Joint Venture, Sanrio Digital, Propels the Famous Character's
Online Home into the Digital Future
HONG KONG, Nov. 21 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The leading publisher,
developer and distributor of multi-platform online and offline entertainment
software Typhoon Games, has partnered with Sanrio Wave Hong Kong Co. Ltd. to
bring Sanrio characters to the next stage of their digital evolution.
Sanrio Digital, a joint venture between the two companies, led to a complete
renovation of the official online presence for Hello Kitty and friends,
Sanriotown ( www.sanriotown.com ), with new flash games, blog, photo, video
and online shopping features embracing the social web.
"We are excited to work with Sanrio Wave in driving the digital
expansion of Sanrio's intellectual property assets," said Yat Siu, the CEO
of Sanrio Digital. "Hello Kitty is one of the most recognized brands in the
world and it's full potential has not yet been realized via the Internet.
Both the Hello Kitty and Sanrio brands are now extended further beyond that
of the traditional realm and onto new digital mediums via the new
Sanriotown."
"This collaboration aims to successfully create synergy between the
Sanrio traditional offline business and the digital venture." Said Hiroaki
Nishino, the Director of Sanrio Wave. "Through these online projects, we
give non-Sanrio fans the chance to satisfy their curiosity and excite them
about Hello Kitty & Friends and this will hopefully arouse their interest in
offline products; and widen the fan base of Sanrio characters."
Riding on the existing online community services such as forum and free
e-mail as well as download services, new social networking features have
been launched on Sanriotown, which already has a current user-base of almost
2 million world wide. The two most prominent of the newly introduced
features are Kitty Shop and Dream Studio, while other features on the site
like blogs, chat, message boards and avatars inject more fun into the social
networking environment for users.
Kitty Shop is the online store where fans can purchase a wide range of
Hello Kitty memorabilia. Kitty Shop also allows users to provide their
input into the design of upcoming products, while at the same time, making
purchases from the current available range. To celebrate the launch of the
new Sanriotown, Kitty Shop allows sanriotown.com members to exclusively pre-
order a limited Christmas Edition of Hello Kitty Angel Box sets
Dream Studio is an advanced web technology that enables users to create
and direct their own flash movies by simply uploading video, photos and MP3
music. With this new feature, users are able to indulge themselves with the
latest online trends and embed their videos on their own website, blogs, or
other community portals, creating an online networking community that is
unique to Sanriotown.
In addition to the above, there will be other advanced and innovative
entertainment products released. For example, a massive multiplayer Hello
Kitty online game is currently in the final stages of development, bringing
mature Hello Kitty fans and online gamers higher levels of difficulty,
excitement and interaction. Also, a 52-Episode 3D Animated TV series
titles "The Adventures of Hello Kitty & Friends" will be released,
introducing a side of Hello Kitty that is not only cute and cuddly, but one
that takes on the role of an educator for children to learn from.
For more details, please visit www.sanriotown.com or
www.sanriodigital.com .
About Sanrio Digital
Sanrio Digital is a joint venture between Typhoon Games (HK) Ltd., and
Sanrio Co. Ltd. whose aim is to focus on the digital expansion of Sanrio
intellectual property assets. This effective collaboration will capitalize
on the great number of IP assets that have not yet been fully digitally
developed. Furthermore, Sanrio Digital will hold exclusive rights to
produce offline products based on its online productions, which is expected
to create synergy between the Sanrio traditional offline business and the
digital venture; studies have shown that higher revenue generation can be
expected if Sanrio online and offline business complement each other.
About Typhoon Games
Typhoon Games Ltd. was founded in August 2001 in Hong Kong as a game
developing and publishing company that recognizes the great potential of the
gaming industry in Asia. We work with developers in the region, as well as
those from Europe and North America to create and localize PC games for the
Asian audiences. Typhoon Games aims to provide the best distribution
channel for game developers to sell their games, and for gamers to
experience games in the most sound and technically advanced environment.
Typhoon Games combines the highest technology with the most loyal
communities of users to bring our audience the best gaming experience ever!
Typhoon Games Ltd. is a leading publisher, developer and distributor of
multi-platform online and offline entertainment software with channel
partners in North America and Europe, and distribution in Singapore,
Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Korea and
Japan. Game titles released by Typhoon Games have won international acclaim
from leading game media experts and received some of the industry's top
awards. To date, Typhoon Games has published over 100 different game titles.
About Sanrio Wave Hong Kong Co., Ltd.
Sanrio Co., Ltd. founded Sanrio Wave Hong Kong Co., Ltd. in 2000 after
Sanrio (H.K.) Co., Ltd. was founded in April 1994. While Sanrio HK focused
on the traditional character merchandise business, Sanrio Wave HK has the
unique mission to create and distribute the original Sanrio contents /
entertainment business throughout Asia, and eventually in global scale.
Throughout the years, Sanrio characters have always been one of the most
wanted contents by the mobile content providers and telecom operators.
Sanrio Wave HK is currently working with almost all major telecom networks
in Asia directly or through the local content providers while the mobile
content distribution network is still expanding. To further proliferate the
content business, Sanrio Wave HK starts to produce original publication to
enrich the content category.
In October 2006, Sanrio HK is merged to Sanrio Wave HK to further extend
its mission to be the regional hub to become the all rounded company with
the strong integration of online and offline, merchandise and the contents.
This press release is distributed by Upstream Asia on behalf of Sanrio
Digital. For any enquiries, please contact:
Michelle Ho
Sanrio Digital (HK) Ltd.
Tel: +852-2540-2237
Fax: +852-2803-0211
Email: michelle@sanriodigital.com
