[Rusty Gull]

Congratulations to Montreal!! :cheers:

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Montreal "Passes Go" to Claim the Top Spot on Global Monopoly Game Board

The world's most popular board game announces the 22 cities elected by fans worldwide to appear on new MONOPOLY Here & Now: The World Edition game board

Last update: 10:00 p.m. EDT Aug. 19, 2008

EAST LONGMEADOW, Mass., Aug 19, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- After a worldwide vote, Montreal will represent the most expensive property on the new MONOPOLY Here & Now: The World Edition game board. Latvia's national capital, Riga, joins Montreal to round out the dark blue property group, the most prestigious property group in the popular game invented by Charles Darrow in 1935.

During a six-week period in early 2008, MONOPOLY fans from around the world voted for the global cities that they would like to see represented on the first-ever World edition game board. More than 5.6 million votes were cast for 70 world-class cities, which determined 20 of the 22 cities featured in the game. Then, the 20 cities with the most write-in votes faced off in a bonus vote and the two with the most votes, Taipei and Gdynia, earned the brown property spaces on the game board.

"We hope that fans of the world's most popular board game will enjoy buying, selling and trading real estate from around the globe in the new MONOPOLY game that they created with their votes," said Helen Martin, Vice President of Global Marketing for toy and game-maker Hasbro, Inc.'s (HAS:
37.29, -1.20, -3.1%) MONOPOLY brand. "We are thrilled that the first-ever global game board includes an interesting mix of cities that showcases the dynamic cultures, sights and history of the planet."

The 22 cities that earned spots on the MONOPOLY Here & Now: The World Edition are as follows, listed in order of property groupings with the highest rent properties listed first:

-- Dark Blue: Montreal, Riga
-- Green: Cape Town, Belgrade, Paris
-- Yellow: Jerusalem, Hong Kong, Beijing
-- Red: London, New York, Sydney
-- Orange: Vancouver, Shanghai, Rome
-- Magenta: Toronto, Kyiv, Istanbul
-- Light Blue: Athens, Barcelona, Tokyo
-- Brown: Taipei, Gdynia


"The destinations chosen by the international voters offer a fascinating snapshot of which cities have the world's attention today," said Pauline Frommer, creator of the Pauline Frommer guidebooks. "Of course, there are the perennial favorites--Paris, London, Rome, Jerusalem, New York--but also some real surprises on the list, like Riga and Gdynia. I hope the game sparks players interest in geography -- and visiting all of these cities would certainly enhance your life!"

Along with the 22 property spaces featuring world-class global cities, the game will include updated Chance and Community Chest cards that highlight events and culturally relevant scenarios from countries around the world. Players may celebrate at Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, organize an international music festival or host a St. Patrick's Day festival in Dublin. Additionally, the tokens, houses and hotels reflect icons and styles from all seven continents.

The new MONOPOLY Here & Now: The World Edition will be available in stores around the world starting on August 26, 2008 in more than 50 countries and in 37 different languages. Please check www.monopoly.com for local availability and price.

[big T]

Utterly ridiculous. Montreal clearly does not deserve this spot, and the fact that we're paired with Riga makes it even sadder.

[Rico Rommheim]

It is sad. But its a hell of a marketing ploy. I bet everyone in the selected cities are gonna buy the boards. Personally I don't care, the most insecure win in this scenario!

[Cataclaw]

Why are you guys complaining?

We won the vote for most popular city by most votes. That's all. We can still be pleased! I know i am! Go Montreal!
If this were a selection of the most important cities in the world, the list would have been predetermined; no voting would have been required. List would have simply been:


New York City
London
Paris
Tokyo
Hong Kong
Frankfurt
Chicago
Los Angeles
Milan
Singapore
Sydney
Toronto
San Francisco
Zurich
Brussels
Madrid
Mexico City
São Paulo
Moscow
Seoul
Amsterdam
Geneva

[Rico Rommheim]

^well that's entirely debatable. For instance Zurich probably shouldn't be there. Anyways its all subjective, and I'm not complaining, but I made my stance quite clear from the get go, this whole monopoly thing is silly.

[Cataclaw]

I based my list off of the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network's ranking of global cities, but yeah i can't say that a 100% objective ranking is possible.

About monopoly though.. i don't see why it's so silly. They had a vote and let people pick the places that would be on the next board!

