Natsume has confirmed that Wii gamers in the US and Canada are in for more farming adventures this year. Apparently they really are going to release Harvest Moon: Magical Melody as a GameStop exclusive.

It's been a full year since Rising Star Games released Harvest Moon: Magical Melody for the Wii in Europe and we've been told that North American gamers are not getting the game, unfortunately. However, US fans' luck seems to be turning around as Natsume's release calendar shows that it will be coming to the US, this August in fact.

Nintendo has released both Lords of Thunder (TurboGrafx-16) and Harvest Moon (SNES) on the North American Wii Virtual Console service. Old school gamers will probably remember both games quite fondly. If you want to find out how much each title costs or what each game plays like, be sure to scoot on over to the full article for more information.

If you've been closely following QJ.NET's coverage of the unfolding Tokyo Game Show (TGS), you'll know that one of the more anticipated titles (even though slated for Japan-only releases) belong to Marvelous Interactive.

We just got word that these titles will be soon arriving in North American shores as well. This news came from Harvest Moon creator Yasuhiro Wada as he spoke about Marvelous' plans for U.S. and the rest of the Western markets.

According to Wada, a satellite office will be opened somewhere in North America within the next two years. Wada metioned:

We'll bring a couple of people from Japan to manage, but of course we need somebody in the U.S. who already has connections and relationships with retailers and distribution channels, which is why we are hoping to find a partnership with someone who's already in the U.S.

The video game creator also said that this will facilitate the releases of their different titles in the said region. "We might leave Harvest Moon with Natsume. But all the new and original titles we'll be trying to launch in Japan, we'll want to launch ourselves in the U.S.", Yasuhiro Wada continued.

Some of the more prominent titles from Marvelous Interactive include No More Heroes for Nintendo Wii and Valhalla Knights 2 for the PlayStation Portable.

If you've been playing video games for quite some time now, you probably encountered a phase in your gaming career when assuming the role of a bad-ass hero, a professional athlete, or a martial arts champion seemed to be getting old. Sometimes, being normal is best, even in gaming.

Enter the Harvest Moon franchise: a game series dating back from the SNES days that lets you experience the peaceful lifestyle in rural areas. It isn't quite real life, but it certainly makes living in a farm look like fun. Never has milking cows, planting crops, and talking to vegetables in the middle of a field been so cool!

The franchise is continuing that proud tradition into the next generation of gaming with Harvest Moon: Tree of Peace. It contains a lot of the same elements that made the series, but drastic improvements in the visuals and innovations in terms of controls seem to breathe life into a line of games that has been around for more than a decade. We've got a gameplay video of the upcoming game's Troublesome Town and it's looking fun at this point.

Check out the main character as he interacts with the various townsfolk in the game - in the shop, in the lighthouse, and in the docks...

 

IGN has another batch of screenshots hot and fresh from Natsume's and Marvelous Interactive's oven. These new pictures now give us some idea on how the multiplayer feature works on Harvest Moon: Tree of Peace. We can see that there are many characters to choose from, but we can't tell for now if customized characters can be used for the multiplayer mode - we'll find out soon enough. The minigame shown in the two screenshots above looks like a contest of who catches the mole - or whatever it is that burrows under the soil.

We're excited knowing that this Harvest Moon Wii installment is to be shown in E3; you can count on us to give you a lowdown on whatever Harvest Moon: Tree of Peace information we can get in that much-awaited event. Until then, stay tuned.

  

More screenshots after the jump!

A couple of days ago, we shared with you a partial list of developers, publishers, and video game titles that will be making an appearance at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). In relation to that, development studio Natsume has just confirmed its presence at the said show and promised to bring loads and loads of Harvest Moon titles among others.

Currently, there are three known video games from the franchise: Tree of Peace for Wii, Innocent Life for PSP, and DS' Rune Factory. The whole franchise is all about farming simulation coupled with RPG elements. If you're very much into these kind of games then you will be delighted with the company's E3 showing:

• Harvest Moon 2 (DS)
  
• Harvest Moon DS Cute (DS)
• Harvest Moon Wii (Wii)
• Harvest Moon: Boy and Girl (PSP)
• Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon Special Edition (PS2)
• Math Play (DS)
• Metropolismania 2 (PS2)
• Puzzle de Harvest Moon (DS)
• River King: Wonderland (DS)
• Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (DS)

It's good to see that aside from Harvest Moon, Natsume is also offering other titles. If we are not mistaken, River King is actually a fishing simulation which also features RPG elements.

  

Anyone who's played any of the previous iterations of Harvest Moon knows how addicting it can be. Marvelous Interactive and Natsume's Harvest Moon: Tree of Peace is looking prettier than its previous iterations, but the question remains: Will its gameplay be as good as the PlayStation One version of the game?

This game looks to follow the mold of its forefathers as a farming simulator as there are multiple paths one can take from raising livestock to growing crops. Fans of previous iterations will also be glad to know that cooking will still be in the game (I'm hoping for a Cooking Mama like mini-game while preparing recipes). Other things of note include the family aspect of the game where you can woo any of the lovely young ladies in town, marry, and eventually raise a family.

No release date is slated for the Wii-exclusive as of yet, so be sure to keep checking back here for more updates on Harvest Moon: Tree of Peace.

  

More screens await after the jump!

Today, we have a Harvest Moon: Tree of Peace video for you guys. This one is the Japanese trailer for o upcoming farming sim for the Nintendo Wii.

The vid shows game footage of typical farm life familiar to fans of the series: clearing away weeds, planting stuff and the like. It also shows some of the characters and animals in the game as well as some of the various mini games. Harvest Moon: Tree of Peace's dating aspect also gets a bit of focus, and the vid also shows that kids can now help out in the farm.

Anyway, check out the vid below for yourself. Harvest Moon: Tree of Peace is currently slated for a Japanese release this month. A North American version will also reportedly be released later this year.

 

Build relationships, farm the land, and tend to the livestock when the Koropokkuru come to you for help in reviving the great tree and the goddess of the island. This is essentially what you'll do when you play Marvelous Interactive and Natsume's Harvest Moon video game made exclusively for the Wii. But of course there will also be side quests for the players in the game.

"Nintendo Dream" recently featured Harvest Moon Wii, and we've got a lot of those scans from the game for you to look at. The scans show off the different characters, the environments, and how the characters will be mingling with each other as they progress in the game. Let's move on to those pretty pictures so you'll finally get a better idea of how the game's turning out.

   

More scans at the Full Article!