just a note...natsume and marvelous didnt split because of 'differing views of the games future'
marvelous decided it would be better for them to use their in house branch (Xseed) to do the translations and localisations.
natsume owns the rights to the name 'harvest moon' in the west (as at the time the first monogatari games came out, the name 'farm story' was allready owned by someone in the west, so they chose 'harvest moon')
since natsume owns the rights to the name 'harvest moon' they decided to have a go at making their own farming game, in the same style.
marvelous chose to continue the mongatari games in the west going by the name 'story of seasons' now.
for the best explanation (with links ect) visit the link to the main harvest moon forums (known as Ushi no Tane) its been going for years, anything to do with harvest moon games end up being talked about here.
http://fogu.com/hmforum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=162276
and if you need any info on any other harvest moon, rune factory or even legend of the river king or innocent life game, here is the main forum index
http://fogu.com/hmforum/index.php?sid=5ae6d4a04a1cbd9cff5078e5656d7038
personaly, assuming they ever *get* to the eu, i will be buying both story of seasons and harvest moon: the lost valley.
and any more that can make it to my blighted and forgotten island (UK..sigh..so many games...no way to import or money to do so befor someone sugests it)