Famitsu


formerly Famicom Tsūshin, is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage, a subsidiary of Kadokawa. Famitsu is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the form of special topical issues devoted to only one console, video game company, or other theme. the original Famitsū publication, is considered the most widely read and respected video game news magazine in Japan. From October 28, 2011 the company began releasing the digital version of the magazine exclusively on BookWalker weekly.
The name Famitsū is a portmanteau abbreviation of the word "Famicom" itself comes from a portmanteau abbreviation of "Family Computer" —the dominant video game console in Japan during the 1980s.

History

LOGiN, a computer game magazine, started in 1982 as an extra issue of ASCII, and later it became a periodic magazine. was a column in Login, focused on the Famicom platform, and ran from March 1985 to December 1986 issue. It received a good reception, so the publisher decided to found the magazine specialized for it.
The first issue of Famitsū was published on June 6, 1986 as Famicom Tsūshin. It sold less than 200,000 copies, despite 700,000 copies printed. The major competitor was Family Computer Magazine'' launched in July 1985 by Tokuma Shoten. Famitsū's editor found many readers had multiple game consoles, and they thought it would be better if the magazine covered various platforms. Increasing contents and the page count gradually, the magazine was published three times per month instead of semimonthly publication. On July 19, 1991 the magazine was renamed to and issues were published weekly thereafter. Alongside the weekly magazine, a monthly version called was also published.
Hirokazu Hamamura, an editor-in-chief, felt the beginning of a new era when he saw a private demonstration of Final Fantasy VII in 1993. He thought the name Famicom Tsūshin should be refurbished. At the start of 1996 the magazines underwent another name change, truncating their titles to and The name Famitsū had already been in common use.
The magazine was published by ASCII from its founding through March 2000 when it was sold to Enterbrain, which published it for 13 years until their parent company Kadokawa published it from 2013 to 2017. Since 2017, Kadokawa's subsidiary Gzbrain has been publishing the magazine, while in 2019 the company changed its name to Kadokawa Game Linkage.

''Shūkan Famitsū'' and ''Gekkan Famitsū''

Famicom Tsūshin initially focused on the Famicom platform, but later it featured multi-platform coverage. Famicom Tsūshin was renamed to Famitsū in 1995. Shūkan Famitsū is a weekly publication concentrating on video game news and reviews, and is published every Thursday with a circulation of 500,000 per issue. Gekkan Famitsū is published monthly.

Necky the Fox

Famitsū magazine covers alternately feature pop idols or actresses on even-numbered issues and the Famitsū mascot, the Fox in odd-numbered issues. Year-end and special editions all feature Necky dressed as popular contemporary video game characters. Necky is the cartoon creation of artist Susumu Matsushita, and he takes the form of a costumed fox. The costumes worn by Necky reflect current popular video games. Necky's name was chosen according to a reader poll, and it derives from a complex Japanese pun: "Necky" is actually the reverse of the Japanese word for fox, and his original connection to Famicom Tsūshin is intended to evoke the bark of the fox, the Japanese onomatopoeia of which is. Necky makes a cameo appearance in Super Mario Maker.

Special topic ''Famitsū''s

Famitsū publishes other magazines dedicated to particular consoles. Currently in circulation are:
Famitsū spin-offs that are no longer in circulation include:
Video games are graded in Famitsū via a "Cross Review" in which a panel of four video game reviewers each give a score from 0 to 10. The scores of the four reviewers are then added up for a maximum possible score of 40. From the twenty-four games awarded with a perfect score as of 2017, three are for the Nintendo DS and five are for the Wii. The PlayStation 3 also has five games with a perfect score and the Xbox 360 has four, with both consoles having four titles in common. The others are for different platforms with only one title each. Franchises with multiple perfect score winners include The Legend of Zelda with four titles, Metal Gear with three titles, and Final Fantasy with two titles. The most recent game to receive a perfect score is Ghost of Tsushima.
, all but three games with perfect scores are from Japanese companies, nine being published/developed by Nintendo, four by Square Enix, three by Sega, three by Konami and one by Capcom., the only three completely foreign games to achieve a perfect score are ' by Bethesda Softworks, Grand Theft Auto V by Rockstar Games, and Ghost of Tsushima, from Sucker Punch Productions. Other foreign games that have achieved near-perfect scores are L.A. Noire, Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV – all four of which came from Rockstar Games; ', ', and ' – all from Activision, although published by Square Enix in Japan; and Gears of War 3 from Epic Games.

Awards

Famitsu administers the Famitsu awards. Video games receive a number of different awards in categories like Innovation, Biggest Hit, Rookie Award, Highest Quality, etc. One or two "Game of the Year" awards are granted as the top prize. Top prize winners are determined by a combination of critical and fan review scores as well as sales figures.

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.