Is Livin’ It Up Sustainable?

I’ve been playing Standard Bank’s simulation game, Livin’ It Up, for a few weeks now and what started out as an interesting little flashback to days gone by when I used to play Sim City and Sim City 2000 (not The Sims, even though I did play that too) for hours on end turned into a question about the lifestyle Standard Bank is encouraging you to have while playing the Livin’ It Up game.

If you’d like to win an iPad read this, you’ll need to register for the Livin It up Game. There is also a BMW, Nintendo Wii & Sony Bravia up for grabs.

The main aim of the game is to improve (read pimp) your garden, house and car and earn badges along the way which earn you the Standard Bucks Virtual Currency. You can also earn (very little bucks) by referring friends. Justin Hartman has been bitter because another way to earn bucks was to get your hands on the vouchers being handed out in the traffic if I’m not mistaken.

If you do what I did and earn almost every badge you end up with a car that has been pimped, a garden full of statues and a house with every upgrade including security features you can think of… adjusting your insurance cover as you go along. But how on earth can you afford an insurance premium of nearly 10 times the value of your daily income? If you’ve ever tried applying for finance for a motor vehicle or a home at a bank you know for sure that it is impossible in today’s financial climate (any time really) to survive if your expenses greatly exceed your income. So I ask you and hopefully someone from Standard Bank’s Livin’ It up game that will reads this: Please explain to me how playing Livin’ It Up could possibly be sustainable on your virtual wallet? I’ve reached a point where I’ve been hoping for a virtual catastrophe so that my insurance claim could cover my insurance premiums for the next fews weeks in the game.