LOGiN (ログイン), a computer game magazine, started in 1982 as an extra issue of ASCII, and later it became a periodic magazine. Famicom Tsūshin9 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.1011
The first issue of Famitsu was published on June 6, 1986, as Famicom Tsūshin.12 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. Famitsu'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 (issue #136) the magazine was renamed to Shūkan Famicom Tsūshin13 and issues were published weekly thereafter. Alongside the weekly magazine, a monthly version called Gekkan Famicom Tsūshin14 was also published.
Hirokazu Hamamura, an editor-in-chief (1992–2002), 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 (with issue #369) the magazines underwent another name change, truncating their titles to Shūkan Famitsū15 and Gekkan Famitsū16. The name Famitsu had already been in common use.17
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.18
Famicom Tsūshin initially focused on the Famicom platform, but later it featured multi-platform coverage. Famicom Tsūshin was renamed to Famitsu 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.19 Gekkan Famitsū is published monthly.
Famitsu covers alternately feature pop idols or actresses on even-numbered issues and the Famitsu mascot, Necky20 the Fox21 in odd-numbered issues.22 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.23 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, キツネ,24 and his original connection to Famicom Tsūshin is intended to evoke the bark of the fox, the Japanese onomatopoeia of which is コンコン25.26 Necky makes a cameo appearance in Super Mario Maker.27
Famitsu publishes other magazines dedicated to particular consoles. Currently in circulation are:
Famitsu spin-offs that are no longer in circulation include:
Main article: Famitsu scores
Video games are graded in Famitsu via a "Cross Review" by having four critics each assign the game a score from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest score. The scores are then added together. As of 2023[update], twenty-nine games have received perfect scores of 40 from Famitsu. The console with the highest number of perfect-scoring games is the PlayStation 3, with seven total. Four of the perfect-scoring games on PlayStation 3 were also released on the Xbox 360, which is tied with the Wii for the second-highest number of perfect scores at five total. Franchises with multiple perfect score winners include The Legend of Zelda with five titles, Metal Gear with three titles, and Final Fantasy with two titles. The most recent game to receive a perfect score is Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.43
As of 2023[update], all but three games with perfect scores are from Japanese companies, ten being published/developed by Nintendo, four by Square Enix, three by Sega, three by Konami and one by Capcom. As of 2023[update], the only three completely foreign games to achieve a perfect score are The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim by Bethesda Softworks, Grand Theft Auto V by Rockstar Games, and Ghost of Tsushima by Sucker Punch Productions. Other foreign games that have achieved near-perfect scores are Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption, L.A. Noire, and Red Dead Redemption 2, all by Rockstar Games; Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, all by Activision (but published by Square Enix in Japan); Gears of War 3 by Epic Games; and The Last of Us Part II and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End by Naughty Dog. Kingdom Hearts II, another game with a near-perfect score, was a joint effort between Japanese developer Square Enix and American developer Disney Interactive Studios.
Main article: Famitsu 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.
