A new life for the modern era
Engadget's article about Parker Brothers' Game of LIFE being updated:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/08/the-game-of-life-follows-monopoly-goes-plastic/
I have mixed feelings about this. I am curious to see what Hasbro/Parker Bros. comes up with in terms of what Life is in this day and age. According to the brief blurb in Engadget, they've replaced the ubiquitous number wheel spinner with a "Twists and Turns" life path thingie that offers 4 different "life paths." Fascinating. I'm not a big fan of the fancy calculator as money (because that's essentially what we use nowadays, what with ATMs and credit cards and such) because I like the feeling of having big stacks of brightly colored bills.
However, the fun of Life wasn't realism. The fun of Life was the way it could accurately depict the absurdity of real life! Where your opponent chooses not to go to college and becomes an artist pulling in 80,000 while you go to college, get debt, pay for books, and wind up as a "scientist" making 30,000. Where you're forced to buy a house only to discover that it serves no purpose other than to be damaged by tornadoes. Where you buy stocks without any earthly idea which number will likely appear next. Where you seemed pressured by ubiquitous forces to buy art you don't want, sports tickets for games you don't want to see, and doctor's bills for surgeries you didn't know you needed. Where, toward the end of your "life," you find yourself thinking "...what the hell am I going to do with a minivan full of children? And when the f--- are they going to move outta my Goddamn good-for-nothing house?"
[<--- note about the post about the Geico cavemen show. Turns out it's a sitcom and the reports that it's a drama were a fake. Who called it? Moi? Oh yeah!--->]
http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/08/the-game-of-life-follows-monopoly-goes-plastic/
I have mixed feelings about this. I am curious to see what Hasbro/Parker Bros. comes up with in terms of what Life is in this day and age. According to the brief blurb in Engadget, they've replaced the ubiquitous number wheel spinner with a "Twists and Turns" life path thingie that offers 4 different "life paths." Fascinating. I'm not a big fan of the fancy calculator as money (because that's essentially what we use nowadays, what with ATMs and credit cards and such) because I like the feeling of having big stacks of brightly colored bills.
However, the fun of Life wasn't realism. The fun of Life was the way it could accurately depict the absurdity of real life! Where your opponent chooses not to go to college and becomes an artist pulling in 80,000 while you go to college, get debt, pay for books, and wind up as a "scientist" making 30,000. Where you're forced to buy a house only to discover that it serves no purpose other than to be damaged by tornadoes. Where you buy stocks without any earthly idea which number will likely appear next. Where you seemed pressured by ubiquitous forces to buy art you don't want, sports tickets for games you don't want to see, and doctor's bills for surgeries you didn't know you needed. Where, toward the end of your "life," you find yourself thinking "...what the hell am I going to do with a minivan full of children? And when the f--- are they going to move outta my Goddamn good-for-nothing house?"
[<--- note about the post about the Geico cavemen show. Turns out it's a sitcom and the reports that it's a drama were a fake. Who called it? Moi? Oh yeah!--->]
posted by Chris "Krang" Yang | 11:20 PM
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