Monopoly keeps up with the times with Visa

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Are you a Monopoly fan but for whatever reason you find it difficult to keep track of all the cash movements when playing with your friends? Then the decision of Hasbro to replace the paper cash with mock Visa cards will certainly appeal you.

Every time cash is exchanged the cards must be handed to the bankers that registers the “transaction” using a electronic machine. Hasbro even contacted Visa to design the mock cards and readers to give it a more professional look. The electronic machine records the earnings and payments for players and every money transfers that occurs between them.

When asked about the reason of the change Chris Weatherhead, spokesman of Hasbro Inc., said that it was done to “reflect the changing nature of society and the advancement of technology”. Considering that surveys report that credit or debit cards are every day more used it's not hard to understand the decision.

What if you like the old way and you prefer to use the colorful paper version? Parker did not forget about you because they setup a webpage where you can download a PDF containing the traditional cash notes. All you have to do is print it and arm yourself with a pair of scissors. Then you can turn into a bank and print as much money as you need. It sounds funny, doesn't it?

The latest installment of the popular board game has also been update to reflect other changes in the real world. For example it sports trendy districts like Soho or Notting Hill and has replaced train stations with airports and included modern gadgets as game tokens.

If you are lucky you can still find in some retailers the old version of the Monopoly for $25. If you want the new one you will have to almost double that amount ($48).