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.
The PG.biz Mobile Gaming Mavens on the prospects for Nokia-fuelled Windows Phones
Off the back of Nokia World, and the combination of Nokia and Windows Phone - notably in shape of the Lumia 800 - we asked the Mavens:
With Nokia back in the frame with a great launch device, do you think Windows Phone will now move from third place to challenge iOS and Android with respect to mobile gaming?
There was a interesting set of responses with the predictably positive outlook of Microsoft's Rob Simister, who hailed the device as "the first true alternative for consumers", while Neil Holroyd, of Everything, Everywhere, said, "I think for the first time we'll start to see Windows becoming a platform to contend with."
European developers were also positive, but Americans much less so.
Click here to read more.
Shader power of iPhone 4S provides devs with relief from 'irritating' A4 devices, reckons programming veteran Glenn Corpes
The unveiling of the iPhone 4S was met with palpable disappointment across the board, as initial reactions tended to lean towards the 'what, no iPhone 5?' train of thought.
And yet, argues veteran developer Glenn Corpes the iPhone 4S actually represents a massive jump forward in terms of game development.
"In fact, the A4 devices were pretty irritating - all that lovely shader potential, but chips so crappy you could barely do anything interesting with them," he said of the iPhone 4's internals.
Click here to read more.
Nintendo rumoured to be working on micro-transaction firmware update for 3DS
Nintendo's digital downloads are currently accounting for less than 5 percent of its total sales figures, something which is not the case for other Japanese games makers.
According to Japanese paper Nikkei, Nintendo will be looking to remedy these figures by introducing micro-transactions in an upcoming firmware update.
The report indicates that a firmware update could arrive as early as next month, allowing developers to start integrating micro-transactions into their titles, but the first games to use this feature aren't expected to arrive until 2012.
Click here to read more.
BlackBerry's nextgen 'Colt' BBX smartphones already in the hands of game developers
As the only announced and available BBX device, much of the current gaming talk at the recent BlackBerry Devcon event concerned the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.
However, news from multiple sources suggests it won't be long before the first generation of BlackBerry smartphones running the OS are available to consumers.
Several game developers already have devices in-house for porting and testing purposes, which suggests the oft-mooted mid-2012 release date - potentially as much as eight months away - is way too pessimistic.
Click here to read more.
Lumia 800 'won't change the world', but Nokia will build bridge to feature phone market, reckons Revo's Hanganu
Revo Solution's lead developer Andrei Hanganu believes that while the Lumis 800 won't make too many waves in the present, the joining of Nokia and Microsoft signals the beginning of a significant shift in the future.
"I don't think Lumia 800 will change the world it's definitely not a 'spec star' compared to what some of the competition has on the market," he said.
"The real game-changer is the Microsoft-Nokia partnership itself, and not one specific handset.
"While both iOS and Android are driven by consumers searching for the best specs, Microsoft and Nokia can act as a bridge between the feature phone market and the smartphone market."
Click here to read more.
Hot Five
When Matt was 7 years old he didn't write to Santa like the other little boys and girls. He wrote to Mario. When the rotund plumber replied, Matt's dedication to a life of gaming was established. Like an otaku David Carradine, he wandered the planet until becoming a writer at Pocket Gamer.
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