Monopoly, the iconic property board game, celebrates its 75th birthday this year. To mark this milestone, makers Hasbro have created Monopoly Revolution complete with a circular game board, up-to-the-minute electronic banking, as well as new music and sound effects.

The Irish edition of Monopoly Revolution was officially launched today (Thursday 12th August 2010) by the Mayor of Waterford, Cllr Mary Roche at Hasbro’s plant in Waterford, where 2.7 million Monopoly games are produced annually for worldwide distribution.

Apart from the circular shape of the game board, new music and sound effects add an extra dimension to the play. So when passing Go, you can celebrate to music while collecting a cool M 2 million and you’ll hear the door closing behind you when you’re sent to jail.

Bank cards replace the traditional cash as players watch their millions clock up or down on an interactive banking unit.

Gone are chance and community chest cards but in their place are four new Zones where players can take a chance to win, lose or pass the opportunity on to another player. Just like real life, there are options to auction, force deals, rent and declare bankruptcy.

Property values remain high with the two top spaces, Shrewsbury Road and Ailesbury Road, carrying price tags of M 4 million and M 3.5 million respectively, while at the other end of the scale, Kimmage and Crumlin fetch a more modest M 600k each. Shannon and Dublin airports rake in a basic rent value of M 250k each and ownership of the four utilities (water, gas, electricity and communications) bring in a tidy sum of M 1.5 million.

Hasbro’s sales and marketing manager for Ireland, Anne Dermody said: “Monopoly is not just a board game, it’s a phenomenon that stirs huge interest and passion around the globe. Its success is without doubt built on its ability to constantly reinvent itself, making it as relevant and fun for today as it has been for the last 75 years.”

Monopoly is produced under the Parker brand at the Hasbro Ireland plant in Waterford. In the last year, 2.7 million Monopolies were produced in 36 languages, complete with 39 million Monopoly houses and 14.5 million Monopoly Hotels.

Monopoly Revolution is available in toy stores now, RRP €34.99.