Hi everyone! We’re about to say goodbye�to the month of�June, which pretty much means that time’s running out for anybody and everybody who wants to enter the HKO trailer competition. The response has been pretty good, and as was stated in the last post, we’ve seen some pretty good entries from people who’ve tested the game itself to people who wanted to (but weren’t able to, unfortunately).

Just because we’ve got a pretty good list of entries now doesn’t mean that it should stop you from sending in your own work though! You’ve still got some time, so get crackin’ on those videos and wow us all here at Sanriotown with your artistic prowess!

So remember: you’ve got up to midnight of June 30, 2008 (just a few days from now!)�to send in your entries. You have to use all of the elements found in the trailer pack provided, but everything else is pretty much up to you. Just make sure to come up with the best trailer you can imagine!

Technorati tags: hello kitty, hello kitty online, mmorpg, contest, dreamstudio

Hello Kitty Online (HKO), produced by Sanrio Digital, is an upcoming Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) based on the famous Sanrio characters. Hello Kitty Online will allow players to explore and adventure in Sanrio’s fantasy world, a magical land bursting with cuteness but also fraught with many dangers. Hello Kitty Online will launch in the second half of 2008.

Work is also ongoing on the game’s first expansion pack, to be titled “Island Adventure” and scheduled for release in 2009.

Island Adventure will be the first expansion pack in gaming history that will reduce rather than expand an existing game world. The premise is the crash-landing (without casualties) on a mysterious island in the South Pacific of Hello Kitty Air flight 337, which had been carrying Hello Kitty and friends to the 5^th Cuteness World Symposium in Perth, Australia.

Our heroes – including Hello Kitty, Dear Daniel, Keroppi, Badtz-Maru and many others – find themselves marooned on the nameless island along with a couple hundred fellow passengers, whose roles will be filled by end-users. Soon the survivors discover that the island is inhabited by a community of squat, foul-mouthed, inferiorly-animated characters whose only intention is to send the newcomers packing by any means possible.

As tensions with the island’s original inhabitants rise to a boil, a crisis of leadership is brooding within the ranks of our cuddly friends. Will Hello Kitty manage to hold together the band of survivors using her trademark cuteness and amiability? Or will Badtz-Maru rise to power, arguing that survival on the island requires ruthlessly doing unto others before they do unto you? Who will you follow?

Players will embark on missions to explore the island, find out more about the natives, and gather resources necessary for the survival of the group. Can you save Hello Kitty and friends and help them get off the island and back to Sanrio Land?

Island Adventure will include many improvements, refinements, and additions to the basic game. Confirmed in the expansion are the following:

• Increased level and skill cap

• Raids

• PvP

• Hello Kitty and Badtz-Maru player sessions – take control of one of these powerful characters for up to one hour in times of crisis

• New skills and abilities: dessert-making, dual-wield (lollipops, wands), summon Twin Stars, and many more

• Cross-franchise mayhem

 Hello Kitty fans who love puzzles will love the Hello Kitty Rubik’s cube!

Not only does it have different colors on all six sides like a regular Rubik’s cube, it also has different pictures of Hello Kitty that you can assemble and re-assemble to provide an even bigger challenge.

With this, not only will you get your dose of cuteness, you’ll also be able to exercise your brain wherever you go!

It is 798 yen.

Thank you for your overwhelming response! We’re sad to say this, but we have now stopped accepting applications for players of the closed beta version of the Hello Kitty Online game.

We’ve received almost 50,000 applications for this. We’ll be sending all of you instructions on how you can get the chance to receive your account for the closed beta of HKO.

Again, thanks to all of you!

Technorati tags: Hello Kitty, Sanrio, Hello Kitty Online, MMORPG, RPG

Sanrio Digital’s “Hello Kitty Online” accepting players for closed beta

Hong Kong – February 12, 2008: Sanrio Digital (www.sanriodigital.com) today announced the closed beta launch of “Hello Kitty Online”, a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) based on the famous Sanrio characters. Hello Kitty Online allows players to explore and adventure in Sanrio’s fantasy world, a magical land that has recently fallen under the influence of a mysterious and malevolent power.

Players for the closed beta version are invited to apply at the official game site (www.hellokittyonline.com) or community site (www.sanriotown.com) and experience Hello Kitty Online in advance of the game release expected in the second half of 2008. Targeting female players from their pre-teens to twenties, Hello Kitty Online is the first installable MMORPG to set its sights on this demographic profile.

Hello Kitty Online is fully integrated with official Sanrio portal SanrioTown.com, which utilizes blogs, email, video sharing, Sanrio merchandise sales and more to create a digital and social experience accessible at any time. Players of Hello Kitty Online can extend their game experience on SanrioTown.com by interacting with other players, purchasing upgrades for their in-game characters, etc.

In addition to the standard MMORPG features such as customizable avatars, guilds, skill systems, and player economy, some of the outstanding Hello Kitty Online 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, Moscow, and more. Real world locations offer players the ability to learn about those places.

• Unique NPCs: players will encounter and interact with popular Sanrio characters such as Hello Kitty, Badtz-Maru, My Melody, Keroppi, and many others, all animated with a variety of contextual facial expressions.

• Free to play: Hello Kitty Online is 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. Houses depreciate over time and need to be maintained properly or will fall in disuse. A homeowner can invite someone to visit by making an in-game telephone call, and the player called will automatically be transported to the house if she agrees.

• Crafting system: Hello Kitty Online has 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.

• Farming: players can run their own farms, which offer extra storage room and have the potential to produce important raw materials. The farming system incorporates a number of variables such as fertility, pest infestations, and crop characteristics.

• A different focus: although it has a sophisticated combat system, unlike other MMORPGs combat need not be a primary objective for players of Hello Kitty Online. There are many puzzles to be solved, mini-games to compete in, story lines to follow, and adventures to experience.