Flappy Bird gets a 'sequel', Boom Beach fires its first shots, and is Candy Crush Saga causing obesity?

Last week's top five stories

• 5 Mobile game marketing is broken ... and here's why

  

  Has mobile marketing lost its way?

  That's the question posed by James Kaye - director at digital, mobile, and social agency Dimoso - who believes that the industry's focus on performance based advertising will only serve to hurt everyone in the long run.

  "Something is rotten in the world of mobile games marketing," explained Kaye.

  "I've been marketing mobile games for several years now, and have felt increasingly uneasy as more and more of the companies that approach us for help with launching their games have developed a skewed view of what app marketing is about.

  "Scratch the surface and you get the clear sense that the industry's singular obsession with performance-based advertising is at the expense of what should be at the heart of effective marketing."

  
  

• 4 The In-App Purchase Inspector: Boom Beach storms onto the scene

  

  Each week PocketGamer.biz's resident IAP inspector, Matt Diener, takes a look at free-to-play games from the consumers perspective.

  Under the microscope last week was Supercell's Boom Beach, a title that's currently being touted as the natural successor to its ever popular big brother, Clash of Clans.

  The inspector, however, believes there's more to Boom Beach than meets the eye, and that to dismiss the game as a mere WWII reskin of Clash of Clans would be to make a
  "huge mistake".

  
  

• 3 TIGA's Richard Wilson on winning the fight for Games Tax Relief

  

  The fight for Games Tax Relief is one TIGA has been embroiled in for a while now, but Dr. Richard Wilson, CEO of TIGA, believes that it might be time for the firm to lay down its weapons and declare victory.

  "TIGA's quest for Games Tax Relief has been rather like courting a beautiful girl to go out on a date," said Wilson.

  "She's moved from saying 'not a chance' to 'I'd love to but I can't make tonight' to 'Yes, if my big European brother says it's OK'. TIGA's amorous pursuit of Games Tax Relief has been a long, arduous, seven year campaign.

  "We have faced opposition from pundits, publishers and politicians. We have finally succeeded. We have won our date."

  
  

• 2 Flappy Bird 'sequel' soars to the top of the App Store

  

  A title claiming to be the official sequel to the now deceased Flappy Bird has taken the App Store by storm.

  The 'sequel', which masquerades under the name of Flappy Bird: New Season, has risen to the top of the App Store free charts, beating out Supercell's Boom Beach in the process, and proving that demand for Dong Nguyen's original is still sky high.

  Unfortunately, Flappy Bird: New Season's success - the game since renamed Snappy Bird -also proves that blatant clones can still thrive on the App Store: an issue that developers will surely want Apple to stamp out immediately.

  
  

• 1 Candy Crush Saga blamed for US obesity: Michelle Obama demands candies only become available after 5 veggie matches

  

  In a move that shook the games industry to its very core, Michelle Obama spoke out against King's Candy Crush Saga, labelling the game "a danger to our children's waistlines and our wallets".

  The first lady has the full backing of congress, who passed new legislation demanding that King change the game's art style to include more fruit and veg in order to promote a healthier message that might just change the world.

  "We want to set an example to our kids. A 3-way match of tomatoes or peas is okay, but
  we want them to do better," said Mrs Obama.

  "Can we inspire the next generation to make a 5-way match of superfoods like pomegranates or kale? Yes we can."

  Okay, so this was our April Fool for this year. The fact it topped our charts last week either suggests it was a pretty good one, too.