UK trade magazine MCV and Famitsu have an exclusive partnership which sees news and content from each magazine appear in the other.44
Japanese: ファミ通, Hepburn: Famitsū /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: ファミコン通信, officially translated as Famicom Journal /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: 週刊ファミ通, lit. "Weekly Famitsū" /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Tor Thorsen (March 8, 2006). "FFXII gets perfect score from Famitsu". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved June 9, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20121023220119/http://www.gamespot.com/news/ffxii-gets-perfect-score-from-famitsu-6145598 ↩
Steve Kalpaxidis (July 1, 2005). "PS3 To Come Without Bundled HDD?". Advanced Media Network. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved June 9, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20071011163432/http://psp.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=1590 ↩
Rodney Quinn (March 9, 2006). "Final Fantasy XII scores perfect 40/40 in Famitsu reviews". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2006. https://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2006/3/9/3107 ↩
"週刊ファミ通(電子版)が10月28日から販売スタート! - ファミ通App". www.famitsu.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015. http://www.famitsu.com/news/201110/27052568.html ↩
"KADOKAWA、電撃ゲームメディア編集部を吸収分割で連結子会社Gzブレインに10月1日付で承継へ 「ファミ通」ブランドと「電撃」ブランドが融合 | gamebiz". https://gamebiz.jp/?p=247334 ↩
Japanese: ファミコン通信, lit. "Famicom News" /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Gifford, Kevin (November 16, 2008). "GameSetWatch COLUMN: 'Game Mag Weaseling': Whoops, I Was Logged Out". www.gamesetwatch.com. UBM Technology Group. Archived from the original on June 7, 2019. Retrieved June 6, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190607003241/http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2008/11/column_game_mag_weaseling_whoo.php ↩
"ゲームメディア30年史" [30 Year History of Game Media]. Shūkan Famitsū. 31 (24): 120–127. 2016. ↩
Martin Picard (December 2013). "The Foundation of Geemu: A Brief History of Early Japanese video games". International Journal of Computer Game Research. 13 (2). Archived from the original on 24 June 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2016. http://gamestudies.org/1302/articles/picard ↩
Japanese: 週刊ファミコン通信, lit. "Weekly Famicom News" /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: 月刊ファミコン通信, lit. "Monthly Famicom News" /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: 月刊ファミ通 /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
"Enterbrain Brand Information" (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2015. http://www.enterbrain.co.jp/corporate/goods.html ↩
Japanese: ネッキー, Hepburn: Nekkī /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Ashcraft, Brian. Gaming Magazine Totally Snubs Xbox 360!? Archived 2009-05-05 at the Wayback Machine. Kotaku. 4 February 2008. https://kotaku.com/352151/gaming-magazine-totally-snubs-xbox-360 ↩
Gifford, Kevin. 'Game Mag Weaseling': Japan Mag Roundup 2008 Archived 2012-10-11 at the Wayback Machine. GameSetWatch. 27 April 2008. http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2008/04/column_game_mag_weaseling_japa.php ↩
'Necky the Fox' 今も尚輝き続ける松下進の代表的キャラクター Archived 2011-07-24 at the Wayback Machine. SusumuMatsushita.net. 10 July 2004. http://www.susumumatsushita.net/press/release/pr2004_07_a.html ↩
Japanese: kitsune /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: "kon kon" /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Gifford, Kevin. Weekend Factyard: Famitsu/Famicom Tsushin Archived 2010-01-03 at the Wayback Machine MagWeasel. 19 September 2009. http://magweasel.com/2009/09/19/weekend-factyard-famitsufamicom-tsushin ↩
Calvert, Darren (10 September 2015). "Super Mario Maker DLC Confirmed, Famitsu's Mascot Necky The Fox Coming Soon". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016. http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/09/super_mario_maker_dlc_confirmed_famitsus_mascot_necky_the_fox_coming_soon ↩
Japanese: エンタミクス /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: オトナファミ /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: ファミ通コネクト!オン /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: ファミ通DS+Wii /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: ファミ通GREE /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: ファミ通Mobage /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: ファミ通ブロス /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: ファミコミ /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: ファミ通DC /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: ファミ通Sister /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: サテラビュー通信 /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: バーチャルボーイ通信 /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: ファミ通PS /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: ファミ通WaveDVD /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Japanese: ファミ通Xbox /wiki/Japanese_language ↩
Romano, Sal (January 31, 2024). "Famitsu Review Scores: Issue 135". Gematsu. Retrieved February 22, 2024. https://www.gematsu.com/2024/01/famitsu-review-scores-issue-1835 ↩
"MCV launches daily service". Intent Media. February 26, 2007. Archived from the original on August 6, 2010. Retrieved March 14, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20100806062202/http://www.mcvuk.com/news/25830/MCV-launches-daily-service ↩