[big T]

^ my point exactly. Being first in what essentially amounts to 'who has the most hometown boosters?' is hardly an accomplishment. Because this is exactly what it is -- I think Riga's ranking is proof enough.
Or maybe I'm completely wrong and droves of geopolitics experts from the world over decided to pick it based on specific and well articulated merits, and proceeded to vote repeatedly to ensure it gets the ranking it so rightly deserves. Yeah, must be that.
(not picking on Riga in any way, but I mean objectively, how many people have even heard of the place? that list is pure boosterism. And we won. Yay us.)

btw I hate to sound like I'm whining. I believe I'm far from being the most vocal critic of Montreal, and I actually live here by choice. But this is the kind of BS that pushes my buttons. I look like the dude in my avatar right now. Sorry for the rant.

[salvius]

^ my point exactly. Being first in what essentially amounts to 'who has the most hometown boosters?' is hardly an accomplishment. Because this is exactly what it is -- I think Riga's ranking is proof enough.
Or maybe I'm completely wrong and droves of geopolitics experts from the world over decided to pick it based on specific and well articulated merits, and proceeded to vote repeatedly to ensure it gets the ranking it so rightly deserves. Yeah, must be that.
(not picking on Riga in any way, but I mean objectively, how many people have even heard of the place? that list is pure boosterism. And we won. Yay us.)

People of your city and of other cities voted and decided on the ranking. Where's the problem??? Nobody claimed this was a pairing of the most important cities, or that their place on the board indicated their real-life ranking. Being proud of your city isn't a negative either, by the way. If it bothers you, you need not buy the game.

As an aside, old city of Riga is an architectural marvel, and the entertainment's pretty good too. It's not economically important in the least, but, to be honest, if I had unlimited cash I'm not sure I'd pick Montreal over Riga to live and play in. Just sayin'.

[big T]

Again I'm not picking on Riga in any way. Admittedly I know nothing of the place, but I'm sure it has its merits. What I'm saying is given the amount of intl recognition it likely has, this looks to me like it supports my perception that this ranking is pure boosterism. And it does bother me to have Montreal lead such a list, because I believe that is the perception others will have, too. Hopefully I'm wrong and people will just think "wow, Mtl must be an amazing city to rank first!". I know I wouldn't, though. Hope that clarifies.

[yarabundi]

Well !! Whining or not, celebrating or not that's what it's gonna be !!
As far as I'm concerned, I'll buy the new board -in french, of course !! ;)

[le calmar]

I look like this as well at the moment

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/image.php?u=9914&dateline=1213931425

[elsonic]

cities with most people spending their entire life behind a screen?

[Mille Sabords]

cities with most people spending their entire life behind a screen?

In that case Ottawa should've taken at least one of the spots... :borg:

I'm very happy for Montreal and proud for you guys and for Toronto for making it into the board. I don't know if I'll buy it but it's pretty cool, in a minor way, that our two flagship cities are on the face of that map.

:tup:

[MolsonExport]

Montreal and....Riga.

I am very pleased to see Montreal on the board, but top spot? Ahead of NYC, London, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Paris, etc.?

Riga? Hookay. As others have remarked, this makes the positionings look rather retarded.

Toronto with the Magenta colouring, is analogous to Connecticut ave, oriental ave, vermont ave....just steps above the first block of what we've always referred to as the crack houses

[MolsonExport]

cities with most people spending their entire life behind a screen?

Thunder Bay? :D (Just jokin', Vid)

[The Trooper]

Why are you guys complaining?

We won the vote for most popular city by most votes. That's all. We can still be pleased! I know i am! Go Montreal!
If this were a selection of the most important cities in the world, the list would have been predetermined; no voting would have been required. List would have simply been:


New York City
London
Paris
Tokyo
Hong Kong
Frankfurt
Chicago
Los Angeles
Milan
Singapore
Sydney
Toronto
San Francisco
Zurich
Brussels
Madrid
Mexico City
São Paulo
Moscow
Seoul
Amsterdam
Geneva



Hum I somewhat disgree with your list. There's no way Toronto, Zurich, Madrid and Geneva could make it. You forgot Istanbul, Athens, Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok,Buenos Aires, Prague, Stockholm, Barcelona (would be ahead of Madrid), Vienna and last but not the least Dubai.

[Cataclaw]

Hum I somewhat disgree with your list. There's no way Toronto, Zurich, Madrid and Geneva could make it. You forgot Istanbul, Athens, Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok,Buenos Aires, Prague, Stockholm, Barcelona (would be ahead of Madrid), Vienna and last but not the least Dubai.

