Software:Harvest Moon DS

From HandWiki
Short description: 2005 video game
Harvest Moon DS
Developer(s)Marvelous Interactive
Publisher(s)
Producer(s)Yoshifumi Hashimoto
SeriesStory of Seasons
Platform(s)Nintendo DS
Release
Genre(s)Simulation, role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Harvest Moon DS, known in Japan as Bokujō Monogatari: Colobocle Station (牧場物語 コロボックルステーション, Bokujō Monogatari: Korobokkuru Sutēshon), is a farm simulation role-playing video game for the Nintendo DS, part of the Story of Seasons series. It was published and developed by Marvelous Interactive Inc., and released in Japan on March 17, 2005, and in North America on September 12, 2006. It is the first entry in the series without series creator Yasuhiro Wada heavily involved, though it borrows many assets from Software:Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town and Software:Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, such as the graphical style from the former and setting of the latter.

Plot

The player is a young man (who is by default named Pete) who lives with his friend Takakura on a farm in Forget-Me-Not-Valley,[1] at roughly the same time as Software:Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town. The game begins with the Harvest Goddess, a deity of Harvest Moon, and the Witch Princess fighting. Neither can win, so they part ways. The Witch Princess, on meeting the Harvest Goddess next, attempts to cast a spell to silence her, but instead petrifies her. While trying to undo her spell, the Witch Princess inadvertently sends the Harvest Goddess to another world, so she sends all of the Harvest Sprites (small, elf-like creatures) to the same world to rescue her. The Witch Princess then tells the player to bring all of the Harvest Sprites back in order to rescue the Harvest Goddess; to do this, the player must work hard as a farmer.

Living in the valley are a number of villagers, nine bachelorettes, and five rival bachelors. The characters and locations in Harvest Moon DS are the same as those in Software:Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life and Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, along with a few new characters, but with a few minor exceptions.

The main story ends when all Harvest Sprites and the Harvest Goddess are rescued.

Gameplay

Players earn money primarily through their farm, by growing crops or raising livestock. Growing crops is slightly different from previous Harvest Moon games; rather than being restricted to their own farm land, the player may grow crops on unowned fields of various sizes and fertility all over the valley. Each crop must be planted during a certain season; for example, turnips must be planted in the spring. Players begin the game with only a dog and a cat on their farm. While the cat does little, the dog may be trained to fetch balls and chase away wild dogs from the farm. Cows, sheep, ducks, and chickens are available for purchase and must be housed in different types of pens, which must be bought from Gotz, the town's woodcutter. Cows and sheep require an animal shed to live in before they may be purchased, and ducks and chickens require a bird shed. After the player ships 1000 items, Takakura will bring him a horse to keep. This horse does not need to be fed and cannot get sick. However, it can be brushed to increase its affection towards the player.

After earning enough money, the player may upgrade their house by calling Gotz and buy a kitchen, appliances or furniture items by using the Harvest Sprite Shopping Network. If players upgrade their home twice, buy certain items, and rescue 60 Harvest Sprites, they may choose to marry. If the wife's affection is kept high for a season after marriage, she will become pregnant and give birth two seasons later. The game skips forward by three years after the birth, resulting in changes in the villagers' lives but no change to the player's farm.

Extra content, as well as characters from Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, can be unlocked by inserting a copy of Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town or More Friends of Mineral Town into the slot 2 of an original DS or DS Lite.[2] However, marrying any of the bachelorettes from Mineral Town results in the game ending immediately, placing the player back at the last save after the wedding.

There are a total of 101 Harvest Sprites to be rescued.[3] They belong to different teams based on what skills they have (such as fishing or watering crops) and are divided into two sets. The first set of Harvest Sprite teams can be hired to help the player after its rescue.[4] The second set of teams cannot be hired and fulfills specific purposes, such as running the casino or television stations. Rescuing the Harvest Sprites requires various farm related activities. Activities related to a Harvest Sprite's skill will generally result in its rescue.

Release

Japanese versions of Harvest Moon DS can only connect to their Japanese counterparts, and while this feature is not available on PAL Harvest Moon DS cartridges, NTSC Harvest Moon DS cartridges can connect with PAL and NTSC Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town cartridges.[5]

Instead of offering poker and blackjack in the Harvest Sprite Casino, in PAL games all three sprites offer memory matching.[6]

Reception

Harvest Moon DS
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic67/100[7]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Eurogamer5/10[8]
Famitsu30/40[9]
GameSpot5.9/10[10]
GameSpyStarStarStar[11]
GameZone9.2/10[12]
IGN6/10[13]
Nintendo Power6/10[14]
Pocket GamerStarStarStar[15]

The game received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[7] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of one seven, one nine, and two sevens for a total of 30 out of 40.[9]

Harvest Moon DS Cute

Harvest Moon DS Cute, known in Japan as Bokujō Monogatari: Colobocle Station for Girls (牧場物語コロボックルステーションforガール, Bokujō Monogatari Korobokkuru Sutēshon for Gāru), is a version of Harvest Moon DS centered on a female main character. It was published and developed by Marvelous Interactive Inc. and first released in Japan on December 8, 2005. Harvest Moon DS Cute replaces the male protagonist from Harvest Moon DS with a female character. Players may choose either Pony from Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life or Claire from Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town. Basic gameplay remains unaltered in comparison to the original version.

