Weekly Famitsu

Famitsu

Cover art for the first issue of Famitsū magazine (then known as Famicom Tsūshin), June 1986. The Atari 2600 controller and the Family Computer controller can be seen on the cover.
Categories	Video game
Frequency	Weekly / Monthly
Format	Paper and online magazine
Circulation	500,000 (Shūkan) 120,000 (Entamikusu) 80,000 (Connect! On) 40,000 (DS+Wii)
Publisher	Enterbrain, Inc., Tokuma
First issue	June 1986
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Website	www.famitsu.com

Famitsu (ファミ通, Famitsū, formerly 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 (週刊ファミ通, lit. "Weekly Famitsū"), the original Famitsū publication, is considered the most widely read and respected video game news magazine in Japan. From October 28, 2011 Enterbrain began releasing the digital version of the magazine exclusively on BookWalker weekly.

The first issue of Famitsū was published on June 6, 1986 as Famicom Tsūshin (ファミコン通信, lit. "Famicom News"). It was published semiregularly thereafter, going through periods of monthly, bimonthly, and quarterly publication. On July 19, 1991 (issue #136) the magazine was renamed to Shūkan Famicom Tsūshin (週刊ファミコン通信, lit. "Weekly Famicom News") and issues were published weekly thereafter. Alongside the weekly magazine, a monthly version called Gekkan Famicom Tsūshin (月刊ファミコン通信, lit. "Monthly Famicom News") was also published. At the start of 1996 (with issue #369) the magazines underwent another name change, truncating their titles to Shūkan Famitsū (週刊ファミ通, lit. "Weekly Famitsū") and Gekkan Famitsū (月刊ファミ通).

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 (ファミコン通信, officially translated as Famicom Journal); the word "Famicom" itself comes from a portmanteau abbreviation of "Family Computer" (the Japanese name for the Nintendo Entertainment System)—the dominant video game console in Japan during the 1980s. 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, and is published every Thursday with a circulation of 500,000 per issue.Gekkan Famitsū is published monthly.