Famitsu

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Cover art for Issue 1 of Famitsū magazine, June 1986, then known as Famicom Tsūshin

Famitsū (ファミ通, Famitsū^? abbreviated ファミ Fami) is a Japanese video game magazine published by Enterbrain, Inc. Currently, there are five versions of Famitsū: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS, Famitsū Xbox, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD. Shūkan Famitsū (週刊ファミ通, Shūkan Famitsū^?, lit. "Weekly Famitsū"), the original Famitsū publication, is considered the most respected video game news magazine in Japan.^[1]^[2]^[3]

1 Shūkan Famitsū
2 Others
3 Scoring
- 3.1 Perfect scores
- 3.2 All Time Top 100 by the readers
4 Relationship with other magazines
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Shūkan Famitsū

Shūkan Famitsū concentrates on video game reviews, as well as video game industry news. The name Famitsū was originally an abbreviation of Famicom Tsūshin (ファミコン通信, lit. "Famicom News^?), the magazine's original name after the Famicom (which was the dominant video game console during the late 1980s in Japan). The first issue was published in 1986. Today, Shūkan Famitsū features multi-platform coverage, with a separate spinoff magazine dedicated to Nintendo's platforms (currently titled Famitsū Wii+DS). Shūkan Famitsū is published every Friday with a circulation of 800,000 per issue.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Others

Cover of Famitsū Wave DVD, April 2005, featuring Reiko Hinomoto and Dixie Clemets from Rumble Roses.

Famitsū publishes other magazines dedicated to particular consoles. Currently in circulation are:

[[*Famitsū PS (formerly PlayStation Tsūshin), which reports on Sony-based platforms news (currently the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable).

Famitsū Wii+DS, which report on Nintendo-based platforms (currently the Nintendo DS and Wii). The magazine was formerly known as Famitsū 64 and then Famitsū Cube (among other variations of those two names) based on Nintendo's previous platforms.

Famitsū Xbox, which reports on Xbox and Xbox 360 news.

Famitsū Wave DVD (ファミ通 Wave DVD) is published monthly. Each magazine includes a DVD disc (NTSC Region 2) with video game footage. The magazine was originally called GameWave DVD.

Famitsū spinoffs that are no longer in circulation includes Famitsū Bros. (which concentrated on video game hints and strategy rather than actual news), Famitsū Sister (which covered bishōjo games) and Famitsū DC (which covered the Dreamcast).

[edit] Scoring

Famitsū is known worldwide for its "extremely harsh" grading of current videogames.^[4]^[5] Video games are graded in Famitsū by a panel of four video game reviewers. Each reviewer gives a score from one to ten (ten being best). The scores of the four reviewers are then added up with a possible score of forty. Famitsū reviewers have long been considered unmercifully tough, though in recent years their average review scores have generally taken an upswing. Several recent Famitsū scores have been subject to controversy, and the magazine has been accused of "selling out" to appease advertisers and the larger entities in the industry, such as with its score for Dirge of Cerberus (1up.com news link). A detailed review of Famitsū revealed that the editors gave courtesy scores, usually 9 to 10, to popular games with a devoted fan base, regardless of the game's quality.[1]

However, it is still extremely difficult for a game to receive a perfect score of forty from Famitsū's reviewers. Famitsū Wave DVD does not grade video games.