GamePro
GamePro was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on PC computers and mobile devices. Gamepro Media properties included their website; the company was a part subsidiary of the held International Data Group, a media and research technology group. Published in 1989, GamePro magazine provided feature articles, news and reviews on various video games, video game hardware and the entertainment video gaming industry; the magazine was published monthly with October 2011 being its last issue, after over 22 years of publication. GamePro's February 2010 issue introduced a redesigned layout and a new editorial direction focused on the people and culture of its gaming. GamePro.com was launched in 1998. Updated daily, the website’s content included feature articles, previews, reviews and videos covering video games, video game hardware and the entertainment gaming industry.
The website included user content such as forums and blogs. In January 2010, the website was redesigned to reflect the same new editorial changes being made in the print magazine; the website was based at Gamepro's headquarters in San Francisco from 1998–2002 and in Oakland, California from 2002–11. Gamepro.com had international variants that have now outlasted their parent publication in countries such as Germany, France. Gamepro was first established in late 1988 by Patrick Ferrell, his sister-in-law Leeanne McDermott, the husband-wife design team of Michael and Lynne Kavish, they worked out of their houses throughout the San Francisco Bay Area before leasing their first office in Redwood City, California at the end of 1989. Lacking the cashflow to be able to sustain growth after publishing the first issue, the founding management team sought a major publisher and in 1989 found one with IDG Peterborough, a New Hampshire-based division of the global giant IDG. Led by a merger and acquisition team comprising IDG Peterborough President Roger Murphy and two other executives, Jim McBrian and Roger Strukhoff, the magazine was acquired a few months spun off as an independent business unit of IDG, under the leadership of Ferrell as president/CEO.
The addition of John Rousseau as publisher and editor-in-chief Wes Nihei, as well as renowned artist Francis Mao, established Gamepro as a large, profitable magazine worldwide publication. Francis Mao, acting in his role as art director for the nascent GamePro, contracted game illustrator Marc Ericksen to create the premiere cover for the first addition of the magazine. Ericksen would go on to produce five of the first ten covers for GamePro creating eight in total, would continue a secondary role creating a number of the double page spreads for the popular monthly Pro Tips section. Over the years, the Gamepro offices have moved from Redwood City to San Mateo to San Francisco and lastly Oakland. In 1993, the company was renamed from Gamepro Inc. to Infotainment World in reflection of its growing and diverse publication lines. The magazine was known for its editors using comic book-like avatars and monikers when reviewing games; as of January 2004, Gamepro ceased to use the avatars due to a change in the overall design and layout of the magazine.
Meanwhile, editorial voices carried over to the community on its online sister publication, www.gamepro.com. Gamepro was most famous for its ProTips, small pieces of gameplay tips and advice depicted with game screenshot captions, it features a special corner section known as Code Vault, where secret codes are all posted. These particular features have since vanished. Code Vault was published in print format and sold as a quarterly cheats and strategy magazine on newsstands. There was a TV show called GamePro TV; the show was hosted by J. D. Brennan Howard; the show was nationally syndicated for one year moved to cable for a second year. In 1993, Patrick Ferrell sent Debra Vernon, VP of marketing, to a meeting between the games industry and the Consumer Electronics Show. Realizing an opportunity, the team at the now-entitled Infotainment World launched E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo; the industry backed Ferrell partnered with the IDSA to produce the event. It was one of the biggest trade show launches in history.
Early in its lifespan, the magazine included comic book pages about the adventures of a superhero named Gamepro, a video game player from the real world brought into a dimension where video games were real to save it from creatures called the Evil Darklings. In 2003, Joyride Studios produced limited-edition action figures of some of the Gamepro editorial characters. Gamepro appeared in several international editions, including France, Spain, Italy, Australia and Greece; some of these publications share the North American content, while some others share only the name and logo but do feature different content. Early in 2006, IDG Entertainment began to change internally and shift operational focus from a "Print to Online" to "Online to Print" publishing mentality; the first steps. Enter: George Jones, industry veteran. In February 2006, Gamepro's online video channel, Games.net, launched a series of video-game related shows. The extensive online programming is geared towards an more mature audience.
