Hello Kitty's Birthday to Be Held in MMORPG

Hello Kitty turns 34 on November 1,

2008. To celebrate the occasion, Sanrio Digital today announced a birthday party for Hello

Kitty that will be held inside Hello Kitty Online, the eagerly anticipated MMORPG. The

celebration begins on Saturday November 1st, and will include a

birthday party lasting through the week-end, a week-long series of

in-game quests and events, and a charity event that lets players

convert effort they spend inside the game into real cash donations

to charity.

Hello Kitty Online is a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Role-Playing

Game) based on the popular Sanrio characters. The game transports

players into the cute and cuddly world of Sanrio Land and is fully

integrated with official Sanrio portal SanrioTown.com, which

utilizes blogs, email, video sharing, games and more to create a

digital and social experience accessible at any time, even in-game.

The game is currently in Founders' Beta phase. The present version

of Hello Kitty Online will shut down on November 8, 2008, to allow

the development team to continue work on the game and prepare for

Open Beta. Current players, however, will retain their characters

and certain benefits in future versions of the game.

There are a range of exciting events and activities planned for

Hello Kitty's birthday and the final week of the Founders' Beta.

1) Hello Kitty's Birthday Party - November 1-2

Hello Kitty, real name Kitty White, was introduced to the world on

November 1, 1974, and was the creation of a young artist named Yuko

Shimizu. Today Hello Kitty is one of the most-loved and recognized

images in the world, and was awarded the exclusive title of Special

Friend of Children by UNICEF. To celebrate her birthday, Hello

Kitty will make special appearances in Hello Kitty Online on

November 1st and 2nd. In addition, players can expect special

mini-events and even gifts to celebrate this special day.

2) Guild Competition: Build New York - November 1-6

It's time to build New York! The guilds of Hello Kitty Online will

be competing in a race to build two of New York City's most famous

landmarks: The Statue of Liberty and The Empire State Building.

Representatives of the participating guilds will be called to trade

in their Empire Keys and Liberty Keys for special Empire State and

Liberty land certificates. The first guilds to complete building

these landmarks will receive formal recognition in the new zone and

will be awarded special items in the next version of the game.

3) "Food for Friends" Charity Event - November 1-6

Remembering children who are less fortunate, Hello Kitty Online

will host an in-game guild contest called "Food for Friends", in

which the efforts of guilds will be translated into donations to

charity. Guilds interested in participating will produce raw

materials on their farms and craft them into specific food items.

Guilds will submit prepared food items to a Game Master. The guilds

with the highest contributions will be declared winners. The

winning guilds will receive a permanent page on

www.hellokittyonline.com, special guild privileges for open beta,

and a small feature on their guild including an interview with the

guild representative(s) to be posted on official blog and press

releases. Based on the total prepared food donated by all guilds,

Sanrio Digital will then make cash donations to UNICEF

(www.unicef.org) and the Asian Youth Orchestra

(www.asianyouthorchestra.com).

Please refer to

http://www.hellokittyonline.com/us/index.php?c=misc&s=foodForFriends for

information on the "Food For Friends" event.

About Hello Kitty Online

Hello Kitty Online (www.hellokittyonline.com), developed by Sanrio

Digital (www.sanriodigital.com), is the first MMORPG to integrate

social networking web services into the game experience. In

addition to standard MMORPG features such as customizable avatars,

guilds, skill systems, and player economy, other features include:

• Unique game world: a persistent, beautifully designed environment

  where thousands of players and NPCs live, explore and quest in a

  magical world with real and imaginary zones such as the Flower

  Kingdom, Tokyo, Paris, New York, and more.

• Unique NPCs: players will encounter and interact with popular

  Sanrio characters such as Badtz-Maru, My Melody, Keroppi, and many

  others.

• Free to play: downloaded and played free of charge. There are no

  subscription fees.

• Character upgrades: the Item Mall allows players to use real

  money to purchase special items and upgrades for characters.

• Player housing: players can build and customize their own houses

  after acquiring the necessary licenses and materials.

• Farming: every player receives a farm, which offers extra storage

  and produces important raw materials that can be used in crafting.

  The farming system incorporates a number of variables such as

  fertility, pest infestations, and crop characteristics.

• Crafting system: an extensive crafting system with output such as

  tools & weapons, farming implements & furniture, a wide variety of

  cooked dishes, and clothing for decorative and stat-modifying

  items. Raw materials include wood, minerals and metals, and crops.

• A different focus: although it has a sophisticated combat system,

  unlike other MMORPGs combat need not be a primary objective for

  players. There are many puzzles to be solved, mini-games to compete

  in, story lines to follow, and adventures to experience.

• A social networking platform including blogs, video sharing,

  friends list, and email services.

Sanrio Digital is a joint venture between Typhoon Games (HK) Ltd.

and Sanrio Co. Ltd. Sanrio Digital is responsible for the expansion

of Sanrio intellectual property assets into various digital and

online media, leveraging an extensive library of original material

that includes world-famous brands such as Hello Kitty, Badtz Maru,

My Melody, and others. For more information please visit

www.sanriodigital.com

©2008-10-31, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved