I recently just started playing Rune Factory Tides of Destiny for the PS3 and I have to say that is a really fun game.
I bought Frontier for the Wii but I have yet to play it. I am also thinking of getting the DS games and some of the PSone PS2 Harvest Moon games.

So I was wondering if there are any fans of those series out there.

I am a fan of the Harvest Moon series, but every game is almost the same, except graphics and choice of characters. That's why I haven't bought anything new for a couple of years. BUT in case you can afford it ^^ ... and are a newbie to this game, it's a lot of fun! Hard work, quick benefits (different from real life), warm characters. It would just feel wrong to make one of your NPC friends sad and that's a sign that the whole setting does work indeed.

Seriously, no HM games can even to compare with the PSX one, Back to Nature, hands down, the best HM game ever and one of the best game I've ever played, which musics are still carried in my phone.
But that doesn't mean the other HM games are bad, you should try most of them. :D (well except perhaps the DS ones lol)

hertzez is spot on. Back to Nature is amazing. The festivals, the animals, the town, the girls, all awesome. Think I was somewhere near the middle of the second year actually, put in countless hours on that. The SNES and 64 Harvest Moon's are pretty good as well iirc. But yeah, Harvest Moon rocks.

I've never played either of these games, even though I own a couple from the Harvest Moon series. XD

i dont like HM games. they are way too repetitive and are not of my tastes (excessively repetitive)
despite that, i do consider them great games worth a play.

rune factory however, is a different story. while its just HM with rpg elements, its the added rpg that makes me enjoy it, because now i have something else to do besides growing crops and trying to make the cute librarian my wife.

I like playing Harvest Moon, although it gets really tedious. Rune Factory is fun too so I do not really object to it either. I like Rune Factory for it's magic RPG game play. I like Harvest Moon for its otome game like theme; I am a girl after all.

I loved the old Harvest Moon games. The new ones not so much. The last HM I bought was Island of Happiness for DS like 5 years ago with much regret because it's just HM, but with retarded controls (which is stupid as the DS has a D-Pad, no reason to force stylus control on me). Rune Factory adds a lot more RPG elements to the core of HM, but both franchises have different styles and approaches overall. The HM games I like the most are Back to Nature for PS1, Save the Homeland for PS2, and A Wonderful Life for GC (also ported to the PS2 as a special edition).

I've gotten into Rune Factory, but have never played Harvest Moon. Living on a farm doesn't provide nearly as much escapism as a living in a magical fantasy world does. However, I tend to never start relationships and get married in them. This must reflect my personality IRL.