Poupée Girl

poupéegirl, Inc.
Corporation
Industry Internet
Social Networking
Founded March 3, 2008
Headquarters Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Key people
 Yoshimi Morinaga (CEO)[1]
Website pupe.ameba.jp

Poupée Girl (プーペガール pūpegāru), stylized as poupéegirl, is a Japan-based avatar and fashion community where users can dress-up their avatar and earn the website's currency, ribbons, to buy more clothing and keep track of the latest fashion with the Fashion Dictionary. The name is a portmanteau of the French word "poupée", meaning "doll", and the English word "girl."

Poupée Girl was created in 2007 and managed by CyberAgent until it moved to Ameba Blogs in 2009. As of 2009, there were about 500,000 registered users, with 98% being women and 35% living outside Japan.[1] In addition to their social networking services, Poupée Girl released a line of licensed video games for the Nintendo DS, all published by Alvion and a short-lived Facebook game.

On July 5, 2013, Poupée Girl announced a partial shutdown of their web services, including closing new registrations, terminating the pay-to-play jewels system, and putting an end to their dress-up releases. These changes took place beginning August 31, 2013.[2] On February 27, 2015, Poupée Girl announced that they would officially be closing the website on March 31, 2015.[3]

History

On February 28, 2007,[4] the website was launched and was initially managed by CyberAgent. However, on March 3, 2008, Poupéegirl, Inc. was officially established and extended services to mobile phones.[5] In 2009, the website moved to Ameba Blogs.

On December 17, 2009, a video game was released for Poupée Girl on the Nintendo DS and was published by Alvion, titled Poupée Girl DS (プーペガールDS Pūpegāru DS). A second video game was released on December 16, 2010 in two versions: Poupée Girl DS 2: Sweet Pink Style (プーペガールDS2~スウィートピンクスタイル~ Pūpegāru DS 2 ~Suīto Pinku Sutairu~) and Poupée Girl DS 2: Elegant Mint Style (プーペガールDS2~エレガントミントスタイル~ Pūpegāru DS 2 ~Ereganto Minto Sutairu~). Completing certain objectives in all games allowed users to obtain secret codes that would unlock exclusive dress-up items for the avatars on the main website.

Poupée Girl briefly launched a Facebook application titled "Poupée Boutique" on July 21, 2010,[6] which was then closed on November 18, 2010 due to administrative reasons.[7]

On July 5, 2013, Poupée Girl announced that the website will terminate some of its gameplay features on August 31, 2013. This included closing registration to new users, putting an end to releases on new items, and shutting down the pay-to-play jewels and friend invitation systems.[2] On February 27, 2015, Poupée Girl announced that they would officially be closing the website on March 31, 2015.[3]

Gameplay

The currency of the game is "ribbons", which can be earned by completing various tasks, including posting fashion items and commenting on other users' photos. These ribbons can be used to buy clothing for avatars. In 2009, the website implemented a new currency, "jewels", a pay-to-play system where some users are able to access clothing items for their avatar that non-paying users cannot.[8] Jewel clothing items can be purchased exclusively with jewels during events or by bidding competitively for them at the Jewel Auction.

Closet

Users can post photos of actual clothing and accessories which other users of the website can view and comment on as well as create their own virtual closet. Fashion items can be categorized according to brand name (listed under the brand name in the Fashion Dictionary) and type. Every item has a yellow "Suteki" (or "Cute") button. If a user gets many suteki rankings or comments, he or she is eligible to win ribbons.

Avatar

Each user has a customizable avatar, which they can dress up with clothing and accessories. The avatar was carefully detailed to make it appeal to female users.[1] Dressing up daily leads to earning more ribbons, with each daily dress-up recorded in a calendar on the user's profile. During events, the background of the avatar will change from a normal room. Occasionally, the website has a contest with a selected theme for the best dressed avatar, which leads to a ribbon prize and a new item.

Shops and events

Poupée Girl has a marketplace where users can buy or sell their avatar's clothing. The website's mascot, Katharine, owns a shop that regularly sells clothing pertaining to seasonal styles or monthly events. The items she sells cannot be sold in the marketplace until months later.

Well-known brand names and celebrities have endorsed a campaign on the website and allow users to buy items for their avatar specially designed by them or based on real-life products. These include Coach,[9] Kose's Happy Bath Day Precious Rose line,[10] Shiseido, Sanrio, Reebok, Louis Vuitton, Maybelline, Revlon, Kaela Kimura,[11] Aya Hirayama,[12] and Nozomi Tsuji.[12]

Earning ribbons

Ribbons are the main currency of the game, and there are many ways that players can earn ribbons, including:

Shells and the shell spring

A shell is another item in the game that can be exchanged for items. There are three types of shells: Scallop Shell, Pink Shell, and Pink Plaid Shell. Shells can be obtained through photo uploads or visiting other users' profile pages (where occasionally one is "dropped" via random event). At the Shell Spring, users can exchange five shells for a dress-up item, which will be chosen by the game randomly. Shells can also be sold on the Poupee Market for ribbons.

Along with shells, certain holidays drop shells and special items. For example, on Halloween candy might be dropped. Users may replace candy with other candies or regular shells, as long as the total number of shells or candies equals five. These special drops may be sold in the Poupee Market.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Poupeegirl brings chic twist to business of social networking". The Japan Times Online. 2009-10-09. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
  2. 1 2 "【重要】ジュエルご購入機能と今後のアイテムリリース停止について". Poupéegirl Staff. 2013-07-05. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
  3. 1 2 "サービス終了のお知らせ". Poupéegirl Staff. 2015-02-27. Retrieved 2015-02-27.
  4. ↑ "Poupéegirl Staff Blog". Poupéegirl Staff. 2007-02-28. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
  5. ↑ "サイバーエージェント、株式会社プーペガールを設立". japan.internet.com Webファイナンス. 2008-02-28. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
  6. ↑ "[お知らせ]Facebookアプリ"Poupee Boutique"オープン♪/Notice". Poupéegirl Staff. 2010-07-21. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
  7. ↑ "Facebookアプリ"Poupee Boutique"サービス終了のお知らせ/Notice". Poupéegirl Staff. 2010-10-19. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
  8. ↑ "「仕様変更リボンの仕様変更のお知らせ/Important info.". Poupéegirl Staff. 2009-07-29. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
  9. ↑ ""COACH" store open!!". Poupéegirl Staff. 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
  10. ↑ "期間限定ショップ「ROSE LIFE SHOP」オープン!!". Poupéegirl Staff. 2008-08-18. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
  11. ↑ "「イベント」木村カエラちゃんがプーペにやってきた♪/Kaela has come♪". Poupéegirl Staff. 2009-04-21. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
  12. 1 2 "「お知らせ」芸能人SHOPオープン！/Special Info". Poupéegirl Staff. 2009-09-16. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
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