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! Last weekend we managed to bring inside the Christmas spheres that line the sidewalk, but the weather turned to crud. I'm not the only one with their Christmas decorations still outside. There are a lot of neighbors that have also left their lights plugged in, though they began to decrease in numbers after the 6th. Our local NextDoor online social group was buzzing about keeping decorations up until the 12th day after Christmas.

Though the Christmas lights are going dark until the end of the year, on a brighter note, the daffodils are already popping out of the ground. Soon it will be time to start planting crops! This year I want to try growing Garden Huckleberries. I already have Evergreen Huckleberry bushes, but those little berries are not efficiently harvestable and mainly feed the birds. The Garden variety is an annual plant and appears to be easy to grow. Or at least I hope it's easy.

I also got this cute Snacko glittery-star keychain in the mail this week. The development of the game is still farming along. Bluecurse Studio recently blogged about their work on lighting details and the arcade cabinet that goes into player's houses containing mini-games to play. Sounds like a lot of fun!

Sakuna Patch

An adjustment patch was released today for Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin, the rice farming demon-bashing game. Besides correcting several hiccups in the game, the patch added new animations and increased its in-game year limit from 999 years to 9,999 years. You can see the full list of changes on XSeed's Twitter account:

• Sakuna version Jan 7 Patch Notes

Marvelous' New Years Message

Every year in Weekly Famitsu, video game publishers and developers will submit a New Years' celebratory greeting for the magazine's readers. This year, Marvelous sends their hopes for the new year using a special 25th-anniversary Cow card along with a special message:

"Happy New Year. In 2021, let's cultivate some rice and start a ranch. We'll also bring a lot of excitement, such as fantasy and assassin livelihoods. This year we wish everyone can smile. Have a Marvelous year!"

Marvelous' message refers to Sakuna, Story of Seasons, Rune Factory, and (I'm assuming) No More Heroes.

HM: One World Bachelor

The last of the bachelors was revealed for Harvest Moon: One World today on Natsume's community blog:

Jamil comes from the desert area of Pastilla, and has a soft spot for animal care. With his reveal we now know the full set of marriage candidates from One World:

• Braden and Gabrielle from Calisson
• Kanoa and Ahina from Halo Halo
• Tristan and Laura from Lebkuchen
• Jamil and Malika from Pastilla
• Sami and Kirsi from Salmiakki

Alas, it appears that the magnificent Doc has been omitted yet again as a marriage candidate. (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ HM:OW does have the equally-magnificent Doc Junior, who explains the Expand-Farm functionality that allows the protagonist to pick up and move their farm to other areas of the world. Junior is a bit young to be a candidate himself; perhaps he'll grow up in a future version of Harvest Moon and fill that neglected role.

The Collectors Edition of One World became available for preorder earlier this week. This special bundle from Limited Run Games costs $99 USD (plus tax and shipping) and includes a physical copy of either the Nintendo Switch or PlayStation 4 game, the music box diorama, and the ploofy chicken plushie.

PoOT Family Life

This week, Marvelous tweeted a new how-to-play video for Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town, featuring the formation of the protagonist's family, from courting Rinh, to marriage, to having a cute little baby farmer hobbling around the farmhouse.

『牧場物語 オリーブタウンと希望の大地』
🌱遊び方紹介🌱

【恋愛】
街の住人と絆を深めることで生涯のパートナーにしよう！
恋愛候補は全部で10人！
あなたのお気に入りは誰ですか？

🌐https://t.co/qmTLyLa0BO#牧場物語 #オリーブタウン #牧場物語25th pic.twitter.com/NCty23GLzn

— 『牧場物語』公式アカウント (@bokumono_PR) January 8, 2021

Marvelous also posted a few more videos. From the hanging out in the Wood Sprites' village video, the little spirits will share some of their production with you. For example, the protagonist in the video is gifted with cooked meals from the Meal Sprite (specifically, Tea, Grilled Fish, and Shellfish Soup), resulting in the little guy upgrading to skill Level 2 and expanding the types of dishes he gives. The protagonist also received 5 leaf coins. We'll probably learn the purpose of this currency in the future.

With the villager personalities video, Lovett seems to be amazed with Mushroom Hatsukoi that Misaki serves him at her cafe, and Gloria is not to pleased with where Lars parks his motorcycle. They even hinted at a mysterious forest girl...

Hmm... who could she be...?

Until next time!

- Cher
(Finally earned the Golden Watering Can in Animal Crossing! Yay!)

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