buy and sell seattle : new monopoly
With 54% of the votes, “Pioneer Square” is in the lead. I wonder how it would fare if they showed an actual picture of the neighborhood
Does anyone actually like niche-marketed versions of Monopoly? Whenever I’ve played one, everyone spends most of the game pointing out just how wrong the developers were in associating a favorite landmark with a particular square on the board — either out of offense at having it situated in a low-market district or neglecting to put related sites into a property grouping.
The ad wizards at Hasbro are at it again, and this time they want public input into the new face of Monopoly. Nostalgia and cultural currency be-damned, the upcoming “Here and Now” edition will replace the Atlantic City streets with properties from twenty-two American cities. By some miracle, Seattle is on the list. Internet voters will determine whether Pike Place Market, Puget Sound, or Pioneer Square will score a spot on the board (nevermind the fact that only one of these could sustain four houses or one hotel).
Relative property values will be determined by the number of votes cast for each city; so your enthusiasm for participating in the poll will contribute to Seattle’s virtual fate as either roach motel or luxury rental.
(via the p-i [#])
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You seemed surprised that Seattle would be on the list of cities. It is the “Here and Now” edition which I’m connotes a meaning of future, technology, hipness, etc. Seattle embodies a lot of those traits and in my mind would be a perfect fit for this edition.
I think that “Here and Now” is meant to rebuild the board to reflect more of the U.S. than early 20th Century Atlantic City. On that count, I guess that Seattle fits. However, they didn’t just go for the biggest cities (notably missing: Detroit); so there was some editorial judgement in which cities would show up on the new Monopoly map.
It annoys me that most of the choices for all cities are either natural or architectural landmarks, rather than streets or neighborhoods. In almost every case, those are winning the vote. But who builds houses and hotels on the Golden Gate Bridge, Puget Sound, Red Rocks Amphitheater, or the St. Louis Arch?
How in the heck does the Space Needle relate to Pioneer Square? Especially when the description mentions the famous Smith Tower. Show the Smith Tower (and I mean more than it does show…), or call it the Space Needle. rid.iculo.us