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.
Many Flipnote Hatena users don't visit the Hatena website often and spend most of their time on the Nintendo DSi. For this reason, there are a large number of Flipnote Hatena users who have not read the news blog, or even know that it exists.
To improve this situation, we're currently working on some new additions to Flipnote Hatena to make the help section and other information (such as the news blog you're reading now) available on the Nintendo DSi. We hope that these additions will bring the Flipnote Hatena News blog to a wider audience, and also improve everyone's enjoyment of Flipnote Hatena.
Here's a photo of what we hope to bring to you soon, directly on Flipnote Hatena for Nintendo DSi:
This week's new themes
The Flipnote team has created two new Creator's Room themes that are available in the Color Star Exchange this week. Below are some screenshots and details of the new themes.
- Add the power of super computing to your Creator's Room with this theme modeled after a circuit board. (20 color stars)
- Add some glamour to your Creator's Room with the help of these two fashionable twins. (10 color stars)
The best of last week's topic: "Loop"
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 posted from your own region by entering the command 
via "Command Search" on Flipnote Hatena for Nintendo DSi.
Hatena's favorite "Loop" Flipnotes from the Americas region
★ We really enjoyed this depiction of a dark and stormy night in this Flipnote by CptGrowler (id:CaptGrowler), with it's nice subtle details and realistic sounds.
★ There were several Flipnotes posted about an endless stairway this week, but we like this one by BRANDON (id:pib319) the best. BRANDON is new to Flipnote Hatena, so please check out his Flipnotes and show him your support.
★ We liked this Flipnote by Astram (id:winnerman) of a character walking on an impossible stairway reminiscent of the artwork of M. C. Escher. We also enjoyed the simple and catchy soundtrack.
★ One of the greatest pastimes of people in classrooms and offices comes to life in this Flipnote by JesterHead (id:JesterHead). If you're not good at twirling things with your fingers, there is a How to Spin a Pencil Around Your Thumb tutorial online about how to do it.
★ We featured Pat (id:graphicelvis) last week in our blog, but decided to feature this creator again after watching this extremely well done photorealistic Flipnote. Good work!
★ Take a dangerous ride through the mountains in this Flipnote by Zach (id:Hyrule-villager) featuring a car going around an endless turn. Please remember to fasten your seatbelts!
Hatena's favorite "Loop" Flipnotes from the Europe & Oceania region
★ We liked this short loop animation by Giuselly (id:Morren) of a hungry character who can't seem to get enough to eat. I'm not quite sure what type of food it is, but it reminded me of a jawbreaker.
★ SÜ$ん↑～ßOY (id:sushi_boy) introduces his cast of funny sushi headed characters in this strange and wonderful Flipnote. We'd like to invite Sushiboy to the Hatena offices, but are afraid that he might get eaten by some of our hungry programmers!
★ Take a loop around the world in this Flipnote by Akutsu (id:Travis-Touchdown) that features some of the characters created by other creators from the Europe & Oceania region. We also liked the original soundtrack!
★ We liked this funky Flipnote by HEAVY (id:arteaga) of a dancing skeleton that reminded us of breakdancing. There's actually a whole channel on Flipnote Hatena devoted to Breakdancing if you're interested. Please note that we originally credited this Flipnote to the wrong user, and we would like to thank id:Guilherme1995 for pointing out our mistake.
★ Coherence™ (id:COHERENCE) posted many Flipnotes about this week's topic, but we liked this one the best. Please be sure to check out some of the other interesting optical illusion Flipnotes posted by this creator.
★ We really enjoyed this Flipnote by THE STIGER (id:chippy-the-dog) about a ball that travels on a roller coaster. This Flipnote looks very simple, but it loops very nicely and obviously took the creator a lot of time and patience to create.
Hatena's favorite "Loop" Flipnotes from Japan
★ This Flipnote by s-taki (id:s-taki) is one of many great loop Flipnotes posted by this creator. We liked the 3D depth of this Flipnote, and the funny sound effects too.
★ Did you ever have the feeling that you were running around in circles getting nowhere? We really enjoyed this cute Flipnote by Bobiko (id:bobi-wan) about a hamster who always ends up where he started.
★ kasumi (id:kasu33) created this amazing Flipnote illustrating the life cycle of a plant. The attention to detail with the lighting changes, and the sound effects are very well done.
★ Syncoteen (id:TransMetalsGP) created a Flipnote about a common problem that happens in living rooms around the world. It seems that there is never anything good on television these days, and when there is a good program on, someone in the house always wants to watch a different one!
★ Which came first, the chicken or the egg? This Flipnote by Bororo tackles this difficult subject, but unfortunately doesn't bring any closure to the age-old question.
★ Two characters chatter on a homemade communication device in this Flipnote by Shiori (id:x131225x). The nice thing about communicating with cans and string is that you will never experience error 340610 when using them. (Error 340610 on Flipnote Hatena is usually caused by using your Nintendo DSi too far away from your wi-fi access point)
This week's topic: "Dancing" (5/21/2010 - 5/28/2010)
This week we'd like you to create Flipnotes that have something to do with dancing. Folk dancing, belly dancing, rain dancing, breakdancing, any kind of dancing! Even if you can't dance as well as this world renowned dancer named Matt Harding, please give it a try!
Post the Flipnotes you create to channel 8 from Flipnote Hatena on your Nintendo DSi. We're looking forward to seeing your stuff, and will feature some of the best ones next week here in the Flipnote Hatena Weekly News blog.
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 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.
★ Here's an original frog illustration that was posted by id:Ilias with his rendition of the Flipnote frog.
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!
