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.
A team of five interns has been hard at work on improvements to Flipnote Hatena for the past few weeks. Three programming interns created some great new code that we hope to add to Flipnote Hatena in the future, and two design interns created some amazing new Creator's Room themes and other cool stuff. The interns energy and enthusiasm has been a great help to all of us on the Flipnote Hatena team, and we hope that their efforts will also improve your enjoyment of Flipnote Hatena.
In other news, my wife's first child was born this week on August 25, 2010 and is a healthy baby girl. We disagreed about my idea to name our daughter "Flipnote", so we chose the name "Lisa" instead. Maybe I'll feature my daughter in some of my Flipnotes someday, and I am also looking forward to teaching her how to make her own Flipnotes too.
There were many fantastic posts about last week's topic "Sea Life" and it was a lot of fun to choose the Flipnotes for the blog this week. Due to time constraints, and wanting to spend some extra time with my wife and child, I've omitted the Flipnote descriptions this week. Thanks for your understanding, and I'm sure that you can still enjoy the Flipnotes without my commentary. The Flipnotes we feature here really speak for themselves, and this blog wouldn't exist without all of you posting your excellent Flipnotes every week.
We hope that you are enjoying the Flipnote Hatena Weekly News, and are looking forward to seeing your Flipnotes!
Final week of the Flipnote Hatena 1st Anniversary Contest
As of today there have been 4,587 spin-offs of the Flipnote Hatena 1st Anniversary contest entry Flipnote posted to channel 8. Please remember that if you don't post Flipnotes that use the provided soundtrack you won't be eligible to have your Flipnote chosen as one of the grand prize winners. Please do not post Flipnotes to channel 8 that are not spin-offs of the contest entry Flipnote, as it's a great annoyance to those of us who are trying to judge the contest entries. Don't forget to post your Flipnotes by the contest deadline on September 3, 2010.
For more information about the Flipnote Hatena 1st Anniversary Contest please tap on the "Help" button from the top menu of Flipnote Hatena.
Also, several users have contacted us saying they did not receive their 1st Anniversary Theme. If you posted a Flipnote to the 1st anniversary channel and did not yet receive your theme please follow the steps below to get it:
1) Look at the channel description for Channel #8 again and tap on the text "Receive theme"
2) Tap on "Use this theme now"
We plan to announce the contest winners on the evening of September 5, 2010 (Sunday) US time here on our official blog and on the Nintendo DSi.
New limited edition themes: Sea Life Collection
From now until September 16, 2010 (Thursday), you'll get one chance to win a prize for every 10 stars you exchange for themes in the Color Star Exchange. If you're lucky you might win the weekly limited edition theme.
This week's limited edition theme is "Clownfish" which is available until September 2, 2010.
For more information about the Sea Life Collection tap on the "Get Special Themes!" button on the top menu of Flipnote Hatena for Nintendo DSi.
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.
★ A manga style illustration of a young woman surrounded by sparkling jewels. (10 color stars)
★ This theme features a shield decorated with a lion's head and two swords. (10 color stars)
★ A warrior brandishes a weapon under a moonlit sky. (20 color stars)
The best of last week's topic: "Sea Life"
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 "Sea Life" Flipnotes from the Americas region
★ Flipnote by Lisa (id:lnicolen)
★ Flipnote by Kirby (id:teehee200)
★ Flipnote by Qcumber (id:Qcumber)
★ Flipnote by MIRTH (id:foops)
★ Flipnote by MonkeyKing (id:Xcix)
★ Flipnote by BTD (id:PhantomK)
Hatena's favorite "Sea Life" Flipnotes from Japan
★ Flipnote by Roikore@Sunboro (id:air-misuzu119)
★ Flipnote by ★RYO★ (id:areisya)
★ Flipnote by J-Edward (id:J-edward)
★ Flipnote by Taiyaki No Ikken Ya
★ Flipnote by Shiori (id:x131225x）
★ Flipnote by ltn (id:TNK-KEI)
Hatena's favorite "Sea Life" Flipnotes from the Europe & Oceania region
★ Flipnote by Je@n-♭@pt★ (id:jbmasteur)
★ Flipnote by magycmario (id:magycmario)
★ Flipnote by YoshiSaur (id:YoshiSaur)
★ Flipnote by Sebaastin (id:Laicka1992)
★ Flipnote by Summer★ (id:EmerO36)
This week's topic: "Combination" (8/27/2010 - 9/3/2010)
For this week's topic we would like to create Flipnotes about combining 2 or more things together, that usually wouldn't be together. For example you could combine two animals such as a frog and a chicken and make a "fricken". You might also combine two machines like a Nintendo DSi and a time machine to create something original and fantastic. You could also combine two foods together to create something never seen before, such as "cheeseburger soda". 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.
★ This funny frog illustration was created by id:Orion_789. Ribbit!
★ This photo of a frog spin top was posted by id:sam156e.
★ This is a photo of a frog balloon was posted by id:a721pikachu, who sent a very kind message wishing Flipnote Hatena a happy 1st anniversary.
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:
