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. In other regions, you'll find Natsume, XSeed Games, Marvelous AQL of Europe, 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: Bokujou Monogatari: Return to Mineral Town (October 2019)
• North America: Harvest Moon: Light of Hope (May 2018 [Switch/Ps4]) and Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns (February 2017)
• Europe: Harvest Moon: Light of Hope (June 2018 [Switch/Ps4]) and Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns (October 2017)

The latest version of River King, in all regions of the world, is River King: Mystic Valley (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 one feline intern. 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

Happy Farm'n Friday! The Shawo Radishes decided they would rather bolt and flower, rather than produce tasty radishes. We did try eating one of them before this started, and it was quite spicy! Not the sweet flavor the plant was described to have. I guess the Willamette Valley in Oregon isn't the equivalent environment as its native growing area. On the other hand, maybe I'll end up with a lot of seeds for future attempts.

My play through of Rune Factory 4 has been side-tracked a bit because of the release of Animal Crossing. Now I'm taking my battle-worn net to fight mighty clashes against wasps and tarantulas on the forested island of Moocau (har har har, so punny). Most of my playtime has been at night after work is over for the day. Now I don't have to walk very far to pick up my Switch and start the game, as there's no rush hour traffic anymore. Unless the singing cat at the end of the hallway is considered a traffic hazard. Meeoooow meooooow!

New Natsume Blog

This week, Natsume launched a new community site! You can learn how to become a Natsume VIP, how the company can help indie game developers publish their games, and read about the Natsume staff's abundance of cat overlords supervisors:

• https://community.natsume.com

HM: Mad Dash Updates

A demo of the latest farming frenzy game, Harvest Moon: Mad Dash is now available on the Nintendo Switch eShop. The single-player eight-stage demo starts with how to make crops grow and harvest them to clear the Order Box requests and ends with a crazy map of trampling boars. If you'd like to give the game a try for free, head over to the Nintendo Switch eShop and download the demo.

Mad Dash is also out for Google Android and Apple iOS. The game costs about $5 USD and supports English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, and Portugues (no Japanese). If you are having trouble locating the game on the mobile stores, search for the other Harvest Moon games and then look for the publisher profile for Natsume. That's how I was able to find the game.

The Android/iOS version supports a drag-and-drop type of navigation system, where players can tap or drag on the crops to group them (so they grow), and then tap or drag to move the mature crops to the Order Boxes at the bottom of the screen. Rotating a crop is a little tricky, as you have to tap-and-hold on the crop, then tap the rotate button with another finger. The POWER MODE is shorter in length in the mobile version because it is so much easier than the console versions to ship the frenzied crops and animal products by dragging the goods to the Order Boxes.

Finally, I may be able to finish this game by myself! With the Ps4 version, I needed to recruit Mr.Fogu to help complete the end-game levels. Whenever I try to get through Stage 55 on my Switch, he'll give me a funny look and reminds me that Mad Dash is supposed to be a multi-player game.

SoS:FoMT NA Trailer

Today, XSeed Games released the North America announcement trailer for Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town. The trailer is the same as the one Marvelous EU released last week for the PAL and AUS regions, confirming that the North American audience will also have the new names for the villagers rather than the classic Natsume names.

There are two HUGE differences between XSeed's trailer and Marvelous EU's trailer. The first is that XSeed's version doesn't have a defined release date for the game. The North American release for the Nintendo Switch game has a general "Summer 2020" release date. The other is the inclusion of a pre-order bonus plushie.

This physical release pre-order Strawberry Cow plushie cow is 2.5" tall by about 4.5" length. In comparison, the capybara plushie from Trio of Towns is about 3.25" tall by 3" in length. So the cow is shorter than 'capy, but a bit longer. XSeed has stated they will let all farmers know when pre-orders that include this little bovine will become available.

Until next time!

- Cher

(Beginning to run low on shelter-in-place ice cream...)

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