Monopoly alert: Spread the word

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

While attending Toyfair, I found out that Hasbro is putting together an international version of Monopoly, and instead of street names on the board, there will be city names. The color coding remains the same: The most valuable real estate will be on blue spots, for instance (normally occupied by Broadway and Park Place), and then green, yellow and so on. There is currently a vote going on that is open to anyone in the world with a computer, and you can vote once a day for up to ten cities. The top vote getters will be on Broadway and Park Place, and the rest will be apportioned to the remainder of the real estate.

Now how, you may ask, is the United States faring in this international voting? The answer: Miserably. Of the twenty eight properties on this quintessentially American game, only two US cities are making any kind of showing, and neither is in prime real estate. New York is #8 (relegated to the much less tony yellow section of the board), while, Las Vegas is an abysmal #23. What’s number one, you may ask? The most popular international city?

Istanbul.

Are you freaking kidding me?

Personally, I think this is an abysmal state of affairs. Istanbul the number one city of international Monopoly? The best thing one can say about Istanbul is that it’s a catchy song covered by “They Might Be Giants.” But “New York, New York” is practically an anthem.

According to the woman at Hasbro I spoke to, the website where the voting is going on–www.monopoly.com–is getting 10,000 votes a day. That’s not all that much. A concerted web effort can turn this around.

Obviously I want to see New York nestled in the top spot, with more US cities occupying as many of the rest of the valuable properties as possible. Knee-jerk patriotism? Unreasonable nationalism? Well…yeah. You got a problem with that? If the residents of freaking Turkey should be allowed that indulgence, so should I.

We’ve only got until February 28th to get it done, so spread the word to all and sundry. Feel free to repost this anywhere and everywhere.

PAD

101 comments on “Monopoly alert: Spread the word”

  2. Yeah, well, there’s 70 million of them and 300 million of us. If it comes to sheer concerted effort, we should be able to swing this.

    PAD

  3. And don’t forget the nomination process, too. For some reason, Hasbro only has five American cities on their list (and they don’t even include Seattle, home to Hasbro subsidiary Wizards of the Coast!).

  4. All we need to do is get Stephan Colbert to mention this on his show. New York would be #1 the next day.

  6. Or we can subvert it, using the Wildcard vote. All vote for the worst possible answer. Like Tehran or something. Or Love Canal.

    Maybe we can all pick a fictional city, Like Gotham City, and write it in. Or we could make upa name, like Ðìldø, PA and vote it in.

  8. Jonathon…what more 5 cities should be listed as international for the US? Frankly I don’t think DC, Chicago, or Boston belong on there. Even Vegas is dodgey…is it really an international attraction? New Orleans should be there, though.

  9. Brian. Israel is a country, not a city.

    Jerusalem is @ #4

    And do you really think Iranians buy Monopoly?

  11. I like the fictional city idea, but I’d be careful of a suggestion like Ðìldø, PA — I mean, we’re talking a state here that already has Intercourse and Climax, not to be confused with Accident…

    TWL
    too late to make the “not Constantinople” joke

  13. Well I don’t know about you people, but I voted for Istanbul too (based entirely on the fact that I love They Might Be Giants, and their song about New York City isn’t nearly as catchy).

  14. I hate New York, so there’s no way I’ll vote for it (although I disagree that the TMBG song about it is less catchy than “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)”). If anything, I’d say Dubai deserves the Boardwalk spot.

  15. Jonathon…what more 5 cities should be listed as international for the US? Frankly I don’t think DC, Chicago, or Boston belong on there.

    DC has so much international-themed stuff in it that I think it would be at least worthy of consideration. I agree about Boston and Chicago, though.

    Even Vegas is dodgey…is it really an international attraction?

    Based on the hordes of tourists I saw the last time I was there … yes.

    New Orleans should be there, though.

    As a sympathy vote, absolutely. In terms of its international significance … I’m not sure, honestly.

    TWL

  18. Cripes, this is like trying to herd cats. No wonder Istanbul is where it is: Everyone there is focused. Everyone here is all over the place. Could we get our heads in the game, people?

    And yeah, if Colbert got on board, it would be a lock, presuming that the show is new next week.

    PAD

  22. Sorry, PAD, but as a dutiful Canadian I’d rather push for Ottawa or Toronto.

    Unfortunately, this is the way democracy works. The US makes up about 4.6% of the world’s population and hasn’t done much to endear itself to the other 95.6% – especially these last few years under Bush’s leadership.

    Anyway, you can content yourselves that all the streets in the original are from an American city.

  23. Well, you get to vote for 10 cities, Derek. And you can vote again every day. Tell you what, you add New York to the cities you vote for and I’ll add Ottawa and Toronto to the cities I vote for. Then we’ll have multinational cooperation among this thread, at least.

  24. Derek, that’s 100.2%. I’m just sayin’. 🙂

    TWL

    “But he is one and you are three.”
    “RRRRR.”
    “Or four if you count him twice.”

