Hello, from all of us at Hatena. This is Aaron with another edition of the Flipnote Hatena weekly news blog.
We hope that everyone had a good time during the winter holidays, and all of us at Hatena would like to wish you a happy and healthy 2011. This week we're pleased to present a selection of Flipnotes from all around the world to welcome in the new year.
2011 is the Year of the Rabbit, which is why there are many rabbit-themed Flipnotes from Japan this week. Below is a scan of Hatena's new year card for 2011 that is also decorated with some rabbits.
For the coming week, our new topic is one of the basic principles of animation known as "Exaggeration". We hope that this new topic can help you to improve your animation skills, and are looking forward to seeing your Flipnotes.
Featured Flipnotes from the "Make Your Own Mario Flipnote" special event for users in the Europe and Oceania region
We would like to thank everybody who contributed their fantastic Flipnotes, which were a perfect way to help us celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Super Mario Bros. Here are just some of the Flipnotes we picked, with comments from the creators of Super Mario Bros. (Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka, and Yoshiaki Koizumi). These Flipnotes can also be viewed online at the Mario Anniversary website, and on the Nintendo Channel on your Wii console too! Thank you for your participation!
We are featuring 8 Flipnotes, which you can view by tapping the "Mario Flipnote" button on the top menu of Flipnote Hatena for Nintendo DSi.
New limited edition themes: Deluxe Black Series Collection
We are pleased to announce the release of a new series of limited edition themes in the Color Star Exchange featuring new deluxe versions of several popular themes. From January 7 (Friday) to January 28 (Friday) you'll get a chance to win 2 new limited edition themes (deluxe and simple types) that change weekly every time you exchange 10 color stars for a theme.
This week's limited edition themes feature black dragons.
For more information about this campaign 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.
★ This theme features blue denim decorated with colorful buttons. The design of the top screen display will change when you use this theme. (10 color stars)
★ This theme features two swords with a decorative blue background. The top screen display and the background on the lower screen will change when you use this theme. (20 color stars)
The best of last week's topic: "2011"
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.
"2011" Flipnotes from Japan
★ Flipnote by Hatch (id:season02)
★ Flipnote by Asurapan (id:kaz872a)
★ Flipnote by I.M (id:LETROID)
★ Flipnote by Tsukushiro◆Yuuri（id:tukusiro-yuuri）
★ Flipnote by Manbiki (id:greeeen2)
★ Flipnote by Risaponzu (id:allore)
"2011" Flipnotes from the Americas region
★ Flipnote by SnowyOwl (id:BurrowingOwl208)
★ Flipnote by WarpZer0 (id:WarpZer0)
★ Flipnote by ☆YaMiZ☆ (id:ztarky)
★ Flipnote by Lidiane (id:lidianek)
★ Flipnote by Qcumber (id:Qcumber)
★ Flipnote by 1337や`／「0〒 (id:c15)
"2011" Flipnotes from the Europe and Oceania region
★ Flipnote by Mick@56 (id:mickinderby)
★ Flipnote by Simon (simon-a)
★ Flipnote by María★★★★★ (id:R2DS)
★ Flipnote by Supermario (id:pascal14)
★ Flipnote by ☆Nitram☆ (id:Nitram)
★ Flipnote by Anouk (id:Anouk)
This week's topic: "Exaggeration" (1/7/2011 - 1/13/2011)
Exaggeration is an easy way to make your animations more appealing to viewers. This week we'd like you to exaggerate the movements, emotions, shapes and sounds of things in your Flipnotes. If a character is happy, make him or her happier. If a character is running fast, make him or her run faster. Exaggeration can be used to enhance reality and help the audience to better understand what is happening. You can also use the skill of "squash and stretch" (one of our former weekly topics) to create exaggeration in your animations. Remember that exaggeration in your animation should have a meaning, and try to use it to show movements, emotions and shapes in a more entertaining and appealing way.
We're looking forward to seeing your Flipnotes, and will feature some of the best ones in the next edition of 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.
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):
Please note that you will need to submit your weekly topic Flipnote by Thursday January 13, 2011.
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:aaron found this sign with a frog illustration while walking in the busy Shinjuku area of Tokyo, Japan.
★ id:Gabtraf posted this photo of an orange frog that he found at a gas station.
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:
