM
Oops sorry, my caps lock got stuck. Where was I?
ZOMG Oh noez the industry is doomed! EA has canceled all their other games to dump all of their manpower into this one!
Ken @ May 1st 2007 10:12PM
I noticed (as much of a sony fanboy Ian is) he wasn't posting in the Calling All Cars gets Delayed thread..
I wonder if he's in his bedroom crying... or just watching movies on his $600 dvd player.
Fatass of Kickassness @ May 1st 2007 10:12PM
Hmm, my comment was deleted... oh well, I'll just condense what I said into this next sentence.
This is gonna suck and fail. EA sucks and fails. And the Wii, even if its not as powerful as the other systems, can still do more than this pixelated garbage. Furthermore, knowing EA, NOTHING will be made on a 1:1 ratio, because they'll take the easy way out like always. I bet you'd be able to beat the entire game just by waggling your wrists for an hour.
Rubang B @ May 1st 2007 10:32PM
Hey my all-caps comment was on topic, not too long, and a joke. I've never been so offended. Anyway, EA has single-handedly canceled production of all hardcore games with this milestone in casual gaming history: EA Playground.
J @ May 1st 2007 11:20PM
Obviously if you are old enough to post comments on Joystiq, then you are probably too old for this game. That's not to say older gamers won't like it (come on, it's not even out yet!) but I'm pretty sure my five year old nephew would get a kick out of this.
BPM @ May 1st 2007 11:30PM
It doesn't look that bad. Like maybe an early/mid-life GameCube game.
Still, I don't see what the uproar is... It's just one more EA game to not buy ever.
ro.bo @ May 1st 2007 11:42PM
I thought we all agreed to never mention My Street ever again...
notBlind @ May 2nd 2007 10:03AM
Is the screenshot from Wii or DS.. It is harder to tell the difference between games on those platforms.
Genius @ May 2nd 2007 12:16AM
Sweet! Thank god! I almost thought the Wii was going to run out of minigames, because we all know thats what the Wii is for right!?
ac @ May 2nd 2007 12:28AM
um, the title of the article is misleading. wii sports is for everyone. clearly this title is for kids, and has very little to do with wii sports. if they think that they can have even 10% of the success as wii sports( which has become a world wide phenomenon) has had with this title, then they are in for a rude awakening.
sheppy @ May 2nd 2007 12:58AM
Okay, first Boogie which looks a little tooo much like Bust A Groove. Now this game which looks like My Street (thank you, Joystiq... my first thoughts matched your picture perfectly). You have to wonder, is EAs current plan of attack on the Wii just shuffling through $10 Playstation bins to find stuff that would "totally rock" with the wii remote?
Makes sense, actually. Remember when they stole FFXs battle system, point for point, for their LOTR "traditional RPG?"
Gavin @ May 2nd 2007 3:38AM
A minigame collection on the Wii that looks like a PS2 game?
Color me shocked...
Unit @ May 2nd 2007 10:16AM
@8, lol i noticed that too!! It seems the usual sony fanboys avoid any bad news about the ps3(which have been plentiful) But are the first ones to post negative comments on anything about the wii. whether the news reported is good or bad. it must really suck being a sony fanboy knowing that a console like the wii is currently the hottest thing in videogames today and is selling/more popular than the ps3.