In August 2006, the Gamepro onli
PlayStation (console)
The PlayStation is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The console was released on 3 December 1994 in Japan, 9 September 1995 in North America, 29 September 1995 in Europe, 15 November 1995 in Australia; the console was the first of the PlayStation lineup of home video game consoles. It competed with the Nintendo 64 and the Sega Saturn as part of the fifth generation of video game consoles; the PlayStation is the first "computer entertainment platform" to ship 100 million units, which it had reached 9 years and 6 months after its initial launch. In July 2000, a redesigned, slim version called the PS one was released, replacing the original grey console and named appropriately to avoid confusion with its successor, the PlayStation 2; the PlayStation 2, backwards compatible with the PlayStation's DualShock controller and games, was announced in 1999 and launched in 2000. The last PS one units were sold in late 2006 to early 2007 shortly after it was discontinued, for a total of 102 million units shipped since its launch 11 years earlier.
Games for the PlayStation continued to sell until Sony ceased production of both the PlayStation and PlayStation games on 23 March 2006 – over 11 years after it had been released, less than a year before the debut of the PlayStation 3. On 19 September 2018, Sony unveiled the PlayStation Classic, to mark the 24th anniversary of the original console; the new console is a miniature recreation of the original PlayStation, preloaded with 20 titles released on the original console, was released on 3 December 2018, the exact date the console was released in Japan in 1994. The inception of what would become the released PlayStation dates back to 1986 with a joint venture between Nintendo and Sony. Nintendo had produced floppy disk technology to complement cartridges, in the form of the Family Computer Disk System, wanted to continue this complementary storage strategy for the Super Famicom. Nintendo approached Sony to develop a CD-ROM add-on, tentatively titled the "Play Station" or "SNES-CD". A contract was signed, work began.
Nintendo's choice of Sony was due to a prior dealing: Ken Kutaragi, the person who would be dubbed "The Father of the PlayStation", was the individual who had sold Nintendo on using the Sony SPC-700 processor for use as the eight-channel ADPCM sound set in the Super Famicom/SNES console through an impressive demonstration of the processor's capabilities. Kutaragi was nearly fired by Sony because he was working with Nintendo on the side without Sony's knowledge, it was then-CEO, Norio Ohga, who recognised the potential in Kutaragi's chip, in working with Nintendo on the project. Ohga kept Kutaragi on at Sony, it was not until Nintendo cancelled the project that Sony decided to develop its own console. Sony planned to develop a Super NES-compatible, Sony-branded console, but one which would be more of a home entertainment system playing both Super NES cartridges and a new CD format which Sony would design; this was to be the format used in SNES-CDs, giving a large degree of control to Sony despite Nintendo's leading position in the video gaming market.
The product, dubbed the "Play Station" was to be announced at the May 1991 Consumer Electronics Show. However, when Nintendo's Hiroshi Yamauchi read the original 1988 contract between Sony and Nintendo, he realised that the earlier agreement handed Sony complete control over any and all titles written on the SNES CD-ROM format. Yamauchi decided that the contract was unacceptable and he secretly cancelled all plans for the joint Nintendo-Sony SNES CD attachment. Instead of announcing a partnership between Sony and Nintendo, at 9 am the day of the CES, Nintendo chairman Howard Lincoln stepped onto the stage and revealed that Nintendo was now allied with Philips, Nintendo was planning on abandoning all the previous work Nintendo and Sony had accomplished. Lincoln and Minoru Arakawa had, unbeknownst to Sony, flown to Philips' global headquarters in the Netherlands and formed an alliance of a decidedly different nature—one that would give Nintendo total control over its licenses on Philips machines.
