Hello Kitty Online is quickly increasing in popularity in the MMO scene, and we want to give even more gamers an opportunity to enter the game at this early stage. We are happy to announce that Sanrio Digital has tied-up with the popular game community MMOSite as HKO enters Closed Beta 2! So now, you can download the Closed Beta client through a mirror provided by MMOSite, and you can access that by heading on to the HKO Official Site download page.

We will continue to keep you posted through the official blog and through the official site, so check back often!

Even in this early stage of the Hello Kitty Online contest, we are receiving a number of creative, inspired videos from our members. So now we want to feature some of those great entries that are already becoming popular on Dream Studio!

First on our list is this video from HKO closed beta tester Juju. You can view the video page by clicking this link.

Next is something from icyrascal, our veteran Dream Studio director. He created his own video, which you can view by clicking this link.

You can see more of those videos by heading on to Dream Studio. Remember, you still have until June 30 2008 to make your videos, so don’t miss out! It could be your video we feature next.

Great news for all our Closed Beta testers! Due to public demand, we are extending the Closed Beta period until the 25th of May 2008, that means you will have over two weeks more to complete your quests, talk to your in-game friends, work on your farms and build your houses!

Expect a larger number of players during the rest of the Closed Beta period, and also watch out for the upcoming major in-game event! We will keep you posted regarding that through the official HKO Event blog.

Thank you all for your comments, reports and suggestions. We hope to hear more from you, so if you have any more concerns, please feel free to email us at onlinegame@hellokitty.com.

Happy playing!

Hi folks! We’re smack in the first week of May, and we’ve got a brand-new contest for all you aspiring directors out there. Hello Kitty Online’s full public launch is fast approaching, and in light of this, we want YOU to show us just how much you’re looking forward to the game by coming up with your very own Hello Kitty Online trailer!

The Hello Kitty Online Trailer Contest will test the limits of your creativity. Create a trailer worthy of Hello Kitty Online using any material of your own choosing, along with media files we will be providing, and submit it to Dream Studio for judging.

How you go about in the creation of your entry is up to you; just make sure that the trailer shows just how great you think Hello Kitty Online is, and make sure that you follow all the rules of the contest.

1. You have to agree to the terms and conditions of the contest
2. Download the Hello Kitty Online Trailer Media Pack
3. Unpack it using a program like WinZip, WinRar, ZipGenius, etc.
4. Use Dream Studio or your own program (such as Windows Movie Maker) to put the various elements together
5. Add your own material - videos, photos, music, animations or text that you might want to use in your video
6. Your video/s MUST include the elements provided in the media pack
7. upload the video to SanrioTown’s Dream Studio, making sure that you include the tag “HKOContest” (without the quotes)

The grand prize winner will receive a Hello Kitty Tote Bag that can only be found in Japan, along with a limited edition Hello Kitty USB memory stick with 1GB memory.

The runners-up will also receive a limited edition Hello Kitty USB memory stick each. The first runner-up will get a Euro Hello Kitty pouch, while the second runner-up will win a Hello Kitty Eye Relaxing Patch.

A total of 15 contestants will also receive a Hello Kitty USB memory stick each as consolation prizes.

You can find the official SanrioTown announcement here, while the HKO trailer media pack can be downloaded from this link. The contest runs from May 1 to June 30, 2008, which is more than enough time for everybody to come up with something that’s sure to make us at SanrioTown proud. Should you have any questions, don’t hesitate to visit the official forum thread.

We’d just like to remind everybody that all entries should contain no offensive material, nor should explicit / violent content be used. Each entry should contain all of the elements found in the HKO trailer media pack, and should contain the tag “HKOContest,” otherwise these will be disqualified.

All video entries are considered as property of SanrioTown.

Good luck to everybody who plans on joining!

Technorati Tags: Hello Kitty Online, Hello Kitty, SanrioTown, Dream Studio, HKOContest, Hello Kitty Online Trailer Contest, HKO, MMORPG

Welcome to Sanrio Land! Finally, our closed beta testers can now start playing Hello Kitty Online! Only hours into the start of the closed beta, we have testers chatting, farming, playing minigames, doing quests and just enjoying the game.

To our beta testers, if you need any help during the game,  you can PM or approach any of your GMs wearing yellow uniforms for males, and teal/light blue uniforms for females.

For those who have not received the packages, please see the announcement in the previous post. Additionally, please note that we will he having scheduled server maintenance daily from 13:00 - 14:00 Hong Kong Time (GMT +8).

See you in the game!

Good news for all our Closed Beta testers! We know you’re all excited to receive your packages, and so we’re pleased to announce that your packages have been sent, and you should be receiving them very soon.

We hope you enjoy these special gifts that we’ve prepared for you, and we hope to see you all in the Hello Kitty Online Closed Beta!

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

It was a tough call to make, but after weeks of screening, we finally have our selected closed beta testers from the many many users who have submitted applications in Dream Studio.

And without further ado, here are the chosen ones for Hello Kitty Online Closed Beta!

To our chosen testers, we’ve censored part of your email addresses for your security. But you will be receiving an email very soon with instructions on how you can get the client, and more information on our fast-approaching closed beta period.

Thank you to everyone who participated, and once again, for your overwhelming response to Hello Kitty Online. Congratulations to our closed beta testers, and hope you enjoy!

Technorati tags: hello kitty online, mmorpg, closed beta, dream studio

Thank you for your enthusiasm for the Hello Kitty Online closed beta! We’ve received hundreds of applications on Dream Studio, and are currently in the process of selecting those who will be getting the closed beta accounts.

We will send an email soon regarding who got in, with more information and download instructions.

See you in Hello Kitty Online!

Technorati tags: hello kitty online, hko, dream studio, closed beta

We are proud to announce that Sanrio Digital will be working with our European partner Burda:IC to bring you HKO in 6 European Languages including German, French, Italian, Turkish and Spanish.

The current Asian Closed Beta is in English, but keep an eye out for the  European Closed Beta coming soon! Fans from Europe can already look out for news and announcements via SanrioTown.

Technorati tags: hello kitty online, hko, burda, closed beta, sanriotown, europe, sanrio digital