A big story about the game of Life eliminating the paper money and moving to credit cards. To be fair, it sounds as though the "credit cards" will function as "debit cards" so a player should still be out when the debit card hits zero. (It will be interesting when they invent a game in which players can review their credit scores, apply for credit cards, figure out interest payments... myFICO should get on this.)

The new game, which will be available in August, will help kids learn how to manage their gift cards- one of the most common gifts for kids who no longer understand it is the thought that counts.. Visa spokesman Michael Rolnick believes the game may be "the very beginning of a dialogue between parents and their kids on how to manage money in an increasingly cashless society."

I played Life a lot growing up, but I played with my brothers and friends, not my parents. That being said, parents who spend any quality time with their teenagers won't need the game of Life to teach the kids about gift cards- those kids have watched their parents swipe the cards for years and know that when they exceed the balance mom and dad make up the difference.

Here's the real deal- more and more kids in our society can't add three digit numbers without a calculator. The game of Life has probably become too much work for the average kid so this is a way to convince those kids who can't do the math to play the game anyway. We'll see if the marketing strategy worked next September.