The truth about the Harvest Moon name controversy isn't what you think

[alfaerin]

Even though it's been four years since this happened, I still see a lot of hate being spewed at Natsume--that they "stole" the Harvest Moon name, they're "lying" to people, and Story of Seasons is the "real" Harvest Moon. But a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing, as they say, and there's a lot of facts these people don't know. For anyone reading the topic who doesn't know the story, Harvest Moon games were originally made in Japan and published under the name "Bokujou Monogatari." Then Natsume would translate the games into English and release them as Harvest Moon. But after A New Beginning, Marvelous yanked the series from Natsume and began having XSeed, their western publisher, localize the games as Story of Seasons. Then Natsume began internally developing their own Harvest Moon games, consisting of The Lost Valley, Skytree Village, Seeds of Memories, and Light of Hope. So without further ado, here's some facts you may not be aware:

1. Marvelous did not create the Bokujou Monogatari franchise.
Bokujou Monogatari was originally owned by Pack-In Video, which later merged with Victor Entertainment. Marvelous later bought out Victor Entertainment and acquired the rights through that purchase.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack-In-Video
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvelous_Entertainment#Marvelous_Interactive_Inc.

2. Animal Parade is the last real Harvest Moon game.
Many fans commonly cite Animal Parade as one of the best games in the series and a good entry point for newcomers. That's because it was the last game made by the real creator of the series, who left Marvelous after that.

http://harvestmoon.wikia.com/wiki/Yasuhiro_Wada

3. The Marvelous games, including Story of Seasons, were not made by the original development team.
Even after Yasuhiro Wada and most of the pre-Marvelous development team left, Marvelous just hired a new development team and continued making games under the Bokujou Monogatari banner. Compare the credits of an older game in the series like Harvest Moon 64 to Story of Seasons, and you won't find a single name in common. Even when you compare the credits of Animal Parade to the credits of Story of Seasons, you'll barely find any names in common and the two most notable ones (Yoshifumi Hashimoto and Igusa Matsuyama) are only listed under Special Thanks.

http://fogu.com/hm/animal_parade/game_credits.php
http://fogu.com/sos2/game-credits.html

4. If you think Natsume "lied," then Marvelous has lied to you for years.
The Story of Seasons games are made by completely different people compared to beloved classics like Harvest Moon 64. So if you're going to hate on anyone, it should be Marvelous. They changed development teams years before Natsume began developing Harvest Moon titles.

5. Marvelous is to blame for the name change, not Natsume.
Many people think Natsume refused to license the trademark out of spite, but Marvelous actually declined to license it. When Marvelous notified Natsume that they would not be licensing Bokujou Monogatari anymore, they had already made the decision to release the series under a new name.

Hiro Maekawa, President of Natsume: Roughly three years ago, Marvelous notified us that they were not going to license their Bokujo Monogatari series to Natsume anymore, and that they were going to release the series by themselves under a different brand name. Needless to say, we were surprised by this decision. One of the things I am proud of at Natsume is that we have loyal and longstanding relationships based on mutual trust and integrity with our partners, and we never like to see a successful partnership end, especially one that includes a product so near and dear to my own heart.

http://www.siliconera.com/2015/03/18/harvest-moon-beyond-whats-next-natsume/

6. What Marvelous did is considered a jerk move by Japanese standards.
From an American perspective, having XSeed localize the games is completely logical. From a Japanese standpoint, you don't turn your back on a loyal partner.

"The Japanese, for example, define business ethics in terms of loyalty to their companies, their business networks, and their nation."

https://hbr.org/1996/09/values-in-tension-ethics-away-from-home

7. If the president of Natsume hadn't gambled on the original Harvest Moon, we probably wouldn't be getting the games.
People thought he was nuts trying to bring the series over, but Hiro Maekawa was positive there was a market for the game and he was right. The series would have likely remained in Japan for decades or even forever if not for him. Maybe you could show a little gratitude by not being a colossal jerk to the company that brought you years of fantastic memories?

8. Natsume spent over 15 years building the Harvest Moon fanbase in the west.
If you're not familiar with business, you may not understand what a huge deal it is that Natsume spent fifteen years building a market in the west for Harvest Moon. Then Marvelous, the new kid on the block, yanked the series from them and flushed Natsume's years of hard work down the drain. Legit move? Of course, they had the right to do that. But surely you can muster some sympathy for Natsume in this situation.

