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! Another pleasant surprise happened this week when this plant finally bloomed. Last summer, I placed the bulb in a flowerpot and was a little bummed that it only grew foliage throughout the year. Just like the Acidanthera from the previous week's Farm'n Friday (thanks Kikki for the plant ID!), this Toad Lily is apparently an autumn bloomer too. This particular one produced one flower at the end of its branch, whereby the internet indicates that they often have flowers at the leaf nodes as well. Maybe this summer's 115° heatwave had something to do with the lack of blooms or that it is currently in a flowerpot instead of in the ground. It's still pretty neat!

SLWP Now in Early Access

The store management game with farming/fishing/fighting aspects, Slow Living with Princess, was released for Early Access on Steam this week. Originally based on the manga and anime Shin no Nakama series published in Japan, this PC adaption has the protagonist settling down in a frontier town after being kicked out of a save-the-world party of adventurers for not being brave or strong enough to be of any use. Now he manages an apothecary shop, grows plants, and explores the area of Zoltan to collect herbal ingredients to sell at his store. Things were quiet until he was joined by his little sister, the former battle party's leader and magical mage, and the adventuring princess. Now they all work together to run the shop.

The game has a small Early Access discount until October 13:

• Slow Living With Princess (Steam)

RF5 LE Announced

Marvelous Europe and XSeed Games (i.e., Marvelous USA) announced this week that there will be a special limited edition release of their upcoming fighting/farming game, Rune Factory 5. These special editions are not available for preorder quite yet. Once they are, the NA version will cost $79.99, and the EU version will cost £64.99 / €79,99

The Earthmate Edition of the game in both regions will receive:

• A special collector's edition box
• A physical copy of the Nintendo Switch game in a steel book game box.
• A CD soundtrack featuring 15 songs from across the Rune Factory series.
• A soft-back art book containing 70 pages of illustrations and concept art.

The NA version of the special edition specifies that the XSeed edition will include 13 exclusive in-game costumes based on marriage candidates from prior entries of the series such as Dolce, Forte, and Vishnal. The description of the EU special edition from Marv EU states that it will include in-game costumes but does not specify what these costumes are or how many are included in the special edition.

Marv EU has also announced that in-store preorders of either the standard game package or the special limited edition bundle can receive this cute little Wooly head. This preorder bonus goodie is only 8cm wide (about 3 inches) and is available at participating retailers in the EU or exclusively at GAME stores when preordering in the UK.

XSeed Games has not announced a preorder goodie for the standard or limited edition bundle yet. The special edition from Marvelous is specific for the EU region, as there is no word yet whether the Oceania region gets any preorder loot.

Rune Factory 5 is scheduled to be released on March 22 in North America and March 25 in Europe/Oceania.

SoS:PoOT Reaches 1 Million Sales

Marvelous Japan announced on Monday that Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town have shipped over 1 million copies worldwide. This number includes physical game shipments to retail stores and digital game download sales, including Steam/PC sales. Marv's announcement also includes a short statement about its current collaboration with Tencent for the mobile-only version and its intention to continue to promote their intellectual properties (such as SoS) in a global capacity.

Until next time!

Cher
(Christmas light planning has begun!)