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! We didn't get very far on the hallway painting project last weekend, but we did start on the office desk upcycling project. The plan was to make the old, 20-year-old corner desk look amazing by using some cool 70s-vibe wallpaper.

The paper finally arrived last week, and we began making measurements to cover the desk supports. We've never worked with wallpaper before, and while the instructions pointed us to start at an edge and work outwards, we soon realized we should have begun from the center point of the desk because of the large pattern matching involved. Oops! We did our best to match the pattern, but occasionally we were out of alignment juuuuuust a smudge, and sometimes my cuts were crooked, but overall we got the desk supports covered. Onto the desk's top!

SoS:AWL Gameplay Updates

I only made it halfway through Chapter 5 this week on my playthrough of Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life. Gosh darn adulting!

I have finally started bumping into event scenes, which have been sorely lacking since Chapter 2. Pui has been caught stealing eggs from the chicken coop a few times, and Edith even fixed up the kitchen using a toolbox Daryl gave as a reward from a bulletin board request.

A new anniversary dinner event was added in the remake, where the young-adult child prepares a meal to celebrate their parents' wedding. It's a charming event that even includes Takakura. It's been nice to see the old farmhand change from a guy who only helps manage the farm into an integral part of the player's family. For example, several events in Chapter 2 have Takakura and the toddler hanging out together, and he's even brought along to the Summer 2 fireworks festival. Each year there's a different experience at that festival based on how old the kid is. In Chapter 4, Edith comments on how she enjoys how the four of us spend the festival together every year, which makes Takakura blush. It's heartwarming to see Takakura brought into the game as a part of the household.

I also bumped into a small event at the pond in the forest that's similar to an event in the first SNES and GB games, but I don't want to spoil the surprise

SoS:AWL dropped off this week's Famitsu top-20 game sales for last week, only spending 5 weeks on the chart. Additional sales data may come from Marvelous' corporate publications, as Quarter 4 ends this month.

FarmCon 2023

The annual Farming Simulator convention, FarmCon, will take place in Lauingen, Germany, on July 1 and July 2. GIANTS Software will showcase Farming Simulator 22 (for PC, PS, and XBox) and Farming Simulator 23 (for mobile and NS) during this two-day event for virtual farming enthusiasts. They'll also be Farming Simulator League esports matches, access to the game developers, and panels for discussing the game's mechanics. Those who happen to buy a gold ticket will participate in a dinner with the developers.

Event tickets are for sale via the Event Brite website. A regular ticket costs 14,99€, while the special dinner-date gold ticket costs 99,99€.

RF3 NA/EU Release Date

A week after the release of Rune Factory 3 Special in Japan, Marvelous announced the official release dates for North America and Europe/Australia to be September 5, 2023. The game will be available to play on Steam and Nintendo Switch.

Marvelous EU has also announced a physical limited edition bundle for Nintendo Switch that includes a copy of the game, a blank A5-sized notebook, a poster, a sticker sheet, lapel pins of human Micah and wooly Micah, swimsuit costumes, and a Rune Factory cloth patch.

Marvelous US hasn't revealed what will be available for North American players, but it'll probably be pretty cool.

Farm'n Game Discounts

Marvelous/XSeed has a discount sale on their Steam digital games until March 13 (next Monday). The preorder for SoS:AWL is not included in this sale.

• Rune Factory 4 Special - 35% off
• Rune Factory 5 - 50% off
• Sakuna: of Rice and Ruin - 35% off
• Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town - 60% off
• Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town - 50% off

The first DLC for The Good Life is now available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4/5, and Xbox One/X/S. Called Behind the Scenes of Rainy Woods, the add-on for this countryside who-did-it mystery game costs $9.99 USD. The DLC unlocks 12 more stories for journalist Naomi to solve between riding sheep and planting an English flower and veggie garden. To celebrate the release of the Rainy Woods DLC, the base game is on sale on all platforms for 40% off.

New Farm'n Game in Development

Code Buster Studios has announced Farm Simulator for Steam. Not to be confused with GIANTS Software's globally popular Farming Simulator game, Farm Simulator places the player as a new farmer looking to escape their mundane city life. Moving to an old farm in rural Tennessee sounds like a great start! The player's new farm needs some serious updates and attention. Even the former farm owner, Old Bill, needs convincing that a city folk has the gumption to manage a farm.

Players will grow crops, raise animals (horses, cows, sheep, goats, rabbits, bees, and chickens), renovate the buildings, open the fields for u-pick visitors from the city, and more.

The game is promoted as a "humorous story about the struggles of a townie who decided to be a farmer."

You can check out the game on the Steam Store page:

• Farm Simulator on Steam

The game's publisher, Drago Studios, has released several sim games on Steam, such as Gas Station Simulator, Treasure Hunter Simulator, and Food Truck Simulator.

Nintendo 3DS/WiiU Shutdown Reminder

Don't forget that March 27 is the last day to purchase new digital farming games from the Nintendo eShop to play on the 3DS and WiiU consoles. As of March 28, the 3DS/WiiU will no longer be available to buy new games from. Besides video games, this includes no more system icons from the Nintendo Badge Arcade, getting the extra StreetPass games for the Mii hub, the 3DS theme shop (of which a few HM/SoS 3DS themes are available), and any free-to-play games or demo downloads.

While we can't directly add more funds to an existing 3DS/WiiU eShop account via credit card or a Nintendo Points card anymore, existing game points can be used to buy digital games before the 3DS/WiiU shops close to new purchases. If you have a Nintendo Switch account, you can link your Nintendo Network ID from the 3DS/WiiU and add funds through your Switch for use on the expiring eShops.

The digital HM/SoS games that are available on the 3DS and WiiU eShops are:

WiiU

• Harvest Moon SNES (2013/1997, NA and EU)
• Harvest Moon 64 (2017/1999)
• Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town (2015/2003, NA only)
• Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town (2015/2005, NA only)

3DS

• Harvest Moon GBC (2013/1998)
• Harvest Moon GBC 2 (2014/2000)
• Harvest Moon GBC 3 (2014/2001)
• Harvest Moon 3D: The Tale of Two Towns (2013/2011)
• Harvest Moon: A New Beginning (2012)
• Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley (2014)
• Story of Seasons (2015)
• Harvest Moon: Skytree Village (2016)
• Popolocrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale (2016)
• Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns (2017) and the 3oT DLC (Sorry EU farmers never got this...)

The digital version of Tale of Two Towns from the eShop is the corrected version of the 3DS game. Store-bought physical copies back in 2011 contained a bug that would cause the game to freeze after long play sessions, which was corrected in the digital version. This memory issue was inadvertently added to the game while Marvelous AQL developed the original DS game to play on the 3DS during Natsume's localization. Marvelous eventually released the 3DS version in Japan in 2017 during the 40-month lull between the JP releases of Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns (June 2016) and Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town (October 2019). The Japanese version of ToTT 3DS also had special character collaboration DLCs and new post-marriage artwork cards that never made it to the 3DS version in North America and Europe.

The 3DS/WiiU eShop will still be open for players to download their existing purchased games for the "foreseeable future," according to Nintendo, but we know that won't be forever.

Until next time!

Cher
(Fellow US farmers, don't forget the clock springs forward 1 hour this weekend!)

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