Thanks to Misayo, I now have an account on Japan's biggest social network, mixi. Ain't she cute?
Misayo works with Japanese game developer GaiaX. Their online racing game Twinkle came out of beta in Japan that day, and she's introducing the game to Philippine publishers.
Only the Japanese could imagine a hoverboard with a face. Japanese game developers' courage to pour top talent into kooky concepts allows them to come up with such quality left-field hits as Katamari Damacy. Misayo herself likes Animal Crossing. Wonder if that kooky magic will work here, too. An alumnus of renowned anime producer J.C. Staff is on the project, so the game has a genuine Japanese anime feel.
I've mentioned the potential of gamer babes before, and GaiaX gets that. The female voices in Twinkle are not done by fan-disengaged actresses. GaiaX develops actual female gamer-bloggers to do the voices. They'll also line-dance for viral videos. No, I'm not kidding: Misayo herself will do the choreography.
More English info on Twinklehere. Filipina cosplayers get ready: Misayo envisions a set of Twinkle girls in the Philippines.
Check out this in-game video of her appearance. Smart girl that she is, Giselle takes to virtual reality like a fish takes to water. Since brains carry over to virtual worlds more than looks, she attracted an even bigger crowd than equally sexy but less experienced Filipina actress Andrea del Rosario, who also visitedThere recently. Virtual interaction makes one far less starstruck around celebs, so this online audience joked around with Giselle far more spontaneously than her live audiences ever could.
Groovenet's David Foote (black shirt) and Greg Kittelson (yellow shirt) watch Giselle deliver another zinger.
Oh, and after seeing my blog picture, she just had to get this shot. The girl knows a good meme when she sees it.
Mike Arrington asks Silicon Valley startup execs about Web 2.0 in this video.
Note the mention of offshore development as the cheap labor implementing these great ideas. Wonder when the Philippines will stop selling itself as a source of cheap labor, and start selling itself asasourceofgreatideas. After all, Filipinos clearly demonstrate a strong cultural affinity for the community collaboration ethos of Web 2.0.
I like online rich media. Like many Filipinos, I love YouTube. I made Summit Media's first Flashscreensaver way back in 2000. That's why I'm glad to see them understand that good online rich media marketing relies on permission, not interruption.
After I called them on it twice, Summit's FHM Philippines finally drops autoplay annoyance. Good work, guys. Now if you fix the preview pic, you'll get more voluntary plays from engaged viewers.