Notice anything different? That’s right, this blog’s layout has changed to a new one!

The Sugarbunnies appear on the latest blog layout of SanrioTown, showing them in one of the most known events during Easter: the egg hunt!

Join in the hunt by choosing this theme to decorate your blog this Easter season! Other themes featuring your favorite adorable Sanrio characters await you on SanrioTown, so check it out now!

It’s March already, and the new SanrioTown freebies are now available for you to download! All you need to do is sign in and head on off to the Download Center to grab the wallpapers, calendars and more featuring your favorite Sanrio characters.Not registered yet? No problem! Click here to get your free SanrioTown account now!

Hello everyone! We would once again like to share with you what the HKO team has been working on. First off, we’d like to talk about a few improvements and fixes that were added to the game recently but not properly documented.

Changes already live in HKO

• ● Daily, weekly and monthly repeatable quests are now available! Talk to Material Merchant NPCs in Florapolis, London and Paris to get started!
• ● The Group System has been introduced, with a preview of Group quests during Hello Kitty’s Valentine’s Day Surprise

Our goal in the next months is to expand end game potential, player communication, and guild functionality. These are ongoing projects, so expect to hear more! Here are some of the additions we will be making to the game in the coming months.

Head items will get fixed
Our next update will address a problem with certain head items, which change your character’s hairstyle back to default when worn. After the patch, items worn on the head will no longer cause this problem. You can finally show off your hairstyle AND head gear at the same time, making it easier for players to customize their characters.

Chat channel enhancements
We are working on letting players switch chat channels by typing them right into the chat box before the message they want to send. For example, to send a message to the map channel you will type /m .

In order to improve communication for players, especially new players, we will add a new chat channel dedicated to in-game help. More details on that later this month!

SanrioTown Game Center integration
The SanrioTown Game Center is a section on SanrioTown.com in which members can play dozens of minigames and earn Loyalty Points. Check out the link if you haven’t already seen the SanrioTown Game Center! These minigames will be integrated into Hello Kitty Online, so players will be able to play them inside HKO. This will make it easier to earn Loyalty Points for use in the Item Mall. Expect this feature to be available later in March, along with a special event to celebrate the launch.

Content updates!
There are several major content updates lined up for the next months. For those who simply cannot wait, here is a quick rundown of things you can look forward to:

• ● Earth Day event and other global events
• ● Fully revamped guild system with extended functionality
• ● New adventure maps and new quests!
• ● New city map Tokyo
• ● A mini-game hub
• ● New features to stimulate friendly competition among players!

We will keep you posted on further developments, so stay tuned!

Sanrio Digital, the developer and publisher of Hello Kitty Online, ran a charity event called Food for Friends 2 to benefit Haiti earthquake relief. Thanks to the efforts of our players, Sanrio Digital made a donation to Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) on behalf of HKO, its players, and sponsor publishers. The donated amount was US$ 18,038.30, and was calculated based on the in-game efforts of HKO players. The donation was sponsored by Sanrio Digital, Burda:ic GmbH and Oriented Games.

Here is the thank you letter we received from Doctors Without Borders:

(Click the image to view the PDF file)

Food for Friends 2 was a great success, and we hope that what we all accomplished by working together will encourage everyone to help those in need. See you at our next charity event!

SanrioTown has a new home in MySpace!

Visit http://www.myspace.com/sanriotownofficial to see the new site. This will be the official SanrioTown portal in MySpace, so be sure to add it to catch the latest news and information about SanrioTown!

Zoo Publishing Inc. and Sanrio Digital have just released their brand new game, “Hello Kitty Birthday Adventures” for the NDS!

Players will go on adventures with Hello Kitty to look for the perfect present for each Sanrio character she meets. Stamps and stickers for Hello Kitty’s birthday book can be attained by playing mini-games, helping friends, and finding special object throughout the game. Players will also get to attend special holiday parties throughout the year to deliver birthday presents to their favorite Sanrio characters.

