In cheerier news,
Harvest Moon: Connect to a New World is out in
Japan! The Japanese players have been posting a lot of in-game
screenshots to the Miiverse community. If you have a Nintendo Network ID
(created only by using a Nintendo console) you can visit the game's
Miiverse by going to your Communities, scrolling down to the bottom to
change your region to Japan, and then selecting the 3DS communities;
since it is recent, it should be up near the top of the list. It has a
picture of a pink Angora Rabbit as its menu icon.
After you start your game, you spend the first week with Edda, who
manages the farm next to your own. After that, she'll give you a cow and
Veronica will assign you to your run-down farm. Eventually you can
upgrade your house and customize its furniture. You can even buy a
television set to watch the daily weather on, and a gift wrapping
station to wrap the gifts you give to your favorite villages. Your farm
starts out with a cow barn (since you do get a free cow from Edda) but
you'll have to build the chicken coop, just like in
Harvest Moon: A New Beginning.

(Posted by 0305-Karen on the Miiverse)
Before you create your 3x3 crop fields, you have to clear the empty
area by breaking up rocks and chopping down trees. You can water your
crops twice per day. New crops include Burdock Root, Chili Pepper,
Paprika (which did exist in Grand Bazaar), Melon (similar to Honeydew in
Animal Parade), Lemon Tree, and Andes Potato. Almonds are in the game,
but I don't know if they're grown or foraged. Some of these crops come
from the international trade center, where you can also buy Wasabi
sprouts (instead of just getting one per two trips to Land of the East
in ANB). You also sell your farm produced items at the trade center by
setting up a stall. There are a variety of stall types to choose from
based on what you want to sell and the potential customers who are
visiting the trade center. You can also earn money by completing
requests from the trade center.
There are a few different festivals in this version of Harvest Moon:
missing are the honey festival, critter festival, foliage festival,
pumpkin festival, and snow festival. Instead, there is a spring fashion
show, fall fashion show, a tea festival, and a pet show. The multi-day
fishing festival from ANB is now only one day.
More information will filter through as players get through the game. Keep an eye on the
Fogu forum if you're interested
And here is the April Nintendo DREAM comic!