Satoru Iwata raised his cheeky head once more (and nothing else, weirdly) for another Japanese Nintendo Direct, where he showcased his artistic skills for the benefit of the Nintendo community.

Indeed, Iwata was keen to showcase Flipnote Studio 3D, sequel to the widely popular (especially among our forums) DSi original, Flipnote Studio. The game is set for a summer release in Japan and will be free to download but users may have to pay a subscription fee to upload their 3D movies to the Flipnote Gallery global community site. 

The app will allow you to draw pictures in three layers and six colours before you're given the option to export your wonderful creations as animated GIFs or AVI movie files. Some 3D movies are already loaded onto the package, so you can view these and get a feel for what is possible on the application.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOrZTQNb4k8

This is not a lone experience though, far from it. Indeed, one of the best parts of art is discovering new artists and comparing their work with your own, before feeling completely incompetent by their amazing skills. 

Now, you can do this from the comfort of your 3DS. You can comment on and download your friends creations using the Friend Flipnote Gallery community service, which will no doubt please fans of Colors! 3D who have been happily sharing their 3D creations for a year or so. 

As a way to ensure people make the transition from 2D to 3D, Nintendo will sadly end the current Flipnote Studio DSi community services as of May 31st. 

No word of a European release has been given so far but our Magic 8-Ball tells us a European release is 'likely' and the last time we checked, it has a better track record than Pachter and the psychic octopus that likes football.