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Another Week in Japan: Hardware and software numbers 2/25-3/2
The DS dropped to third in last week's hardware sales, as the PSP inched its way to first. (In case you haven't been keeping track, Wii sales have been above those of the DS for quite some time, but the PSP and DS keep flip-flopping for the week's best selling portable.)Hardware: PSP: 73,706 Wii: 64,535 Nintendo DS: 51,922 PlayStation 3: 13,520 PlayStation 2: 10,986 Xbox 360: 2,282 In the software chart, though, Nintendo's portable dominated once again. There were fourteen DS games to hit the top thirty last week, three of which made the top ten. Most of note is the new release Soma Bringer, a game that many of us outside of Japan have been coveting. It debuted in fourth, and was the top seller for the dual-screened handheld last week.Meanwhile, Professor Layton 2 and Animal Crossing slipped back into the top thirty, while Harvest Moon and Etrian Odyssey II managed to remain in the top ten. Check after the break to see a whole lot of DS games in boldface.
Another Week in Japan: Hardware and software numbers 2/18-2/24
The DS and PSP seem to be in a tooth-and-nail fight for second place. This week, the PSP took back the second spot, but just barely.Hardware: Wii: 63,504 PSP: 53,373 Nintendo DS: 50,151 PlayStation 3: 14,060 PlayStation 2: 9,634 Xbox 360: 2,001 The DS did better in software, though, with Etrian Odyssey II becoming popular in its first week. The DS dungeon crawler was only 9,000 units away from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, in fact. Harvest Moon: Shining Sun and Friends was another DS champ, ending up 5th on this week's chart. There were twelve DS games in the top thirty, which is impressive, especially considering the ton of new releases that came out last week. The new software did manage to bump a bunch of DS games out of the top thirty, though, including big names like Professor Layton and Pandora's Box, Dragon Quest IV, and Final Fantasy IV. To see the software placements, make sure to check after the break.
DS releases for the week of February 18th
It's a good week to be a DS gamer in pretty much any region. Europe is a possible exception, but we happen to think Paint by DS is a neat-looking product. Outside of Europe and its possibly compelling coloring game, quality abounds this week, with Capcom's Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney as the flagship release in the U.S. Whenever an Ace Attorney game comes out, it's a Big Deal in DS-land, and this one is especially noteworthy!Japan is flooded with cool games this week, including Space Invaders Extreme, the remake, J.B. Harold Murder ClubPopulous DS, and even a new Harvest Moon. And Australia gets a shot at both Advance Wars and Cooking Mama 2! There's a pretty good chance you'll have something to buy this week. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Dungeon Explorer: Warriors of the Ancient Arts FIFA Street 3
VC Monday Madness video wrap-up 2/11/08
This week, we've added a bit to our coverage of the Virtual Console releases. Nothing major to alter how we do things here (we hear you're fine with how it is, but always feel free to let us know how we can improve!), but rather a small thing that we feel many of you will enjoy. So, hit up the video above, then be sure to head past the break for the rest of the coverage.
Lords of Thunder, Harvest Moon crop up on Virtual Console
As evidenced by our extraordinary difficulty in making a coherently themed post, Nintendo's two Virtual Console additions for today seem suited to diametrically different gamers. If you're the sort who enjoys blowing things to smithereens -- and then smashing said smithereens into even tinier smithereenies -- Harvest Moon is definitely the game for you. No, wait ... maybe it's the other one. Lords of Thunder (TurboGrafx-16 CD-ROM, 1 Player, 800 Wii Points): Okay, it's definitely the other one. The side-scrollin' shootin' and a rockin' soundtrack should appeal to your lust for destruction and your hatred of the letter "g." Harvest Moon (SNES, 1 Player, 800 Wii Points): Swap your agro culture for some agriculture as you diligently water crops, raise livestock and expand your farm, all in the hopes of impressing some girl.