After the collapse of the joint-Nintendo project, Sony considered allying itself with Sega to produce a stand-alone console. The Sega CEO at the time, Tom Kalinske, took the proposal to Sega's Board of Directors in Tokyo, who promptly vetoed the idea. Kalinske, in a 2013 interview recalled them saying "that’s a stupid idea, Sony doesn't know how to make hardware, they don't know. Why would we want to do this?". This prompted Sony into halting their research, but the company decided to use what it had developed so far with both Nintendo and Sega to make it into a complete console based upon the Super Famicom; as a result, Nintendo filed a lawsuit claiming breach of contract and attempted, in US federal court, to obtain an injunction against the release of what was christened the "Play Station", on the grounds that Nintendo owned the name. The federal judge presiding over the case denied the injunction and, in October 1991, the first incarnation of the aforementioned brand new game system was revealed.
However, it is theorised that only 200 or so of these machines were produced. By the end of 1992, Sony and Nintendo reached a deal whereby the "Play Station" would still have a port for SNES games, but Nintendo would own the rights and receive the bulk of the profits from the games, the SNES would continue to use the Sony-designed audio chip. However, Sony decided in early 1993 to begin reworking the "Play Station" concept to target a new generation of hardware and softw
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991; the publication is owned and published by GameStop Corp. the parent company of the video game retailer of the same name, who bought FuncoLand in 2000. Due to this, a large amount of promotion is done in-store, which has contributed to the success of the magazine. Game Informer has since become an important part of GameStop's customer loyalty program, PowerUp Rewards, which offers subscribers access to special content on the official website. Game Informer debuted in August 1991 as a six-page magazine, it was published every two months until November 1994, when the magazine began to be released monthly. Since 2001 Game Informer has been published by Cathy Preston, working as part of the production team since 2000, it was under her that the publication became an integral part of GameStop's customer loyalty program, Power Up Rewards. In 2010, Game Informer became the 5th largest magazine in the US with 5 million copies sold, ahead of popular publications like Time, Sports Illustrated, Playboy.
By 2011, Game Informer had become the 3rd largest magazine in the US topping 8 million copies circulated. However, in 2014 it had fallen to 4th place with 6.9 million copies sold. Recent figures still place the magazine at 4th place with over 7 million copies sold; the financial success of Game Informer has been attributed to its good relationship with publishers, ties to GameStop, the lack of gaming magazine competition. In each year's April edition, Game Informer includes Game Infarcer, an annual feature in the magazine, as an April Fool's joke. On the cover is "World's #1 Pretend Magazine" where it would ordinarily say "World's #1 Video Game Magazine", the word "Parody" is written on the bottom of each page. Game Infarcer articles are accredited to the fictional editor-in-chief Darth Clark, addressed in hate mail every year sent to Game Informer; the heated responses to parody articles are featured in Game Informer issues. Game Informer has included four "Sacred Cow Barbecues". Similar in style to a celebrity roast, the occasion is meant to "knock some of gaming's most revered icons off their high and mighty pedestals."
The first Sacred Cow Barbecues featured in issue 158. Other issues featuring Sacred Cow Barbecues are: 183, 211, 261. Sacred Cow Barbecues articles are considered controversial among those gamers who aren't amused with their games being mocked. Game Informer Online was launched in August 1996, featured daily news updates as well as articles. Justin Leeper and Matthew Kato were hired on in November 1999 as full-time web editors; as part of the GameStop purchase of the magazine, the site was closed around January 2001. Both Leeper and Kato were placed on the editorial staff of the magazine. GI Online was revived in September 2003, with a full redesign and many additional features, such as a review database, frequent news updates, exclusive "Unlimited" content for subscribers, it was managed by creator of PlanetGameCube.com. Berghammer is the editor in chief of the EGM Media group On March 2009, the online staff began creating the code for what would be the latest redesign to date; the redesign was to release hand-in-hand with the magazine's own redesign.
On October 1, 2009, the newly redesigned website was live, with a welcome message from Editor-In-Chief Andy McNamara. Many new features were introduced, including a rebuilt media player, a feed highlighting the site activity of the website's users, the ability to create user reviews. At the same time, the magazine's podcast, The Game Informer Show, was launched. In February, Game Informer's editors round up to count and judge the "Top 50 Games of last year"; the games are sorted in order of release date. They do not have rankings, but they do commemorate special games with awards like Game of the Year and other examples, they have mini top 10 charts of differing categories, both in the Top 50 games section of the website and in the regular magazine. In August each year, Game Informer includes a "E3 Hot 50", a special section that reviews the year's E3 and most to all of its games, which temporarily replaces the "previews" section. In November 2009, Game Informer was launched in Australia by former Australian GamePro and Official PlayStation Magazine editor Chris Stead and publisher Citrus Media.
