This is the game that never ends. Yes it goes on and on my friends. Some people started playing it not knowing what it was and they'll continue playing it forever just because this is the game that never ends.

...but it's so much fun. You lucky kids now get electronic banking though! No more IOU's on the mortgage!

The cool new Monopoly Electronic Banking Edition ($19) is a modern new take on the classic board game of ruthless financial decimation of your friends and family. It's the 21st century and we now live in a fast-paced, cashless, digital society and this version of Monopoly has been updated to reflect this.

Rather than using cold hard Monopoly cash, paper currency has been replaced with electronic bank cards that you swipe in an electronic reader when purchasing properties or paying rents. The game now plays much faster, because it automatically debits or adds funds and gives out your balance just like a real bank ATM machine. The rest of the game has been brought up to date for better or worse as well. The tokens now reflect the times with a Segway scooter, an Altoids tin, a space shuttle, a flat-screen TV, a baseball cap and a dog in handbag. The locations have all been changed as well. Instead of railroads, there are airports, the utilities are Internet service providers and cell phone services and all the properties have changed to their modern counterparts as well, for example, Boardwalk is now Times Square and Park Place is Fenway Park. You now start with 15 million and all the property values are exponentially higher than in the original game as well.

In the middle of a depressing global economic collapse and record unemployment, there's still no better way to uplift your spirits than by destroying someone you love in the game of Monopoly. Although I love the fast, new electronic banking system, I think that just like in real life, these credit cards and a cheating banker will still lead to bankruptcy. There's no bailouts in Monopoly, except for maybe a Get Out of Jail Free card. (via Michael Kiely)