What's up this week down under? A whole new bunch of gaming treats from Nintendo. This week will see a couple of title launches for the Wii, while there's seven new games for you to pick up for your DS.

The two new titles for the Wii are Mario Strikers Charged, which lands in Australia with online multiplayer capabilities, and the odd royal gang from the land of Far Away, Shrek the Third. As for the DS titles, take your pick from the list below:

• Shrek the Third (Dreamworks)
• Brothers in Arms DS  (Ubisoft)
• Harvest Moon DS
• Nicktoons Battle for Volcano Island (THQ)
• Picross DS
• Princess Natasha
• Puzzle Quest

Anyhow, we're sure there's already a healthy bunch from among you who have already grabbed a copy of Mario Strikers Charged. So, the next best thing to say is, of course, enjoy! Keep it posted here for more updates on what's hot and what's not. This list: definitely hot.

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.

Harvest Moon fans and frustrated farmers and gardeners all across Europe might be happy to hear this: Harvest Moon for the DS will hit videogame store shelves this April 13th. For an estimated price of US$ 58, European gamers can finally live their deepest farming dreams sans the manure and the bug bites.

In the game, you play as a farmer in Forget-Me-Not Valley. Among your duties include tending to the animals and raising crops. The better you look after your farm, the closer you are to releasing the Harvest Goddess and Harvest Sprites from the world that the Witch Princess has transported them to. The more Harvest Sprites you release, the more help you could get in tending your farm.

You can also socialize with the other residents of Forget-Me-Not-Valley by talking to them and giving them presents. All tasks are done with ease through the two screens of the DS. The bottom screen shows the menu interfaces and the status screens while the upper screen allows you to view the part of the town or farm you're located at. The two screens are easily navigable through the DS stylus.

So, ready to go old MacDonald mode?

Harvest Moon, the Natsume, Inc. game that will transport DS owners back to a simpler place and time, will be available across Europe in Q1 2007. Unlike most video games designed to juice you up with adrenaline, Harvest Moon is all about working the fields and tending your flock. The gameplay involves cultivating plants, hunting for hidden treasure and fishing in the river. Things your grandpa did back in the good ol' days.

In Harvest Moon DS, your goal is to run a successful farm in Forget-Me-Not-Valley. Like real-world farms, this means planting seeds, caring for the plants and harvesting the fruits of your labor in the right season.

You also get to play Old MacDonald with your own cows, chicken and sheep via the touch-screen. Keep them happy and healthy and they pay you back with milk, eggs and wool. Also on your Harvest Moon to-do list is making friends with 25 characters in town, finding Miss Right, getting married and raising a family.

But every paradise has a sneaky serpent in it. In Harvest Moon, that role is played by the Witch Princess who has transported the Harvest Goddess and the Harvest Sprites to another world. To set them free, you must work hard on the farm.

Harvest Moon DS from Nintendo will retail for around £30 (US $ 57.27).

Buy: [Harvest Moon DS]

Marvelous Interactive Inc. has now announced the official 2007 games lineup for the DS and the Wii direct from TGS 2006.

For the DS, Rising Star Games will release RPG games based on the Harvest Moon series: the Rune Factory - shin Bokujou Monogatari, Luminous Arc, and Bokujou Monogatari - Kimi to sodatsu shima. Under the Wii platform, Heroes and Bokujou Monogatari will be released.

The Rune Factory promises new monsters to fight and dungeons to explore. In Luminous Arc, you'll be immersed in a deep story and get to train your team, learn special attacks and combine objects to progress through the game. Bokujou Monogatari - Kimi to sodatsu shima allows you to build your own island while discovering new 3D characters.

Bokujou Monogatari on Wii lets you use the Wiimote in another Harvest Moon game to work the farm. You can plough the land, plant seeds, and cultivate crops. Heroes for the Wii (developed by Grasshopper Manufacture) is based on Killer7 for the GameCube, but is not a sequel to the game. It's a different game that lets you deal with social issues instead of political ones, as those found in Killer7.

