EA Playground [Wii]

Years before most of us first wrapped our hands around a video game controller, we were using them to slap handballs, guide tetherballs, and yank ponytails on cracked, asphalted schoolyards. EA hopes to bring back such fond memories in the recently announced EA Playground for the Wii and DS, letting players relive the trials and tribulations of playground politics by waving their Wiimotes and swinging their styluses in a variety of throwback schoolyard games.

EA Playground will include three modes: Quick Play, multiplayer Party Play, and a single-player Campaign. The latter lets players climb the social ladder by competing in games against other schoolyard athletes in an effort to become King of the Playground. Winning games nets you that most valued childhood currency -- marbles -- which are spent unlocking new moves or new games. And how do you show off your progress? By earning stickers, of course! No word on the implementation of scratch 'n sniff technology just yet.

For that matter, only a few games have been officially announced -- Tetherball, Darts, Slot Cars and Dodgeball will grace the Wii version, while games like Bug Hunt and Spit Ball will remain exclusive to the DS. We enjoyed a few Dodgeball matches on the Wii, which ditches the nunchuk in favor of remote-only play. It works like a charm, allowing you to run with the D-pad, dodge with a sideways flick and hurl balls by impersonating a pitcher. It's about as natural and easy as the real thing - minus the ego-crushing pain of getting beaned square in the forehead by the school bully.

Though the cute, cartoony graphics give EA Playground the look of a child's game, its wealth of classic playground shenanigans should appeal to kids of all ages. We'll see if that holds true when old school meets new school this fall.