Thursday, August 21, 2008

Oui . . . Montreal tops in new Monopoly game

EAST LONGMEADOW, Mass. (AP) — Bye bye, Boardwalk. The Quebec metropolis of Montreal snagged the most expensive spot on a new global version of Monopoly, unseating the Atlantic City fixture as the board game's most prestigious property.

Montreal will be joined by the Latvian capital Riga, which grabbed the game's No. 2 Park Place spot, and 20 other world cities when Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition goes on sale later this month. Other cities featured include Cape Town, Jerusalem, London, Paris, New York, Rome and Taipei.

The latest version of the board game will be printed in 37 languages and sold in 50 countries, toy maker Hasbro Inc. said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, "Chance" and "Community Chest" cards will highlight global cultural fare, from Brazil's Carnival celebration to Ireland's St. Patrick's Day festival.

Created with Atlantic City street names in 1935 by Charles Darrow, more than a dozen versions of the game that allows players to become pretend real estate moguls are sold today.

Hasbro said nearly 6 million votes were cast during an online contest to name the cities featured on the global edition of the game.

Monopoly Here & Now will be available Aug. 26.

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