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Hometown Story hopes to recapture that Harvest Moon magic
The Natsume booth feels more than a little out of place amid the murder and mayhem that defines the E3 show floor experience. For those weary of the pulsing music, constant explosions and gruff voice-overs blasting from every ear-level speaker in sight, Natsume's display of gentle, colorful games about farming and fishing can feel like an oasis from sensory overload. While they've dabbled in just abut every genre known to man, an unexpected game called Harvest Moon – which hit the SNES long after it withered on the vine – has since become Natsume's strongest brand, with 19 prime series games to date. There's no end in sight for this strangely compelling series, though its creator Yasuhiro Wada has moved on to a new IP called Hometown Story, which he hopes will have the same longevity as the series that introduced the curious addictiveness of simulating mundane tasks years before The Sims.%Gallery-191606%
Wada's Project Happiness is now Hometown Story
"Project Happiness," the enchantingly adorable shopkeeper simulation by Harvest Moon creator Yasuhiro Wada, now has an official title: Hometown Story. The "story" in the title is meant to show the game's emphasis on meeting and learning about new townspeople by growing your shop, over simply conducting business for its own sake.The character designs, by Atsuko Nishida, have simplified since the prototype footage, showing a game that looks more like it's running on a 3DS. And it's still really, really, really heartwarmingly cute. It's due this year; Natsume has said it's coming to 3DS and mobile.
Retail therapy: Wada's 'Project Happiness' is a shopkeeper's life
Harvest Moon creator Yasuhiro Wada and publisher Natsume revealed their next project together at E3. "Project Happiness" is a new IP in which you run a shop in a small village, buying and selling items to improve the shop and learning the stories of all the customers who come in over the years. Natsume later revealed plans to put it on 3DS and mobile; during an interview at E3, Wada said it was planned for a "variety of platforms."Wada recruited top talent to create his new game. Character designs, for both humans and the adorable "sprite" creatures that inhabit the world, are by Pokemon character designer Atsuko Nishida. The music, including that heard in the above trailer, is composed by legendary Final Fantasy series composer Nobuo Uematsu.
Harvest Moon creator working on new IP 'Project Happiness' for Natsume
Talking to us at GDC about his new company Toybox, Harvest Moon creator Yasuhiro Wada hinted at upcoming announcements for E3. Today, Natsume revealed that Toybox will develop a new IP codenamed "Project Happiness," with Natsume publishing the unknown game in North America and Rising Star Games publishing in Europe."Project Happiness is an IP that is very close to my heart, and stems from years of working on other great titles like the Harvest Moon series," Wada said in the announcement. "Project Happiness is not only meant to be a fun game experience, but I also want it to help expand the player's view of the world, and make them ponder what their life means to them." It's a tall order, and one we're not sure will lead to happiness in all cases.Natsume and Wada will reveal more about Project Happiness at E3, and Joystiq will be there to tell you about it.
Harvest Moon creator Wada forms Toybox Inc.
Yasuhiro Wada has had a long career. He's best known for creating the Harvest Moon series at Victor Interactive Software, which later became known as Marvelous Entertainment. Later, he became CEO of Marvelous, a position he left in 2010 to become COO of Grasshopper Manufacture. Now, Wada is returning to creative work, and has formed his own company, called Toybox Inc., a two-man operation with former Marvelous producer Tomio Kanazawa (who worked on Deadly Premonition when Marvelous published it in Japan). They have three projects in the works -- the PS3 update of Deadly Premonition, and two others they may announce at E3.Like Mistwalker, the two creators plan to work with development partners on each game. "Toybox is only two," Wada told me. "We are the control hub." The new company will support "all" console and handheld platforms, and Wada plans to make "not so big, but not download" games.
