Wii Nintendo Channel Statistics Reveal Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility In Top 10 List of Most Avidly Played Games

Burlingame, Calif., February 18, 2010 – Natsume, a worldwide developer and publisher of family-oriented video games, announced today that as the popularHarvest Moon franchise closes in on its 12th anniversary this summer, two games in the franchise are currently among the most avidly-played Nintendo Wii games*.  Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility, which launched in the fall of 2008, has consistently been on the top 10 list of games that are played the longest, with an average playing time of 49 hours per player, and a total of 1,726,252 hours logged by Nintendo Channel users?. Not far behind it, Harvest Moon: Animal Parade, which launched in late 2009, already has an average playing time of more than 39 hours per player?.

“We feel honored that our fans have get so much enjoyment out of each Harvest Moon game,” said Hiro Maekawa, President and CEO of Natsume. “It’s truly a testament to the depth and endless playability that has made this series such a long-running success.”

The Harvest Moon series began more than 11 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 the Nintendo Wii.

The games are usually set in rural towns packed with interesting and friendly characters.  The player builds a successful farm, woos a spouse, has children and stats a family. The games are great for players of all ages because they provide wholesome, non-violent entertainment anyone in the family can enjoy. To date, the series has sold millions of units in North America alone.

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