Features:
* Spend time visiting friends, hanging out, and shopping for gifts in 5 different locations: Central Square, Forest, Grassy Hill, Main Street, and Downtown.
* Includes many Sanrio Characters such as: Hello Kitty, Badtz Maru, Kuririn, Chococat, Cinnamoroll, Dear Daniel, Deery Lou, Keroppi, Kiki, Lala, Mimmy, Papa, Mama, My Melody, Pochacco, Purin, and Usahana.
* Over 10 mini-game styles – varies per each character or goal.
* Fully realized Hello Kitty world.
* Blow out birthday candles using the Nintendo DS microphone.

So what are you waiting for? Grab a copy of Hello Kitty Birthday Adventures at your favorite game stores! Enjoy hunting for perfect presents!

To show our appreciation to everyone who participated in Food for Friends 2, we are happy to announce the top 6 contributing guilds per region. You will find the appropriate list of winners in the relevant publisher websites. Click on one of the following to see the list of winners in that region:

North America
Europe
Indonesia
Philippines
Singapore & Malaysia

The winners listed will receive special Loyalty Point prizes based on their standings. But remember, each player who participated is already a winner, because on top of the prizes winners receive, those who took part in Food for Friends 2 will receive Loyalty Points equal to their guild’s total donation points divided by the number of guild members who took part in the event.

Items created and donated in Food For Friends 2 were used to calculate a donation to Doctors Without Borders to benefit relief efforts in Haiti. For more details please click here. Congratulations to all participating guilds, and we hope you enjoyed Food for Friends 2!

The Hello Kitty Online team

During the last week of January 2010, Hello Kitty Online held a special charity event called Food for Friends 2. The goal of the event was to track the in-game efforts of players and convert them into real-world donations to Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) for the benefit of Haiti earthquake victims. And now, we are pleased to announce the results!

By the end of the 10-day event, Hello Kitty Online players from across different regions generated a staggering total 1,248,257 virtual crafted items! We won’t bore you with the arithmetic, but at the end of the day this means a donation to Doctors Without Borders for the sum of US$ 18,038.30!

The donation is sponsored by Sanrio Digital as well as Burda:ic GmbH and Oriented Games. Sanrio Digital will make the donation on behalf of HKO players and publishers. North American publisher Aeria Games is arranging for its own donation independently.

Donation receipts will be posted on the Hello Kitty Online website.

On behalf of all sponsors, we would like to extend our gratitude to the players who selflessly dedicated their time and effort to this event. Your efforts will make a difference to the people of Haiti, who suffered a terrible catastrophe. Please consider making your own donation to Doctors Without Borders or any other aid organization. We hope that you enjoyed the opportunity to help those in need. See you in the next event!

Update: Sanrio Digital has made the donation to Doctors Without Borders on behalf of HKO, its players, and sponsor publishers. Click here for details!

The Hello Kitty Online team

There will be maintenance done on the forums tomorrow, 23 February 2010, from 12:00 - 2:00 P.M. (Hong Kong time, or GMT +8). During this time, you may have difficulty accessing the SanrioTown forums, but it will go back to normal after the time frame mentioned. Don’t worry, all your posts will be retained.

During this time, you might also be encountering problems with your Sanrio Loyalty Points, as  the system is also going through maintenance at this period.

We apologize for any inconveniences this may cause.

Thank you for choosing SanrioTown!

Continuing in our celebration of both holidays, new Valentines and Chinese New Year themed layouts are now available for your SanrioTown Blogs!

Not only that, but new wallpapers, calendars and other goodies are now available in the download section! Just a suggestion: you may try to use the new wallpapers/backgrounds for you desktops, Twitter accounts and anywhere you like!

We hope you like the new designs! And remember, if you don’t have a SanrioTown account yet, you can sign up now for free!

Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy Chinese New Year everyone!