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

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^?, officially translated as Famicom Journal), the magazine's original name after the Family Computer, the Japanese name for the Nintendo Entertainment System, which was the dominant video game console during the 1980s in Japan. The first issue was published in 1986. Today, Shūkan Famitsū features multi-platform coverage. 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 platforms news (currently the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable).

• Famitsū Wii+DS, which report on Nintendo 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 whatever platforms Nintendo was producing games for at the time.

• 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 spin-offs that are no longer in circulation include 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

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.

Though Famitsū reviewers have received notoriety for their selectiveness,^[4][5] recent review scores have generally taken an upswing, and many games now often receive scores of eight or nine out of ten from the magazine's review editors. Several recent Famitsū scores have been subject to controversy, with accusations that the magazine is raising scores to appease advertisers and the gaming industry, as was the case with its score for Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII.^{[citation needed]} However, it is still extremely rare for a game to receive a perfect score of forty from Famitsū's reviewers. This score is so exclusive that it has, until November 2008, only been given to a single game on any given platform. The Wii is the first platform with two games that received perfect scores, and both released in the same year (2008).

All games with perfect scores so far are from Japanese companies and the only foreign game to achieve a near-perfect score so far is Grand Theft Auto IV from Rockstar Games, also released in 2008, not including Kingdom Hearts II which is a joint effort between the Japanese based Square Enix and the U.S. based Buena Vista Games. Famitsū Wave DVD does not grade video games.

Perfect scores

Only ten games so far have received perfect scores. They are listed in chronological order:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998, Nintendo, for Nintendo 64)
2. Soulcalibur (1999, Namco, for Dreamcast)
3. Vagrant Story (2000, Square Co., Ltd., for PlayStation)
4. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2003, Nintendo for Nintendo GameCube)
5. Nintendogs (2005, Nintendo, for Nintendo DS)
6. Final Fantasy XII (2006, Square Enix, for PlayStation 2)
7. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008, Nintendo, for Wii)
8. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008, Konami, for PlayStation 3)
9. 428: Fūsasareta Shibuya de (2008, Sega, for Wii)
10. Dragon Quest IX (2009, Square Enix, for Nintendo DS)

Games that received a near-perfect score of 39 include:

1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991, Nintendo, for Super Famicom)
2. Virtua Fighter 2 (1995, Sega, for Sega Saturn)
3. Ridge Racer Revolution (1995, Namco, for PlayStation)
4. Super Mario 64 (1996, Nintendo, for Nintendo 64)
5. Tekken 3 (1998, Namco, for PlayStation)
6. Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram (1999, Sega, for Dreamcast)
7. Final Fantasy X (2001, Square Co., Ltd., for PlayStation 2)
8. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (2001, Sony Computer Entertainment, for PlayStation 2)
9. Resident Evil (2002, Capcom, for Nintendo GameCube)
10. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (2004, Square Enix, for PlayStation 2)
11. Gran Turismo 4 (2004, Sony Computer Entertainment, for PlayStation 2)
12. Kingdom Hearts II (2005, Square Enix and Buena Vista Games, for PlayStation 2)
13. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (2005, Konami, for PlayStation 2)
14. Dead or Alive 4 (2005, Tecmo, for Xbox 360)
15. Ōkami (2006, Capcom, for PlayStation 2)
16. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (2007, Nintendo, for Nintendo DS)
17. Grand Theft Auto IV (2008, Rockstar, for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)

All Time Top 10 by the readers

In March 2006 Japanese Famitsū magazine readers voted on their 100 all-time favorite games. (Full list). The top ten games picked by fans were:

1. Final Fantasy X (2001)
2. Final Fantasy VII (1997)
3. Dragon Quest III (1988)
4. Dragon Quest VIII (2004)
5. Machi (1998)
6. Final Fantasy IV (1991)
7. Tactics Ogre (1995)
8. Final Fantasy III (1990)
9. Dragon Quest VII (2000)
10. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (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

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Famitsu Scores Archive