2008's Biggest Blips: Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness
Developer: Marvelous Publisher: Marvelous/Natsume Release: June 8 When it comes to light-hearted, adorable games that make us want to smile, the Harvest Moon games top the list. The formula is relatively simple: grow and harvest crops, woo boy/girl, forge friendships, lather, rinse, repeat. Yet, if playing Harvest Moon doesn't tug at your heartstrings even a tiny bit, you're probably the kind of person that eats babies for a living. Not that there's anything wrong with that (in fact, we have an excellent barbecue sauce recipe, if you're interested). In case you need even more evidence that the Harvest Moon series is full of feel-good games, the two upcoming entries for the DS are subtitled Cute and Island of Happiness. How much sweeter can you get without dying from an immediate sugar coma? Borrowing a page from Lost in Blue, Island of Happiness kicks off with your character and a handful of friends stranded on a deserted island. As the game world changes and the number of buildings increases, more and more people start settling there. The game features 100 different NPCs, some of whom are bachelors (or bachelorettes, depending on whether you start the game as a girl or boy) that you can woo and marry. The game also features 3D graphics and utilizes stylus controls, thereby making full use of the handheld's capabilities. We only wish more games could be as relaxing and refreshing as those in the Harvest Moon series. As far as we're concerned, all games could use a good dose of Harvest Moon in them. To prove our point, we've made a few suggestions of game mash-ups that we'd like to see happen. 1. Harvest Moon meets Contra in Super Seed Is it just a coincidence that one of the heroes of Contra is Lance Bean? If you ask us, this game is just begging for a Harvest Moon infused sequel. 2. Harvest Moon meets Resident Evil in Mansion of Magical Itchy ... Tasty Did you ever stop to think that zombies need a little love, too? Did Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine ever take the time to invite the zombies to a festival, or try to gain some heart points with a platter of fried brains? Maybe impaling people is just the tyrant's way of indicating that he'd really like someone to bring him a kebab. 3. Harvest Moon meets Metroid in Metroid Prime: Gatherers Samus has done enough hunting. It's time for her to switch gears. 4. Harvest Moon meets Castlevania in Dawn of Happiness Castlevania needs to turn that frown upside down. Dawn of Sorrow? No thanks, Debbie Downer IGA. 5. Harvest Moon meets Dementium in A Wonderful Ward Ending up in a mysterious place without knowing why you're there isn't uncommon in the Harvest Moon games. If one of these protagonists ended up in Redmoor Hospital, we're sure they'd spend their time planting crops and making friends with the locals. %Gallery-15230% N+ Back Come the revolution
Don't want to grow up? Read this Toy Shop preview!
This small preview of the gameplay in Majesco's Toy Shop makes the game sound ... well, oddly compelling. 1UP's Emily Balistrieri sums it up as a "Harvest Moon for those more interested in dolls and train sets than cows and corn."In the game, two siblings are given three years to restore an inherited toy shop to a profitable state. Each day (five to ten minutes), you talk to the customers, meet the townspeople, fix up your store (including appropriate seasonal decorations) and -- most importantly -- make toys. The appropriate stock of toys will make customers happy, and they'll come back and spend more money.The Harvest Moon comparison makes the game sound especially interesting. Why don't more companies make that kind of game? And why not move it off the farm? We like toys, much more than we like farming.%Gallery-14107%
VC Friday: Harvest a rare SNES game
As eBay darlings go, the SNES version of Harvest Moon isn't quite in the same league as, say, Nintendo World Championships 1990, but it ain't cheap, either; you can expect to pony up around $100 for a copy on eBay. That is unless you live in Europe or Australia, where the first game to make back-breaking toil fun has just popped up on the Virtual Console for a meagre 800 Wii points. Sure, it's only one game, but its quality can't be denied.Harvest Moon -- SNES -- 800 Wii points
Rune Factory 2 harvests more scans before release
Yet another scan has popped up for Rune Factory 2, as the game is coming out next week in Japan. There's still no announced plans to bring the title elsewhere, but even if there were, we probably won't see this game in English for another year. If you're oh-so-patiently (grumble) waiting for the game like we are, check after the break for one more teasing scan.
Harvest Moon port probably still on the way to Europe
Back in April, Rising Star Games announced that Harvest Moon: Magical Melody, which never made it to the GameCube in Europe, would be released as a Wii game. This port hasn't been heard from in a while, and in fact had disappeared from Rising Star's website, leading Spencer Yip from Siliconera to think that the game had been cancelled. A representative from the publisher reassured him that the disappearance was due only to a website redesign, to which the link was accidentally not added. The spokesperson asserted that the game was on track for a March 2008 release.However, no correction seems to have been made, and Spencer was not actually provided with any link. Maybe they just made a snap decision to go ahead and release the game in response to Spencer's email. After all this time, will the game have some new content? Will it even have pointer controls?
Rune Factory 2 screens give us deja vu
As we see more and more Rune Factory 2 screens, it's becoming pretty evident that the game is going to be almost exactly like its predecessor, only with slightly altered characters and possibly a kind-of-different storyline. Does the prospect of an extremely similar game excite you Rune Factory fans, or was one time around enough? Since we loved the first game so much, we're going to go with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mantra, although it'd be nice to see a few more changes made to the sequel.You can check out some more screens that probably won't surprise you after the break.
Creator of Harvest Moon interested in making a game like Spore
Is anyone else interested in some sort of Spore meets Harvest Moon hybrid? If you are, the future might very well be a rosy place, indeed, because Harvest Moon creator Yasuhiro Wada dreams of making a game similar to Will Wright's creation sim. He recently told Gamasutra, "Eventually, I'd like to make something like Spore, where you create something, and from there, new stuff is going to be created again and again and again ... But you want to be one of the people living in the city, and to be a part of this growing too."Wada also said that King's Story (which was his concept) was originally supposed to be more like Spore than what it turned into. We like how King's Story is shaping up, so we're not really bothered that it deviated from its original idea, but it still would be nice to see Wada's true vision ultimately realized. Hopefully we'll one day see this Spore-like game that he wishes to make.
