Only one game mode in EA Playground was available to play during the publisher's pre-E3 press event, and that was dodgeball. The version we played was a three-on-three game with two humans and one CPU on each team (four humans total) and four balls on the court, although it will be possible to change these settings to anything you'd like in the final version.

If you've seen Extreme Dodgeball on television, then you'll know how the basic game is played. Each team starts on its back line, and the balls are setup on center line. When the game begins, it's possible to get a dash start by thrusting the Wii remote forward. Doing so will zip you immediately to one of the balls, but if you miss the timing, you'll stall and be stuck in the back for a bit. CPU players did not dash start, so it's not known what would happen if all six players went for only four available balls.

Playing the game is actually quite fun. You use only the Wii remote to play. The D-Pad controls player movement around the court. To throw a ball you simply flick the remote forward. Waving the remote will also make you avoid a ball while you're on defense. If a ball is heading your way, hitting the B Trigger at the right time will make you catch it. Catching balls is important, because in doing so you can regenerate one of your teammates that had been previously put out. The regeneration process is somewhat confusing with CPU players sprinkled in, because you don't always come back into the game as the character you first picked. A colored player indicator arrow appears when you come back onto the court, but I didn't realize it until I had already been hit by another player. Hopefully, that issue will be addressed.

If your character stays in the game long enough, dodging balls and making outs along the way, you'll start to glow and fill a special meter. Once that meter is full, you can pull off a very powerful super throw that is pretty much a guaranteed put-out. I couldn't find out if the meter could also be used defensively, but hopefully it will be able to counter the super throw.

I only got to play three games of dodgeball, but I did see a lot of other people play the game. While it was rather simple for my hardcore tastes, most of the other media types were having a pretty good time with it. There was an especially boisterous roar when someone made a comeback from a 1-on-3 situation. I do see potential for the game to catch a little bit of the casual audience that Nintendo has won over with Wii Sports, but until EA shows off some of the other modes in EA Playground, it's really too early to know for sure if that will happen.