| Flipnote Studio | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Nintendo EAD Tokyo |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Designer(s) | Yoshiaki Koizumi Hideaki Shimizu |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Memo/Notepad |
Flipnote Studio is a free downloadable application for the Nintendo DSi's DSiWare digital distribution service. Developed by Nintendo EAD Tokyo,[1] Flipnote Studio allows the user to create both word and picture-based notes with the stylus, add sound, and put them together to create frame-by-frame flipbook-style animations. Though referred to as Moving Notepad by Nintendo in prior English-language keynote addresses and conferences,[2] the application was announced at E3 2009 officially as Flipnote Studio.[3] It was released in Japan on December 24, 2008, in North America on August 12, 2009, and in Europe and Australia on August 14, 2009. It was also included as a preloaded program on the Nintendo DSi XL and Nintendo DSi with firmware 1.4.
Flipnote Studio is not available to be downloaded or transferred onto the Nintendo 3DS system[4], and a successor to Flipnote Studio, called Flipnote Memo for the Nintendo 3DS, was announced by Shigeru Miyamoto during a trip in France; however, a release date has not yet been confirmed.
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Flipnote Studio offers the user three main tools with which to create drawings—a pen, an eraser, and a paintbrush. With these tools, the user may create frames for short animated sketches, called flipnotes. Additional features such as layering, shrinking, and enlarging are also available, as well as the option to import black-and-white images via the DSi Camera Album.[2][5] One animation may consist of hundreds of frames (maximum 999), and to go along with the animation itself, the user may choose to record a soundtrack with the DSi microphone.[5]The speed ranges from 0.5 - 30 FPS.
Shortly before the release of Flipnote Studio in Japan, Nintendo announced that they were partnering with Japanese web services provider Hatena to provide the means to share works created with the software. Speaking for Nintendo, Yoshiaki Koizumi stated they chose to work with Hatena because "it takes a special skill set to maintain the User Generated Contents (UGC) site, and we don't have that skill. We rely on Hatena on that part." [6]
Flipnote Hatena is the name of both the portion of the Flipnote Studio application that connects to the Flipnote Hatena website as well as the website itself (the Japanese version of the program differentiates between the two, but not the English version). Through the DSi portion of the application users are able to download Flipnotes to their DSi, add stars to Flipnotes uploaded by others, and upload their own. Users may also edit or even continue a Flipnote created by another user.[5]
As for the website itself, Flipnote Hatena offers the ability for users to rank and comment on the works of others, as well as to embed their animations into other webpages.[5] Users may also flag submissions as inappropriate; flipnotes thus flagged will not be viewable via the DSi's Flipnote Hatena[7] and may be removed from the website altogether.[8]
Hatena also has its own economy using different types of "stars". You can earn stars through flipnotes when other people add their stars to them. You have an infinite amount of gold stars to spend, but green, red, blue, and purple stars can only be earned through other people, visiting other Hatena services such as Hatena Coco, and by purchasing them. You can also spend as many color stars as you want.
Aside from the Flipnote Hatena website, Flipnotes may be shared between two users via the DSi's Wireless Communication feature. When a Flipnote has been shared in this manner, the users may choose to save their contact information as friends on the Nintendo DSi and on the Flipnote Hatena website. Flipnotes may also be shared via saving to an SD card (to be inserted into another DSi).[5] When a person receives a Flipnote from a creator the first time, they become friends with each other. Users may also become friends on the Hatena site.
Flipnote Studio was developed by Yoshiaki Koizumi and Hideaki Shimizu. The two began working on the project without the knowledge of anyone else at Nintendo EAD Tokyo.[9] It was initially designed as a tool for taking notes, and it was considered early on as a possible WiiWare application to transmit these notes from a DS to the Wii to be shared with other users of the application. When the Nintendo DSi was announced, it was decided by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata that the company would work with Hatena, as the latter had recently shifted its R&D department to Kyoto, where Nintendo Corporate Labs is located.[9]
As of January 10, 2009, 38% of all DSi users had downloaded this application, and there had been more than 100,000 user-submitted creations.[10] During its first six months of operation in Japan, Flipnote Hatena reports having received over 1,000,000 user-submitted creations.[8]
IGN gave the Flipnote Studio an "outstanding" rating of 9.0/10, while also giving it an editors' choice award.[11]
Official Nintendo Magazine awarded it 95%.
A successor to Flipnote Studio, Flipnote Memo is an announced Nintendo 3DS application. Not much is known about it at this time, but Miyamoto said the content will be easier to share this time around.[12] However, Nintendo has expressed concerns about adult content reaching young users with the upcoming application.[13]
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