History
Flipnote Studio - initially envisioned as simply being a note-taking tool - started as the secret project of two Nintendo employees, Yoshiaki Koizumi and Hideaki Shimizu. The first prototype was developed in just a few days, however after going through several shifts in focus, the pair considered developing it as a DS Download Play application that could be downloaded to the DS from a WiiWare app. Users would create notes on the DS console, then use local wireless to upload them back to the Wii. From there, they could be shared with others over the internet.
Later, upon hearing of the then in-development Nintendo DSi, Koizumi and Shimizu decided to move their project to the console. Nintendo’s own Network Development Department was already occupied with other projects, so the problem then became finding a suitable way to make the sharing of Flipnotes easy and accessible for users.
During a meeting, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata suggested a collaboration with Hatena Co., Ltd, a Japanese company who provide various social web-based services in Japan.
Hatena's Research and Development department had recently moved their offices to Kyoto, Japan; the same city that Nintendo Corporate Labs where located in, hence Iwata's suggestion.
A meeting was later held with Junya Kondo and Teppei Ninemiya from Hatena, who excitedly agreed to work in collaboration with Nintendo to develop an online content sharing service for the application.
The earliest known screenshot of the app, from a demo at Nintendo's Autumn 2008 conference.
A preview of the Flipnote Hatena website was released, featuring sample Flipnotes by Hatena and Nintendo employees. An archived version can be found here.
This update was provided for free though the Nintendo DSi Shop. It was still possible to continue using the old version until July 1, when updating to version 2 became required in order to use Flipnote Hatena. The main changes included:
- Additional sample Flipnotes
- "Advanced" toolset mode
- "Back up" feature to bulk-save all your Flipnotes to the SD card
- Significant improvements to the online functions of Flipnote Hatena
- An update to the DSi Menu icon
This update improved the internet communication in order to reduce the number of errors. In addition, Hatena ID registration became available for Flipnote Hatena.
This a photo from [August 12, 2009] taken exactly when Flipnote Hatena went live at Hatena's offices in Kyoto, Japan. Source
As was announced on May 13, Flipnote Hatena ceased service to make way for Flipnote Studio 3D.