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[Tempy]

https://twitter.com/Natsume_Inc/status/515984860482002944
http://tinycartridge.com/post/98651667462/harvest-moons-collectors-edition-bunny

Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley (3DS) collector's edition will include a plush bunny! No further info as far as I know. This is for NA; Europe does not have a release date yet.

Someone pointed out to me that Gamestop has a dog plushie exclusive - http://www.gamestop.com/nintendo-3ds/games/harvest-moon-the-lost-valley/115701

 

[Dr. Benton Quest]

Must...Have....Bunny

 

[dallow_bg]

Doggy is waaaaaaay cuter.

 

[JNA]

GIMMIE dat bunny!

 

[Aquamarine]

Should have put quotation marks around "Harvest Moon"

 

[Koobion]

Dog > Bunneh.

I was just reminiscing about Harvest Moon 64.

 

[t26]

Natsume Online store only

http://natsume.com/community/showpost.php?p=152323&postcount=1

 

[SerTapTap]

Dog > Bunneh.

I was just reminiscing about Harvest Moon 64.

This is the reason i got back to nature, didn't even have a 3ds yet. They finally had a n64 style cow.

Too bad anb's art style was way uglier than the cow plush

 

[Spoony Bob]

Isn't this the one that's Harvest Moon in name only though?

 

[Tempy]

Isn't this the one that's Harvest Moon in name only though?

Yes. Natsume is making this, and they own the "Harvest Moon" name. Marvelous, who made the previous games, is doing Story of Seasons.

 

[TheMoon]

#teambunny

 

[Labrys]

Game isn't looking too good, so I'll probably just grab the Bunny and the Dog off their plushie store later.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Yes. Natsume is making this, and they own the "Harvest Moon" name. Marvelous, who made the previous games, is doing Story of Seasons.

I thought Pack In Video made the previous games.

 

[chrominance]

Game isn't looking too good, so I'll probably just grab the Bunny and the Dog off their plushie store later.

THERE'S A PLUSHIE STORE?

I still kick myself occasionally for not getting the alpaca plushie that came with the first 3DS Harvest Moon. So adorbs!

 

[@MUWANdo]

I thought Pack In Video made the previous games.

They merged into Victor Interactive Entertainment not long after the first Bokujou game, and VIC was bought out by Marvelous about ten years ago and eventually merged into the company altogether.

 

[prateeko]

So this is probably ignorant, but can someon clarify who the actual developer of Harvest Moon has been over the years? I know this one is a false HM (Story of seasons is the way to go as far as I can tell), but in the past which HMs have actual been the HMs that are true to the original games (i.e. HM64) - is that Marvelous interactive (and did they use to be Victor)?

 

[Vandole]

The aesthetics aren't anything to get excited about, but I do like the gameplay idea here and sort of turning it into Harvest Mooncraft. But I'm going to need reviews for this. Not really sure who is involved in making this game but Natsume's last new game, Hometown Story, was junk so I am a bit weary.

And the dog still trumps the bunny, but I'd still prefer another cow.

 

[@MUWANdo]

So this is probably ignorant, but can someon clarify who the actual developer of Harvest Moon has been over the years? I know this one is a false HM (Story of seasons is the way to go as far as I can tell), but in the past which HMs have actual been the HMs that are true to the original games (i.e. HM64) - is that Marvelous interactive (and did they use to be Victor)?

Yeah, pretty much. The vast majority of mainline HM games were developed by the same studio that was once Victor/Pack-In Video, but there have been personnel changes over that time, of course.

Natsume developed/produced a few of the spinoff games bearing the Harvest Moon name but they didn't really work directly on any of the mainline games from the ground up--they might sometimes handle the "girl version" or a port to another console, that sort of thing. I think they might have made one/all of the Game Boy games? I forget. Lost Valley will be the first one that's 100% theirs.

Yasuhiro Wada, the "godfather" of Harvest Moon, left Marvelous a few years back; he's since started a studio called Toybox and made a HM-style game with Natsume called Hometown Story, but it didn't get a positive response and one has to wonder if they'll ever make a sequel.

The Rune Factory games were all developed by Neverland (the Lufia devs), and the other spinoff game Innocent Life was developed by a company called ArtePiazza. Neverland recently went bankrupt but Marvelous still owns the IP and a lot of the old team is at Marvelous now, so it's bound to continue. Innocent Life was a flop and probably won't be coming back anytime soon.

 

[mao2]

So cute...

 

[prateeko]

Yeah, pretty much. The vast majority of mainline HM games were developed by the same studio that was once Victor/Pack-In Video, but there have been personnel changes over that time, of course.

Natsume developed/produced a few of the spinoff games bearing the Harvest Moon name but they didn't really work directly on any of the mainline games from the ground up--they might sometimes handle the "girl version" or a port to another console, that sort of thing. I think they might have made one/all of the Game Boy games? I forget. Lost Valley will be the first one that's 100% theirs.

Yasuhiro Wada, the "godfather" of Harvest Moon, left Marvelous a few years back; he's since started a studio called Toybox and made a HM-style game with Natsume called Hometown Story, but it didn't get a positive response and one has to wonder if they'll ever make a sequel.