The farm simulation and role-playing video game by Natsume is now available at Lik-Sang for the price of US$ 39.00. But hurry, Harvest Moon DS will only be available for a limited period of time.

As with the past Harvest Moon games, this title focuses on maintaining a farm, tending the crops and livestocks, befriending neighbors, and, in some cases, ultimately getting married and raising a family. As a twist, you must collect the Valley Sprotes of Forget-Me-Not Valley in order to get extra help in running the farm and even unlock areas and important information. In addition to that, players must also be able to balance their physical resources and even monitor their character's health as they can get sick too.

If you've grown to love the round cows and chicken of this series, then be sure to order your own copy of Harvest Moon DS now.

If you are finding the recently-released Harvest Moon DS just a little bit tricky, we at QJ are on hand to give you a little help with these tips for the game as well as an unlockable GBA Cast! If you are a real Harvest Moon fan and own the GBA titles Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town and More Friends of Mineral Town, you can import characters from the games by booting up Harvest Moon DS with the GBA game cartridges (one at a time) inserted in the DS' GameBoy slot. It's as easy as that! Another tip concerns an easy money making scheme for new players, submitted to IGN by Freyashawk.

First of all, enter the Excavation Site and save your game. Then go to dig for jewellery but whatever you do make sure you don't save your game. Instead, make a little note of the map cells where you found the jewellery by digging up the whole excavation site. Then (here's the masterful bit) go and reload your last save and go directly to the spots where you found the jewelry pieces before and dig those squares. Save your new found riches, and reset the Excavation Site by exitting and re-entering the map.

The glory of this tip is that you can repeat this again and again - the jewellery locations will be randomized upon entry to the Excavation Site and you can repeat this as long as you want (or as long as your character's energy holds out). While not helpful when other opportunities to earn more revenue open up later on in the game, you will find this very helpful early on.

Game releases for this week is said to be one of the biggest ever for the United States, with a whopping 46 new titles for various consoles. NDS players will have a lot to choose from this week, whether it be from popular franchises such as Mario Hoops 3-on-3 and Mega Man ZX, to the more original and new Cooking Mama and Harvest Moon.

Available for all platforms this week is LEGO Star Wars II, one of the most anticipated games since its prequel. LEGO Star Wars II will feature similar gameplay to that of its prequel, and of course, will allow gamers to mix and match the heads and bodies of  their beloved Star Wars characters. Below is the complete list of DS games to be released this week:

- Cooking Mama
- Harvest Moon DS
- LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
- Mario Hoops 3-On-3
- MechAssault: Phantom War
- Mega Man ZX

Love farming? Hate farming but love Harvest Moon? Well, you're going to want to pre-order Natsume's Harvest Moon DS then! The game's going to be out soon and a pre-order ensures you'll get a copy of the game. Not only that, but those who pre-order will get a metal keychain in the shape of the lovable cow in Harvest Moon. The cute animal will hold your keys for you absolutely free of charge.

You'll be able to raise cows, ducks, chickens, and sheep in the game. Many touchscreen controls have been added to make farming even simpler than before. Obviously there will be more minigames, festivals, and items as well! If you have the GBA title, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town or Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town, you can put it in the GBA slot of the DS for interesting events!

The Japanese have all the DS fun don't they? All we can do is cross our fingers that these exciting game titles will find a way to cross the Atlantic and dock on North American shores. Korean website DreamWiz has posted tons of magazine scans from extremely popular Japanese forum, 2ch.

There isn't very much information to go on in the site, so we really couldn't tell if this was from just one magazine or several. However, if you can read either Japanese or Korean, feel free to supply the missing words, sentences and paragraphs. Eventhough we're all a little lost in translation, these lovely pictures from Dragon Quest Monster: Joker, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Harvest Moon, Chocobo to Mahou no Ehon, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin and Custom Robo, will surely break the language barrier.

Chocobo to Mahou no Ehon

   
     

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

    

More of the scans await after the jump!