Hong Kong – October 31, 2008: Hello Kitty turns 34 on November 1, 2008. To celebrate the occasion, Sanrio Digital (www.sanriodigital.com) today announced a birthday party for Hello Kitty that will be held inside Hello Kitty Online (www.hellokittyonline.com), the eagerly anticipated MMORPG. The celebration begins on Saturday November 1st, and will include a birthday party lasting through the week-end, a week-long series of in-game quests and events, and a charity event that lets players convert effort they spend inside the game into real cash donations to charity.

Hello Kitty Online is a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Role-Playing Game) based on the popular Sanrio characters. The game transports players into the cute and cuddly world of Sanrio Land and is fully integrated with official Sanrio portal SanrioTown.com, which utilizes blogs, email, video sharing, games and more to create a digital and social experience accessible at any time, even in-game. The game is currently in Founders’ Beta phase. The present version of Hello Kitty Online will shut down on November 8, 2008, to allow the development team to continue work on the game and prepare for Open Beta. Current players, however, will retain their characters and certain benefits in future versions of the game.

There are a range of exciting events and activities planned for Hello Kitty’s birthday and the final week of the Founders’ Beta.

1) Hello Kitty’s Birthday Party - November 1-2
Hello Kitty is celebrating her birthday and you are invited! The preparations for this grand celebration are now complete! We have transformed the center of London and the Opera House in Paris into the best party places in all of Sanrio Land! In addition to that, we have several events in store for all of you!

Party_outside

In celebration of her birthday, Hello Kitty will make special appearances in Hello Kitty Online on November 1st and 2nd. Players will be treated to a special birthday quest for Hello Kitty and enjoy special mini-events this special day.

Party_interior

2) Guild Competition: Build New York - November 1-6
It’s time to build New York! The guilds of Hello Kitty Online will be competing in a race to build two of New York City’s most famous landmarks: The Statue of Liberty and The Empire State Building.

Statue of Liberty

Empire State Building

Representatives of the participating guilds will be called to trade in their Empire Keys and Liberty Keys for special Empire State and Liberty land certificates. The first guilds to complete building these landmarks will receive formal recognition in the new zone and will be awarded special items in the next version of the game.

3) “Food for Friends” Charity Event – November 1-6
Remembering children who are less fortunate, Hello Kitty Online will host an in-game guild contest called “Food for Friends”, in which the efforts of guilds will be translated into donations to charity. Guilds interested in participating will produce raw materials on their farms and craft them into specific food items. Guilds will submit prepared food items to a Game Master. The guilds with the highest contributions will be declared winners. The winning guilds will receive a permanent page on www.hellokittyonline.com, special guild privileges for open beta, and a small feature on their guild including an interview with the guild representative(s) to be posted on official blog and press releases. Based on the total prepared food donated by all guilds, Sanrio Digital will then make cash donations to UNICEF (www.unicef.org) and the Asian Youth Orchestra (www.asianyouthorchestra.com).

Please refer to the Hello Kitty Online Event Blog for screenshots and more information about Hello Kitty’s birthday and associated events.

About Hello Kitty Online
Hello Kitty Online (www.hellokittyonline.com), developed by Sanrio Digital (www.sanriodigital.com), is the first MMORPG to integrate social networking web services into the game experience. In addition to standard MMORPG features such as customizable avatars, guilds, skill systems, and player economy, other features include:

* Unique game world: a persistent, beautifully designed environment where thousands of players and NPCs live, explore and quest in a magical world with real and imaginary zones such as the Flower Kingdom, Tokyo, Paris, New York, and more.
* Unique NPCs: players will encounter and interact with popular Sanrio characters such as Badtz-Maru, My Melody, Keroppi, and many others.
* Free to play: downloaded and played free of charge. There are no subscription fees.
* Character upgrades: the Item Mall allows players to use real money to purchase special items and upgrades for characters.
* Player housing: players can build and customize their own houses after acquiring the necessary licenses and materials.
* Farming: every player receives a farm, which offers extra storage and produces important raw materials that can be used in crafting. The farming system incorporates a number of variables such as fertility, pest infestations, and crop characteristics.
* Crafting system: an extensive crafting system with output such as tools & weapons, farming implements & furniture, a wide variety of cooked dishes, and clothing for decorative and stat-modifying items. Raw materials include wood, minerals and metals, and crops.
* A different focus: although it has a sophisticated combat system, unlike other MMORPGs combat need not be a primary objective for players. There are many puzzles to be solved, mini-games to compete in, story lines to follow, and adventures to experience.
* A social networking platform including blogs, video sharing, friends list, and email services.

About Sanrio Digital
Sanrio Digital is a joint venture between Typhoon Games (HK) Ltd. and Sanrio Co. Ltd. Sanrio Digital is responsible for the expansion of Sanrio intellectual property assets into various digital and online media, leveraging an extensive library of original material that includes world-famous brands such as Hello Kitty, Badtz Maru, My Melody, and others. For more information please visit www.sanriodigital.com

Contact:
Sanrio Digital (HK) Ltd
Tel: +852 2540-2237
Fax: +852 2803-0211
Email: press@sanriodigital.com