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?

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

Early Sunday, a surprising and still yet-to-be-approved merger between Activision and Vivendi Games was announced.

Vivendi Games (which owns Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of the uncannily popular World of Warcraft) will buy a majority stake in Activision to create a new company, Activision Blizzard.

Providing regulators and Activision shareholders agree on the deal, Vivendi will own 52 per cent of the entity, with Activision boss Robert Kotick crowned President and Chief Executive Officer. Vivendi’s head, Bruce Hack, will be CCO of the combined company.

The deal will combine the key franchises of Activision (that include Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk) with Vivendi, (that makes…they do…well, they own Blizzard, which is a big deal. To give you an idea: Blizzard says they’ll make $1.1bn in revenue this year, $502m of which is operating profit).

According to the announcement, the combined company will usurp EA to become the world’s most profitable third party game publisher. The total transaction is valued at $18.9bn.

So what does a merger mean for consumers?

Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime told the online game rag 1UP that "Activision Blizzard" will be a corporate brand only, and not associated with any product.

So there shouldn’t be a "From the makers of World of Warcraft: Tony Hawk XXXVI," or "ActiBlizzard’s Wrath of the Lich King" on any game boxes.

That’s good news for Blizzard at least. The game developer has largely been left as a separate entity from Vivendi after its purchase — and done very well with the arrangement, thank you very much.

Blizzard moniker is likely being used solely to bring "star power" to the company stock. Blizzard also says there won’t be any management changes on its end as a result of the deal.

Originally from Sumodownload. Hello Kitty takes over the Game show, look at all those cheering hands, and wait, they look like they are mostly guys? The show introduced Sanriotown and the up and coming Kitty MMORPG, I wonder what that is about?

Disney acquires Club Penguin for 350 million USD.

Club Penguin, an online hangout that has quickly become a rage among preteens despite limited marketing and advertising efforts, has been purchased by the Walt Disney Co. for at least $350 million, the companies announced Wednesday.

Payments could double to as much as $700 million if profits grow, Disney Chief Financial Officer Thomas O. Staggs said.