WBy Ray Henry, Associated Press Writer | July 25, 2006 PROVIDENCE, R.I. --If you're passing Go and want to collect $200, better bring a debit card. Article Tools Printer friendly E-mail to a friend Mass. RSS feed Available RSS feeds Most e-mailed Save this article powered by Del.icio.us More: Globe City/Region stories | Latest local news | Globe front page | Boston.com Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts A British version of the classic Monopoly board game released this week substitutes a Visa-imprinted debit card for the stacks of yellow, blue and purple play money long hoarded by children worldwide. Cheating just got a little tougher. "We started looking at what Monopoly would look like if we designed it today," said Chris Weatherhead, a U.K.-based spokesman for Hasbro Inc., which makes the best-selling board game. "We noticed consumers are using debit cards, carrying around cash a lot less." British players might not be the only ones switching to plastic. Officials at Pawtucket-based Hasbro say they're considering a similar change for American versions. First offered in 1935, Monopoly offered players a form of financial escapism during the country's worst financial depression. Players become pretend real estate magnates who compete for fictitious property named after real places in Atlantic City, N.J. A British version released that same year featured London neighborhoods. In the new British version of Monopoly Here & Now, players type amounts into a palm-sized scanner and swipe their debit cards to seal the deal. While the change may startle some Monopoly fans, the game has been revised several times before. Consumers can now buy Monopoly editions inspired by the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings movies, or even a version featuring SpongeBob SquarePants, an animated TV character. An earlier version of Monopoly Here & Now was released last year in England and still included paper money, Weatherhead said. But the game had been modernized in many other ways. Some addresses have changed -- and the game now includes Kensington Palace Gardens, near Buckingham Palace, and Notting Hill Gate, the setting of a 1999 movie starring Julia Roberts. Cards that once rewarded players for winning a beauty contest now compensate them for winning a reality TV show. Completing a full circuit around the board is worth two million English pounds, not 200. "Quite a nice bonus," Weatherhead said. Hasbro no longer sells English retailers the paper-money versions of Monopoly Here & Now, but fans can still purchase the classic edition, which includes fake cash. At least one Monopoly devotee seemed ambivalent about the potential changes. Krisi Lee of Antioch, Calif., owns 19 versions of the game, including the electronic one on her cell phone. She sometimes competes in a Monopoly tournament run by her mother, which usually attracts about 50 players. She wants her young daughter to learn how to count Monopoly paper money before touching the real stuff, she said. But Lee, 28, isn't a purist. "That is the here and now," she said. "That's what we do. For a $3 purchase, I use my debit card." The new version will set you back £24.99, while the now "antiquated" cash version can be had for £12.99, but only while supplies last.
this is stupid lol i remember playing monopoly when i was younger the best part of the game is holding the big stack of paper money....this defeats the purpose of the board game! but i guess cause if your banker you tend to cheat and slipp yourself a few hundred dollers here and there.
^agree haha luved the board game and i admit to cheating at it once in a while when i play back in the days -lol
i never cheated at that game..at least i do'nt think so..well i can catch ppl cheating..i rememerb monopoly jr...that was fun stuff
i agree with shinobi but it like a game that is preparing children for the real world learning to save, make money and manage money these new things adds reality to the game..... but do we need it?
oo lala i miss monopoly.. i thikn d lastest version i had is many years back .. the world cup version or was it millenium 2000 one.. lol.. i still love d board way.. always sweep all the mayfair,parklane LOL.. but i love sweeping the train STATIONS and the red area.. my lil bro loves d yellow n green areas>.<
Bah.. this is so gay. Now it's moving away from what actually made Monopoly Monopoly. I will never buy this game, not gonna support it. -lol
omfg, monopoly was all about da paper money! when someone turned the back, you'd steal 100 off them. and laughin insanely as they stepped onto your property w/ billions of hotels. pay up, fool. XD and when they don't pay fast enough, grab their money and pay for them. jack a few extra bucks while you're at it.
^ awww man they've soo completely changes the whole game i used to love monopoly.. it was my favourite game. but gotta admit i have cheated once and only thr once hee heee
lol monopoly brings back so much memories ^_^ *loved upping hotels on expensive blocks, and just racking it in*, but a debit card :| lol changing with the times i guess
I loved monopoly but I can't get any friends together that wants to play. All they do is complain that it takes too long
thats cool there i used to play monopoly and later everyone ran out of money so we r forced to forfeit the game lol it was like we built so many hotels across the board and paying the rent almost bankrupt me but then later i got my money back hehe Good old times....
