The Ushi No Tane websites specialize in information, FAQs, and guides about the Nintendo console versions of the Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, and Legend of the River King video games. These game genres are created and published in Japan by Marvelous (JP). In other regions, you'll find Natsume, XSeed Games/Marvelous (USA), Marvelous (EU), and Rising Star involved in the series' release.

The latest version of the mainstream farming series that have been released in various regions of the world are:

• Japan: Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (January 2023)
• North America: Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos (September 2023) and Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (June 2023)
• Europe: Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos (October 2023) and Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (June 2023)

The latest version of River King, in all regions of the world, is River King: Mystic Valley (JP 2007, NA 2008, EU 2009).

Since 2000, Ushi no Tane has been run by a grouchy old lady who happens to be fond of video game agriculture along with two feline helpers: Intern Captain Bootu and Intern Hondo Mewnaka. The website is not officially affiliated, sponsored, endorsed, or employed by the developers of Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, or River King. This is simply a fan site.

Latest Farming Video Game News

DOUBLE FARMING OVERLOAD | Posted at 11:53 AM 15 January 2016Okeydokey fellow farmers, this is going to be a long one! This week in Japan, the newest edition from the Bokujou Monogatari game was announced in the 1/28 edition of Weekly Famitsu magazine. The game is called Bokujou Monogatari: Mitsu no Sato no Taisetsuna Tomodachi or, in rough English, Story of Seasons: Precious Friends of the Three Hometowns. The game will be released on the Nintendo 3DS system this Summer in Japan, which marks the 20th year of the game series, and is currently 80% finished. The premise is built around three towns instead of the typical one town (or two like in Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns), with each town having their own environment and villagers. The three towns are:

• Wes Town: You'll start out here in this country-style place, where traces of its former glory as a mining town can be seen. Your Auntie Megan and Uncle Frank live here. (Yes, you have relatives now!)
• Lulukoko Village: This place is like a tropical resort, situation along an exotic ocean shore.
• TsuyaKusa Hamlet: A serene place with Asian-style architecture where residents were kimonos, live in sturdy buildings, and grow crops in water paddies.

The Famitsu article also introduced pets, which are common in Bokumono games, but this time the pets aren't simply a different coloring of a floppy-ear puppy; rather, the magazine pictured four types of dogs (chow-chow, husky, lab, and beagle) and four colors of cats (black, white, gray tabby, and orange tabby). Making one of the pets into a "soul pet" will allow it to live with you in your farm house, and as its friendship rises it might give you presents. There is also a Pet Show with different entry levels (the Beginner's Class was pictured), with random people from different villagers as contestants. Other animals include cows, sheep, chickens, and a horse who lives in its own stall next to your farmhouse. The farmhouse itself can be remodeled into different exterior styles. The three towns also have part-time jobs that you can receive from an agent in town. The 4-page article also introduced two marriage candidates from Wes Town: Wayne the postman and Lishette the florist. There will be marriage candidates from each of the three towns, but the total number of candidates available is not publicly known yet. The farm object placement from the prior two series entries will return, allowing you to place fields, objects, and other buildings on your farm space. This time where you place your items will be important, as the article pictures placing the crop fields together with sides touching as better than having them separated with a building in between. There is also a new Farm Circle system where placing certain objects near your fields will affect the crops growing within the fields. You can find some in-game screenshots of Precious Friends of the 3 Hometowns on the Famitsu website:

• http://www.famitsu.com/news/201601/14097137.html

Back in North America, Natsume made a surprise launch of their new iOS game mobile game, Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories. You can find this game on the Apple App Store for $9.99 (USD). The game takes approximately 140MB of space on your iOS device, which include iPhones and iPads. The game has been tested to work with iPhone 5 S or later, iPad Air, iPad Mini 2 or later, and iPod Touch 6 or later. That's not to say that it won't work on your iOS device, as some farmers with iPhone 4 and 5 devices have been able to successfully play the game on their phones. The story of the game is that you, a wandering traveler, stumbles upon an abandoned farm. Magically, you are the only one who can see the weird Harvest Sprites. Rowan the sprite explains that the villagers of the neighboring town have forgotten about the once popular farm, but not out of lack of interest; they just can't flat-out remember there was a nearby farm that brought joy to everyone in Chestnut Town. Because of their absentmindedness, the Sprite Tree where the little elves live has started dying. The Harvest Sprites need your help to make new memories in order to revitalize their home. There are 150 memories that you can unlock by interacting with the villagers, raising animals, caring for crops, and participating in other activities. The game contains a list of all available memories, including hints on how to unlock each one, so there's no need to make wild guesses or struggle through blindly trying to unlock them. Some of them are easy to unlock, while others are more challenging. Chestnut Town is where most of the villagers live. You'll find shops, a night-time bar, and an event plaza. Gilbert and the blacksmith crew live in the mountain area close to your farm. The mountain area is where you will also find the mine, which plays like a traditional Harvest Moon mine. You're expected to dig for the staircase down to the next floor using your hoe (and later using your upgraded hoe to uncover more ground in one hit). Other features of this game include:

• The game is completely off-line once it is downloaded to the iOS device. It doesn't require an Internet connection or any in-app game purchases. You're buying the full version of the game.
• Time stops inside of your house, the buildings in Chestnut town, and inside the mine. Time does not stop when you go into an animal barn.
• Using tools is done by swapping between Talk Mode and Farm Mode, located in the lower-left corner of your screen. Tool upgrades are done by collecting ore from the mine, paying Brutus to process them, and then ordering the tool upgrade using the appropriate ore and gold.
• You start off with a Watering Can and Hoe from Rowan. The other beginner tools are given to you when you first talk to the appropriate villager.
• You can have two children (there are unlockable memories for two kids in your Main Menu).
• Giving gifts is very simple to do. If you aren't sure who likes what, talk to Tabitha and she'll give you gift suggestions. Friendships are also easy to increase (e.g., giving 2 Bronze Ore to Tony has him at a half-note of friendship already).
• If you get tired, jump in the hot spring to restore your stamina. It doesn't cost you anything and it is available from the start of the game.

If you want to see the game in action, the official trailer can be seen on Youtube: For those who don't own an iOS device, Seeds of Memories will be out on the Android OS in a few months. The game will also eventually be released for PC and Wii U. More information regarding will be released by Natsume as they work on publishing to those platforms. Until next time! - Cher (Oye, so much farming to do!)Feedback: Add | View (7)

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