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Massively Multiplayer Hello Kitty
Thanks (I guess) to GameGossip for the news that SanrioWave Software is planning a Hello Kitty Massively Multiplayer Game. From the article: "The game will give players access to up to three characters, each customizable, and will include 15 different occupations, and five shops in which players can make in-game progress. Hello Kitty Online World will carry an subscription fee of sorts when launched throughout Asia later this year." The official game site is also available for perusal.
In the grim future of Hello Kitty there is only war.
Don't blame me, I voted for Durga.
And lest we forget, NeoPets is still insanely popular with younger kids...the demographic of this game.
I wouldn't be caught dead playing it, but if it will make a little girl in Japan happy, it's served its purpose.
Goo goo g'joob.
Al Qaeda has ninjas!
So... the big question is - can Kittys PK each other?
The friendliest digital photography forums on the net!
A Hello Kitty MMORPG?
Role-playing little kids in a sweatshop making pink and white toys and accessories for little girls?
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Either go to:
http://kuoi.asui.uidaho.edu/~kamikaze/Sanrio/ and click on the link from there , or get it with wget:
Slashdot Sig. version 0.1alpha. Use at your own risk.
From the official page:
Feeding (instruction)
The Player must remember to feed his or her pet every day after the Angel has grown beyond the infancy stage. If this is neglected, the relationship between the Player and the Angel will drop and the Angel would take the Player's life bit by bit until it goes out of control.
I envision a server full of cute, maniacal, life-sucking kittens and frogs.
"Sure, Wiggles may be slowly draining my life essence, but isn't he just the cutesOH MY EYES HE RIPPED OUT MY EYES!"
Hilarity ensues.
Ironic, because the page is full of direct links to images and media on other sites.
Gah, formatting. Hello Preview Button!
...MMORPGs like this just plain out scare me. Speaking as someone who's MUDded and MMOed for entirely too long of a time, I'd never let a kid in my care (not that there are any, but still) anywhere near an online multiplayer game. I've seen far too many chatroom flamewars, seen little 'girls' scream A/S/L, and done my share of trashtalk on games like Counterstrike.
To actively setup a game that's specifically targetting the young and impressionable demographic is just.. not right. Even to market it in Asia, home of the schoolgirl fetish. I'm fairly open-minded in my values, but this sorta thing just disturbs me.
Their TOS specifically prohibits harming minors, but it also has the standard corporate CYA legalese thrown in, probably 'just in case'. I wonder what degree of policing will these folks do on their servers? Or how much involvement will Asian parents have in their kids' use of the service?
It's ultimately the parent's responsibility for their children, of course, but services like these should be held to some sort of standard, should they not?