The Japanese version introduced a system not present in the North American version known as the "Best Friend" system. This allowed the player to marry only the four "special" bachelorettes from Harvest Moon DS, as well as any of the bachelors.[18][19]

Reception

Harvest Moon DS Cute
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic66/100[20]
Review scores
PublicationScore
IGN5.8/10[21]
Nintendo Power7.5/10[22]

Harvest Moon DS Cute received "average" reviews according to Metacritic.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Harvest Moon DS Overview". IGN Entertainment. http://ds.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/harvest-moon. 
  2. ↑ "Harvest Moon DS". https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/qfxz_aP4Hcx0QOCsn4c_ZBHSzlhnHegu. 
  3. ↑ Myers, Andy. "10 Things You've Never Done in Harvest Moon". Nintendo Power (Nintendo of America): 34. http://www.gonintendo.com/wp-content/photos/HMDS10Things1.jpg. Retrieved April 10, 2022. 
  4. ↑ Myers, Andy. "10 Things You've Never Done in Harvest Moon (Part 2)". Nintendo Power (Nintendo of America): 35. http://www.gonintendo.com/wp-content/photos/HMDS10Things2.jpg. Retrieved April 10, 2022. 
  5. ↑ "GBA Connectivity". https://www.fogu.com/hm6/chan1/gbaconnecting.php. 
  6. ↑ "Sprite Casino". https://www.fogu.com/hm6/chan6/casino.php. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Harvest Moon DS for DS Reviews". Red Ventures. https://www.metacritic.com/game/harvest-moon-ds/critic-reviews/?platform=ds. 
  8. ↑ MacDonald, Keza (April 9, 2007). "Harvest Moon DS". Gamer Network. https://www.eurogamer.net/harvest-moon-ds-review. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "牧場物語 コロボックルステーション" (in ja). Famitsu (Enterbrain). https://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=3285&redirect=no. Retrieved April 11, 2022. 
  10. ↑ Miller, Zachary (September 25, 2006). "Harvest Moon DS Review". Red Ventures. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/harvest-moon-ds-review/1900-6158601/. 
  11. ↑ Di Fiore, Elisa (February 7, 2007). "GameSpy: Harvest Moon DS". IGN Entertainment. http://ds.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/harvest-moon/762161p1.html. 
  12. ↑ Watkins, Rob (October 30, 2006). "Harvest Moon DS - NDS - Review". https://www.gamezone.com/reviews/harvest_moon_ds_nds_review. 
  13. ↑ Bozon, Mark (September 12, 2006). "Harvest Moon DS Review". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2006/09/13/harvest-moon-ds-review. 
  14. ↑ "Harvest Moon DS". Nintendo Power (Nintendo of America) 208: 91. October 2006. 
  15. ↑ Anthony, Scott (January 8, 2007). "Harvest Moon DS [Import"]. Steel Media Ltd. https://www.pocketgamer.com/harvest-moon-ds/harvest-moon-ds/. 
  16. ↑ "Harvest Moon DS". Retro Gamer (Imagine Publishing) (38): 96. May 24, 2007. 
  17. ↑ Richardson, Bob (October 22, 2010). "Harvest Moon DS". Emerald Shield Media LLC. https://www.rpgfan.com/review/harvest-moon-ds/. 
  18. ↑ Lada, Jenni (April 10, 2008). "Seven reasons to get Harvest Moon [DS Cute, even if you own Harvest Moon DS"]. Gadgetell LLC. http://www.gamertell.com/technologytell/article/7-reasons-to-get-harvest-moon-cute-even-if-you-own-harvest-moon-ds/. 
  19. ↑ "Best Friends System". https://fogu.com/hm6/forgirl_bestfriend.php?p=. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Harvest Moon DS Cute for DS Reviews". Red Ventures. https://www.metacritic.com/game/harvest-moon-ds-cute/critic-reviews/?platform=ds. 
  21. ↑ Bozon, Mark (April 3, 2008). "Harvest Moon DS Cute Review". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/04/03/harvest-moon-ds-cute-review. 
  22. ↑ "Harvest Moon DS Cute". Nintendo Power (Future US) 226: 90. March 2008. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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