There's Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness for DS, and Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility for Wii. And yes, there will be pre-order bonus stuffed toys.

Please hold the girl jokes, but as a fan, I think this news is amazing. Especially because the screenshots, handily provided for you after the jump, show that in the Wii version, you can ride on an ostrich. Horses are so ten years ago. And screenshots for the DS version (one of which seriously shows a girl saying "Wow, it's bigger than I thought"), reveal not only that the possible girlfriends are as decision-wrenchingly cute as always, but that the top screen map will actually show you where townsfolk are so that you can visit them.

Full announcement along with the screens after the jump.

Special Anniversary Packaging, Plush Toys, Strategy Guides and an Exclusive DS Lite Kit Just Some of the Specialty Items that will Commemorate the Beloved Series

Burlingame, Calif., July 7, 2008 - Natsume, a worldwide developer and publisher of family-oriented video games, announced today that the company is celebrating the ten-year anniversary of its popular Harvest Moon franchise this summer. In commemoration of the anniversary, Natsume is launching two new Harvest Moon titles later this quarter and offering a host of retail promotions surrounding the launches.

Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness for the Nintendo DS and Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility for the Nintendo Wii will both be available at retail later this summer, and will be branded with special packaging marking the 10th anniversary. In addition, a line of collectible plush toys featuring the cute and friendly animal characters from the games will also be available as a pre-order bonus/gift with purchase at select retailers. Other special promotions surrounding the anniversary include an exclusive 10th anniversary Harvest Moon DS Lite Kit (with protective cover, stylus, screen wipe and more) and two new strategy guides from BradyGames.

The Harvest Moon series began ten years ago when it launched on the Super Nintendo. Since then, the RPG/Simulation series has garnered a large and loyal fan base, and has appeared on most every home and handheld console available, including GameBoy, GameBoy Color, GameBoy Advance, Nintendo 64, GameCube, Nintendo DS, PlayStation, PlayStation2, PSP and soon the Nintendo Wii.

The series has sold millions of units in North America, with 20 incarnations over the course of 10 years. The games are usually set in rural towns packed with interesting and friendly characters where the player is tasked with running a successful farm, creating a family by getting married, having children, and befriending the people in the town to help build up their land. The games are great for players of all ages because they provide wholesome, non-violent entertainment anyone in the family can enjoy.

"The concept of Harvest Moon games is simple: hard-working people should get rewarded for what they have done. We want players to take this concept they get in the game, and apply it to their real life, too," said Hiro Maekawa, President and CEO of Natsume. "We couldn't be happier that the series has caught on with so many fans. It's their tremendous enthusiasm and support that has kept the series growing and evolving over these past ten years."

Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness (DS) In the largest portable Harvest Moon experience ever, Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness for the Nintendo DS tasks players with building their own paradise as they find themselves shipwrecked on a deserted island. Starting off with an abandoned farm, a handful of seeds, and the determination to start a new life, it's up to the player to attract settlers by making their farm robust and the island prosper, By harvesting crops, raising animals, and mining for precious gems, gamers will help the island grow into a vibrant town filled with people, businesses, and eligible bachelors and bachelorettes. Players can take on the role of a boy or a girl while falling in love and starting a family. For a competitive feel, gamers can also play against other ranchers via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility (Wii) In Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility for the Nintendo Wii, you find yourself in a troubled island town which once prospered with life and energy, but is now in serious trouble. The mystical Mother Tree that once watched over the island has disappeared, and the Harvest Goddess is nowhere to be found! The island has lost its connection with nature and the inhabitants don't know what to do - it's up to you to save the island! You must help to rebuild the island by tending to the earth, befriending and raising animals, nurturing friendships, and creating a family. When the giant Mother Tree is reborn, the Harvest Goddess will return and bring prosperity to the island once again. Long-time Harvest Moon fans as well as new players will find an exciting, involving storyline and plenty of activities including cultivating crops, caring for animals, and participating in festivals. All-new controls for the Nintendo Wii Remote give players the chance to feel like they're really farming!

Both Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness and Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility will be on display at this month's E3 trade show in the Los Angeles area and will be available at retail later this summer.

For more information on either of the new Harvest Moon titles, please visit www.natsume.com.

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About Natsume Natsume Inc. is a worldwide developer and publisher that specialize in unique and family-oriented interactive entertainment software for a variety of platforms. Most known for publishing Reel Fishing and Harvest Moon, Natsume is dedicated to producing quality video games. For more information about Natsume Inc., visit www.natsume.com

Also hitting Live Arcade this Wednesday is Ticket To Ride which is based on the award-winning board game of the same name. The Playful Entertainment-developed, multiplayer-friendly game is rated E. Both titles will set you back 800 Microsoft Points. Media alert is after the jump!

Happy Tree Friends False Alarm! and Ticket to Ride Launching on Xbox LIVE Arcade This Wednesday!

The popular and twisted Web series, “Happy Tree Friends False Alarm!™” and the award-winning board game “Ticket to Ride” will debut on Xbox LIVE Arcade this Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. GMT (1:00 a.m. PDT).

“Happy Tree Friends False Alarm!” incorporates the twisted humor and mayhem from the cartoon Web series as the cute and cuddly Happy Tree Friends face one gory, horrible disaster after another! Players assume the persona of Lumpy the moose, who must save his clumsy friends by blasting open areas when they are trapped or deep freezing them before they stumble into danger. “Happy Tree Friends False Alarm!” features 10 exclusive scenarios, ranging from a mine shaft to a candy factory, with three frantic levels and new cut-scenes. Just like the hit Web series, players must try to keep their pals safe, but with this accident-prone group, catastrophic mishaps are inevitable.

Developed by Stainless Games and published by SEGA, “Happy Tree Friends False Alarm!” will be available worldwide for 800 Microsoft Points and is rated M for Mature by the ESRB.

All aboard! Get your “Ticket to Ride” the rails from coast to coast on this exciting train adventure. Based on the award-winning board game, “Ticket to Ride” features simple rules and fast play, promising fun for the whole family on Xbox LIVE Arcade.

Plan your routes and connect your cities across the country to become the ultimate traveler, earning points as you claim your tracks and complete your Tickets for your chance at the big score. “Ticket to Ride” supports play with up to five people on Xbox LIVE or four people on the same Xbox 360 as you lay track from coast to coast. “Ticket to Ride” features Leaderboards, Achievements and multiple levels of AI players to keep the challenges coming. Who will win when the steam clears? Get your “Ticket to Ride” and see this Wednesday!

Created by Vancouver-based publisher, Playful Entertainment, “Ticket to Ride” will be available worldwide (except Hong Kong or Taiwan) for 800 Microsoft Points and is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB.

For more details on “Happy Tree Friends False Alarm!” and “Ticket to Ride,” please visit http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/livearcadexbox360.

Happy Tree Friends has always ticked me off a bit, as these folks make money doing exactly the sort of thing that got me kicked out of high school art class and sent to the counselor's office. Lucky bastards.

Happy Tree Friends for XBLA next week [Eurogamer]

I can tell you definitively that there is absolutely an acorn and it does absolutely grow into a tree. And it is actually part of the story now. We decided we got into so much trouble over acorns and trees that we are going to make it part of the main thread of the story in "Fable 2".

Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol in Images [Jeux France]

On a side note, it turns out that Shaun in just one of the three professional football sons that Ian has (there are two other kids, but there is no listing for what their occupation is). Is it just me or is this family way too talented? Kim Phu

PRESS RELEASE

Ian Wright And Shaun Wright-Phillips Make The 'Mario Strikers Charged Football' First Team

Father and son strike force line up to promote Wii's first online title*

17th May 2007 - As the football season reaches its climax, Nintendo UK are celebrating today with the announcement they have made the signings of the season with Ian Wright and Shaun Wright-Phillips lined up to promote the hugely anticipated Wii football title 'Mario Strikers Charged Football.'

Ian and Shaun line up against Mario and Co. as the stars of the Mario Strikers Charged Football campaign which goes live across terrestrial TV from 19th May featuring in major sports events such as the upcoming Champions League and FA Cup finals and more family oriented programs such as Coronation Street, Grease Is the Word and Big Brother.

The TV ad sees Ian and Shaun at home battling another team of opponents online using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, a feature that allows Wii owners to take on anyone across Europe.

To celebrate the launch, Ian Wright will also be appearing at GAME, Oxford Street from 9am on launch day (25th May) playing against challengers in store and signing Wii hardware and software for fans.

With Mario Strikers: Charged Football you really can compete in a world cup, thanks to the multi-player mode via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Service. Make sure you're wearing your team colours as 'Mario Strikers: Charged Football' kicks off across Europe on Wii on 25th May 2007.

Nintendo has taken one of the world's most popular sports and made it even better by throwing in some of Nintendo's most popular characters, 5-a-side teams and well and truly throwing out the rulebook! What's more now it is available on Wii! The innovative Wii Remote, will allow players to immerse themselves deep into the action translating real movement into on-screen action.

