Flipnote Studio Review

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Flipnote Studio, just released in the US, is the first piece of software for the Nintendo DSi that makes me comfortable in saying that you now should upgrade to the new system. The fact that it's a free download makes it all that much sweeter.

Flipnote Studio is the index card stack for today's generation. This is an extremely simple, yet fully featured animation program that enables anyone with any sense of stylus skills to produce animations of significant quality quickly.

What makes Flipnote Studio even more fantastic is its ability to share the animations. You can collaborate with friends by transferring your file directly to their DSi, or -- after registering for an account – upload directly to the internet via the Flipnote Hatena social network website. Through this site you can view animations in a You Tube-like Flash video clip, which means you can do what I did and embed a video window on your webpage, blog, or Facebook account to show off your cartoons. You can also browse these animations through the Nintendo DSi: the downloads are near instantaneous thanks to the tiny sizes of the files. And if you want to take sound out of the equation, you can easily convert your Flipnote into an animated .GIF on the DSi system.

The fact that Flipnote Studio is free means that Nintendo can now add a bulletpoint to the list of included features of the Nintendo DSi system. After toying with the program for hours and seeing co-workers' reactions and excitement, both in what I produced and how easy it is to use, I'm now comfortable in saying that there's a real reason to own a DSi system. Flipnote Studio is the system seller Nintendo really needs.