This could be very addictive: Google is teaming up with board game maker Hasbro to launch a Google Maps version of Monopoly. Monopoly City Streets, which launches Wednesday, allows users to compete in a live, worldwide version of the popular game, creating the biggest Monopoly tournament ever played.

It's an ambitious venture that we'll confess to being fairly excited about: players will literally be able to buy any street in the world, and compete with every other player on the "board". You start with 3 million Monopoly dollars, and can build not only hotels and houses but also football stadiums, castles and skyscrapers, reports the UK's Guardian. Downing Street in the UK will cost $231,000, while Pennsylvania Avenue will cost $2 million.

The preview site reads:

On the 9th SEPTEMBER, a world of property empire building on an unimaginable scale will be launched! A live worldwide game of MONOPOLY using Google Maps as the game board. The goal is simple. Play to beat your friends and the world to become the richest property magnate in existence. Own any street in the world. Build humble houses, crazy castles and stupendous skyscrapers to collect rent. Use MONOPOLY Chance Cards to sabotage your mates by building Hazards on their streets.

What the coverage doesn't mention is the level of involvement Google had here: while in theory this could have been built on the Google Maps API with little input from the search engine maker itself, all reports seem to indicate that Google had a direct role in bringing the game to fruition.

And before we start: I get to be the car, ok?