Mario Strikers: Charged Football is different from the average football game and is even more exciting and engaging than ever before, with a strong emphasis on each team's captain. These star players each have unique abilities and enhanced skills, which allow them to really influence the outcome of a game. The team captains all feature a Super Ability which can be used to devastate their opponents, ranging from Mario growing to giant proportions and trampling other players, to Peach taking a photo and freezing the entire opposing team on the spot. Tactical use of these super abilities can break down even the most stubborn defence. To top this off, in Mario Strikers: Charged Football players can choose 3 side-kicks (from a total of 8) who each have their own unique features which allows for tactical team customisation.

The Wii Remote brings a dynamic new element to Mario Strikers: Charged Football, encouraging the player to make instinctive physical movements to achieve the desired effect within the game. Basic movement and strikes are executed using the analogue stick and buttons on the Wii Remote and nunchuk, but when the pressure is on, players can use their instinctive movements to affect the gameplay. Flicking the Wii remote will cause the character to check their opponent, hopefully stealing the ball in the process. Players can also use the Wii remote to perform cat-like saves, defending their goal from Megastrikes by grabbing the balls out of the air.

In Mario Strikers: Charged Football the sense of fair play is thrown out the window along with the rulebook. Fouled players get special treats with which to avenge themselves, ranging from Red Spiky Shells, which knock everything out of their path, to the Chain Chomp that chases players from the opposing team around the pitch.

One of the many modes this game features is the multiplayer mode which can see up to four players in any one game (players must split between two teams). Players can also utilise Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Service to take on players from across the globe! Multiplayer modes include Ranked mode where players can compete to climb up leaderboards and Unranked mode where they can quickly select and play friends.

The game's main mode, Road to the Striker Cup, pits players against increasingly difficult opposition as they compete to win three different cups. For quicker pick-up and play action the game's Domination Mode allows players to set-up a game to suit them, defining the rules as well as selecting stadium and cheats. With an in-depth main mode and a plethora of extra features you won't take your eye off the ball in Mario Strikers: Charged Football. There is a wide and varied choice of 17 stadiums in which to defend your crown. Many of them have varying features and characteristics to put you off your game and challenge you to even greater heights.

With its fun and tactile controls, online multiplayer gaming and addictive gameplay, Mario Strikers looks certain to score when it launches across Europe on Wii on the 25th May 2007 for the estimated retail price of around 50 Euros ( 35 in the UK).

Wii console is available at the estimated retail price of around 249 (approximately 179 in the UK) and comes bundled with Wii Sports.

Click onto www.Wii.com for all of the most up to date official information on Wii.

- ends -

For further information please contact the Nintendo Press Office on 0207 307 3103 or email kim.shaw@cakegroup.com / kirsty@cakegroup.com / ben@cakegroup.com or matt@cakegroup.com

*Mario Strikers Charged Football is the first online Wii title to be released in the Western Hemisphere.

About Wii
Nintendo's new system, Wii, will feature a controller designed to be used with either one hand or two - a first in the video game industry. When picked up and pointed at the screen, the controller gives a lightning-quick element of interaction, sensing motion, depth, positioning and targeting dictated by movement of the controller itself.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection - FREE, SIMPLE & SAFE

The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service launched globally in November 2005 and to date has a staggering 3.5 million unique users and over 100 million online gameplay connections. . The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service allows you to play games over the Internet, wirelessly, at home or at a public Wi-Fi (wireless internet) hotspot provided by (territories to insert provider details), using a Nintendo DS and a Nintendo Wi-Fi compatible Nintendo DS software.

The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service is free* - there are no fees or subscriptions to pay (usual broadband line rental costs apply when accessing the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection at home). It's simple to use - you simply turn it on and select Wi-Fi. There are no complicated menu screens or confusing instructions to follow. It's safe for everyone - you currently do not have direct communication with other players when playing anonymously and therefore personal details or inappropriate comments can't be exchanged. For further information on Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection service visit www.nintendowifi.com

About Nintendo
The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii , Nintendo DS , Game Boy Advance and Nintendo GameCube systems. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.2 billion video games and more than 387 million hardware units globally, and has created industry icons like Mario , Donkey Kong , Metroid , Zelda and Pok mon . As a wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of Europe, based in Grossostheim, Germany, was established in 1990 and serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in Europe.

I like cute little cartoon animals, but I love accident prone cute little cartoon animals that die in horribly gory ways. Such is the case with Happy Tree Friends, which started out as a quirky internet and TV show and has expanded into a virtual roadkill empire.

