One of the features of this site will be to archive magazine covers, and to start things off I present the Weekly Famitsu covers for March, 2006. Weekly Famitsu is released every Friday I believe, and March had five Fridays. The big games for the month were Final Fantasy XII and Monster Hunter 2 (dos), garnering a mention on almost every cover.

But March also held a special anniversary for Weekly Famitsu: the 900th issue! The week of the 17th marked the 900th issue of Famitsu and Famitsu made sure that this issue would be special. Physically, the issue isn't stapled like the usual issue of Weekly Famitsu; this time, it's got the flat spine that other Famitsu magazines usually have. The cover also has a silvery sheen to it--almost like foil but not quite. A DVD is also included featuring previews of upcoming games. The issue also has special articles, like one that takes a brief look at the history of games and game systems from 1983 to 2006.

But perhaps the coolest part of the 900th issue is the mini-booklet that comes with it which features the top 100 games of all time as voted by the readers. So what's the number one game of all time? Final Fantasy X! Was it really that good? Honestly I don't know, since I've never played it. Final Fantasy VII is second on the list, missing the number one spot by about 5,000 points. Number 3 is Dragon Quest III, number four is Dragon Quest VIII. Surprisingly, number 5 on the list is a Sega Saturn game! The game, I believe, is called Street and was made by Chunsoft and released in January of 1998. It falls under a series known as "sound novel" and has apparently been a favorite among Japanese gamers for quite some time.

Other notables in the top 100: Far East of Eden II Manji Maru is the highest ranked PC Engine game on the list at #12. The original Sakura Taisen for Sega Saturn is #13. Super Mario Bros. for the Famicom (NES) is number 21. Animal Crossing: Wild World for the DS is #43 and is the only DS title on the list. Metal Gear Solid for the PS1 is #50. Ys I and II for the PC Engine is #52. Super Mario Kart for the Super Famicom is #69. Grandia for the Sega Saturn is #73. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for the PS2 is #76. Monster Hunter Portable is #83 and is the only PSP title on the list. Spartan X for the Famicom is #87 (that's Kung Fu on the NES in case you didn't know). Biohazard 4 for the PS2 is #100 (Biohazard 4 for the Gamecube is #74). Interesting stuff.

Anyway, here are the covers for March. I particularly like the artwork for the week of the 31st.

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The Nintendo DS is taking over the Japanese video game market, and in reflection of that, Famitsu redubs its Nintendo-centric magazine as Famitsu DS + Cube & Advance. Oide yo Doubutsu no Mori is also big in Japan (that's Animal Crossing: Wild World to you and me) and this issue comes with a cool 3 piece pencil set that features artwork from the game. You get a pencil (the kind with multiple pencil tips housed inside), an eraser, and a pencil bag. Check out the photos below!

The actual issue features some great info on the game as well (as long as you can read Japanese), such as a guide to every character in the game, a calendar of in-game events for April, and other interesting things that I don't understand.

The top reviewed games this issue? Children of Mana for the DS gets a 35/40 (9,8,9,9), Pokemon Ranger gets a 32/40 (8,8,8,8), Contact gets 32/40 (7,9,8,8), Garak Tale gets a 32/40 (9,8,8,7), and Far East of Eden II Manji Maru gets a 31/40 (8,7,8,8).

The top game for the month is the second Brain Age game for the DS, followed by Animal Crossing Wild World, #3 is an English training game, #4 is the first Brain Age game, and #5 is Children of Mana. The most wanted Nintendo game is Hoshi no Kirby for the Gamecube, followed by New Super Mario Bros. for the DS.

Oh yeah, the issue also comes with stickers of various characters from games such as New Super Mario Bros, Rockman, Animal Crossing, and Pokemon. A manga-sized comic book is also included featuring stories based on Mario Kart, Kirby, Animal Crossing, and Super Princess Peach.

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I've been cleaning my room (or at least trying to), and I came across this old issue of TV Guide that I had bought only for the fact that it featured Shenmue on the cover. You see, I was (and still am) a huge Shenmue fan, so I bought nearly everything that had Shenmue on it...which actually isn't much if you live in America. But how often do you see video game characters on the cover of TV Guide? Pretty much never. And how much more awesome is it that they chose Shenmue as one of the six variant covers for that week? I'll tell you: it's super-awesome!

But, what exactly does TV Guide know about video games? Surprisingly the articles, while brief, take a balanced and fair look at all the video game consoles and upcoming games. At the time, the Playstation 2 had just been released, and the Dreamcast was getting into the swing of things with some of its greatest games. The main article, "For the Love of the Game" by Robbie Frasier, looks at how more and more Americans are becoming gamers and segues into how better technology makes games more accessible to the general public. At the end of the article, a handy chart shows the pros and cons of the available and soon to be available systems at that time: the Sega Dreamcast, the Sony Playstation 2, the Nintendo Gamecube, the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, and Microsoft's Xbox.

TV Guide ends their video game special by giving us a 4-page "User's Guide" which is basically their top game picks for various genres. Props to TV Guide for listing some great games--even ones that aren't as mainstream as say, Madden. Examples? Jet Grind Radio, Samba de Amigo, Space Channel 5, MTV Music Generator, and even Seaman make the list!

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