The Rune Factory also manufactures videos
The website for the fantasy-farming sequel*, Rune Factory 2, has been updated with new character art and, most importantly, a new trailer. Marvelous is throwing everything they can at the audience, pulling out the full bag of Japanese trailer tricks: anime intros, soaring J-pop background music, and, on occasion, footage of the game.While the trailer smartly focuses on aspects of the game that play well in trailers, like romance and fighting, you can also see plenty of the farming action that Harvest Moon series fans care for. If you look over at the monsters page, you can check out some of the creatures that your hero Kyle can capture and tame, many of which look suspiciously similar to livestock. Or Gollum. All of these creatures can be found in the previous Rune Factory, with the exception of the "Orc Viking," who is not nearly as cute as the Woolly seen here. Also be sure to hit the system page for new screens.*That is, a farming game in a fantasy sequel. You don't actually grow fantasies.
Rune Factory 2 comes with cool extras (in Japan)
We may have to wait a long time before Rune Factory 2 gets released outside of Japan, but that doesn't mean we can't be excited. Not only is Japan getting the game in January (those lucky bastards), but certain limited editions will come with this soundtrack disc and art book. We hope these goodies come our way when the game comes out here, although we highly doubt it.Judging from the cover of the art book, the style of the game is very similar to the first Rune Factory. Pictured are the main character (whose name is Kyle) and some girl with crazy eyes. We also like the contemplative looking dragon in the background. The soundtrack, meanwhile, includes arranged versions of four songs from the game. Pretty neat bonus, we think. Anyone else as jealous as we are?
Demo de Harvest Moon
Ready to learn some valuable life skills for once, we decided to enroll in Harvest Moon A&M and take a class on "Playing Puzzle de Harvest Moon." We were motivated not only by our desire to improve ourselves and learn a trade, but also by the fact that the class is about five minutes long and is, in fact, a Flash game and not a class. Further rumination on the subject brought us to the conclusion that Harvest Moon A&M was a thing we just made up.Anyway, now we know how to play Puzzle de Harvest Moon, even though the tutorial totally didn't prepare us for how frantic the actual round was going to be. Of course-- what's faster-paced than farming? We're quite impressed with the unique design-- it's not often that a puzzle game comes along with completely fresh gameplay. [Via GoNintendo]
DS Daily: Harvest Moon
If you're in the northern half of the world, did you notice that harvest moon last night? Wednesday the 26th marked the full moon nearest to the autumn equinox, and of course, it made us think of the franchise of the same name. What, you expected us not to make the connection with games? We're serious fans here. Geez.But are you? Of Harvest Moon, that is, and Rune Factory, as well. How do you feel about the franchise? We've noticed that it's usually one of those 100% things: people either love it or avoid it like the plague. How about you?
Get peaceful with Harvest Moon
Okay, maybe everybody's going a little overboard with the chibi look. Sure, we understand that this is Harvest Moon and there's no reason for them to change anything, but after seeing the new trailer and screens, we started to realize that everything looks pretty familiar. Where have we seen this style before ....Harvest Moon: Tree of Peace aside, since it gets a pass, do you think it's possible that after all these other tiny-people-games come out, we might have a short break from childlike characters? Don't get us wrong. We love their big heads like ice cream and think they're just as cute as can be. It's just everywhere. But don't let us distract you from what's important -- like the trailer after the jump and the fresh new gallery. %Gallery-3745%
PSP Fanboy review: Innocent Life
Innocent Life takes the Harvest Moon series to a brave new world: the future. How would the long-running farming franchise transform when faced with the challenges of such an unusual setting? Unfortunately for gamers, Innocent Life doesn't really do anything new -- its setting is mostly wasted in a solid but ultimately meaningless story that suffers from serious pacing issues. It's clear that, like the title suggests, good intentions were at the core of the development process. However, some glaring issues with execution prevent it from being the must-have title it deserves to be.
Springtime in Harvest Moon
The Harvest Moon series isn't known for its great technological achievements. However, Innocent Life pushes the visual allure of the franchise to new heights. The developers have taken advantage of PSP's impressive power, and have crafted a game filled with a surprising amount of visual splendor. It may not be the best looking title on the handheld, but it's quite possibly the best looking Harvest Moon game to date. Each season in Innocent Life is brought to life by fine details. Fall, for example, is painted with beautiful shades of orange and brown. The falling leaves certainly add a great deal of charm to the title. Winter looks especially gorgeous when the impressive snow effects start taking over. The particles fill the screen, adding a dream-like feel. However, spring is quite possibly the best time to farm in Innocent Life. The trees are blooming, and flower petals can be seen falling down. The plethora of cherry blossoms make spring time in Harvest Moon a truly relaxing time. Check out more images, after the break.
Farming in the future: robots & more
The Harvest Moon franchise is heading in a bold new direction. Innocent Life, the new PSP-exclusive addition to the series, is appropriately subtitled "A Futuristic Harvest Moon." In this newly-released title, players are taken to a world that both shares remarkable similarities to worlds seen in past Harvest Moon titles, and veers off into unfamiliar territory for the franchise. Strangely, the setting is not the biggest change for Innocent Life -- it's the main character.
