'Monopoly' hits the streets, just in time for the holidays

Monopoly has been around for 75 fun-filled years, but it’s never been as animated as it is now with the video game Monopoly Streets, now available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS (in the form of classic Monopoly). Streets puts the classic board game and all its real estate at eye level, as your animated avatar whips around Marvin Gardens, Connecticut Avenue, Reading Road and all the classic places as you work your way to the uber-ritzy Boardwalk and Park Place in a three-dimensional world. Choose your character — such as the captain of a ship or the driver of the iconic race car — and beat the opposition by grabbing up real estate that comes alive when you buy it and wilts when you mortgage property. What’s really neat: When you get to build houses and hotels, which are different and unique to each colored group of properties, and you see the look of fear on your fellow players’ faces when they see a full-on estate show up on Boardwalk that will likely send them to bankruptcy. (Well, I didn’t see the look of dread, actually. I was wearing it before my wife put me away for good when we played.) With great graphics and unlockable boards to play on, it’s a great thing to have around for the holidays. And since the season is upon us and we love our readers, we’re giving away Monopoly Streets to 10 lucky followers of our Twitter feed! Tweet your favorite part of Monopoly, from game pieces to real estate properties to even the jail (if that’s your thing), using the #usawopoly hash tag by Friday at 5 p.m. EST, and we’ll pick 10 winners at random to win copies of Monopoly Streets on the platform of their choosing. So get to tweeting and check out a behind-the-scenes look at the game below.

Photo courtesy of Electronic Arts

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