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! Next Monday is Labor Day, which means we get an extra day off from office work. Time for some lounging around and peaceful catnaps. I'll give the hard-working interns the day off too. Running a farming website is still a challenge for these guys! Intern Captain and Intern Hondo need more hand-holding as they work on Fogu site maintenance; they like to interrupt my morning office Zoom meetings with farming questions. Luckily, all three interns take a nap during the afternoon.

Unless I have the back patio door open. That's when Intern Reba loudly lets me know (along with everyone else on the call) that she wants to go outside. She doesn't understand that I can't watch her and be in the conference call at the same time. Ah, the luxuries of working from home!

Marv Celebrates BokuMono 25th

Marvelous (and its overseas subsidiaries) has started promoting the Bokujou Monogatari 25th anniversary with a contest in Japan and other news reveals.

In Japan, Marv has launched a fan contest via Twitter. From now until September 13, farmers in Japan can retweet a specific contest tweet to enter a raffle to win a framed art print (pictured above) drawn by long-time BokuMono character designer, Igusa Matsuyama. Twenty-five winners will be selected at random and notified by Twitter DM in early October.

Another anniversary bonus will be available globally starting on September 13. Farmers will be able to download a free costume based on another popular farming game, Sakuna: of Rice and Ruin (I'll open and play my copy someday, really!). Heroine Sakuna's clothing outfit and headware will be available for download in Story of Season: Pioneers of Olive Town from September 13 until the end of March next year.

Another announcement was the port of the Nintendo Switch game to PC/Steam. With a release date of September 13, we'll soon be able to play the game on our 'puters! Or on our living room TV sets courtesy of Steam Link.

The Steam edition includes the improvements that the Switch players had to wait for over the past 5 months. Visually, the Steam profile page videos don't have the lagginess that the Switch version suffers from, though I imagine that will vary depending on the digital farmer's PC hardware.

The Steam edition also has the option for a separate Expansion Pass purchase for an additional fee. The expansion pass goodies (clothing outfits, the extra scenarios, and dull DLC areas) are unlocked in one big glob rather than released over several months. Players will need to have unlocked Karina's clothing salon to collect their wearable free costumes for their protagonist. As in the Switch version, the Olive Town marriage candidate outfits are enabled via an option from the game's title screen.

A game-only package and game+expansion pass package are available for preorder. You can add the game to your Steam wishlist and see the price for your region on the Steam Store page:

• STORY OF SEASONS: Pioneers of Olive Town (Steam)

Since the Steam version is less expensive than the Switch version in the USA, the digital version on the Nintendo eShop had its price reduced. Originally $49.99 (game only) and $69.99 (game + expansion), the full-price for SoS:PoOT is now $39.99 (game only) and $59.99 (game + expansion). In Europe, the eShop price remains at €49,99 / €69,99, and in Australia, the eShop price is still $79.95 / $109.95.

XSeed also confirmed that the XBox and Playstation versions of Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town will be released on October 26 in North America. Marvelous EU already revealed that the GBA remake will be released in their region on October 15. As with the original Nintendo Switch release (July 2020), physical edition preorders can receive the Strawberry Cow mini-plushie at participating retailers (Gamestop US, Amazon.uk, etc.)

More Japan Plushies!

Speaking of plushies, more limited edition plushies are being made available in Japan. These 5 special animals are arcade prizes like the XL Cow, XL Strawberry Cow, and XL Turnip from earlier this year. This time, they'll be available at Takarajima, Amipara, and Soyu Game Field arcade locations throughout Japan. The cow is 18 cm long (~7 inches), so they're by far smaller than the XL fellows. They look like they'd be a good size for crane machines! These farm animal plushies will appear starting the third week of September at participating arcade centers.

MORE PWUSHIE?!

Natsume has started dropping hints on their official Twitter account about the next Harvest Moon plushie. One would hope that CeeCee was better at taking pictures by now! The partial-plushie image hints at something black and white, or cobalt blue and white, perhaps? Maybe it is a mythical Sasquash from Harvest Moon: One World? Those big floofy guys would make cute plushies. Keep an eye on the company Twitter account to see if CeeCee improves her photography skills!

September BokuMobile Events

September brings in autumn colors and new events in Marvelous' Bokujou Monogatari on social gaming platforms in Japan:

• A fall-themed Sweet Osmanthus Tea Time harvest event started on the 1st. Players will harvest jam flowers and tea-tray trees and care for orange blossom foxes and birds. Players will harvest as much as possible before September 9 to earn in-game goodies based on the total amount of points earned from harvests.
• September 11 is the start of the bingo event. Grow special crops on a 3x3 grind and hope they mature into the same type of crop to score big points.
• Finally, on September 21 is the Hungry Animal event. Players will grow special crops to feed visiting animals, earning prizes based on how many animals are fed until they're full. Feeding everyone else's animals will also unlock more bonuses.

Until next time!

- Cher
(Have a happy Labor Day weekend!)

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