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

Happy Farm'n Friday! I hope everyone is still staying healthy and safe. Our local counties will be mandating facemasks starting on Tuesday, with exemptions for kids under 13 years old and those who would have difficulties breathing if they wore masks. We had to visit the local farmer's market last weekend to pick up Mr.Fogu's berry box, and most everyone was wearing facemasks to protect those around them responsibly. That wasn't the same experience at the local grocery store the next day when only about half of the shoppers were wearing masks. Several of them were not complying with the one-way aisle directions.

We have one more forecasted rain shower for tomorrow morning before we'll start our 80°F (~26° C) streak of summer weather. I still have some watermelons to be planted in the front yard terrace, though they look rather unhappy because they are still in their pre-transplant pots. We'll see if they perk up after being planted in the ground.

New Games Plus Expo

Next Tuesday (June 23rd), the digital small-publisher showcase New Games Plus Expo will take place. This online event will air through Twitch.tv starting at 8:00 am Pacific Time (currently -7 GMT), showcasing the games from participating publishers. After the one-hour showcase, each publisher/developer has a dedicated block of time to promote their upcoming games:

Natsume's showcase takes place between 9:30 am and 10:00 am. We know that there's a new magnificent Doc game coming out later this year called Harvest Moon: One World, and recently the publisher announced the next title in the Natsume Indie series, Legends of Ethernal. Maybe that game will make an appearance too?

Today, the company revealed the artwork for the nameless female protagonist. I think the perfect name for her would be Dockette.

Introducing the female main character of #HarvestMoon: One World! No official name for her yet – open to suggestions ;)

Harvest Moon: One World arrives later in 2020 on PS4/Switch in North America, on Nintendo Switch in PAL territories via Rising Star Games & Nintendo of Europe. pic.twitter.com/6cFymcUDmZ

— Natsume Inc. (@Natsume_Inc) June 19, 2020

SoS:FoMT Platform Options

This week XSeed Games revealed during the digital 2020 PC Gaming Show that Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town will release on the Steam gaming platform as well as the Nintendo Switch platform on July 14. SoS:FoMT is the first mainline SoS game available for PC, as the post-2014 Harvest Moon series has been on Steam since 2017. FoMT has relatively low system requirements and only needs 2 GB of hard drive space. You can prepurchase the PC version on the Steam store:

• STORY OF SEASONS: Friends of Mineral Town

In North America, the digital version of Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town finally appeared on the Nintendo eShop for preorders. The game requires 999 MB of SD Card space and comes in English, Spanish, French, and German languages. It also supports save-data cloud backup. The digital version retails for $49.99 USD and comes with the DLC cow costume as a preorder bonus. The wearable animal costumes will be available for all players as DLC downloads for $1.99 each. It is publicly unknown yet if the new Cherry Blossom Sprite costume that was released in Japan two weeks ago will be available too.

Snacko Kickstarter Update

The kitty farming game, Snacko wraps up its Kickstarter next Thursday (June 25th). While the $30,000 funding goal has already been met (huzzah!), any additional funds will go towards the development of the game. Available backing tiers include the ability to submit a name for the livestock random name generator ($60), designing an in-game painting ($200), or even something as small as a PC key to download a copy of the game ($25). The game is currently scheduled for a mid-to-late 2021 release window. You can contribute to Snacko's development on the Kickstarter page:

• Snacko: A Farming Adventure Sim for PC

Until next time!

- Cher
(Tomorrow is the first day of Summer. It's time to start planning the 2020 Christmas Light Extravaganza!)

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