Again, that's not my list, it's derived from an international group of scholar's.

They factor in not just population and economic strength, but cutural, political, academic contributions and other factors to global society.

Dubai for instance, despite experiencing an incredible construction boom and foreign interest, doesn't have the cultural and political influence of, say, Geneva, or even Canada's own Toronto.

[Gerrard]

"There's no way Toronto, Zurich, Madrid and Geneva could make it. You forgot Istanbul, Athens, Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok,Buenos Aires, Prague, Stockholm, Barcelona (would be ahead of Madrid), Vienna and last but not the least Dubai."

Barcelona, would not be ahead of Madrid. And you're overestimating the importance of Istanbul, Athens, Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Prague, Stockholm,Vienna and Dubai."

All very nice cities, except for maybe Dubai which is Las Vegas sans fun, but essentially, not very important.

[patboy]

Montréal a quand même sa place sur la planche de jeu mais pas sur le terrain le plus prestigieux du jeu. Les villes comme : Riga, Le Cap, Jérusalem, Kiev et Gdynia (Je ne sais pas le nom en français) elles n'ont carrément pas leur place là !

Mais bon ... ce sont les gens de la planète qui ont parlé !!

[Serge]

C'est un jeu.


Ça me plaît bien... je vais l'acheter, évidemment.

[le calmar]

Montréal a quand même sa place sur la planche de jeu mais pas sur le terrain le plus prestigieux du jeu. Les villes comme : Riga, Le Cap, Jérusalem, Kiev et Gdynia (Je ne sais pas le nom en français) elles n'ont carrément pas leur place là !

Mais bon ... ce sont les gens de la planète qui ont parlé !!

Jérusalem a sûrement sa place!

[Rico Rommheim]

^absolument! La capitale internationale de la haine, de la polarisation et la deuxieme capital Americaines!

[The Trooper]

"There's no way Toronto, Zurich, Madrid and Geneva could make it. You forgot Istanbul, Athens, Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok,Buenos Aires, Prague, Stockholm, Barcelona (would be ahead of Madrid), Vienna and last but not the least Dubai."

Barcelona, would not be ahead of Madrid. And you're overestimating the importance of Istanbul, Athens, Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Prague, Stockholm,Vienna and Dubai."

All very nice cities, except for maybe Dubai which is Las Vegas sans fun, but essentially, not very important.

Oh boy, I think you have a very poor knowledge of what Dubai really is. It's much more than another Las Vegas. That's an economic powerhouse. Every major investment bank, private fund etc have a presence in Dubai. Do you know that it's Dubai's capital that came to the rescue of American financial institutions during the subprime/credit crunch ? Dubai and other persian gulf' firms have invested billions of dollars in US firms in the last two years. Dubai is now a financial hub probably as important as London or Tokyo.

[le calmar]

^absolument! La capitale internationale de la haine, de la polarisation et la deuxieme capital Americaines!

Je crois que t'as oublié qu'avant tout ça Jérusalem est le point de jonction des 3 grandes religions du monde, une ville avec un mélange culturel, une valeur symbolique et historique incomparable. C'est sûrement pas les habitants de Jérusalem ou d'Israël qui ont voté pour cette ville, ce sont tous les autres habitants du monde!

[Rico Rommheim]

Je crois que t'as oublié qu'avant tout ça Jérusalem est le point de jonction des 3 grandes religions du monde

mon point exactement, tu ne vas pas au skybar souvent hein? :yes:

[The Trooper]

^absolument! La capitale internationale de la haine, de la polarisation et la deuxieme capital Americaines!

Je suis d'accord et je dirais même qu'il s'agit de la capitale non-officielle des USA. La tentation de m'étendre sur le sujet est forte mais je vais me retenir car il s'agit d'un terrain très très glissant. Le B'Nai Brith, organisme de censure par excellence est bien connu pour scruter tout ce qui s'écrit sur le net alors la prudence est de mise.

[ÉricdeMtl]

Comme plusieurs l'on dit, c'est après tout un jeu. Le bon côté à cela, c'est que Montréal aura d'une façon différente un autre moyen d'avoir de la visibilité.

