Hello from all of us on the Flipnote Hatena team. This is Aaron at Hatena's offices in Kyoto, Japan with another edition of our weekly news blog.
To celebrate the 1st anniversary of the launch of Flipnote Hatena in the Americas and Europe and Oceania regions, we are having a contest from August 13, 2010 until September 3, 2010. To take part in the contest all you have to do is download the Flipnote contest entry Flipnote, modify it, and then post it to channel 8 on Flipnote Hatena for Nintendo DSi.
Every person who enters the contest will receive one free limited edition Creator’s Room theme that can be used with Flipnote Hatena for Nintendo DSi.
In addition, 20 contest participants will also receive color stars prizes!
For more information about the contest please do the following:
1) Tap on the “Help” button from the top menu of Flipnote Hatena for Nintendo DSi.
2) Tap on “Flipnote Hatena 1st Anniversary Contest” in the System Additions and News section.
Important note:
The current contest entry file we have made available is designed to play back at speed 5 and is 140 frames long. We will post some additional versions of the contest entry Flipnote on Monday (JST) with different playback speeds (faster and slower) for those of you who prefer to make animation at different frame rates
Original soundtrack by DJ Shabushabu
The soundtrack for the Flipnote Hatena 1st Anniversary contest was created by DJ Shabushabu.
DJ Shabushabu is a multi-talented musician, singer, and producer from Kyoto, Japan who combines Japanese traditional music with original sounds and modern rhythms.
In 1998, when he was still a high school student, DJ Shabushabu made a demo tape that attracted worldwide attention in the underground music scene that was later released on the techno label 2CB, run by a UK techno unit called Subhead. Since then he has continued to release music on the UK based Subhead & Stuff record labels.
In 2003, DJ Shabushuabu began a new group called “Obake Jaa” together with the musician Oorutaichi that mixed music genres such as electronic music, hiphop, reggae and Japanese pop dance music to create sounds unlike any other musicians in the world. Obake Jaa released the ablbums "Obake-jaa" in 2004 and “Manpukogo" in 2006.
In 2007, DJ Shabushabu released his first full-length album "All in One Pot", and went on to release his 2nd album “SONO FX” in September 2009.
DJ Shabushabu began his own record label KUMARU records and released a new album together with Okamoto Usamu of the band Neco Nemuru called “AGYOU” in March 2010.
DJ Shabushabu has toured all over Japan and Europe performing in the club and music festival scene. You can find more information about DJ Shabushabu’s music and upcoming shows at the URL‘s below:
Final week of the Summer campaign!
If you haven't already exchanged color stars for themes in the Color Star Exchange, please give it a try. We're now having a summer campaign that will continue until August 19, 2010 (Thursday). For more information please see the link below:
4 limited edition themes will be released during the summer campaign (each theme is available for 1 week only), and the 4th limited edition theme has been released today.
★ This week's limited edition theme is "Cosmo Star"
This week's new themes
The Flipnote team has created three new Creator's Room themes that are available in the Color Star Exchange this week. Below are some screenshots and details about the new themes.
★ This theme was designed especially for those of you who love comic books. (20 color stars)
★ These themes feature a large image of the Flipnote Frog in blue, pink and white color variations. (5 color stars)
The best of last week's topic: "Heat"
We've selected some of the best Flipnotes posted from around the world that we hope you'll enjoy.
You can see all of the Flipnotes posted about last week's topic at the URL below (be sure to set your content preference to Worldwide to see Flipnotes from all regions):
You can also see the Flipnotes for last week's topic by entering the command 
via "Command Search" on Flipnote Hatena for Nintendo DSi.
Hatena's favorite "Heat" Flipnotes from the Americas region
★ A young girl attempts to enjoy some ice cream on a hot summers day in this cute Flipnote by Hushafoe (id:missing-sox)
★ We really liked the attention the detail in this hot Flipnote by trey (id:Trey1) titled "The Volcano".
★ InkWolf (id:InkWolf) created this amazing Flipnote about a house fire with a happy ending.
★ This Flipnote by kemonomimi (id:densermegadeth117) tells the sad story of what heat can do to polar bears.
★ Flipnote by SpadeSigma (id:varogon) created this nicely animated, surreal Flipnote about all sorts of things that are hot.
★ Take a journey to the sun in this scorching Flipnote by Astroboy (id:squiggels)
Hatena's favorite "Heat" Flipnotes from Japan
★ A monk is not disturbed by the heat and keeps on meditating in this funny Flipnote by Itokichikun (id:wakasuga)
★ We really enjoyed this Flipnote by Yukie (id:P-YELL) about a character cooling down, with an interesting twist.
★ This Flipnote by Hatch (id:season02) features a Japanese pig shaped mosquito coil holder, known as a "Katori Buta".
★ Infrapon (id:eikaisan) created this beautifully drawn Flipnote about what can happen if you spend too much time in the sun.
★ This Flipnote by Rave is about a young girl who receives a letter from her sister reminding her to drink a lot of water when it's hot outside.
★ A character bursts into flames in this nicely done Flipnote by M15 (id:M1580688)
Hatena's favorite "Heat" Flipnotes from the Europe & Oceania region
★ Cool down on a hot day in this Flipnote by Erwan (id:Erwan) that nicely captures the feeling of summer.
★ A character doesn't go away quietly into the sunset in this fiery Flipnote by Summer★ (id:EmerO36).
★ A newscaster spontaneously combusts in this funny Flipnote by KaMeRoN★ (id:RandomKameron123)
★ Even ice cream can't provide relief from the summer heat for the unfortunate character in this Flipnote by Jona (id:JjjjjOooooNnnnnAaaaa-97)
★ Juan (id:luigiclub) reminds us not to stay out too long in the heat in this humourous Flipnote.
★ Simon (id:simon-a) created this clever Flipnote about the hottest substance known to man.
This week's topic: "Cats & Dogs" (8/13/2010 - 8/20/2010)
For this week's topic we would like to create Flipnotes featuring dogs and cats. Please include both of these animals in your Flipnotes and use your creativity to create something original and entertaining to share with the world. We're looking forward to seeing your Flipnotes, and will feature some of the best ones next week here in the Flipnote Hatena Weekly News. Post the Flipnotes you create to channel 7 from Flipnote Hatena on your Nintendo DSi.
Also, please do not use copyrighted music in your Flipnotes if you want them to be featured here. Check out some of the sites below for Creative Commons licensable and other royalty free music:
You can see all of the Flipnotes currently posted about this week's topic at the URL below (be sure to set your content preference to Worldwide to see Flipnotes from all regions):
Weekly Frog Sighting
If you are interested in having your frog photo or illustration featured in the "Weekly Frog Sighting" section of the blog please post them on Hatena Haiku and we might feature it here.
Please submit only original photos/illustrations that you have created yourself.
★ id:Hannahmypet created this incredible rendition of the Flipnote frog with plastic blocks!
★ This is a gel frog that id:a721pikachu found on a window of a doctors office. (We hope you're feeling better!)
★ This is a cute frog illustration made by id:TAK-IS-HERE.
Please let us know what you think about the Flipnote Hatena Weekly News blog by posting any comments you might have in the box below. Thanks!
★ You can also see comments posted by Nintendo DSi users by viewing the comments for the Flipnote below:
★ This a photo from 1 year ago (August 12, 2009) taken exactly when Flipnote Hatena went live at Hatena's offices in Kyoto, Japan.
