Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns has gone gold

The floundering 3DS software lineup will soon be getting a boost that should not be underestimated. Natsume announced today that Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns has gone gold and will be available starting November 1st, 2011.

While the announcement is good news for 3DS owners who have been looking for something awesome to play on their handheld, some of the impact is tempered by the fact that the same game has already been available on more vanilla versions of the DS for around a month.

"November 1st is the magical day when the beloved Harvest Moon franchise will be available to gamers for the first time in 3D in the form of Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns for the 3DS!" said a very excited Hiro Maekawa, President and CEO of Natsume. "Using the new features the 3DS offers, including StreetPass and enhanced graphics, we are bringing dedicated fans the Harvest Moon experience we're sure they can't wait to have."

Natsume likely has a lot riding on this release. The franchise has been around for a long time, but its core following isn't really the sort that heads out and purchases the latest hardware at launch. Still, the number of possible platforms where a Harvest Moon can launch and quickly find an audience is diminishing and may soon require higher development costs with the advent of high-definition graphics. As an increasing number of gamers migrate to the 3DS, it's looking like the platform to beat for publishers like Natsume... and even then there are risks because the install base has been so slow to pick up steam.

In any event, word of another Harvest Moon title is basically always good news. Farmville can always use a little friendly competition from the series that proved people will happily spend their time chasing digital carrots.

On a side note, make sure that you pre-order the game if you're interested. Not only can the Harvest Moons be difficult to find in stores, but those who pre-order soon are still in time to receive a limited edition collectible plush Alpaca from participating retailers.

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Staff article by Jason Venter (October 20, 2011) Jason Venter has been playing games for 30 years, since discovering the Apple IIe version of Mario Bros. in his elementary school days. Now he writes about them, here at HonestGamers and also at other sites that agree to pay him for his words.