Category Archives: Natsume

Natsume has dropped a startlingly imminent release date on the first 3DS Harvest Moon game, The Tale of Two Towns – Nobember 1.

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Natsume has announced that those who pre-order Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns for DS at participating retailers will receive a limited edition collectible plush Alpaca. Quantities of the stuffed Alpaca are limited, so you best hurry. The game, which has now gone gold, is set for release on September 20, and is also slated for 3DS, with a release date to be announced “shortly”. However, GameStop has a place holder of October 11 set for the 3D version.

Majesco and Natsume have both announced what each will be showing at E3 next week. Hit the break to find out what the respective firms will have on hand.

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Rising Star confirmed today that Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar will launch in PAL regions this year for DS. The latest in the Natsume farm sim series will feature “windmills to let you combine ingredients to make goods to sell at the Bazaar,” “a new jump movement” to get over hills and streams, and a returning horse festival. Sounds fancy. Look at shots of it over on Nintendo World.

Natsume is currently getting ready for next month’s E3, and while we’re already familiar with most of the games on show, a “highly-anticipated unannounced title” will also be found in the booth.

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A collection of dainty amuse-bouche dishes to warm you up to the meat of the news.

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Get ready to play even more games in the Harvest Moon series for both the Nintendo DS and the new 3DS console.

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Call this a friendly reminder, if you will, as Natsume has announced that Afrika is now available in the US on PS3.

‘Bout damn time, we say.

It has over 70 animals in it with over 100 missions, and if you are in the US and want it, check with your local retailer.

Hooray.

Via Press Release.

With production values beyond the typical budget game, Natsume promises that Afrika will not destroy your wallet too much.

“We are not so interested in the so-called ‘value’ titles,” Yasuhiro Maekawa told Gamasutra. “Most of the Natsume games I’d say are about in the middle. Sort of normal retail price titles with normal graphical levels.

“For a PlayStation 3 title, this will probably be $49.99. That’s what we’re thinking. Between $39.99 and $49.99. $59.99 is probably too much.”

Via Joystiq.

Yasuhiro Maekawa, the US president for Natsume, has said that mid-sized companies can benefit from digital distribution because there is less competition than what exists at retail.

“I think that Natsume, and also publishers in general have a big issue right now,” he told Gamasutra. “Basically, there are so many titles out there, but retailers, store shelves are very limited. If you go to Wal-Mart, they have one case there, which may hold 48 titles. However the top row is all Nintendo titles, second row, all EA.

“Which means the middle-size publishing companies like us, if it’s Reel Fishing or the Harvest Moon franchise, or maybe Afrika, they might possibly show interest. But if it’s our original titles, and we have some more original titles here, it’s very tough to sell to retail stores.

“In that case, the online downloadable content becomes viable. Plus the development costs are not as high as in the package business. So for us, I think it’ll do well.”

Hit the link for the rest.

Natsume’s VP of Operations, Graham Markay, has told Siliconera that the PS2 localization for Finny the Fish was how the publisher reeled in the rights to publish Afrika in the US.

“We have a relationship with Sony Japan,” Markay told the site. “You might remember Finny the Fish? That game was done by Sony Japan. So we licensed that game from them. We have a little bit of a history with their licensing department in Japan.

“It really fits with the Natsume theme. That is it’s non-violent, it’s in nature, you know animals, being one with nature, you’re taking pictures and not running around with a shotgun or a baseball bat. So it fits in the encompassing umbrella of what Natsume stands behind. Long answer short, it went from there and we got it.

Markay also revealed that the game will have a trophy system, which “wasn’t in the Asian release or Japanese release.”

Good to know.

Via Joystiq.

Everyone has been talking about Afrika for what seems like ten years now.

Finally leaving Japan this year, the game was on hand at E3 and Kotaku got 20 minutes of play time with it.

If you can get past the comparisons to Pokemon snap, you should get a bit of information out of it. Who hasn’t compared it to Pokemon Snap though?

At any rate, there is nothing there that you didn’t know already.

Regardless, it still looks nice – even if we are a bit tried of seeing zebras all the time.

Natsume has announced its E3 line-up for next week, and attendees who love Harvest Moon or are excited about Afrika are in for a treat.

“We can’t wait to show everyone our outstanding lineup of titles for 2009, said Natsume president Hiro Maekawa.

“This is our biggest lineup ever! We have something for people of all ages and tastes, no matter which gaming console or handheld is their favorite.”

• Adventures To Go (PSP)
• Animal Kingdom: Wildlife Expedition (Wii)
• Afrika (PS3)
• Cheer We Go! (DS)
• Harvest Moon: Animal Parade (Wii)
• Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming (DS)
• Harvest Moon: My Little Shop (WiiWare)
• Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands (DS)
• Reel Fishing: Angler’s Dream (Wii)
• Squishy Tank (DS)

All games are expected sometime this year, and more information about each is detailed in the press release below.
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Natsume is to release PS3′s Afrika in the US this year, according to this IGN report.

We know at least two people that’ll be pleased by this.

There’s lots of preview detail through the link. Same thing. Still has charging hippos.

Natsume has detailed its latest game for family friendly fun, and it’s called Animal Kingdom: Wildlife Expedition.

Set to be released this summer on Wii, players will take on the role of a wildlife photographer on Animal Island. Each day a new task is given and you have to take pictures of the animals doing various things.

Kids like Wii. Kids like animals. Should be fun for ‘em then.

Read onward for the press release.

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Natsume’s joined the ESA, the publisher’s confirmed.

“Natsume is a respected video game publisher and a welcome addition to the ESA,” said ESA boss Michael Gallagher.

“We are pleased to represent them and look forward to working with Natsume’s talented leadership and employees as they lead the way in developing creative new gaming experiences for families.”

Natsume does Harvest Moon. Which is awesome.

Story of the year.

IGN’s posted E3 line-ups from a decent list of companies on its Big E3 Games List, so the “excitement” for this year’s show officially starts here. W00t.

Notables in there are Resident Evil 5, Crysis Warhead, Mirror’s Edge, LOTR: Conquest and Killzone 2. Expect there to be a race among sites for the next month to get people to admit what they’re showing in LA.

This year’s E3 will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on July 15-17