By June 2010, Game Informer Australia had become the first local games publication to pass 10,000 subscribers. By August 18, 2010, it had become Australia's biggest selling video games publication. Game Informer Australia has picked up three Australian Magazine Awards for best in category, multiple nominations in the Lizzie awards and the 2013 MCV award for Print Publication of the Year. Chris Stead received the 2013 Journalist of the Year gong at the MCV awards. Game Informer reviews games on PCs, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation VR, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS, Android, iOS. Older games, three per issue, were given brief reviews in the magazine's Classic GI section; this was discontinued in months before the redesign of the magazine. The magazine's staff rate games on a scale of 1 to 10 with quarter point intervals. A score of 1 - 5 is considered terrible. Andy McNamara – Editor-i
GameStop
GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics, wireless services retailer. The company is headquartered in Grapevine, United States, a suburb of Dallas, operates 7,267 retail stores throughout the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Europe; the company's retail stores operate under the GameStop, EB Games, ThinkGeek and Micromania brands. In addition to retail stores, GameStop owns Game Informer, a video game magazine. GameStop traces its roots to Babbage's, a Tucson, Arizona-based software retailer founded in 1984 by former Harvard Business School classmates James McCurry and Gary M. Kusin; the company was named after Charles Babbage and opened its first store in Dallas's North Park Center with the help of Ross Perot, an early investor in the company. The company began to focus on video game sales for the then-dominant Atari 2600. Babbage's began selling Nintendo games in 1987; the company went public in 1988. By 1991, video games accounted for two-thirds of Babbage's sales.
Babbage's merged with Software Etc. an Edina, Minnesota-based retailer that specialized in personal computing software, to create NeoStar Retail Group in 1994. The merger was structured as a stock swap, where shareholders of Babbage's and Software Etc. received shares of NeoStar, a newly formed holding company. Babbage's and Software Etc. continued to operate as independent subsidiaries of NeoStar and retained their respective senior management teams. Babbage's founder and chairman James McCurry became chairman of NeoStar, while Babbage's president Gary Kusin and Software Etc. president Daniel DeMatteo retained their respective titles. Software Etc. chairman Leonard Riggio became chairman of NeoStar's executive committee. Gary Kusin resigned as president of Babbage's in February 1995 to start a cosmetics company. Daniel DeMatteo president of Software Etc. assumed Kusin's duties and was promoted to president and chief operating officer of NeoStar. NeoStar chairman James McCurry was appointed to the newly created position of NeoStar CEO.
The company relocated from its headquarters in Dallas to Grapevine that year. NeoStar merged its Babbage's and Software Etc. units into a single organization in May 1996 amid declining sales. Company president Daniel DeMatteo resigned, NeoStar chairman and CEO James McCurry assumed the title of president. In September of that year, after NeoStar was unable to secure the credit necessary to purchase inventory necessary for the holiday season, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. With the filing, NeoStar board member Thomas G. Plaskett became chairman and James McCurry remained company chief executive and president; the leadership changes were not enough and in November 1996 the assets of NeoStar were purchased for $58.5 million by Leonard Riggio, a founder of Software Etc. and chairman and principal stockholder of Barnes & Noble. Electronics Boutique had bid to purchase NeoStar, but the judge presiding over NeoStar's bankruptcy accepted Riggio's bid because it kept open 108 stores more than Electronics Boutique's bid would have.