The Rune Factory games were all developed by Neverland (the Lufia devs), and the other spinoff game Innocent Life was developed by a company called ArtePiazza. Neverland recently went bankrupt but Marvelous still owns the IP and a lot of the old team is at Marvelous now, so it's bound to continue. Innocent Life was a flop and probably won't be coming back anytime soon.

Ugh, it sounds like a total cluster. I was a very big fan of the series (actually still collect the series but the last game I played meaningfully were on the GBA).

Out of the games coming out soon are any true to the Harvest Moon spirit, or am I better off going back and playing Back to Nature on my Vita/FoMT on my GBA?

 

[Pennywise83]

Hope they clarify their stategy for Europe; I would like to see a better treatment than Marvelous'.

 

[evilromero]

Doggy is waaaaaaay cuter.

Rabbits always win.

 

[Leeness]

So...how do I obtain these without having to buy the game?

 

[@MUWANdo]

Ugh, it sounds like a total cluster. I was a very big fan of the series (actually still collect the series but the last game I played meaningfully were on the GBA).

Out of the games coming out soon are any true to the Harvest Moon spirit, or am I better off going back and playing Back to Nature on my Vita/FoMT on my GBA?

Story of Seasons has been out in Japan for a while and people seem pretty pleased with it, so it seems like a safe bet. The series has been on an upswing for a little while, I think--if feels like the last couple games have built on what the previous ones did right instead of just randomly forgetting/tossing out good ideas like a lot of the later games have done.

Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley may very well turn out to be worth picking up, too, but it's very hard to tell at this stage as there haven't been any real hands-on previews outside of trade shows. It does seem like it'll probably appeal less to people who see the marriage/relationship stuff as the main drawcard, but again, there's so little info out there that I could be completely wrong.

Here's the best look we've seen so far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53ec_dVzfAU

 

[-Horizon-]

Rabbit is kind of creepy but that dog is cute. I kind of want to preorder from gamestop just for that.

 

[Tamanator]

I wonder who will be publishing this in Europe if anyone does, considering A New Beginning was published by Marvelous Europe. Perhaps Rising Star Games will pick it back up, they've been seemingly quite on the 3DS front lately.

Regardless, it's not like we'd ever see these pre order bonuses. While we get the N3DS first, we are still second class in regards to receiving localisations of certain games.

 

[Cherubae]

Story of Seasons has been out in Japan for a while and people seem pretty pleased with it, so it seems like a safe bet. The series has been on an upswing for a little while, I think--if feels like the last couple games have built on what the previous ones did right instead of just randomly forgetting/tossing out good ideas like a lot of the later games have done.

Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley may very well turn out to be worth picking up, too, but it's very hard to tell at this stage as there haven't been any real hands-on previews outside of trade shows. It does seem like it'll probably appeal less to people who see the marriage/relationship stuff as the main drawcard, but again, there's so little info out there that I could be completely wrong.

Here's the best look we've seen so far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53ec_dVzfAU

I think you're spot-on with that. Lost Valley leans closer to the old style of the series, where there is a limited number of marriage candidates and a larger option for crops as well as villager interactions, whereas, Story of Seasons has a larger number of marriage candidates and a concentration on shipping produced items via the Trade Depot.

They'll both be good games. Player just need to understand their differences, features, and (eventually) get over the fact that there was a split in the genre. Some players have grown up with the series being more of a marriage simulator, and others who are older have grown up with it being more a farm life simulator. It just all depends on which side of it you prefer. The series is over 15 years old.

So...how do I obtain these without having to buy the game?

SOTA Toys makes the premium plushies, so the rabbit might eventually show up on the company's website. The little dog pre-order plushie is going to be limited supply, and I doubt it will ever be sold separately.

 

[Leeness]

SOTA Toys makes the premium plushies, so the rabbit might eventually show up on the company's website. The little dog pre-order plushie is going to be limited supply, and I doubt it will ever be sold separately.

The puppy is already on the site!

The bunny is not

 

[Portalbox]

This is Natsume's own Harvest Moon, right? Nothing to do with Bokujou Monogatari? Sorry, I still get confused sometimes.

 

[Kazerei]

The cow plushie was the best

 

[@MUWANdo]

This is Natsume's own Harvest Moon, right? Nothing to do with Bokujou Monogatari? Sorry, I still get confused sometimes.

Right.

 

[suzu]

This is Natsume's own Harvest Moon, right? Nothing to do with Bokujou Monogatari? Sorry, I still get confused sometimes.

Yes.

Marvelous can't use the Harvest Moon name.

 

[Cherubae]

The puppy is already on the site!

The bunny is not

Well there are two puppies; the Gamestop pre-order is a small version of the red-bandana giant one on the SOTA Toys website. The one currently for sale on the SOTA site is about 12" tall. Here's the giant SOTA plushies, including the big puppy, that I did a few weeks ago:

The Gamestop puppy is about beak-height or so on the reversible chick.

 

[Leeness]

Well there are two puppies; the Gamestop pre-order is a small version of the red-bandana giant one on the SOTA Toys website. The one currently for sale on the SOTA site is about 12" tall. Here's the giant SOTA plushies, including the big puppy, that I did a few weeks ago:

The Gamestop puppy is about beak-height or so on the reversible chick.

Oh, I see :O

...they're all so cute I could die. I have a few of them, but I want all of them. I really hope the bunny will be on the site at some point.