Boogie, EA Playground and more

Instead of focusing on its popular sports franchises, Electronic Arts used their hour-long press conference at E3 to focus on the burgeoning casual games market, with lots of games for Wii in the pipeline…

The company has hit a high note with Boogie. EA Montreal general manager Alain Tascan put the rhythm/karaoke hybrid through the motions. After he selected a character and customised its look, he grabbed the Wii Remote and Nunchuk and got his groove on.

EA’s Boogie for Wii gives you complete control over the look of your character.

The challenge of creating a game like Boogie, he said, was to try to find the balance between making a game accessible to the casual gamer yet challenging for traditional gamers. As Alain moved the controllers to the music, the character moved right with him in a one-to-one ratio. The more he moved with the beat, the faster the groove meter filled. Once the meter is filled, players can perform dance combos and show off some serious steps!

Get your groove on!

He also showed off the karaoke aspect of the game. Using a microphone which will come with each copy of the game, Alain sung along with a song by the Pussycat Dolls. At the end of the song, he replayed an earlier recording of his crooning masterpiece. Boogie lets players add several effects to the replays, such as 3D effects – for which members of the media were given special 3D glasses.

From the dance floor, the conference moved to the playground: EA Playground. According to company representatives, EA Playground is all about being a kid. Using just Wii Remotes, four players took turns playing a friendly game of dodge ball. Players used the +Control Pad to move characters, the B Button to catch balls thrown at them and flicked the Wii Remote to throw a ball at the other team. Although those are the basics, players can also learn special advanced moves in each of the playground activities, and most of these are acquired through the single-player mode.

Bring the excitement of the playground home with EA Playground.

Along with traditional playground games, EA Playground also includes original takes on classic games. The company showed off a game they called Kicks, which was a hybrid of football and volleyball. This two-on-two game calls on players to use the B Button to pass the ball to each other and then flick the Wii Remote to kick the ball toward the goal.

Is it volleyball? Is it football? No, it’s called Kicks!

After the EA Playground demonstration, the company played a video featuring a previously unannounced Wii game called Smarty Pants - a trivia game in which a player would choose to see a question from one of 10 categories. To answer this question, a player simply raises his Wii Remote. If two players raise their hand at the same time, a tug-of-war begins, and players will need to use the Wii Remote in the same way they would pull on a rope.

To determine who gets to pick a category, players spin a wheel. As the wheel comes to a stop, other players can work the Wii Remote to try to manipulate what spot the wheel lands on. Sometimes the wheel will land on a random activity, such as “dance for double points.”

Finally, EA demonstrated a Wii game being developed together with movie director Steven Spielberg. The game is about stacked blocks, reminiscent of Jenga. In addition to traditional wooden blocks, the game features special item blocks, some of which cause explosions, others chemical reactions and more.

The blocks come together to challenge players to “solve” a puzzle using different items. Players can pull blocks out of the form or throw a ball at any block by flicking the Wii Remote. The game also features an editor, allowing players to create their own puzzles.

Stay tuned to the Nintendo site for more info on these EA games – and more – in the future!