What Does Flipnote Mean To You?

We asked some fans on the Flipnote Studio 3D Facebook page why they liked Flipnote Studio so much. The answers surprised me: Flipnote Studio obviously means more to people than Nintendo realizes.

For many, Flipnote Studio and Hatena were a way to escape from bullying and hard times. Many people found friendship and acceptance among this community of animators.

Flipnotes are great entertainment to just watch. But when watching them, it is obvious that the creators are working with the same tools that you have available to you. This realization inspired many to work even harder on their own creations.

Flipnote Hatena was a melting pot of different people with different backgrounds, ideas, and personalities. A mishmash of fandoms, from Invader Zim, to Warrior Cats, to Doctor Who, to My Little Pony, to Sonic, to anime, each with their own groups and fans. There were adults, teenagers, and even kids.

With so many thousands of users, it's certain that many animators and artists got their start on Flipnote. The community and motivation it provided are unmatched by anything else.

The simplicity of Flipnote's tools are certainly part of its appeal. Even the "advanced tools" are pretty basic compared to more advanced software such as Toon Boom Studio and Flash. But limitation often sparks innovation, and there was a lot of that on Flipnote Hatena. One of the most amazing things to me was that people managed to create a 3D effect in their Flipnotes. You had to cross your eyes to see it, but by placing two slightly different images adjacent to each other on the screen, creators managed to engineer a basic 3D effect. Incredible. Add that to the list of unintended purposes of Flipnote Studio such as RPs and sprite animation/fonts, and you've got clear evidence of an incredibly creative community.

Everybody enjoyed drawing and animating in Flipnote Studio. Even today, when I see a DSi, I can't resist opening it and creating a silly looping animation.

And of course, like all good things, Flipnote Hatena had to end. There was hope on the horizon with the release of Flipnote Studio 3D, or so we thought. It's been almost a year since the software was delayed, with no further word regarding a release outside of Japan. It's been a pretty tough time, waiting for something that means so much to us.

Friendship. Creativity. Working to become the best.

It's no wonder Flipnotes make people feel so happy. The pure silliness and joy of seeing people's creations come to life can brighten anyone's face. The intense action of stick fights. The awesomeness of a smoothly animated original comedy. Even an entire Flipnote series with an epic story, that takes around 90 minutes to watch the whole thing. Oh, and there was always the Flipnote Frog!

Thanks, Philip Acosta. We can't forget the frog.

ALL HAIL THE FROG