200 retail stores were not included in the transaction and were subsequently closed. Following his purchase of NeoStar's assets, Leonard Riggio dissolved the holding company and created a new holding company named Babbage's Etc, he appointed Richard "Dick" Fontaine Software Etc.'s chief executive during its expansion in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as Babbage Etc.'s chief executive. Daniel DeMatteo the president of both Software Etc. and NeoStar, became company president and COO. Three years in 1999, Babbage's Etc. launched its GameStop brand with 30 stores located in strip malls. The company launched gamestop.com, a website that allowed consumers to purchase video games online. GameStop.com was promoted in Software Etc. stores. Barnes & Noble Booksellers purchased Babbage's Etc. in October 1999 for $215 million. Because Babbage's Etc. was principally owned by Leonard Riggio, Barnes & Noble's chairman and principal shareholder, a special committee of independent directors of Barnes & Noble Booksellers evaluated and signed-off on the deal.
A few months in May 2000, Barnes & Noble acquired Funco, an Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based video game retailer, for $160 million. Babbage's Etc., operating as a direct subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, became a wholly owned subsidiary of Funco. With its acquisition of Funco, Barnes & Noble acquired Game Informer, a video game magazine, first published in 1991. Funco was renamed GameStop, Inc. in December 2000 in anticipation of holding an initial public offering for the company. Barnes & Noble Booksellers took GameStop public with a February 2002 initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. GameStop was listed under the ticker symbol GME. Barnes & Noble retained control over the newly public company with 67% of outstanding shares and 95% of voting shares. Barnes & Noble retained control over GameStop until October 2004, when it distributed its 59% stake in GameStop to stakeholders of Barnes & Noble, making it an independent company. GameStop acquired EB Games in 2005 for $1.44 billion. The acquisition expanded GameStop's operations into Europe, Canada and New Zealand.
Two years in 2007, GameStop acquired Rhino Video Games from Blockbuster for an undisclosed amount. Rhino Video Games operated 70 video game stores throughout the Southeastern United States. GameStop purchased Free Record Shop's Norwegian stores in April 2008; the company converted them into video game shops. Daniel DeMatteo replaced Richard Fontaine as GameStop CEO in August 2008
PlayStation: The Official Magazine
PlayStation: The Official Magazine was a magazine known as PlayStation Magazine, becoming PlayStation: The Official Magazine in late 2007. PlayStation: The Official Magazine was published 13 times a year by Future plc until its cancellation in late 2012. PSM's UK-based sister magazine, PSM3, was another Future publication. Prior to becoming the official magazine, PSM was an independently published video game magazine specializing in all Sony PlayStation-brand video game consoles and handheld gaming platforms. PSM was published by Future, who publishes PlayStation Official Magazine; the magazine launched with the September 1997 issue. During its publication, it outsold every other PlayStation-dedicated magazine both in the United States and abroad. PSM celebrated ten years of publication with its 2007 issue. By this time, the magazine had been through several redesigns, most with its June 2006 issue. Over its history, the magazine had sponsored side content such as cover-mounted DVDs, online forums, near the end, a PSM podcast.
After Official U. S. PlayStation Magazine was canceled, Sony Computer Entertainment announced on October 1, 2007 that PSM would become PlayStation: The Official Magazine; the last issue published under the PSM title was that of December 2007, becoming PlayStation: The Official Magazine with the following Christmas 2007 issue. While it did retain the same staff for a period of time lasting from December 2007 until January 2008, it lost its remaining core editors, making PTOM a different magazine from the former PSM. Due to the same setbacks that caused the cancelations of other video game magazines published by Future, the magazine ceased publication after 15 years with its Christmas 2012 issue. In the beginning, PSM had an anime-style mascot named "Banzai Chibi-Chan", created and illustrated by Robert DeJesus, he was featured prominently in early issues and inspired apparel and other accessories. He was dropped, with the supposed reason being that the character was too childish and gave some the wrong impression about the magazine's intended audience.
A smiley face featuring an eye patch with a star on it was used, but it too was dropped after the magazine went through redesign in years. The PSM Smiley Face was notable for its appearance throughout the magazine, as well as on "lid-sticker" inserts, including one found in the first issue; some lid-stickers promotionally featured characters from PlayStation games being covered in the magazine. Other inserts included PlayStation memory card label stickers featuring visual themes similar to the lid-stickers, as well as video game tip sheets, instead of the demo discs that then-competitor Official U. S. PlayStation Magazine was known for; as PTOM, from the July 2008 issue to the June 2009 issue, the magazine included promotional codes for free downloads of Qore, a subscription-based interactive online magazine for the PlayStation 3, available through the PlayStation Store. These free, promotional editions of Qore did not include some of the features available in the paid-for edition, such as playable demos.
PTOM had promotional pullout-style posters from time to time, to help advertise upcoming video game releases. PlayStation: The Official Magazine at the Wayback Machine Publisher's product description page for PTOM at the Wayback Machine
Video game programmer
A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who develops codebases for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines, all of which fall under the umbrella term of "game programmer". A game programmer should not be confused with a game designer. In the early days of video games, a game programmer took on the job of a designer and artist; this was because the abilities of early computers were so limited that having specialized personnel for each function was unnecessary. Game concepts were light and games were only meant to be played for a few minutes at a time, but more art content and variations in gameplay were constrained by computers' limited power; as specialized arcade hardware and home systems became more powerful, game developers could develop deeper storylines and could include such features as high-resolution and full color graphics, advanced artificial intelligence and digital sound.
Technology has advanced to such a great degree that contemporary games boast 3D graphics and full motion video using assets developed by professional graphic artists. Nowadays, the derogatory term "programmer art" has come to imply the kind of bright colors and blocky design that were typical of early video games; the desire for adding more depth and assets to games necessitated a division of labor. Art production was relegated to full-time artists. Next game programming became a separate discipline from game design. Now, only some games, such as the puzzle game Bejeweled, are simple enough to require just one full-time programmer. Despite this division, most game developers have some say in the final design of contemporary games. A contemporary video game may include advanced physics, artificial intelligence, 3D graphics, digitised sound, an original musical score, complex strategy and may use several input devices and may be playable against other people via the Internet or over a LAN; each aspect of the game can consume all of one programmer's time and, in many cases, several programmers.
Some programmers may specialize in one area of game programming, but many are familiar with several aspects. The number of programmers needed for each feature depends somewhat on programmers' skills, but are dictated by the type of game being developed. Game engine programmers create the base engine of the game, including the simulated physics and graphics disciplines. Video games use existing game engines, either commercial, open source or free, they are customized for a particular game, these programmers handle these modifications. A game's physics programmer is dedicated to developing the physics. A game will only simulate a few aspects of real-world physics. For example, a space game may need simulated gravity, but would not have any need for simulating water viscosity. Since processing cycles are always at a premium, physics programmers may employ "shortcuts" that are computationally inexpensive, but look and act "good enough" for the game in question. In other cases, unrealistic physics are employed to allow easier gameplay or for dramatic effect.
Sometimes, a specific subset of situations is specified and the physical outcome of such situations are stored in a record of some sort and are never computed at runtime at all. Some physics programmers may delve into the difficult tasks of inverse kinematics and other motions attributed to game characters, but these motions are assigned via motion capture libraries so as not to overload the CPU with complex calculations. For a role-playing game such as World of Warcraft, only one physics programmer may be needed. For a complex combat game such as Battlefield 1942, teams of several physics programmers may be required; this title belonged to a programmer who developed specialized blitter algorithms and clever optimizations for 2D graphics. Today, however, it is exclusively applied to programmers who specialize in developing and modifying complex 3D graphic renderers; some 2D graphics skills have just become useful again, for developing games for the new generation of cell phones and handheld game consoles.
A 3D graphics programmer must have a firm grasp of advanced mathematical concepts such as vector and matrix math and linear algebra. Skilled programmers specializing in this area of game development can demand high wages and are a scarce commodity, their skills can be used for video games on any platform. An AI programmer develops the logic of time to simulate intelligence in opponents, it has evolved into a specialized discipline, as these tasks used to be implemented by programmers who specialized in other areas. An AI programmer may program pathfinding and enemy tactic systems; this is one of the most challenging aspects of game programming and its sophistication is developing rapidly. Contemporary games dedicate 10 to 20 percent of their programming staff to AI; some games, such as strategy games like Civilization III or role-playing video games such as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, use AI while others, such as puzzle games, use it sparingly or not at all. Many game developers have created entire languages that can be used to program their own AI for games via scripts.
These languages are less technical than the language used to implement the game, will be used by the game or level designers to implement the world of the game. Many studios make their games' scripting available to players
Famitsu
Famitsu Famicom Tsūshin, is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. 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. Shūkan Famitsū, the original Famitsū publication, is considered the most read and respected video game news magazine in Japan. From October 28, 2011 Enterbrain began releasing the digital version of the magazine on BookWalker weekly; the first issue of Famitsū was published on June 1986 as Famicom Tsūshin. It was published semiregularly thereafter, going through periods of monthly and quarterly publication. On July 19, 1991 the magazine was renamed to Shūkan Famicom Tsūshin and issues were published weekly thereafter. Alongside the weekly magazine, a monthly version called Gekkan Famicom Tsūshin was published. At the start of 1996 the magazines underwent another name change, truncating their titles to Shūkan Famitsū and Gekkan Famitsū.
The magazine was published by ASCII from its founding through March 2000 when it was sold to Enterbrain, Inc. The name Famitsū is a portmanteau abbreviation of Famicom Tsūshin; the first issue was published on June 6, 1986. Today, Shūkan Famitsū features multi-platform coverage. Shūkan Famitsū is a weekly publication concentrating on video game news and reviews, is published every Thursday with a circulation of 500,000 per issue. Gekkan Famitsū is published monthly. Famitsū magazine covers alternately feature pop idols or actresses on even-numbered issues and the Famitsū mascot, Necky 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, 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, it derives from a complex Japanese pun: "Necky" is the reverse of the Japanese word for fox, キツネ, his original connection to Famicom Tsūshin is intended to evoke the bark of the fox, the Japanese onomatopoeia of, コンコン.
Necky makes a cameo appearance in Super Mario Maker. Famitsū publishes other magazines dedicated to particular consoles. In circulation are: Entamikusu is written for an older audience and covers retrogaming, it has been published monthly since November 2010. Famitsū Connect! On reports on online gaming. Famitsū DS+Wii reports on Nintendo platforms; the magazine was known as Famitsū 64 and Famitsū Cube based on whatever platforms Nintendo was producing games for at the time. Famitsū GREE reports on mobile gaming via GREE. Famitsū Mobage reports on mobile gaming via Mobage. Famitsū spin-offs that are no longer in circulation include: Famitsū Bros. was written for younger audiences and concentrated on video game hints and strategy. It was published monthly and went defunct in September 2002. Famicomi was a comic and manga magazine published irregularly between 1992 and 1995. Famitsū DC covered the Dreamcast. Previous incarnations of this magazine included Sega Saturn Tsūshin which covered the Sega Saturn, with earlier issues covering earlier Sega platforms.
Famitsū Sister covered bishōjo games. Satellaview Tsūshin covered the Satellaview, it was published monthly and ran for only 12 issues from May 1995 to May 1996. Its inaugural issue was the May 1995 issue of Gekkan Famicom Tsūshin. Virtual Boy Tsūshin covered the Virtual Boy. Only one issue was published in 1995. Famitsū PS began publication in May 1996, reported on Sony platforms news, it was known as Famitsū PS2 and Famitsū PSP+PS3 before being discontinued in March 2010. Famitsū Wave DVD covered events and previews; each magazine included a DVD disc with video game footage. It was published monthly and went defunct in May 2011. Famitsū Xbox 360 reported on Xbox 360 news, it went defunct in 2013. 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 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 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, Final Fantasy with two titles; the most recent game to receive a perfect score is Dragon Quest XI. As of 2016, all but two 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; as of 2016, the only two foreign games to achieve a perfect score are The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim by Bethesda Softworks and Grand Theft Auto V, from Rockstar Games. Other foreign games that have achieved near-perfect scores are L. A. Noire, Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto IV – all three of which came from Rockstar Games.
