Synergy is the name of the game these days. Perhaps that's why Marvelous and XSEED have formed a US co-publishing agreement. For the two companies, its all about establishing a greater presence in North America. This means good news for fans of Valhalla Knights 2 and other games as well. More on the strategic business move in the full article after the jump.

Similar to Harvest Moon games, Marvelous Interactive's Yasuhiro Wada said he wants to create something like Spore (Nintendo Wii, DS, PC) in which gamers can create something that grows and produces other nifty stuff. In an interview, Wada talked about micro worlds and shared his ideas.

Find out more at the full article.

We all love the Harvest Moon franchise. It lets us live the easy life: plow the farm, run errands, and woo the girl (or boy) of our dreams. And when Marvelous Entertainment president Yasuhiro Wada said that the next Harvest Moon game will have online game features, we'll find ourselves loving the game series even more.

In an interview with Game Informer, Wada said that an online Harvest Moon is in the works, but he did not specify for which platform. He did mention that it will not be a MMORPG for the PC platform, however.

Wada revealed that two to eight players will be able to interact in another player's town, and even toyed with the possibility of letting every player have the same NPCs available in your town. Does that mean that there's a possibility of love triangles between two players and a virtual wife? Interesting, that.

Wada didn't mention which console will get this Harvest Moon title, so we'll have to keep our eyes peeled for now. More updates to come!

If you've been closely following QJ.NET's coverage of the unfolding Tokyo Game Show (TGS), you'll know that one of the more anticipated titles (even though slated for Japan-only releases) belong to Marvelous Interactive.

We just got word that these titles will be soon arriving in North American shores as well. This news came from Harvest Moon creator Yasuhiro Wada as he spoke about Marvelous' plans for U.S. and the rest of the Western markets.

According to Wada, a satellite office will be opened somewhere in North America within the next two years. Wada metioned:

We'll bring a couple of people from Japan to manage, but of course we need somebody in the U.S. who already has connections and relationships with retailers and distribution channels, which is why we are hoping to find a partnership with someone who's already in the U.S.

The video game creator also said that this will facilitate the releases of their different titles in the said region. "We might leave Harvest Moon with Natsume. But all the new and original titles we'll be trying to launch in Japan, we'll want to launch ourselves in the U.S.", Yasuhiro Wada continued.

Some of the more prominent titles from Marvelous Interactive include No More Heroes for Nintendo Wii and Valhalla Knights 2 for the PlayStation Portable.

Here's another gamerzines.com offering. Since the bigger consoles (360Zine) and PC get a version of the free downloadable magazine made for the DS and PSP called HGZine (short for Handheld GamerZine).

This issue features a number of exclusives including: WipEout Pulse (hands on and developer interview), an interview with Yasuhiro Wada, creator of Harvest Moon, and a sneak peek at Team 17's Worms.

Reportedly, Yasuhiro Wada reveals that a new Harvest Moon set to hit next year and that he thinks Microsoft is working on its own portable gaming device.

Also included are reviews of portable games like Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 2, Burnout Dominator, and Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops. Publishing director David Taylor had this to say:

Traditionally portable games have been overlooked by the games press. However, gone are the days when the DS and PSP simply get ports of cut-down versions of console games. Now we have exciting new properties like the Brothers In Arms game for DS in this issue or WipEout Pulse, where the game has been designed from the ground up for the device and gamers are now looking for ways to keep up to date with their favourite games on these platforms. HGZine is a great way to do this, with professionally written features and pages enhanced with video and multimedia.

As is usual, you'll need a copy of Adobe Reader version 6 or higher to be able to read the magazine.

Whoever would have thought a game about farming - the entire process of it, from clearing out trash and debris from a plot of land you'll be planting most of your crops on to actually wringing your cows' udders dry of fresh milk - could actually have its own harvest (pun not exactly intended) of fans, much less be named as one of the most endearing and memorable titles to date?

It's not exactly the MOST exciting thing to do, compared to games that strap you into the driver's seat of a hot rod or give you points for indiscriminate destruction involving sharp pointy things and gadgets that go BOOM. But for some reason, many players fell in love with Harvest Moon the moment our cap-and-overalls hero took up hoe, rake, and watering can to get down to business. Yes, there was farming to be done on that inherited plot of land, and by god we farmed the heck out of it.

So what was so special about Harvest Moon? What gave it that extra "oomph" to be considered as a gaming classic? The man behind the phenomenon answered that himself, in a grilling session with Eurogamer a few days before the European release of Harvest Moon: Innocent Life for the PlayStation Portable (PSP).

When asked about what gives Harvest Moon its 10-year lasting appeal, Yasuhiro Wada responded that the game's core system "hasn't changed; it's something that it easily understood by the audience." He also cited paying close attention to the fans: "I have been listening to the voices of the audience, to what the audience wants, responding to their requests. That's key to the philosophy of Harvest Moon."

Eurogamer asked about the game's origins, and Yasuhiro Wada was more than willing to reveal it. "I wanted to convey the goodness of rural life - not urban life, but rural life." He adds, "Farming was the easiest instrument to realize that feeling in a game. That's why I chose to make a farming game."

Finally, for the question of what people love about Harvest Moon, Wada had this to say:

I think it's very gentle and friendly. These days there are other games such other games such as Animal Crossing that bear similarities, but before there wasn't such a game at all. Perhaps that's why people identified so much with Harvest Moon, originally.

Harvest Moon DS is already out while both the PSP game Harvest Moon: Innocent Life and the Nintendo Wii version of Harvest Moon are still to be released.