What is the Archive?

The Flipnote Archive is a collection of nearly every Flipnote from Flipnote Hatena.

Our collection spans 44,351,673 files over 12TB (12,000 GB) of storage.

What is Flipnote Studio/Flipnote Hatena?

Flipnote Studio is an animation app created by Nintendo for the Nintendo DSi in 2008. It allows users to create flipbook-style animations called Flipnotes. Flipnote Studio had an online service called Flipnote Hatena that allowed users to share their Flipnotes with other users, rate them using stars, and much more. The service was shut down on May 31st, 2013 after the Nintendo DSi itself was discontinued by Nintendo.

Who runs this?

The Archive is hosted and built by Sudomemo, in collaboration with several members of the wider Flipnote community. A full list of people involved can be found on our credits page.

Where was the Archive data sourced from?

After the closure of Flipnote Hatena, most of the Flipnotes were made available through Flipnote Studio 3D's "Flipnote Gallery: DSi Library" service, until it also closed in 2018.

We were able to scrape all of the data from this service while it was still active.

Will the Archive be visible through Flipnote Studio?

Unfortunately, no. The files in the Archive are in the Flipnote Studio 3D .kwz file format, which is not backwards-compatible with the original Flipnote Studio. As we are also not able to convert these files due to a significant number of technical reasons, the Archive will only be accessible from the website.

Is anything missing?

Sadly our data source only contained the Flipnote files themselves. Their original titles, descriptions, comments, and star counts have not been preserved.

Before Flipnote Hatena closed, users were given the option to opt out of having their Flipnotes moved to the "Flipnote Gallery: DSi Library" service that we sourced our data from. As such, some users may not be present in the Archive.

What made the Archive take so long to release?

Among many issues like hosting 12TB of content and creating software to allow playback in a browser, the Flipnotes that were converted by Nintendo to the Flipnote Studio 3D .kwz format were not converted particularly well or consistently. We have been working for the past few years to tackle these issues to make them viewable at all, and in a pleasant format.

One of the most significant issues with the Flipnotes is in the audio, wherein a substantial portion of them would sound something more akin to TV static than the music it once was. Thankfully, with the help of some fancy math tricks, we figured out a way to decode the audio in a way that’s listenable.

We plan to create a blog post in the future detailing all of the technical issues, so stay tuned!

I found something in the Archive that goes against Sudomemo or Hatena's content policies.

In the Archive you may find content that may be in violation of Sudomemo or Hatena's Terms of Use. The Archive is a historical snapshot of the vast library of Flipnotes that was Flipnote Hatena, fixed in time, and is not subject to Sudomemo's ToS nor subject to additional moderation. For more information on what content may be subject to removal upon request, please visit our removal FAQ.

Can I remove my content from the Archive?

We will remove content under specific circumstances, especially if you still have access to the console that posted the Flipnotes. Please visit our removal FAQ for more information.

How can I financially support Sudomemo and the Archive project?

We have a Ko-Fi set up for the Flipnote Archive, which goes to cover past costs and future operational costs.

The Archive is an extremely expensive project, costing us around $3000 out of pocket prior to release. Any contributions are greatly appreciated!

Ko-Fi supporters will receive a ticket code that they can use on Sudomemo for a special Creator's Room theme, stars, a trophy, and Sudomemo Plus!

If you'd like to support Sudomemo (which is an active Flipnote-sharing service, not the same as the Archive, and costs ~$150-200/month to run) directly, please see our Patreon, as well as Sudomemo's Shop where you can get Sudomemo Plus and Star tickets to use on Sudomemo!