Nintendo announced via a Famitsu article that they have signed a deal with popular online social network and blogging site Hatena to allow functionality with DSi software.

Users of the 'Ugoku Memo Chou' (Moving Notepad) software on the DSi, will be able to upload their drawings and animations to Hatena servers, where user creations can be viewed and rated online.

Nintendo stated that 38% of all DSi users have downloaded the software and, just sixteen days after the service started, there have already been 100,000 user submitted creations

Moving Notepad is a free DSiWare application, which has been available since the launch of the Nintendo DSi store on the 24th of December.

There are already some excellent animations available, and the application could well turn out to be a proving ground for upcoming young animators.

Nintendo has not yet announced whether Moving Notepad or a similar online collaboration will happen outside of Japan as yet, but we can certainly hope it does.