The Great i-Mode/EZWeb Search: My journey to attempt recording and archiving lost media games (Please help!)
Hello fellow keitai and older mobile phone enthusiasts! I am reaching out because I am on one of the most difficult searches of my life, and I'm simply at a dead end. Please, I need your help!!!
I am a hobby archivist for a game series dear to me - 牧場物語 - and I have spent the last 5 years with no luck looking for any and every lead to get some of its lost media into my hands and preserved.
Japanese Keitai services from NTT Docomo (i-mode), EZWeb/au(KDDI), Yahoo!Keitai, and Vodafone Live! are all platforms on which some of the lost media titles were released on, but the easiest so far to find information on has been from i-mode and EZWeb services.
I do not need to be able to play the games (though it would be a plus); some of these were subscription-based. What matters to me is having the accessible game data from when someone purchased these games and had them on their phone. I understand this might be a fool's errand, but there's been more niche things than this tracked down so I have to keep trying!
I have listed all titles and supported phone models below.
Bokujou Monogatari i
牧場物語i - Published by Square Enix in 2003 Phone models: NTT DOCOMO 503i, 504i, 505i, 506i, and 900i series
Bokujou Monogatari Mobile Life
牧場物語モバイルライフ - Published by Liveware in 2005
Phone models: NTT DOCOMO 505i, 506i series, FOMA 900i, 901i, and 700i series
牧場物語モバイルLife＆Love - Published by Liveware in 2006
Phone models: NTT DOCOMO FOMA 703 and 903 *I am aware that Life&Love was released for Steam and consoles recently from G-mode's G-MODE ARCHIVES program. The base game data has changed in the re-release, so I am still looking for the original data here.
牧場物語 モバイルライフ スペシャルエディション - Published by Liveware in 2009
Phone models: NTT DOCOMO FOMA 703 and 903 *This one has TWO game versions, a Boy (with a male protagonist) and a Girl (with a female protagonist) titled version. There is limited information about this title beyond the linked article, so it is unclear if the versions are separate or two content packs in one title release.
Bokujou Monogatari: Yuzuriha no Ki, Shiawase no Chi
牧場物語 ゆずり葉の樹、幸せの地 - Published by Liveware in 2008
Phone models: NTT DOCOMO 703i and 903i series *Like the above game, this one has limited information and two game versions. It is also unclear if there are separate apps for each version or if it's two content packs in one title release.
Bokujou Monogatari: Minori no Shima
『牧場物語 -実りの島-』 - Published by Liveware in 2008
Phone Models: NTT DOCOMO FOMA903i and later models (MegaApp compatible) D903i・D903iTV・F903i・F903iX・N903i・P903i・P903iTV ・P903iX・SH903i・SH903iTV・SO903i・D904i・F904i・N904i ・P904i・SH904i・D905i・F905i・N905i・N905iμ・P905i・SH905i ・SO905i・D703i・F703i・N703iμ・P703i・P703iμ・SH703i・SO703i ・D704i・F704i・L704i・N704iμ・P704i・P704iμ・SH704i・SO704i *Was also released for Steam and consoles from G-mode's G-MODE ARCHIVES program. The base game data has changed in the re-release, so I am still looking for the original data here.
Bokujou Monogatari: Everyone's Town and My Village
These were EZWeb/au(KDDI) exclusives!*
「牧場物語 みんなの街とぼくの村」- Published by Liveware in 2009
Phone Models: Those capable of running EZアプリ BREW(R)3.1 - with the exception of some models. lotta[iida]・PRISMOID[iida]・misora[iida]・K001・K002・K003・K004・NS01・NS02・S002・W65K・W64S・W62P・W63K (Ver. without camera)・URBANO・W62PT・W63K・W62K・W62S・W62SA・W61H・W61PT・W61P・W61CA・W61K・W61SH・W55T・W53H・W53K/W64K・INFOBAR 2・W44K II (Ver. without camera)・W53S・W53CA・W53SA・W54T・W52SH・W52CA・W52P・W52S・W53T・W52SA・W52H・MEDIA SKIN・W51SH・W51S・W52T・W51T・W51SA・W51H・W51CA・W51P・W51K・DRAPE・W47T・W44S・W44K/K II・W43SA・W45T・W43CA・W43H/H II・W43S・W43K・W42SA・W41SH・W42CA・W42H・W44T/T II/T III・neon・W43T・W42S・W42K・W41K・W41SA・W41T・W41H・W41CA・W41S・W33SA/SA II・W32S・W32H・W32SA・W32T・W31T・Sweets cute・A5529T・A5528K・A5526K・A5525SA・A5523T・E07K・E03CA・E02SA
「牧場物語 みんなの街とわたしの村」- Published by Liveware in 2009
Phone Models: Same as above
*Supposedly, there was an i-mode release for 牧場物語 みんなの街とぼくの村 (not わたしの村), but the only information I could find was a journalism article. It says EZWeb on the official Liveware PR headliner, so I'm not sure if it even does exist on that platform.
Thank you so much for your time reading!!
