Ok, so I was browsing the board game section at my local Walmart the other day, and when I got to the Monopoly section I noticed this beauty: Monopoly Electronic Banking Edition. Now before we go any further, I must say that of all the board games in existence, Monopoly is by far my favorite (well, that or Clue), so seeing this game filled me with happiness and dread at the same time.
The first thing you will notice is that there is no paper money, but instead Credit Cards, and the bank is a calculator/credit card reader thing that manages your money. That seems cool, but the best part of Monopoly was swiping bills from the bank when my bro would go to the bathroom. I know this version may teach kids about credit cards (and using them to buy Disneyworld?), but the original taught us to NEVER leave your money sitting around unattended and how to quickly swipe money from others without them noticing, and I believe that is a much more valuable lesson.
I do however see a big upside to using the electronic bank: Property now costs Thousands/Millions of Dollars! It's about damn time. You now get $2M just for passing go, sweet! BUT, the game is still not scaled properly. Like anyone can buy Disneyworld for $2.4M...except for maybe that guy from the Larry H. parker commercial.
..Which brings me to the next section: The Properties! Please disregard that exclamation point, as I am not so much excited as I am depressed. Instead of the original generic locations, they decided to use the board from the Here and Now version, so all of the original properties have been replaced by Real-Life locations from around the US. Boardwalk is now Times Square, Illinois Avenue is now Disney World, etc. Actually to tell you the truth, that's not such a bad idea. Fuck Connecticut Avenue, I own the Mall of America bitch! lol...ok, good job Miltion Bradley. I completely 180'ed my opinion of this in the span of 10 seconds.
Next, the pieces. WTF! Where's the dog/thimble/iron/racecar/etc. Oh Noes! They went current and changed all the pieces, lame! You now have the option of: an Altoids Box, a handbag with a cat in it, a Baseball Cap, a Plasma (or LCD) Television, a Segway, and a Space Shuttle. They should've dropped the stupid handbag and went with a laptop, and instead of some shitty baseball cap made a Cell Phone. Oh, and the altoids box should've been an xbox (or generic game controller). But oh well, if they are going to change everything else, they might as well change the pieces too.
All in all, the game looks like it could be fun. The electronic bank could help curb the rampant theft that has plagued the game over the years, and those opposed to the Free Parking Jackpot variant no longer have to worry about little Timmy landing on Free Parking when he's broke and then getting a shit ton of money and beating you with it...ah the memories. But anyway, I have not actually played the game, so what do I know?
