This one will have you checking your calendars to see if it’s April 1st (via Kottke) :
Monopoly board game players can now pay for properties with debit cards.
Game makers Parker have phased out the standard multi-coloured cash in a new version.
Players will instead use a Visa mock debit card to keep track of how much they win or lose.
It is inserted into an electronic machine where the banker taps in cardholders’ earnings and payments.
Parker said replacing of cash with plastic showed the game was moving with the times.
Spokesman Chris Weatherhead said: “The new electronic Monopoly reflects the changing nature of society and the advancement of technology.”
If they want to modernize Monopoly, why stop there? They should make the properties increase in value quickly so that anyone who doesn’t purchase the property early rounds will never be able to afford anything. The richest player at any given point in the game will be be able to buy his/her way out of jail, while the poorest has to spend twice as long in jail as any other player. Get rid of Community Chest, Free Parking, and Luxury Tax, since they’re just outdated relics of an era in which people cared more for their society than their wallets. And the person who buys the utilities should be allowed to change the rules at any point during the game to ensure they always win. That’s how it seems to work in the real world.