In a day and age when children are practically bombarded from birth with ads extolling the virtues of consumerism, we're not sure that it's the best idea to be thrusting credit cards into their impressionable little hands (debit cards,
maybe), but that hasn't stopped Hasbro's Parker Brothers from trading in paper for plastic in some of their most classic games. The latest title to get Visa-fied -- and the first to hit US shores, as that
special edition of Monopoly was UK only -- is everyone's favorite Game of Life, which as we all know takes players through a thrilling journey from college to career to fabulous riches or abject poverty. As with Monopoly: UK, stacks of cash are replaced by a "personal assistant and electronic banking unit" -- in this case known as the LIFEPod (attention Apple legal!) -- but this time the gameplay itself is also getting a facelift, with the so-called "Twists and Turns" edition dividing the board into four "life paths," ditching the old spinner, and perhaps most significantly, crowning a winner not by wealth alone but by a combination of loot and "life points." Also like the "hipper" version of Monopoly, T and T will sport a higher price tag than the regular game ($35 versus $13) when it goes on sale this summer, although you do get a bonus copy of Visa's "award-winning financial literacy curriculum," Practical Money Skills for Life, which debunks such widely-held myths as the one that "there's no such thing as instant gratification" -- well kids, with a Visa card and a five figure spending limit, there sure as heck is!
posted March 8th 2007 5:23PM
Yay Plastic! So those little Life parts will exist long after us humans are extinct.
Great! I always loved this game when I was little, I'll probably buy this version so I can play with my friends. I just wish that Monopoly version had out here too...
My credit is so bad they won't even take my cash anymore. Monopoly and visa ironic no?
Does it do all of the math for you?
I always liked playing Life as a kid. Our set looks exactly like the one in the picture...so I think I'll be going out to get a new one eventually. Maybe in the future though, when I have some kids to play with.
By the way, what does this have to do with gadgets?
It has to do with gadgets because the damn thing is a credit card game instead of using paper money which is the stupidest thing they've done with monopoly. You owe 200 dollars just swipe your Visa branded credit card and we'll take it from your account. I am glad there is a large market of non-asinine board games that I can take my leave of this one and Monopoly.
This is a very interesting way to post comments.but it seems a bit complicated. Thanks for the monopoly post once again. http://plusultrapics.blogspot.com
LIFE has always disappointed me. I have the original from my dad's childhood (1960s) and it really is a fun game- you can take revenge on another player, go poor and try to become a millionaire tycoon, or just bet it all on the stock market. Later they started adjusting it to become more politically correct- there go the fun things like yelling REVENGE! at your opponent, and you can no longer lose a turn for getting "Moo-shu flu."
And they added LIFE tiles, which are handed out like candy during the game and get added to your pile of money at the end. The problem is that the values of the tiles are so high that anything you did while on the "path of life" is pretty much canceled out, and the winner is basically a crapshoot.
Needless to say, I think that the newer versions of the game totally suck.
I think the question we all want to know is: does Art Linkletter still "heartily endorse" this game?
Anybody remember that game "Payday"? I liked that one too. Do they still make that?
Are they kidding? Somebody needs to listen to Dave Ramsey.
What is the point in playing these games if you can't have a huge pile of $$$ when your winning? That's the whole point in playing monopoly, so you can sift through your bills to break change for people, loan them cash, and basically just flaunt your stash.