Today we are pleased to announce the release of some major improvements to Flipnote Hatena for Nintendo DSi.

This update is called Flipnote Hatena 2.5, and is a change to the functions of Flipnote Hatena, the online portion of Flipnote Studio. Flipnote Hatena 2.5 does not require you to update your Flipnote Studio application or to perform a system update on your Nintendo DSi.

The changes that we have made in this update are as follows:

Addition of 'Categories'

• The Channel list is now organized into easy-to-use categories. This makes it easier to find Flipnotes you like.

Reorganization of the main menu

• We have added a 'Special Room' with 'Flipnote Central', 'Make Your Own Mario Flipnote' winners and more.

Recommended Flipnotes

• The types of Flipnotes you like are determined by what you add stars to.
• Flipnotes by users with similar likes will be displayed to you as 'Recommended Flipnotes'.
• A questionnaire about 'Recommended Flipnotes' is displayed to users who have never added stars to Flipnotes to determine their likes quickly.
• You can remove Flipnotes and creators from your Recommended Flipnotes list if you don't like them.

Improvements to the quality of the Most Popular section

• You can send information to us about the Flipnotes you do not like, and vote to have those Flipnotes removed from the Most Popular section.
• The popular Flipnotes section will be updated based on everyone's votes.
• Your vote is not displayed to other users, and the Flipnotes you don't like are not made public or shown to the Flipnote creator.

Menu Display Mode Settings

• The Menu Display Mode function allows you to display menus that are suited for how you use Flipnote Hatena. You can choose between Basic Mode and Advanced Mode.
• Advanced Mode is for users who like to actively search for Flipnotes and check out the latest animations posted to Flipnote Hatena.

• Basic Mode is for users who like to view Recommended Flipnotes and the Popular Flipnotes list. This menu style is more simple and compact.

Optimize Popular Flipnotes

• With this option enabled you can see Flipnotes that are popular with your age group in the Most Popular section. If you do not use this option you will be shown the Most Popular list for users of all ages.

We hope that these changes will improve the quality of the Flipnotes you see and provide you with a better experience on Flipnote Hatena.

We look forward to your continued enjoyment of Flipnote Hatena, and thank you for your support!

Thanks from all of us on the Flipnote Hatena team.