This Week in Famitsu

Weekly Famitsu #1183 & #1184

We're baaaack! And where have we been for the past two weeks, you ask? Well, in Japan, the end of the week of August 7^th and the beginning of the week of the 14^th are known as the festival of Obon. Obon could be best described as a mash-up of Thanksgiving and All Souls Day put together. Family members return to their ancestral home, enjoying each other's company and praying for their deceased relatives by going to the family grave and cleaning it. During this time, many businesses close or have limited hours, and Famitsu is no exception. Famitsu always releases a double issue before Obon begins, in order to allow its employees to go home and be with their families. Unfortunately, these double-numbered Obon issues are always notoriously light on new content, and this issue was no exception.

The double issue was basically a re-hash of the same content that Famitsu has been publishing for the past month or so, just with a bit more details on some games. The cover story this time around is an interview and photo shoot with a popular Japanese model, which is not really an interesting read. Famitsu also takes a look back at the all the comings and goings from Comic-Con 2011, but since our very own Corey Hall was actually there and is writing a lengthy first-hand account of his experiences (look for the first of these articles later this week) this is also a non-starter. So, what does this double issue of Famitsu actually offer? This:

Games To Play During Summer

Famitsu put together a great list of over 100 games that you can enjoy during the summer time, no matter what situation you might find yourself in. The list is way to long to cover in its entirety, so we decided to only list Famitsu's top picks in each category. There is something on this list for everyone.

• Games You Can Play On Vacation: The Legend of Zelda (3DS), Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Final Mix (PSP), Professor Layton & The Mask of Miracles (3DS)

• Games You Can Play By Yourself: L.A. Noire (PS3/360), El Shaddai (PS3/360), Catherine (PS3/360), inFamous 2 (PS3), Dynasty Warriors 6 (PS3), The Last Story (Wii)

• Games You Can Play With Friends: Little Big Planet 2 (PS3), Monster Hunter 3^rd G (PSP), Everyone's Rhythm Heaven (Wii), Taiko Drum Master Portable DX (PSP), Puyo Puyo (DS)

• Games You Can Play That Make You Happy: Scribblenauts (DS), Nintendogs & Cats (3DS), Dance Central (360 Kinect), Portal 2 (PS3/360) [huh...]

• Games You Can Play Online: Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition (PS3/360), Killzone 3 (PS3), Marvel vs Capcom 3 (PS3/360), Call of Duty: Black Ops (PS3/360)

• Games You Can Play To Have A Summer Fling: Love Plus + (DS), Dream Club Zero (360), Amagami EbiCore + [How I Learned To Stop Worrying & Embrace] (PSP)
  

Hardware Sales: Week of 7/18-7/24

• Nintendo 3DS – 32,381 units
• PSP – 27,056 units
• PlayStation 3 – 22,935 units
• Wii – 16,939 units
• Nintendo DS – 7,568 units
• Xbox 360 – 1,526 units
• PlayStation 2 – 1,155 units

Top 5 Selling Games: Week of 7/18-7/24

• Everyone's Rhythm Heaven (Wii) – 130,781 units
• Sengoku Basara Chronicle Heroes (PSP) – 77,017 units
• Taiko Drum Master Portable DX (PSP) – 42,389 units
• No More Heroes Red Zone Edition (PS3) – 40,050 units
• Real Powerful Pro Baseball 2011 (PSP) – 38,964 units

Next week we will be back to a regular schedule for 'This Week in Famitsu', assuming there are no other ancestor worshiping holidays on the horizon. See you then!

Submitted By: Aaron McKeever