Parker Bros. is going to replace the paper money in Monopoly with a debit card. The new card and card reader are branded by Visa. “Players will instead use a Visa mock debit card to keep track of how much they win or lose. It is inserted into an electronic machine where the banker taps in cardholders’ earnings and payments.” Wonder if Visa gave any thought to the downside of this — like the number of people who would rather have their teeth pulled than play Monopoly ever again.- When assasination is outlawed, only outlaws will play assasination. The London cops are up in arms over a game that has people stalking and then shooting each other … with water guns. Quoth Reuters: “StreetWars”, which is described on its Web site as a “3-week long, 24/7, watergun assassination tournament”, begins on Tuesday in the capital.The game, which has already taken place in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Vienna, involves players hunting down targets whose details they have been given and then squirting them with water to eliminate them. The Bobbies are concerned the game could spark terrorism alerts. Is the supersoaker a WMD? I played this back at NYU. I got hosed.
Citizens in Mill Valley, CA (Mrs. Collateral Damage’s home town, FYI), have taken a stand against one of the great threats facing the nation today: Giant outdoor chess. 150 people packed the Mill Valley city hall to protest the construction of an 11-foot-by-11-foot square game board in the city’s main plaza. “Most opposed the idea, such as Cate Wilmoth, 10, who said the chessboard would be ‘no fun.’ Others warned that it could become an unsafe attraction to children who might wander into downtown traffic.” Resident John Cutler thought the board, with its 2-foot-tall pieces, would be a nice addition to the town and offered to pay for its installation. But the plan “drew the ire of many residents, merchants, schoolchildren and even local chess players. They denounced the chessboard idea as a boondoggle that would ruin Mill Valley’s cozy plaza by disrupting pedestrian flow and endangering frolicking children by drawing them closer to a busy street.” And what about all those chess hooligans? In case you had any doubts about whether the denizens of Mill Valley have too much time and money on their hands…
Category Archives: Parker Bros.
Friday’s Etc.
- As constant readers know David "The Book Thief of Lenovo" has a blog. Yesterday he wrote about his lust for a brand new computer he has seen/used. Now you have to understand why I call him the book thief of Lenovo, if you don't already, to understand why this strikes me as so odd. When we worked together back at IDG, I loaned him my copy of "Lives of The Popes" which has to be some of the best bathroom reading ever. Shortly thereafter, he departed to become global web marketing swami or somesuch at Lenovo. (He forgot to return the book, hence the nickname. Our mutual friend Laurence Allen has offered to retrieve said book but I declined because then what would I have to tease Churbuck about? But I digress.) Whatever his title there is no doubt that Churbuck is at least a muck and probably a full blown muckety muck or demi-poobah at Lenovo. So the computer he lust's after? Lenovo 3000 notebook computers – V100 DUDE? If you can't get one then who the hell can?
- Headline of the day: Some apes, birds can think ahead, studies show Ladies & gentlemen, you're next FEMA director.
The AP falls for the Monopoly myth: "The original version created by inventor Charles B. Darrow, who sketched out the game on his tablecloth more than 70 years ago, will still be sold." As anyone who has read Philip Orbanes fine and extremely readable book The Game Makers: The Story of Parker Brothers, from Tiddledy Winks to Trivial Pursuit knows: HAH! Darrow swiped the game. The AP is not alone in this mistake, lord knows. Hasbro, which certainly knows better, perpetuates the story.- It's raining again here in Boston. Time to go sacrifice another politician. Ahhh, that's better. Now I almost don't care if it stops raining.
Collateral Damage 