December 21, 2012: Flipnote Hatena Weekly News

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Hello, this is Aaron at Hatena in Kyoto, Japan with the latest news about Flipnote Hatena.

December 24 will mark the fourth anniversary of the start of the Flipnote Hatena service in Japan. Flipnote Hatena (called "Ugomemo Hatena" in Japanese) began operations in Japan on December 24, 2008. Flipnote Hatena was then launched in the Americas regions and Europe and Oceania regions in August 2009.

To celebrate the fourth anniversary of the service, we have released a new Creator's Room theme with a special fourth anniversary design. This special Creator's Room theme is available to users in all regions. Keep reading to find out more.

We would take this moment to sincerely thank Flipnote Hatena users around the world for all of the excellent animations you have posted since the Flipnote Hatena service began, and for helping us create this amazing global creative community.

Next week will be the last edition of the Flipnote Hatena Weekly News in 2012 before we take a short break for the new year holiday.

Thanks for checking out the news blog, and happy holidays from all of us at Hatena.

Get $10 worth of free Hatena Color Stars in December with Rixty!

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From now through December 31, 2012, you can earn $10 FREE when you deposit $40 or more into your Rixty account using Coinstar machines, Rixty prepaid cards or Green Dot MoneyPaks. Use this bonus to buy and spend $10 in extra Hatena Color Stars!

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Offer valid in the U.S. only with RixtyCodes delivered via Coinstar Centers, Rixty prepaid gift cards or Green Dot MoneyPaks purchased at a U.S. retail stores. Not valid for RixtyCodes purchased online or for other methods of loading a Rixty account.

Click here for more information, including full terms & conditions

Flipnote of the Week

★ A passenger on a bus falls asleep and has a fantastic adventure in this animation by Chuyito (id:chyuto).

The best of the last week's topic: "Sleepy"

There were over 1,265 Flipnotes posted about last week's topic, and here are some of our favorites from around the world.

You can see all of the Flipnotes posted about last week's topic by clicking on the link below (be sure to set your content preference to Worldwide to see Flipnotes from all regions):

Weekly Topic: Sleepy

In addition to the Flipnotes that we have selected here, you can also see some more of our favorites in the 'Best of Hatena' channel at the URL below:

Best of Hatena

"Sleepy" Flipnotes from the Americas region

★ We enjoyed this story about a sleepy crowd in a movie theater by Najat.T.S (id:gold69).

★ Some noisy dogs annoy a sleepy woman in this animation by Ducky (id:Cacaduck).

★ We liked this animation about an alarm clock and a sleepy person by steven (id:vajra12).

★ A man falls asleep and ends up in the wrong neighborhood in this Flipnote by ßC★671 (id:BC671).

★ A sleepy man has a nightmare in this excellent Flipnote by YAKO8 (id:yakox).

★ A young man meets the Sandman (a mythical character who brings good dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto the eyes of children) in this animation by $PRエ〒£BOY (id:spriteboy7).

"Sleepy" Flipnotes from the Europe and Oceania region

★ A student struggles to keep awake in this funny animation by AnnA ©. (id:ancc).

★ A sleeping man makes some noise in this hilarious Flipnote by geezer (id:geezerdk).

★ A character falls asleep and has a bizarre dream in this animation by LUCA (id:giohi).

★ We liked this animation about a hungry sleepwalker by Foufi (id:Boumzi).

★ Check out this action packed Flipnote with a sleepy ending by Giulia (id:aleeex).

★ A cute little creature tries to get some sleep in this animation by shokmas (id:Mheetu12).

"Sleepy" Flipnotes from Japan

★ We liked this sleepy Flipnote with a cute soundtrack by Y-NN (id:y-nnxid).

★ A young baby can't stay awake in this funny animation by たこdeath (id:rabbit_thankyou).

パペットマスター (id:nyaozow) posted this sleepy Flipnote featuring the character Icarus from Greek mythology.

★ Check out this funny variation of the story of "Sleeping Beauty" by ふーみん (id:wrbyno10).

★ A sleepy character starts the day in this excellent animation by こうさか (id:around18).

★ A parent falls asleep and wakes up many years later in this animation by しいたけ.

This week's topic: "Bells"

This week we would like you to make Flipnotes featuring bells. Animate people ringing bells, giant bells, church bells, bell towers, Christmas bells, or create your own soundtracks with bells. Create stories about people making bells, using bells to make music, or about the bells on the sleigh of Santa Claus. See where your creativity takes you!

Please remember we cannot feature your Flipnotes if they include songs from commercial recordings such as those sold in stores, or used in television or movies.

Please submit your weekly topic Flipnotes by 9:00 PM on December 27, 2012 (Thursday) US Pacific Time, and we will present some of our favorites on December 28, 2012 (Friday).

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 Topic: Bells

New Creator's Room Themes

The designers at Flipnote Hatena have created a great new Creator's Room theme this week. For more information please visit the Color Star Exchange on Flipnote Hatena for Nintendo DSi.

★ This theme commemorates the fourth anniversary of the launch of the Flipnote Hatena service. (10 color stars)

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Frog Sightings

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.

JON (id:PCfanatic94) found this frog relaxing in a gift shop.

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Feedback

What did you think about the weekly news this week? Let us know by telling us your feedback in the box below.

You can read comments posted by Nintendo DSi users by viewing the Flipnote below:

Hatena Haiku