A really interesting post on the Hello Kitty Online Video Contest entitled:

Hello Kitty Online users must sing for their beta

I have no idea if this type of beta contest has been done before, but I think we’ll see a lot more of it in the future. Already the vids are coming in, with over 8000 uploaded at this date.

They are packed with Hello Kitty cuteness, but one in particular from tehguy caught my eye.

The educator in me is also intrigued by this competition. Assuming that Hello Kitty in a brand that attracts a younger audience, I’m fascinated at the variety of literacies at play in this digital mashup of Hello Kitty images. It takes many skills and much knowledge to create one of these videos. I think it’s a great example of a company that acknowledges the remix culture of their audience, much like the kind mentioned in Lawrence Lessig’s TED Talk.

Is this a bit like public Karaoke?

In full glorious 3D!

Inventorspot says "Move over World of Warcraft, Hello Kitty Online is Here!"

MTV’s G4TV says "Watch out World of Warcraft. Hello Kitty is going MMO"

Today Hello Kitty Online, tomorrow the World (of Warcraft)… Sweetness superpower Sanrio of Japan, creators of the omnipresent Hello Kitty character, will be taking the cute cat online in what may be the biggest challenge yet to massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) dominated by World Of Warcraft.

You have to wonder, how much of this is for real, or just plain funny, I for one find it very funny!!

Well done Hello Kitty Online!

So I guess you’ve heard the news!

Hello Kitty MMORPG is finally going beta, it’s not far away from a full launch, World of Warcraft and Second Life beware, the world of cute will come and over run you, cute vs. evil powers, why cute always wins.

The official website is at www.hellokittyonline.com

Right ahead of GDC, Street Fighter IV is set to probably be announced at the GDC, here’s a great screenshot and art style shot of the style of the game, although it does look like Chun Li has been working out on the Gym a little bit too hard it would seem.