Not this dog’s day

The Scottie has a new nemesis after Monopoly fans voted to add a cat to the game and eliminate the iron token.

Toymaker Hasbro announced the changes Wednesday, hours after voting on Facebook closed, marking the first time that fans had a say on which token to eliminate and which piece to replace it.

The eight tokens identify the players and have changed a lot since Parker Brothers bought the game from its original designer in 1935.

Changing habits

Consumers spent 9.4 percent less on video games last year as increases in digital downloads failed to offset falling packaged title purchases, according to researcher NPD Group.

Sales of video games fell to $14.8 billion in 2012 from $16.3 billion a year earlier. Titles downloaded to computers and mobile devices were the industry’s bright spot, rising 16 percent to $5.92 billion, NPD said.

Boost for aluminum

Carmakers such as Ford, Audi and Jaguar Land Rover are using record amounts of aluminum to replace heavier steel, providing relief to producers of the metal confronting excess supplies and depressed prices.

Aluminum content in vehicles is rising about 5 percent a year, and growth will accelerate in the next decade as drivers seek improved fuel economy and lower emissions, according to Gayle Berry, an analyst at Barclays in London.

Who’s driving?

Google sees self-driving cars being available to consumers in three to five years.

“The improvement can be such that we can make cars that drive safer than people do,” Anthony Levandowski, product manager for Google’s self-driving car technology, told a Society of Automotive Engineers meeting in Washington. “We expect to release the technology in the next five years.”

Regulators and the insurance industry aren’t so sure it can happen that quickly.

Fake cancer drug

The Food and Drug Administration said it warned doctors that another counterfeit batch of the cancer drug Avastin had reached medical practices in the U.S.

The warning follows a string of alerts last year when the agency told doctors that versions of Avastin sold by at least two drug distribution networks were fake, containing none of the genuine drug’s active ingredients.

Mortgage apps rise

Mortgage applications in the U.S. rose last week as home purchases and refinancing increased.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index climbed 3.4 percent in the week ending Feb. 1 after an 8.1 percent drop the previous week.

The refinance gauge advanced 3.5 percent, and the purchase index rose 2.2 percent.