The expanded multi-year content deal between Netflix and Hasbro is for kids programming. The agreement will see to Hasbro Studios shows coming to Netflix including Littlest Pet Shop and Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters. The expanded content partnership adds these two Hasbro Studio shows in addition to several others already available on Netflix.

Other programming from Hasbro Studios available for streaming includes My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, Transformers Prime, Transformers Rescue Bots. The content partnership will allow new seasons of each of those shows to be available for streaming via Netflix one month after the season finale airs on The Hub Network.

Netflix has also announced that some of the popular Hasbro programs are now available for Canadian members for the first time. New shows for Canadian members include My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, Transformers Prime, Pound Puppies and The Adventures of Chuck & Friends. Canadian viewers will also get access to Transformers Rescue Bots, Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters and Littlest Pet Shop later this year.

[via Netflix]

I don’t know about you, but growing up starting game of Monopoly always involved the initial brawl to determine which game piece you used. Everyone wanted to be the car while no one wanted the lame shoe or iron. Not long ago Hasbro allowed users to vote on which of these game pieces to remove from the set and what to replace it with.

That boring and maligned iron was the piece that voters tossed from the game. The piece that replaced it was a kitty. The fact that voters chose a to replace the outgoing iron with the cat is no surprise giving the popularity of cat memes and videos on the Internet. While the cat was eventually chosen with 31% of the total vote, it wasn’t the only option. Other options voters could Butchoose included a robot, helicopter, diamond ring, and a guitar.

In the voting to see which game pieces continued with the set, the Scotty dog received 29% of the. The voting was also close to decide which piece would be ousted from the game with the iron only receiving 8% of the vote to save the piece and the shoe and wheelbarrow pieces not far behind the iron. Monopoly will now include a racecar, thimble, top hat, battleship, and the cat. Versions of the game with the new token will be available later this year.

[via BBC]

Hasbro tried to convince the court that ASUS’ Transformer would confuse customers into thinking the tablet was a Hasbro product. They cited existing merchandise, how the Transformer logo had been put on a wide variety of products including USB drives and other computer accessories.

The judge in the case failed to see the argument, saying:

There is nothing gimmicky about the Eee Pad Transformer or the Eee Pad Transformer Prime, nor can it be said that there is any similarity in the use or function between Hasbro and Asus’s products.

If anything, ASUS’ case was strengthened by the fact that the tablet does indeed “transform”, docking with a keyboard to make it appear like a regular laptop. The judge believes that Hasbro waited too long to act, and even the upcoming Transformer Prime doesn’t seem to be an issue in the case.

Finally, ASUS revealed tablet pre-order and fulfillment orders for the Transformer Prime, which are surprisingly low: “as of February 24, 2012, it had received over 2,000 pre-orders … and that retailer fulfillment orders for the next two months total approximately 80,000 tablet computers.”

[via PaidContent]

Zynga’s games, which are most popular on Facebook but have also grown to an increasingly large user base on mobile platforms, bring in 227 million active monthly players. It’s obviously an incredibly attractive licensing opportunity, and a giant like Hasbro is pretty much the only one that makes sense to gain those rights. It was not disclosed how much Hasbro had to pay in order to secure the exclusivity.

The first products will be available in the fall. One thing that is a potential cause for concern is that unlike Angry Birds, Zynga’s audience tends to skew a bit on the older side. Games like Words With Friends, Mafia Wars, and Cityville are more cerebral in nature than Angry Birds, and they are not as cute and merchandise-able either. However, Hasbro makes many products that are geared toward that same demographic, so it’s just a matter of taking this licensing deal to the correct series of merchandise.

[via Reuters]

It’s pretty ridiculous in the first place to think of the classic board game being turned into a full-length feature film. But then again, the connection between the two really exist in name only, as the movie seems to be your standard popcorn action flick. What will be more interesting is to see how the video game version adapts and whether or not it will include odes the deacdes-old strategy game classic.

Here’s how a press release describes the game: “Combining naval strategy simulation with first-person shooter gameplay, players fend off the enemy beachside while ordering attacks against their marine counterparts. Seamlessly switching between battlefield and overview “Battle Command” map, the Hasbro game is brought to life as carriers, frigates, cruisers, destroyers, submarines and the legendary USS Missouri Battleship pummel the enemy in a race to strategic points that turn the tide of battle.” It doesn’t sound to us like there will be much dialogue like, “Hey, you sunk my battleship.”

[via Gamezone]