Monopoly e-money

[Dave Birch] I suppose it had to happen. A new version of Monopoly has been released by Hasbro. Instead of paper money: electronic “debit” cards. Interestingly, newspapers are as bad at reporting on play e-money as they are on real e-money: one article says that the game comes with a “little machine that transfers money from one player’s bank card to another.” I wondered what had happened to these.

Technorati Tags: banking, games, p2p

Here’s an excerpt from a review of the game: “What would Monopoly be like if it were invented today…? The world has changed amazingly over the last 70 years. This special anniversary edition celebrates 70 years of the world’s most popular board game with a modern day equivalent to the traditional game. Choose from a range of new movers including a mobile phone, roller blade or even a cheeseburger! The rent has skyrocketed sky high in a much more recognisable London. You can build property in Covent Garden, visit the London Eye or make millions in The City! Wheel and deal in the fast lane – millions of pounds, not just hundreds! This Electronic Special Edition features an Electronic Banker Unit and “Debit” Cards that replace the money. Just swipe and you’re away! “

I found some more on this via Joseph (a.k.a. “The Winner”, see below) at Techdirt. Although they’ve gone over to cards, apparently you’ll still be able to download PDFs of the money and print it out. I wonder if the European Central bank will go the way via SEPA and PCF…

It turns out that Amazon have it in stock. I simply can’t resist it: we’ll send a copy to the first person (usual restrictions apply: no-one in the pay of Consult Hyperion etc) to post a comment to this story.