EA banks Monopoly

As part of Atari's economic turmoil last year, the publisher in July sold Hasbro back its rights to make console, handheld, and online games based on its extensive line of toys and board games. Quickly capitalizing on that move, EA moved in on Hasbro, announcing in August that it had picked up the rights to Hasbro products that Atari had just sold.

In February, the first fruits of that union surfaced, with EA saying it would be making console and handheld casual games out of Littlest Pet Shop and Nerf N-Strike. At that time, the publisher also said that games based on Hasbro's arguably most recognized brands, Scrabble and Monopoly, were also in the works. True to its word, EA said today that it would adapt Hasbro's venerable capitalist-tycoon game for the Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2, mobile devices, and its online casual portal Pogo.com, with a release slated for this fall.

Hasbro's Monopoly is hardly a stranger to the interactive medium, having appeared on various gaming platforms dating back to the NES and beyond. The latest take on the game will be modeled after Hasbro's newest board game, Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition, and promises a "party twist" and faster gameplay as well as local multiplayer action for up to four. Players will also be tasked with various challenges and minigames to unlock new boards.