To be honest, the last time I played a Harvest Moon game, it was on the GameCube. We're talking years ago, folks. But, like riding a bike, Harvest Moon is an experience that doesn't change much over time. Fans like it that way, I imagine. And, just as I expected, Island of Happiness featured a lot of the same things previous titles in the franchise offered.

Natsume released the slightest trickle of media for Rune Factory 2 and Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness in honor of E3, and because we love them, we'll accept it. Grudgingly. In much the same way, E3 itself has been as skimpy; like these updates -- particularly the Rune Factory 2 art -- every release has packed a punch, but it feels like it's only a taste of something greater. Must we state the obvious?

A simple, relaxing day on the farm. Sounds like a perfect treat to escape the hustle and bustle of big cities, hostile takeovers and estate settlements. The Pensky file will have to wait, because the brand new trailer for Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness has arrived, and it will charm the pants off you.

Natsume was quick to deliver its E3 lineup, and they have already begun showering us with fertile, productive videos and news. Nice one! Go on -- use your powers of vision to check out the above video, then use your powers of purchasing to buy the thing when it comes out. Harvest Moon is a pretty failsafe franchise.

Natsume will be sharing some DS love at this week's E3 convention, showing off Princess Debut and Rune Factory 2 for the first time. Island of Happiness and Hamtaro will also be on the company's E3 agenda, balancing out the lineup nicely.

Harvest Moon fans (like ourselves) will probably be the most excited by this schedule, as we'll get more media and details on Island of Happiness and Rune Factory 2, which come out this summer and fall respectively. At the same time, we can't help but be intrigued by Princess Debut. Depending on how the "adventure" parts work, it might be the closest thing to an otome (girl's dating game) that we've seen for the DS outside of Japan. We're also not going to complain about the rhythm-based dancing segments, as we're rhythm game fiends.

Granted, all these titles are rather niche, but we wouldn't take Natsume any other way.

The fine folk at Natsume just sent over a couple of new screens from latest installment in their popular Harvest Moon franchise, upcoming DS title Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness. For those of you familiar with the franchise, you should pretty much know what to expect. Farming, tending to livestock and interacting with NPCs is usually the order for the day, so we don't expect this title to be any different. Not that it's a bad thing, mind you. We like taking care of virtual cows as much as the next DS-obsessed blog.

Hit up our gallery below for the new screens from Island of Happiness.

Okay, the bad news first: it looks like that rumored delay for Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness was not only true, but understated: while GameStop still says July 29, Amazon now says August 26, and other recent updates to their listing seem to indicate that they know what's going on.

Those "other recent updates" form the good news: if you preorder Island of Happiness from Amazon, you get this amazingly cute plush chicken and chick, both of which look like they came from the Pac-Man cartoon. We don't care when it's coming out or, really, what the game is: we just want the spheroid chicken.


[Via CAG]

Once mooted for a June 8th release, Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness now looks like being held up for almost two months, after Gamestop listed a revised release date of July 29th.

Oh, sure, that's not the same as official confirmation from Natsume by any means, but we won't lie to you: we're all worried sick. Our cow, Clover (far right), is so concerned she's barely yielding any milk, the sheep are bleating more than usual, while mealtimes at the old farmhouse are now conducted in deathly silence. Even the chickens look sort of anxious.


[Via Go Nintendo]

The next few months will be filled with a lot a great releases -- perhaps too many. Super Dodgeball Brawlers, Bangai-O Spirits, Final Fantasy Tactics A2, Etrian Odyssey II, Space Invaders Extreme, Arkanoid DS, Rondo of Swords, Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles, Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness, and The World Ends With You are just a few that we can name on the spot, and all of these will be out before July starts.

Unless you have abundant amounts of currency, though, you probably can't afford to buy that many games in such a short period of time. Also, money isn't the only problem. Supposing that you could afford everything you wanted, you wouldn't even have the time to play them all.

Narrowing down the field is tough, but necessary. What games that are coming out in the next three months do you consider must gets? And they don't have to be chosen from the games listed above, so go nuts.

Gamestop can be so cruel to our wallets. We try to resist their silly preorder bonuses that come with games, but at times it's too hard to ignore the temptation.

The most recent battle of wills comes with Gamestop's bonus for Harvest Moon DS Cute. If you couldn't tell from the picture above, it's a plush cat! That may not seem like a big deal for many of you -- after all, what's another cheap stuffed animal? -- but here at DS Fanboy, we love cats (especially the "lol" kind). Maybe not as much as we love pugs, but we digress.

We like the Harvest Moon series anyway, so normally preordering this game wouldn't be an issue. Yet, since two Harvest Moon games are coming out pretty close to each other, we were hoping to spend our money on Island of Happiness instead. Cute is essentially the same game as Harvest Moon DS, except that the main character is a girl rather than a boy (plus, a few other minor additions). Island of Happiness, on the other hand, is a completely new game with a Lost in Blue meets Harvest Moon concept.

We probably won't waver in our decision to stick with Island of Happiness, but if you're a fan of the franchise and haven't played Harvest Moon DS yet, this preorder bonus might make the purchase a worthwhile one.

[Via Siliconera]

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.

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