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Monopoly May Replace Iconic Pieces With Emoji Faces and Hashtags (cnet.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the this-won't-end-well dept.

Hasbro, the toymaker behind Monopoly, is letting the public decide whether or not they should replace the game's iconic game pieces with new pieces inspired by pop culture and social media. CNNMoney reports: Gamers can visit the Vote Monopoly site and choose from more than 50 new options. The old tokens, including the thimble, top hat and Scottie dog, are also on the table. The voting takes place inside a digital house with shelves and furniture stocked with both classic and newfangled token options. Jazzy music plays in the background as you explore and take a closer look at the figurines. Some aren't too surprising. There's a horse, a sailboat, an airplane, a bike and a helicopter. Two of the stranger options are sliced bread and a fuzzy bunny slipper. Hasbro is offering up a number of tokens that may appeal to tech consumers. There's a cell phone that looks like it came out of the '80s, a television that looks very '50s, and a computer with keyboard that vaguely resembles the first flat-screen iMac. Internet denizens can also vote for a hashtag and emoji options, including a winking smiley-face, thumbs-up symbol, crying-laughing face and a Rich Uncle Pennybags version of an emoji face. Voting is open to internet users worldwide until January 31. The chosen tokens will be part of a fresh Monopoly game due to hit stores this summer, so think long and hard about whether you want to stare at a kissy-face emoji for the next decade or so. A special edition called Token Madness will offer the original tokens as well as the new winners.

6 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. By commenting, I'm part of the problem by JonnyCalcutta · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Shouldn't really comment and give this article the air of publicity, but WTF? Perhaps they should change the name from Slashdot to 'things we read in the news section of our Hotwheels comic'. The headline isn't even true (except in the vaguest lying marketing bastard sense). Its the worst kind of 'regurgitate press release without activating brain' article.

    1. Re:By commenting, I'm part of the problem by CRCulver · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Posting it here is clickbait. The submission is almost guaranteed to rile the slashbots up and lead to lots of comments along the lines of "O tempora o mores!", "Kids these days want to change all the old stuff for no reason!". Nevermind that the Monopoly makers have thought about shaking up the piece set for decades. When I was a teenager in the early 1990s, someone doing a survey for Hasbro in the local shopping mall stopped me and asked me to give my opinions of possible new pieces.

  2. We need a new "Community Chest", too by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The new cards would say stuff like:

    You fraudulently bundle thousands of worthless loans together and sell them as Grade AAA investments to the unsuspecting. Millions of hoi polloi lose their homes and retirements, and the country's economy is almost destroyed. Collect 10 Billion Dollars and stay out of jail.

    And:

    You purchase a thriving, cash-rich company with borrowed money. Use the company's cash to institute a stock-buyback plan to increase the value of the stock options you've given yourself. Ship most of the company's jobs to overseas sweat-shops, further increasing the short-term value of your stock. Sell at the peak, rinse, repeat.

    And:

    You inherit 20 billion dollars. Use your pocket change to buy a few U.S. Senators and get them to change the inheritance laws.

    And:

    You run a large corporation. Strong-arm local and state politicians with threats to move your facilities to another state or out of the country. Get out of taxes free.

    I could (and might) go on...

    1. Re:We need a new "Community Chest", too by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I absolutely LOVE the speed that this is picking up "Troll" and "Flamebait" mods.... Apparently there are a lot of mods here who've never watched the news.

  3. Banking system explained in monopoly rules by moeinvt · · Score: 3, Insightful

    http://monopoly-game.net/Class...

    "The Bank never goes broke. If the Bank runs out of money, the Banker may issue as much as needed by writing on any ordinary paper."

  4. Token add-on packs by ZipK · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why doesn't Monopoly come with a starter set of four classic tokens, and then offer add-on token sets? There could be themed sets (co-marketed with McDonald's!), memorial sets, holiday sets, and rare Beanie Baby-like individual tokens that sell for hundreds of dollars in secondary markets. Has the owner of Monopoly missed the last 20 years of marketing innovation?