How Natsume picked up Afrika (bonus: trophies confirmed!)

When Sony first revealed Afrika, it was a marquee first-party PS3 title used to show off the power of the system. Three years later, it's finally being released in North America, by tiny third-party publisher Natsume, who is more familiar with Harvest Moon and handheld games than anything shown off at a press conference. How did this happen?

According to Graham Markay, Vice President of Operations for Natsume, Finny the Fish was instrumental in the deal. No, really. Sony's Uo: Nanatsu no Mizu to Densetsu no Nushi was localized on the PS2 by Natsume as Finny the Fish & the Seven Waters.

"We have a relationship with Sony Japan," Markay explained. "You might remember Finny the Fish? That game was done by Sony Japan. So we licensed that game from them. We have a little bit of a history with their licensing department in Japan." Because of this relationship, Natsume was one of the companies contacted by Sony Japan about the game. Markay said that Afrika "really fits with the Natsume theme" because it's non-violent and nature-oriented. We might add that it fits with the Natsume theme so well that the company is simultaneously releasing a different safari photography game on the Wii.

In case you need an extra incentive to buy Afrika, Markay confirmed that "there is going to be a trophy system, which wasn't in the Asian release or Japanese release."