Monopoly swaps cash for cards

Property board game Monopoly is swapping its iconic bank notes for debit cards and replacing the dog and iron playing counters with a burger and a mobile phone in a bid to catch up with the times.

A spokeswoman says the changes have been rolled out in a new British version of the game, which also includes an increase in property prices and a change in the London addresses printed around the board.

The revamped model will be sold alongside the traditional cash version.

Helen Martin is the marketing director for games at the British arm of US giant Hasbro, which makes Monopoly.

"If Monopoly was invented today it would look totally different so we have updated all of the property prices and locations," Ms Martin said.

"Also people don't use cash anymore, it is all on plastic, so we have taken the money out and we have replaced it with debit cards."

The new version of the game, called Monopoly Here and Now Electronic Banking, comes with a little machine that transfers money from one player's bank card to another.

In addition, people no longer collect 200 pounds ($A370) from the bank when they pass go.

Instead their account is credited with 2 million pounds - again a reflection of the rise in property prices since the game was created more than 70 years ago - at the touch of a button.

Ms Martin says electronic banking versions of Monopoly were introduced in Germany and France last year and have sold very well.

She says a US debit card game is scheduled for release in 2007.

Despite the changes and the upgrades, there is one thing that remains the same - the 'go to jail' punishment.

"You do go to jail, that will never change," Ms Martin said.

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2million dollars ha ha thats awesome. imagine that in monoply cash they would have to have an million dollar note

that is so uncool, I want my classic monopoly!

I concur...i like the money better. And i don't like big numbers.

same, give me the original. one of the ways I learned to count money was playing monopoly... and learned some about history too reading about some of the referenced things on the board and cards. I guess they figure it'll make them more money, but boo on them I won't buy it.

Monopoly makes me want to drive nails into my own eye.

BOOO- Leave Monopoly alone- it's one of those classics, that, though it may be dated, definitely doesn't need to 'catch up with the times'.

I think monopoly is fine the way it is actually





What an incredibly weak person you must be!

I think its funny when businesses think they should catch up with the times, change everything then realise that in fact, they didnt need to catch up with the times. simply because monopoly is such a game, that if re-vamped, will suck because of that.

give me the classic anytime



what an incredibly foolish person you must be!

no, ethyl's right, its just a very tedious game, I rarely finish a game of monopoly

"Haha, Park Place. You owe me $450,000."

haha, do you own people in monopoly, drippy?

I'm guessing he always insists of being banker

I own people in real life. Everyday I buy and sell people.

But no. I suck at Monopoly. I've pretty much stopped playing because once I get far into it I get angry at my terrible luck/money management. Someone's feelings/body always end up getting smashed to little bits.

it gets like that doesnt it
especially when you keep landing on your brothers streets and he has set himself up some nice hotels

$%&*ing $600 my @#$

Wouldnt it be nice if you could by a street in true life for 300 dollars

How so?

You can't do that to Monopoly There are some things in life you just don't change

Well thanks for that, but no I just hate Monopoly.



Because I'm not. You're an incredibly rude person, though.

anybody know of a monopoly game you can play on a LAN? Downloaded the Monopoly Deluxe for PC but it doesn't let you be on multiple machines... everyone has to be gathered around one machine.

I got your back hard, Ethyl.

We go way back.

Anyone who feels the need to drive nails into thier eyes because of an inanimate board game is indeed a very weak person

Anyone who feels the need to point out a joke as a sign of weakness, despite having no intimate, nor even general knowledge of that supposedly weak person, is indeed incapable of humor, apparently.

Edit-Also I like the subtle change from the slash mouthed emoticon into the winky guy. Subtle, well played.

lol you over evaluate.

Edit- I was just making a point taking what coldethyl said literally as I have noticed her do it in numerous threads while debunking stuff she really has no clue about...

I shall leave this thread now

YOU OVEREVALUATE!

Yes please do run away.

And please do clue me in on what I have no clue about. If you have a problem with me (because I understand that jealousy is such a powerful emotion) then you can PM me with it instead of derailing threads about it.

I wonder if they changed the reasons for going to jail. Ex. You defrauded shareholders, you committed accounting fraud, you inflated earnings, you pulled a Martha Steward (insider trading)

Here we go. DING! DING! DING! Rd 1

My money is on coldethyl.

Bets are on ......

I hope they won't be discontinuing the original once the updated one gets sold everywhere because the original teaches kids to count money and they love to play with the money and use it to play store and such. I guess the fake money bill sells that you find in discount stores will rise. I can't believe they would take an icon game and update it. I definetly won't be buying the new one. Because I have a name for all my little silver play pieces in which the dog is called 'Toto' and the iron I call 'Iron Maiden'. And now they are replacing them. So if I did ever buy the new one or play the new one then I'll have to call the burger 'Mcdaddy Mac' and the mobile phone 'T-Mobile' lmao

Alrighty then...this isn't the first version of Monopoly thats different from the original. I have a Dive-Opoly version where instead of going to jail you go to the hyperbaric chamber...do not dive...do not collect $200.00.

The game pieces are cute too, by the way. There is a goggle, fin, snorkel, and tank. The money even looks a little more real than the original.

the people are changeing monopoly?? will, at least they are gonna keep the classic

I wonder why they just couldn't add a burger and cell phone, instead of removing the dog and iron. Why couldn't they get rid of the jockey? Or the Top Hat? A top hat? Come on, they should have gotten rid of that before the dog. Are they going to at least update the car??

Not the dog!! that is my favorite piece!!! I'm always the dog!! we used to play serious monopoly... like leaving it set up for weeks at a time and playing it every night... we used to get vicious too... my sis would see I was low on cash, so we would make private deals for land and stuff, and vise versa... of course, I learned to hide my cash so she would spend all hers, and I could bargian her out of the good properties... ahhh the good ol days!