  26. Well, you get to vote for 10 cities, Derek.

    Thank God SOMEbody is paying attention. With people saying, “I vote for this city” or “I vote for that city,” I was unsure what part of “You can vote for up to ten cities every day” was unclear.

    PAD

  27. If anyone wants to go crosspost this to the colbernation website, they should feel free to do so.

    For that matter, I’d be interested to know anyplace else that people actually put up links to this.

    PAD

  28. Oh just wait until the Japanese, Korean, and Chinese netizens get their hands on this one. I would be willing to bet that Seoul ends up in one of those two spots.

  29. How the heck did Cardiff get on the list? Torchwood fan at Hasbro or something?

    Me, I’m voting for Springfield. Take that, Shelbyville!

  30. I’ve put up a post in the “Colbert Report” forum, following up to a previous post from last month.

    I expressed my rage by shouting at the monitor while typing.

    ~f

  31. > I’ve put up a post in the “Colbert Report” forum, following up to a previous post from last month.

    At the ColbertNation.com site, of course!

    ~f

  33. I voted. Not that they made it easy. I hate places that want my e-mail for stuff like this. I know I’m going to get spammed for this. And after I went through the trouble it took 4 tiems before it would recognize my vote. >blechI voted. Not that they made it easy. I hate places that want my e-mail for stuff like this. I know I’m going to get spammed for this. And after I went through the trouble it took 4 tiems before it would recognize my vote. >blech

    Voted for New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, London, Madrid, Jerusalem, Tokyo, Montreal, Toronto, Paris

  34. I was appalled, as a Canadian, to see that Toronto wasn’t in the top 20, although pleased Vancouver & Montreal were! I voted for all three, as well as New York, Paris, Vienna, Rome, Rio, Sydney & London. I will continue to vote for New York if you guys help by voting for Toronto! I didn’t see Ottawa on the list, and frankly, I think Toronto deserves it more, even if Ottawa is our country’s capital.

  35. “I hate places that want my e-mail for stuff like this.”

    I have a hotmail account just for stuff like this. The amount of spam it gets is hilarious, but my real account barely gets spam at all.

  36. Posted by BrianOsserman at February 20, 2008 01:20 PM
    Lets see if Hasbro has any real balls. Get every one to vote for Israel! See how well it sells in IRAN if the Jews get Park Place. 😉

    dude the Jews already have Park Place….
    (typed in perfect Don Rickles repartay)

    I vote for…
    10. LA
    9. New York
    8. Seattle
    7. Minneapolis
    6. New Orleans
    5. San Francisco
    4. Chicago
    3. DC
    2. Dublin, Ireland (cause Im Irish)
    1. San Diego

  37. For that matter, I’d be interested to know anyplace else that people actually put up links to this.

    PAD

    Well PAD, other then being a smartass and posting my Richmond bit, I’ve thrown it up on my site (for those extra three people who read mine that don’t come here) and did a copy and paste of your post into an email that I sent out a while ago.

    That’s something that anybody else who actually wants to spread this news around should do. Far more people that you know will likely see it that way and they’ll maybe forward it out to the people on their contacts list.

    Can’t hurt.

  38. Madrid and Barcelona are in the list (or were a few days ago) and the whole thing was covered (if briefly) in spanish media a week or so ago.

    Istanbul is a great choice for top city… If Asimov could wrote a whole book about its history, I am pretty sure it deserves consideration. I am voting for New York for sure, but I dont really think any other american city deserves to be placed over places historically and culturally richer. I am pretty sure the USA will get at least two cities anyway.

  41. I say that any city deemed worthy of attack by the Kilaaks in 1999, using the monsters from Monsterland, is worthy of inclusion. That would be New York (attacked by Godzilla), Moscow (Rodan), Beijing (Mothra), Paris (Baragon or Gorosaurus, depending on who’s counting), and London (Manda).

  42. The Prince mentioned how the dictator-like control of the Ottoman Empire was tougher to overthrow than the European principalities. It might still be cool to have a “Monopoly: Machiavelli Edition.”

  43. This is an outrage. New York ought to be in the Boardwalk space. Los Angeles and Chicago should get prime spots, too, all on the last side. London could be where Kentucky is.

    And as a poke at Turkey, Istanbul should be the first corner after Go. The jail corner, ’cause we all know you can’t get out of jail free in Turkey.

  44. And as a poke at Turkey, Istanbul should be the first corner after Go. The jail corner, ’cause we all know you can’t get out of jail free in Turkey.

    Ohhhhhh! Coil shoots…he scores!

    PAD

  45. I think Philadelphia belongs on the wildcard list–if not, I’ll be stuck voting for Novi Sad because it’s the birthplace of a great friend of mine.
    (Gydania, Poland is the most-nominated city? Are you kidding me?)

  46. Posted it at RPG.Net’s Tangency forums, so we’ll see how international gaming geeks respond. I’m definitely voting now.

  48. Thanks for the heads up, hopefully we can turn it around. Although the initial city selection is a little odd; how can Lyon be on there but San Francisco isn’t?

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