Updated Monopoly game set for release.

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 12:53pm

As a collector of Monopoly games, I am definately putting this on my list of must haves - but totally understand the branding of a tradition issue creating an uproar.

The familiar tokens from the Monopoly board game are getting a modern -- and, some might say, mercenary -- makeover.

An updated edition of the venerable game, scheduled to be introduced today, will include tokens styled after name-brand products. Five of the eight tokens in the new Monopoly Here and Now edition will be branded, offering players the chance to be represented by miniature versions of a Toyota Prius hybrid car, an order of McDonald's french fries, a New Balance running shoe, a cup of Starbucks coffee or a Motorola Razr cell phone.

Those who consider playing games too serious to be commercialized need not fret. Hasbro, the maker of Monopoly, says toy stores, discount stores and other retail outlets will continue to sell the original edition of the game, based on the classic version brought out by Parker Bros. in 1935, alongside the new edition.

The 11 tokens in the classic version -- including the battleship, cannon, iron, shoe, thimble and top hat -- will remain unchanged.

The branded tokens are part of a reinvention of Monopoly that Hasbro executives hope will offer modernized references to which people can better relate than the elements of the game that date to the Great Depression.

For instance, rather than collecting $200 each time a player passes Go, in the new edition the player collects $2 million. The four railroads on the Monopoly board -- B&O, Pennsylvania, Reading and Short Line -- will be supplanted by the country's four busiest airports: Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, New York's Kennedy, Los Angeles and Chicago's O'Hare.

And the properties of Atlantic City that compose the game board will make way for real estate from Boston and Washington to Las Vegas and Hollywood.

"So much of American pop culture today is represented by products that people use every day," Mark Blecher, senior vice president for marketing at the Hasbro Games unit of Hasbro, said in a telephone interview Monday. "We thought, let's try to get iconography that's much more relevant to people today."


Monopoly changes

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 12:57pm

No Ipod? I'm shocked. But not surprised.

[Pippin]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 12:57pm

the residents of A.C are very upset about this new board game. they feel it is a slap in the face of the city not to include them in this version. I understand where they are coming from.

but I love the idea of the new tokens on the board.

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 12:59pm

Seattle is there...

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 1:00pm

That is funny about AC though, I have editions of Monopoly from Paris, London, New York, San Francisco and even Hollywood. Did they fuss over those editions too? Or is it just because this edition has several cities represented and not AC?

Updated On: 9/14/06 at 01:00 PM

[erikaamato]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 1:06pm

Meh. I like the "specialty" editions, but this version doesn't appeal to me.

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 1:16pm

I think there is one coming out- Miamiopoly...or something like that.

Also, there is a really funny one. It's called ghettopoly. There is nothing like it. Nothing.

[Pippin]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 1:17pm

no, I think there is only a fuss over this version because they feel that it will be the new "official" version of Monopoly, and they are not represented.

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 1:26pm

It IS the new official version and they should feel slighted. Good lord, they already lost the Miss America Pageant, how much more can they be expected to take?

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 1:27pm

Ah - that makes total sense. I don't see this as being an official edition as much as special edition though. I remember there being a fuss about the Gay version too. It only has three cities represented, San Francisco, West Hollywood and Miami - and that pissed off the New York tribe. I guess you can't please everyone though. My favorite board however is the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer edition! lol

[shira467]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 1:28pm

Oooh, I'm gonna NEED this!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 1:32pm

"The branded tokens are part of a reinvention of Monopoly that Hasbro executives hope will offer modernized references to which people can better relate than the elements of the game that date to the Great Depression."

HAHAHAHAHA!!! I guess the "branded" stadiums and "branded" race cars are just a "reinvention" of professional sports "to offer modernized references to which people can better relate" to a sports activity.

It has nothing whatsoever to do with marketing. Or corporate sponsorship (e.g. kickbacks). Why New Balance? Why the RAZR (which will be outdated in a year)? This edition sounds incredibly silly. There was no "branding" in the original game, yet people seemed to be able to recognize a dog, or a shoe, or a car.

Idiots.

[erikaamato]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 1:39pm

Amen, Mister Matt! You said what I was thinking, but couldn't quite figure out how to express at this somewhat-early hour on the west coast. :-P

[dramaparoxysm23]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 1:41pm

There's a gay edition of Monopoly?

[KelRel]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 2:36pm

drama, here it is

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/20404

[Pippin]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 2:47pm

just to knit pick, gayopoly is not officialy liscensed by "monopoly" it is produced by a different company, and they are using the set up of monolpoly, but with many differences. check out the details list in the above link.

[Fiction Writer]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 3:01pm

I saw this ad earlier for a Monopology-esque game called the Patriot Act.. not sure if it's real though.

[Plum]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 3:11pm

Best recent Monopoly memory: Discovering that I was living in the London equivalent of Baltic Avenue.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 4:15pm

I have the Wizard of Oz monopoly version.

Best. game. ever.

I definitely do not like the new version. The game is such a classic as it is, the "branding" is just idiotic.

And Minnesota being represented by the Mall of America makes me want to hurl.

Updated On: 9/14/06 at 04:15 PM

[Guillermo Ugarte]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 4:23pm

Now what? I always had to be the wheel barrow when I was a kid. Now I don't know what to do. I have lost my identity.

[justme2]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 4:24pm

I'll second that "Amen Mr Matt".

If you can't recognize a shoe, a battleship, a dog or a top hat...what the hell are you doing playing Monopoly?

I'll stick to the 1935 re-release version, thank you.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 5:18pm

hmmm I'll keep playinf my duckopoly, the Univ of Oregon version.

I don't like the idea of branded game pieces....just like I don't like stadiums having names with branded in them.
I DO like the idea of many cities......

[javero]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 5:24pm

LOL @ ghettopoly!

[Elphaba]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 5:28pm

hmmm, CNN just had a blurb on this and showed the pieces...the Starbucks coffe mug is kinda cute.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 5:44pm

The money amount is a bit outdated

They should also have versions for famous cities such as Venice Italy