Hello Warcraft Kitty: An Obsession Story
by Michael Gray 
Jun 2nd 2008 at 8:00PM
The Hello Kitty Online Closed Beta is now over. No, really. While I'm not sure Hello Kitty Online is shaping up to be the great WoW-killer (but what do I know?), there are certainly more than a few folks eagerly waiting to get their kitty on in the upcoming Open Beta. The good news is that Sanrio is definitely keeping their community involved in the process.
So what is the appeal of Hello Kitty Online? It seems a little odd that the game's come up several times. Perhaps you recall Insider's own HKO obsession (short lived, but much discussed). Even before that, when we were told to "Make Love, Not Warcraft," the online island adventure was a welcome reprieve from boar-killing.
But since then, the Warcraft community has maintained its obsession with Hello Kitty. As Thomas Crampton has pointed out, there were more than a few Warcraft-themed submissions to the HKO Closed Beta -- maybe more than the developers were actually expecting. High "Huglord" Amused of Limbo (Gorefiend-PvP) gets my vote for best video application to Hello Kitty Online closed beta. Apparantly, he and Spiderman go way back. And we can't forget the Hello Kitty Island Adventure UI mod.
So, what gives? Why do we of the War and Craft keep coming back around to Hello Kitty, and her cute-sauce adventures?
Edit: By some oddity, when loading this video, readers suffered a short burst of HKO music. To help avoid that, and to save sanity, I've moved the sample video behind a cut.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, News items, Humor
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
prudychick Jun 2nd 2008 8:39PM
Am I the only woman (female) in the world that can't stand Hello Kitty?
YPEELS40 Jun 2nd 2008 8:54PM
There are females on the internet?!?!
since when
Sedna Jun 2nd 2008 9:14PM
Nope, you're not the only one. Does that theme music make anyone else crave a shot of whiskey and an early Metallica album? You know, just to take the edge off?
Iwanttobeasleep Jun 2nd 2008 9:15PM
Me! Fuck Hello Kitty. I know a lot of guys who like it, though.
Dukenukemx Jun 3rd 2008 1:36AM
You're probably not the only Lesbian who hates hello kitty. :)
Adi Jun 3rd 2008 3:06AM
;_; Hello Kitty is awesome though. I'm so getting the toaster. I wonder what the RP is like over there.
Metricula Jun 2nd 2008 8:57PM
Amused is one of my guildmates. He worked very hard on his app! He and my boyfriend were both in the closed beta--HKO is some surreal stuff.
roguedubb Jun 2nd 2008 9:27PM
I keep coming back to Hello Kitty because... oh wait, I never left. There are some things Warcraft just can't do for me; like my HK slippers - sure there is a lot of nice footwear in Warcraft but I just can't quite imagine wearing KJ in slipper form.
Mattarias Jun 2nd 2008 9:41PM
KJ slippers sound uncomfortable. Spiky and dripping with fel magic.
Charlie Taylor Jun 2nd 2008 11:32PM
ok, wtf is with the autoplay? That is incredibly annoying and I do NOT want to hear that every time I load Wowinsider for the next week!
UncleTom Jun 2nd 2008 11:52PM
I agree with Charlie completely.
qoa Jun 3rd 2008 1:09AM
Thanks for having a video that auto plays on here. It didn't blow out my speakers nearly or anything.
neofuumma Jun 3rd 2008 1:19AM
Not EVERYTHING wow related has to be on WoW insider...and yea.. my speakers are crying off that autoplay
dotorion Jun 3rd 2008 3:10AM
No autoplay for me (noscript owns you) so I'm not gonna nag about that, but I did have a "oh god not again" moment when I saw this article was sort of about HK :P
Eternalpayn Jun 3rd 2008 7:13AM
Damn. You stole my pro-NoScript post. See, it's not just vrus protection...
Also, I think most of it does have to do with the South Park joke. Before then, I think it was mainly inside jokes, the part of the actual Hello Kitty fanbase that happens to play WoW, and people who were sarcastically mocking it.
Lios Jun 3rd 2008 6:29AM
What? This is real? I thought it was an april 1st joke. Ridiculous. Who wants to play a mmorph with an ugly cartoon cat in an ugly pink world? What's the quests like... 'go fetch me 15 bright yellow balloons', 'safe the little kitty in the tree'? UGH :-(
SaintStryfe Jun 3rd 2008 6:44AM
I'd love to give this a try. It looks bright and cheerful, something I could very much appreciate.
Shemyaza Jun 3rd 2008 7:03AM
Because it is better than Age of Conan.
Jessierockeron Jun 3rd 2008 7:54AM
dumb question here but I'm dumb myself, what's hello kitty online got to do with WoW?
JosephMohmed Jun 3rd 2008 7:26PM
It's the next WoW killer, duh.