FAMITSU

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''. , the original ''Famitsū'' publication, is considered the most respected video game news magazine in Japan.^[1][2][3]

Contents

''Shūkan Famitsū''

Others

Scoring

Perfect scores

All Time Top 100 by the readers

Relationship with other magazines

See also

References

External links

''Shūkan Famitsū''

''Shūkan Famitsū'' concentrates on video game reviews, as well as video game industry news. The name ''Famitsū'' was originally an abbreviation of , 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.

Others

''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).

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 (1up.com news link). Statistically, it is still extremely rare for a game to receive a perfect score of forty from ''Famitsū'''s reviewers. ''Famitsū Wave DVD'' does not grade video games.

Perfect scores

Only six games so far have received perfect scores. They are listed in chronological order.
# '' (1998, Nintendo, for Nintendo 64)
# ''Soulcalibur'' (1999, Namco, for Dreamcast)
# ''Vagrant Story'' (2000, Square Co., Ltd., for PlayStation)
# '' (2002, Nintendo, for Nintendo GameCube)
# ''Nintendogs'' (2005, Nintendo, for Nintendo DS)
# ''Final Fantasy XII'' (2006, Square Enix, for PlayStation 2)
Games that received a near-perfect score of 39 include:
# '' (1991, Nintendo, for Super Famicom)
# ''Virtua Fighter 2'' (1995, Sega, for Sega Saturn)
# ''Ridge Racer Revolution'' (1995, Namco, for PlayStation)
# ''Super Mario 64'' (1996, Nintendo, for Nintendo 64)
# ''Tekken 3'' (1998, Namco, for PlayStation)
# ''Cyber Troopers Virtual On Oratorio Tangram'' (1999, Sega, for Dreamcast)
# '' (2001, Sony Computer Entertainment, for PlayStation 2)
# ''Final Fantasy X'' (2001, Square Co., Ltd., for PlayStation 2)
# ''Resident Evil'' (2002, Capcom, for Nintendo GameCube)
# ''Dragon Quest VIII'' (2004, Square Enix, for PlayStation 2)
# ''Gran Turismo 4'' (2004, Sony Computer Entertainment, for PlayStation 2)
# '' (2005, Konami, for PlayStation 2)
# ''Kingdom Hearts II'' (2006, Square Enix and Buena Vista Games, for PlayStation 2)
# ''Dead or Alive 4'' (2005, Tecmo, for Xbox 360)
# ''Ōkami'' (2006, Capcom, for PlayStation 2)
# '' (2007, Nintendo, for Nintendo DS)

All Time Top 100 by the readers

In March of 2006 Japanese ''Famitsū'' magazine readers voted on their 100 all-time favorite games. (Full list). The top ten games picked by fans were:
# ''Final Fantasy X'' (2001)
# ''Final Fantasy VII'' (1997)
# ''Dragon Quest III'' (1988)
# ''Dragon Quest VIII'' (2004)
# ''Machi'' (1998)
# ''Final Fantasy IV'' (1991)
# ''Tactics Ogre'' (1995)
# ''Final Fantasy III'' (1990)
# ''Dragon Quest VII'' (2000)
# '' (1998)

Relationship with other magazines

UK trade magazine MCV and Famitsu have an exclusive partnership which sees news and content from each magazine appear in the other.^[6]

See also

★ Enterbrain

References

1.
FFXII gets perfect score from ''Famitsu''
2.
PS3 To Come Without Bundled HDD?
3.
''Final Fantasy XII'' scores perfect 40/40 in ''Famitsu'' reviews
4.
Litigation Time
5.
''Final Fantasy XII'' Earns Perfect Score From Famitsu
6. MCV launches daily service

External links

★ Famitsu.com

★ Famitsu.com w/ Google Translator