posted 04-25-2006 11:01 AM               

What if MONOPOLY were developed today? From April 24th to May 12th, you'll help decide the future of the newest MONOPOLY game hitting shelves everywhere in late summer. MONOPOLY Here & Now Edition is a fresh spin on America's favorite board game. But what will it look like? You'll decide by voting. Find your favorite city and landmark. Cast your vote once a day. And here's something important to remember: the vote totals will determine where on the board those landmarks will be placed. The top voted city will be honored with the coveted blue property traditionally occupied by Boardwalk.

posted 09-12-2006 10:00 AM               

Rent, own or build a community at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Deed title price: $1.8 million.

By popular vote, the Johnson Space Center landed a space in the classic property trading game of Monopoly.

During a modern makeover of the game, Hasbro -- the parent company of Monopoly -- offered the public a chance to vote on current day iconic locations to be represented in its "Here and Now" edition.

America voted, and the people's choice granted the center a property space on the board. JSC was one of three Houston-area locations, winning 79 percent of the vote ahead of Houston's museum district and the Kemah Boardwalk.

NASA's Johnson Space Center received more votes than nine of the 21 other major cities including Dallas, Atlanta and Miami.

The Saturn V rocket now inhabits the space that replaced Tennessee Avenue, spotlighting NASA's space center in Houston.

posted 09-25-2007 10:50 PM               

World's Most Popular Board Game Rockets Into Space

On June 8, Monopoly will go where no game has gone before - into space!

Two sets of modernized tokens, or "movers," featured in Hasbro, Inc.'s Monopoly: Here & Now Edition have been approved by NASA to fly aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, STS-117. The space-bound Monopoly tokens resemble miniature versions of items relevant in the "here and now" including a Toyota Prius, New Balance Shoe, Labradoodle, Motorola Razr cell phone, Laptop Computer, McDonald's French Fries and an airplane.

Above: After traveling on Atlantis's STS-117 mission to the space station in June, Monopoly: Here & Now Edition game tokens were returned September 25 to the Hasbro Games Division during a ceremony held at the company's global headquarters in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts.

Monopoly: Here & Now was the first edition of the Monopoly game to put a NASA property on a Monopoly board. With more than 79 percent of Houston's total vote, Johnson Space Center was chosen by the American public as the most distinctive landmark in Houston and was given an orange property space on the game board. As a "token" of thanks to the thousands of people who voted for the Space Center, NASA elected to include the Here & Now Edition movers on a space mission and acknowledge the game pieces as "officially flown tokens" when the shuttle returned to Earth.

"Johnson Space Center is honored to have been chosen to represent our city in the Monopoly: Here & Now Edition," said Roger Bornstein, Marketing Director for NASA's Space Center Houston, which is the official visitors center of Johnson Space Center. "The flown tokens will become priceless artifacts that will symbolize our partnership with Monopoly and serve as a reminder of Houston's victory in 2006."

After the STS-117 mission, the Monopoly: Here & Now tokens will be returned to Hasbro. One full set of tokens will be exhibited at the Hasbro Games headquarters in East Longmeadow, Mass. The other set of tokens will be divided and given to the companies represented in the game: McDonalds, Toyota, New Balance and Motorola.

Above: Representatives from NASA's Space Center Houston, the official visitors center for Johnson Space Center, presented Mr. Monopoly with the space-traveled tokens encased in a commemorative plaque.a

"In Monopoly's 72 year history, it has been played in some interesting places - while sitting upside down, on a balance beam and even underwater," said Matt Collins, Vice President of Marketing for Hasbro Games. "This year, we are fortunate that with Monopoly: Here & Now, the game is reaching the final frontier - space!"

Americans cast more than 3 million on-line votes during Spring 2006 to shape the new edition's game board. The votes determined which landmarks from 22 cities made it onto the board, as well as the location of those landmarks on the board. Beyond the new property landmarks, the game has newly appraised property values and rents, larger currency denominations, and airports replacing the railroad spaces.

posted 09-26-2007 01:46 PM               

Should this kind of promotion be part of NASA's mission?