9. Now do you understand why Natsume began developing their own games?
Marvelous handed them lemons and Natsume made lemonade. Thanks to that, we now have two farming series to play instead of just one, and both are getting better with every new game. Frankly, that's totally awesome for fans. It's fine to prefer one series over the other, but please stop the misguided cries of "dis isn't REEL Harvest Moon," "Natsume stole the name," etc. It's completely pointless to argue that one is "real" and the other isn't when there AREN'T any real Harvest Moon games anymore. All we have left are two different companies making games, one under the name "Story of Seasons" and the other under "Harvest Moon."

10. PS: Natsume's Harvest Moon games are in fact developed in Japan.
For those people who turn their noses up at western-developed games, Natsume's internally developed games are made in Japan and localized for western release.

[SlackerBoe]

From an American perspective, having XSeed localize the games is completely logical.

can confirm, am american and found it logical.

Considering neither company seems too angry about the split, trying to defend either side seems silly to me.

I'd give them another shot if they released another HM here, but I'd wait for like 50-75% discount.

[alfaerin]

I'm not taking one side over the other, but trying to correct misinformation and point out things people may have overlooked. Like I said near the end, we have two farming series now which is great for the fans. I buy both SoS and HM and would encourage everyone else to do the same.

[Anfia /s]

You should explain this on YouTube, hopefully the fandom can understand this

Even I have a Stardew Valley, both of them (include this game) is good too.

[The Space Ferret]

Finally someone with sense. Both companies are fine with the break up, so I don't see why the 'fans' can't do the same. All this Natsume hate is beyond stupid and I can't believe it's still going on after all these years. 'Fans' are worse than trolls if you ask me.

[Abgarok]

thank you for listing all of that, this should be stickied or something

[The Space Ferret]

Even if it's stickied, people (lots) don't bother reading these days and would just ignore this post anyway. Sad, but true. Then there are other people who make up their minds and refuse to believe anything you tell them.

[Anfia /s]

Remember bandwagon & genwunner (only know the old release, just like Pokémon Gen 1 for example) fans is more harsh and bad than a loyal fans who know the history of game companies...

This case is already reflected that in this reality of game industry. But not all game company or game franchise have a case like that, because different case problems with fans. Like this one, Most fans especially bandwagonor genwunner hating Natsume because they don't know the history is. xD

[Casual Amateur]

Even thought I play this game. Most of the complain reason on hating this game is getting ratter silly. I find it not even good reason for even hating it alot. I find most of those reason are just cherry picking.

[Vault Traveler]

Not giving games a fair shot because developers/publishers changed is simply wrong.

Look I see that SDW and SoS are objectively the better games but I do enjoy Light of Hope regardless (on Switch not Steam).

Especially „Wutbürger“ from German speaking community and german youtubers are forcing some misinformed opinions in other people throats, using the „real developers“ argument just to gain more subscribers... its disgusting.

[Anfia /s]

Since Doraemon Nobita no Bokujou Monogatari (Doraemon Nobita Story of Season) is just announced and will be release on Nintendo Switch... some people return to buzz this again...

Let's bump this up again ;)

[Hina]

Thank you for t hat. It seems people (not all but most) seem to think that Natsume is greedy and stole the harvest moon name but really, for years Natsume has been the one to localize Harvest Moon in the west... but hey you posted the whole backstory of the Marvelous/XSeed's split from Natsume so again, thank you for that.

[RyoYuki]

Well said. I can now finally play and appreciate Light of Hope and future Natsume games while ignoring those pointless whining's.. I hope more fans see this tread and clear up the misunderstandings.

[Winter_Nalu]

I really didn't know that. I had no hate for any of the developers or games, but it was nice to learn a little about the games history and how it was developed.

[Anfia /s]

Since Doraemon Story Of Season is Confirmed on PC, including on Steam and will be coming very soon after Nintendo Switch version release.

Let's bump this again for a truth :)

[MissUndutchable]

The fact remains, that the companies went their seperate ways and they each have their own take on the farm sims. Which is perfectly fine. I have been playing and loving Harvest Moon since the Super Nintendo, but I tend to lean more towards Story of seasons since the split. What caused this, is the fact that I bought and tried Harvest Moon The Lost Valley and I was heavily diappointed. It just wasn't my style of play. So after that I stopped with the Harvest Moon franchise. I was over the moon however when Story of Seasons and Story of Seasons Trio of Towns were released, as I really enjoy playing those.

My point being: at the end of the day, it all comes down to personal preference for playstyle, one is not superior over the other. They each cater to a (slightly) different audience :D