Jewel Pet SNS for school girls mixes real world items

Written by: Rebecca Milner on October 16, 2008 at 4:32 am | In DIGITAL LIFE | 2 Comments

Tamagotchi aren’t the only toys to link to SNS specifically created for character loving school kids. Jewel Pet, a collaboration between Sanrio and Sega Toys, now has its own web community called Web Gurumi, launched on October 2nd.

Each Jewel Pet, a stuffed animal designed for young girls, comes with a unique serial number that serves as a login code to the site. Here pet owners have access to their own virtual room where they appear as young witches and can play with animated versions of their pets.

Of course the more real toys you buy, the cuter your virtual room becomes.

Web Gurumi also has SNS functions such as chat and email and is set in a larger “magical world” where users can go shopping and play games.

While anything pink and cuddly for school girls hardly seems an obvious topic for a blog with a tech trend bent, we can’t help but notice the number of these things that are becoming more and more tech-oriented—paving the way for a generation of girls who can move seamlessly between cuddly and digital worlds.

Tags: Children, Sanrio, Sega, SNS, Toys, Web 2.0
Category: DIGITAL LIFE
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

2D love for PC savvy girls at Web Kare

Written by: Rebecca Milner on September 29, 2008 at 8:40 am | In DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION | 2 Comments

Considering the not-so marginalized male population who openly admit online to preferring “2D” girls over the real, live thing there has got to be a proportionate number of lonely 3D girls out there fed up with competing for the remaining eligible segment of the population.

Or perhaps it is another example of the current trend of taking digital world success stories and tweaking them to suit the growing tech-savvy female population. Either way we are seeing a continued number of new “love simulation” role playing games for romance-hungry school girls (and admittedly probably some older ones too).

The latest, launched this month from contents creator Link Think, certainly doesn’t try to candy coat the concept—its called Web Kare (“kare” means “boyfriend”).

Set on a campus, Web Kare is a PC based game that also incorporates a profile page, facebook wall style “minilog,” blog parts, and BBS. Like other SNS that encourage user-generated content, the BBS is called “Oekaki” (“draw a picture”) and is a space for members to upload their original Web Kare inspired illustrations.

After registering, members can choose from four preset boyfriends (representing the usual types: sporty, bad boy, intellectual, and the older man) although the potential for making the acquaintance of new love interests exists as the game unfolds.

Changing between any of the four can be done by the simple clicking of a button. There are also events that can be attended together and users can maintain animated photo albums to record these “shared” memories. Perhaps the most impressive function is that voice actors provide voices for the characters, making this replacement for the real thing that much more convincing.

Tags: Romance, RPGs, SNS, Web 2.0
Category: DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Online graffiti a hit for classroom nostalgia

Written by: Rebecca Milner on September 25, 2008 at 8:02 am | In DIGITAL LIFE | 1 Comment

New website Kyokasho.net offers up hundreds of textbook images (“kyokasho” means “textbook”) of great figures of history for your digital defacement pleasure. Using tools such as a grey lead pencil, a red pencil, and a rubber eraser, users can create online textbook graffiti that recalls tedious school days gone by.

Play begins by first choosing from one of five subjects (Japanese language, Japanese history, world history, music, and the arts), then a target figure. For each historical person, a mock textbook page has been created using text from the Japanese version of Wikipedia. Defamers (or the curious) can also browse galleries of user-created characatures. The use of photos is made possible through the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL).

Since opening in July, Kyokasho.net has already recorded over 10,000 user-generated images. Of the 350 personas up for grabs, the most popular so far is Taisho period novelist Ryounosuku Akutagawa with 930 images created to date. Coming in second is Mozart with 401 and Meiji period writer Masaoka Shiki with 341. No, I’m sorry we have no idea why other than that Akutagawa (pictured above) is the first image in the first subject listed.

In addition to the nostalgia factor, a representative from contents creator Marici explained that he hoped the site would offer a creative and constructive outlet for the frustrations many (especially in the online community a la 2 Channel) feel towards society of late.

Another recent case for the timeless and universal appeal of scribbling anonymously where you are not supposed to is Kokuban.in. Launched in August, Kokuban.in (“kokuban” means “blackboard”) offers users a clean slate and six colors of digital chalk to create their own classroom graffiti masterpiece.

A little over a month after opening, the site already has 400,000 user-generated images. There are a lot of manga-inspired illustrations, but also landscapes, still life etc. Each day Kokuban offers a theme for inspiration and variety.

Looked at together, Kyokasho.net and Kokuban.in are examples of the hit potential of a clever blend of retro/low-tech and web 2.0 capabilities.

Tags: Retro, UGC, Web 2.0
Category: DIGITAL LIFE
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

SNS for manga artists from Futabasha Press

Written by: Rebecca Milner on September 1, 2008 at 11:44 pm | In MARKETING IDEAS | 3 Comments

Manga publisher Futabasha recently established an SNS community for would-be manga artists. “Manga Yomou!” (“Let’s read manga!”) allows members to post their own original work on the site with the aim of getting a readership and feedback from peers. However there is more to this basic Myspace for manga concept, the editor of Futabasha’s monthly comic magazine Comic High will have a presence on the site, offering evaluations of select works and even picking some up for publication in the magazine.

The site, billed as “Social Networking for Comics,” is organized into sections for user-made “indies comics” and illustrations displayed by ranking, plus space for reviews of new published series, member blogs, and a BBS.

With mobile phone novels like Koizora (which started out as a user generated story on the mobile phone homepage portal site Maho no iRando) becoming best-sellers in print, publishers have done well to take notice of this reader trend. In fact, it was Futabasha that published the highly successful manga series of Koizora last year.

While it might seem odd to buy a hard version of something you’ve already read for free online, sales figures prove otherwise. One reason for this is that readers have been said to want a souvenir of the work in the form of a printed version because they felt part of its discovery and success. Through Manga Yomou, Futabasha dangles the carrot of published success to draw members, who will then become an established readership for whatever the publisher chooses to bring to print.

Tags: Koizora, magazines, manga, Publishing, SNS, UGC, Web 2.0
Category: MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Japan Inc. - July 2008: Digital Shopping

Written by: Michael Keferl on July 19, 2008 at 2:10 am | In LIFESTYLE / FASHION | 2 Comments

Now that the Japan Inc. magazine has gone monthly once again, CScout Japan’s contributions will be ramped up as well. Look out for us every month in the Trends in Japan column, but be sure to check out the entire magazine as well by getting a subscription.

In the recent July 2008 issue of Japan Inc. we talk about the intersection of online shopping with the real world fitting room experience. Can an avatar try on an outfit the same way the user can?

If you have any suggested topics for our column, feel free to let us know!

Tags: Japan Inc., Press coverage, Retail, Web 2.0
Category: LIFESTYLE / FASHION
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, DIGITAL LIFE, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS