Famitsu is the biggest gaming magazine in Japan, so big that it's even well known even in the United States. If you've ever hear about games getting some score out of 40, then you've heard of Famitsu. Sure, attaining such a score is easier now than it was years ago, but even still, only 15 games have ever done it. The first one to do so was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in 1998 and the most recent was Pokémon Black and White. And the strangest? Probably Nintendogs.

There are a few different versions of Famitsu, but the weekly edition comes every Thursday in Japan. The price varies, but is usually  around 400 Yen, the equivalent of about $4.50 american dollars. For those who can't read Japanese but might want to pick up one in Japan some day in the future, look for their mascot "Necky the Cat" on the cover.

Locating the cat on the cover isn't always so easy, as he's not always featured predominantly. In that case, look to the top right hand corner for a smaller version of him, though it's not as easy as itsounds in a giant sea of Japanese magazines. To top if off, it's not uncommon for Famitsu to sell out, so try to find him early on a Thursday afternoon!

Famitsus are also pretty thick for a weekly magazine. I'd say it's thanks to the ads, but all magazines have a ton of ads. There also isn't an infinite amount of loose "subscribe now" coupons to be found in a Famitsu.

Here's what their famous "New Game Cross Review" section looks like. Note that each game score out of 40 is the combined score that four editors each give the game out of 10. With this method, it's different than most traditional review scores in North America, though rather similar to how EGM used to review games.

A lot of previews in the magazine blur the line between ad and article. Here's the beginning of a Catherine preview for instance:

Normally, Famitsu puts a lot of effort into keeping the game's graphic style in each article. Here's another one for a foreign game you may have heard of: Crysis 2:

One of the more intriguing parts of Famitsu are the interviews with game developers. Suda 51 has ended up with a very Grasshopper Manufacture-ish article that appears in each magazine. Here they are talking about Rock Band 3.

Even with a weekly schedule, Famitsu still can't quite compete with the updated-by-the-second online gaming blogs, it does compare favorably to monthly North American magazines that are almost always out of date or leaked beforehand. And if that's not good enough, they have a web site that far surpasses our home page scrolling at http://www.famitsu.com. Hope you enjoyed this look at the Japanese gaming publication industry. Stay tuned for GameXplain for more gaming news...in English.