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/9008/monopolymtlno1id2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Juste une chose, j'ai rien contre l'Oratoire, mais le Stade Olympique représente bien Mtl aussi, même une photo du Pont Jacques Cartier avec le centre-ville en arrière plan, mais bon ils se sont arrêtés sur l'Oratoire...soyons béni ! :haha:

* Un vidéo montrant le jeu : Ici (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zakhzBFIUI4&feature=PlayList&p=1C0E6E95FC611F5F&index=5)

[salvius]

Oh boy, I think you have a very poor knowledge of what Dubai really is. It's much more than another Las Vegas. That's an economic powerhouse. Every major investment bank, private fund etc have a presence in Dubai. Do you know that it's Dubai's capital that came to the rescue of American financial institutions during the subprime/credit crunch ? Dubai and other persian gulf' firms have invested billions of dollars in US firms in the last two years. Dubai is now a financial hub probably as important as London or Tokyo.

Sorry, but I would say it is your knowledge that is rather poor. Dubai as a financial hub is NOWHERE near as important as London and Tokyo. It has a rapidly growing financial industry, but to the world as a whole, it's peanuts. Chump change. In fact, talking of the (relative) east, Istanbul's finance industry and its economic importance as a whole are still far more important than Dubai's.

As a note, Dubai's GDP is just above 30 billion... compare that to Toronto's 210 billion for example. Ahem.

Istanbul, Athens, Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok,Buenos Aires, Prague, Stockholm, Barcelona (would be ahead of Madrid), Vienna

Certainly not Athens, Barcelona (would NOT be ahead of Madrid), Bangkok, Mumbai, and even more unlikely would be Stockholm, Prague, and Vienna. Istanbul's would miss the list, as would Montreal. Toronto would be somewhere in the middle.

That's if we are talking about the economy. As for culturally important, there is no way to calculate that satisfactorily.

So, no method's perfect, I see nothing wrong with a decision to let the people vote on what they wanted on the board.

P.S: Though I have no personal association with regards to Riga, I've been there more than once. I understand having a dig at it because it's not a major economic power. It was once an important member and an economic power, since it joined the Hanseatic League in the 13th century. Some of the old Riga remains, by the way. It's a beautiful city, and is not on the UNESCO list of world heritage sites just for the hell of it.

[Rico Rommheim]

Juste une chose, j'ai rien contre l'Oratoire, mais le Stade Olympique représente bien Mtl aussi, même une photo du Pont Jacques Cartier avec le centre-ville en arrière plan, mais bon ils se sont arrêtés sur l'Oratoire



nah. Ils ont choisi un excellent batiment de grande valeur patrimoinale, architecturel et de grande importance mondial pour les perdus (religieux). Au moin l'oratoire sert a quelque chose! De toite facon Montreal est reconnu pour ses eglises.

[Laurent]

Here's the final list of cities & their positions on the board:

http://www.hasbro.com/common/images/news/monopoly//English.jpg

I'm extremely happy that our hometown won THE one and only top spot and that THREE Canadian cities will appear on the board. Should our cities have won these positions? It's a game, not a Nobel prize or an Oscar. Parker Brothers set their own rules, and the rule they chose was online voting (which isn't an unreasonable measure of citizens' pride (or arrogance ;) ). We won - that's just awesome and yes, I will buy the game too.

Imagine all the kids in the other cities on the board (Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, Istanbul, etc.) who'll buy the game and see our cities. Maybe it won't necessarily incite them to visit or invest in our cities . . . but it can't hurt us, that's for sure. It's free publicity. And GREAT publicity. You'll have thousands (perhaps even hundreds of thousands) of kids (even some adults) around the world who will land on Montreal and say "Yes!!" Whether that 'makes sense' or not, I can only be happy about it - and that's why I voted almost every day for our Canadian cities a few months ago!

[elsonic]

^absolument! La capitale internationale de la haine, de la polarisation et la deuxieme capital Americaines!

peut-être capitale internationale de la haine (avec Londres, Washington, Ottawa, Moscou, etc.) mais limiter Jerusalem aux tensions religieuses? un peu limité.

Pour n'importe qui s'intéresse un tout petit peu à l'histoire, à l'art, à l'archéologie, à la géopolitique, à la socio, bref à la vie en général, reconnaît l'importance et la richesse hallucinante de Jerusalem.

si on doit choisir une seule ville pour parcourir l'humanité et essayer de la comprendre, je pense que Jérusalem est la plus appropriée, avec ses dizaines de couches d'urbanisation superposées.

maintenant, sur un board de jeu dont l'objet est le prestige de l'adresse et la spéculation immobilière, je me demande ce qu'y fout Jérulasem. Tel Aviv aurait été plus à propos.