EA's Pogo heads to the DS

Redwood City (CA) - Pogo.com, which EA acquired about five years ago, is heading for a release on the Nintendo DS, making the first time the casual gaming site’s games will appear on a major video game platform.

Pogo Island will include Word Whomp, Poppit, Phlinx, Tri-Peaks Solitaire, and Squelchies, a sample of the exclusive games on Pogo. The games will be tied together in an interative island map that users use to navigate through the five titles.

Additionally, players will be able to earn tokens and transfer them to their Pogo.com account. "Millions of people have been captivated by these simple, yet addictive casual games. We’re so excited to finally bring the online experience to players on the go," said Kevin Chorney, the game’s producer. The game, however, does not have online multiplayer. Players can compete against computer-controller opponents or via close-range friends through a DS-to-DS connection.

Pogo has the same basic target audience as Nintendo. The site’s audience is comprised of a large amount of middle-aged and retired people who prefer 20- to 30-minute gaming spurts over an epic online game like an RPG.

Pogo Island will hit the DS shelves on March 26 for an expected price of around $20 to $30.