If any young and ambitious city slicker ever had pipe dreams of one day retiring early, packing their bags and heading off to the countryside to start a relaxing new life in a quaint little cottage in tandem to running a small farm, then playing any version of Harvest Moon is likely to have put them off life. Because despite the charming title and cutesy image, videogaming's most popular farming simulator has a reputation for destroying the nerves of even the most hardcore player as it piles almost incalculable amounts of responsibility on top of their shoulders.

The long-running series' latest title is set to appear on Wii, entitled Harvest Moon: Tree of Peace. Today the game's Japanese website has launched with story and character details as well as a choice selection of screenshots. There isn't a lot to see (or read if Japanese isn’t your bag), but it's certainly promising to see the game's promotion trickling out in anticipation for its not-yet revealed release date.

As far as the storyline goes, it's about as two-dimensional and kooky as expected. The so-called Tree of Peace and home to a goddess of the island, which houses it one-day begins to wilt and die. The Colobocle, inhabitants of the island summon the help of you to help develop the land through farming, build a happy, healthy relationship with others and in the process nurse the Tree of Peace and its goddess back to life.

The Wii's remote is set to be used in a number of ways, including tipping motions for watering crops and a 'digging' motion to turn soil. Further gestures are expected to be used to nurture various kinds of farm animal, from goats to sheep. Wii-controlled cow milking, anyone?