Hot Five: Gamescom got no game, an eye on Asia, and there's no knocking Nexus 7

Welcome to PocketGamer.biz's weekly rundown of the stories clocking up the hits, picking up the click-throughs and generally keeping the advertisers happy by serving up page views.

Or, if you'd prefer, the top five stories currently dominating our readers' attention.

Each week, we'll be counting down the biggest news from the previous seven days, giving just a glimpse of the industry's big issues, from five to one.

Opinion: Gamescom mobile no-show is self-sabotageAs you read this, plane loads of luminaries are boarding flights the world over for to the German city of Cologne, set for the double splash of GDC Europe and Gamescom.

Fitting, then, that Pocket Gamer editor in chief should cast his eye over what mobile journalists will be looking at during the latter or, rather, not looking at.

"For the industry at large to collectively decide to snub the most vibrant sector in gaming at the moment seems like a peculiar form of self sabotage," detailed Reed.

"Should we be surprised? Maybe not. But the longer the established industry continues to act like the violinist on the deck of the Titantic, the more they'll only have themselves to blame in a few years time when they're being bought up by acquisitive mobile companies looking for tasty IP."

Opinion: Why 2D card-battlers will fail in the west but games using PVP will soarLast week's second opinion proved even more popular perhaps owing to PocketGamer.biz editor Jon Jordan's decision to focus on the current wave of card battlers hitting the market, owing largely to the will of Japanese giants DeNA and GREE.

Such success, however, is not necessarily as solid as it seems.

"The sort of card-battling games being pushed heavily by the likes of DeNA and GREE are never going to be more than a niche - in exactly the same way that Magic the Gathering is a niche," opened Jordan.

"The main reason is they are completely baffling. For all their success in Japan, card-battlers are merely an evolutionary cul-de-sac along the way."

Infographic: Why you can't ignore the Asian mobile games marketSuch a story links rather neatly to PocketGamer.biz's look at mobile gaming's explosion in Asia and why developers can't afford to ignore it.

But knowing the differences between the major territories Japan, China and Korea to name a few isn't as straightforward as western studios might initially think. Cue a handy infographic to reveal all.

There's also space for a breakdown of some of the less celebrated regions, too, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Zynga COO John Schappert resignsHaving only joined from EA less than a year ago, the resignation of Zynga COO John Schappert was always likely to garner a fair bit of attention.

That's before you consider that said news broke just days after EA revealed it is to begin legal proceedings against Zynga for the alleged plagiarism of Facebook release The Sims Social Schappert also singled out in said declaration and the stripping of Schappert's responsibility for games.

Zynga itself, however, wasn't about to muddy his name in public.

"John has made significant contributions to the games industry throughout his career and we appreciate all that he has done for Zynga," said Zynga CEO and founder Mark Pincus.

"John leaves as a friend of the company and we wish him all the best."

Off to a flyer, Nexus 7 powers past Sony and Motorola's Android tabletsIf you hadn't already realised, Google's Nexus 7 is selling quite well. Well enough to have powered past longer established Android tablets from Sony and Motorola.

That's according to developer Animoca, however, which revealed that, despite a stunning start, the Nexus 7 is still some way off topping Samsung's Galaxy Tab or Amazon's Kindle Fire.

Nonetheless, if interest in the story is anything to go by, Nexus 7 will be chasing them both down hard in the months ahead.