In a bid to cash in on the underground sensation, Sega has recently announced a partnership with HTF creators Mondo Media that will result in a game entitled Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm. The title will make use of the same twisted humor that fans of the show have come to know and love. Features include:

• Playable Happy Tree Friends characters: For the first time in 3D, play as the rescue squad of Flippy, Handy, and Lumpy to save other Happy Tree Friends such as Cuddles, Toothy and Flaky from life-threatening disasters!
• Unique twist to the action genre: Using physics-based reactive environments and problem-solving elements control a rescue squad with unique abilities such as hurling concrete, spraying water, or throwing nitroglycerin to augment the dynamic 3D environments creating a variety of unpredictable outcomes.
• Disaster levels made exclusively for Happy Tree Friends False Alarm: SEGA and the creative minds behind Happy Tree Friends have teamed up to create 10 original and engaging disaster scenarios such as the Mine Shaft, Candy Factory, and Museum.
• Gameplay true to the franchise: Experience the non-stop hilarious action Happy Tree Friends-style where their accident prone universe means destruction and mayhem are inevitable.
• Xbox LIVE Arcade features: Xbox LIVE Arcade will feature leaderboards to compete with friends, earn achievement medals, and track your progress as you advance through Career mode.

Sounds like a trip to cute cartoon animal genocide heaven to me. Count me in! For the full press release, make the jump. Flynn De Marco

Happy Tree Friends website

SEGA ANNOUNCES HAPPY TREE FRIENDS FALSE ALARM FOR PC AND XBOX LIVE ARCADE

Game will be Based on the Animated, International, Multi-platform Franchise from Mondo Media

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (May 10, 2007) - SEGA of America, Inc. and SEGA Europe Ltd. today announced an exclusive agreement with the award-winning production studio, Mondo Media, to create video game content based on the popular animated series, Happy Tree Friends . Currently under development by Stainless Studios, Happy Tree Friends False Alarm is scheduled for release via digital download on PC and Microsoft's Xbox LIVE Arcade in Fall 2007.

"We are excited to be partnering with Mondo Media to bring the irreverent comedy of the Happy Tree Friends to gamers worldwide," said Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President of Marketing, SEGA of America, Inc. "The dark humor and twisted characters of Happy Tree Friends will act as a great foundation for creating a fun and entertaining universe for gamers and fans of the show alike."

Happy Tree Friends is a wildly popular Internet phenomenon that debuted as a television series on G4 TV in the U.S. and on MTV in key markets overseas. Selling over one million DVD copies worldwide, Happy Tree Friends continues to thrill audiences online and maintains its position as a top ten most downloaded podcast on iTunes.

Now taking the spotlight with its very own interactive game, Happy Tree Friends False Alarm features the furry woodland creatures in a host of dismembering and ill-fated calamities.

Playing unlike any other action title on the market with its physics-based reactive environment, Happy Tree Friends False Alarm is an action-puzzle game that enables players to control one of three characters; Flippy, the emotionally tattered war-torn bear; Lumpy, the dim-witted blue moose; and Handy, an amputee beaver carpenter always eager to lend a helping limb. Using resources such as concrete, ice, gasoline, and nitroglycerin to augment the dynamic 3D environments, your goal is to save the Happy Tree Friends from hilarious disaster situations and their own bad luck. Play in 10 diverse levels designed exclusively for the Happy Tree Friends False Alarm game including mine shafts, candy factories and a museum, all of which are filled with outrageous outcomes and plenty of accidental mayhem!

"Sega is a perfect partner for us because of their rich tradition of creating compelling, character-based games, and true to form they're developing a truly original game that we think our fans will love," said Kenn Navarro, the creator of Happy Tree Friends.

While FASA's choice of genre was the cause of much Shadowrun fan ire, impressions of the game have ranged from positive to post-orgasmically glowing. I, Mike Fahey and Mark Wilson have all spent time with the Windows Vista and Xbox 360 versions of Shadowrun at different points in the game's development, so make sure you check out our impressions.

Now we cross our fingers and hope those rumors of FASA's post-release demise were unfounded. Michael McWhertor

Raise chickens. Till soil. Restore a goddess. On June 7th, Harvest Moon: Tree of Peace hits Japan and retails for ¥7,140 (US $60). After the goddess leaves due to the Tree of Peace drying up, players are asked to farm, get to know the other characters on the island and try to bring back the tree and the goddess. The game takes advantage of the Wii-mote, which is used to do farm chores. Character art for a weasel, monkey and a bear were released today with a bunch of screens that look murky as all hell. Hope its just poor quality screens and not actually how the game actually looks. Fingers gently crossed. Brian Ashcraft

Harvest Moon Wii Dated [Game Watch]

Look, I had the Christmas off yesterday, so forgive me for being one day late with the Angry Nintendo Nerd's very special Christian Rock edition of his classic NES game "reviews". This round he curses excessively in the general direction of Bible Adventures, Bible Buffet, Super Noah's Ark 3D, Spiritual Warfare and The King of Kings. In my opinion, hilarious stuff on rare games, only one of which I've ever played. Yeah, you probably have the week off, but this video is not safe for work. Michael McWhertor