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.
Temple Run reaches 20 million download milestone with 7 million DAUs
First up for this week's Hot Five is the news that indie husband and wife team Imangi Studios' runaway freemium hit Temple Run - thanks in no small part to Twitter-based word of mouth monkey chatter - has passed the 20 million lifetime downloads milestone.
Imangi co-founder Natalia Luckyanova revealed how a lack of barriers for the player has also aided the game in its rise to the top grossing charts of the US App Store despite only 1 percent of users buying IAPs.
An impressive 7 million daily active users will help ensure Imangi Studios gets funds "for years", according to Luckyanova.
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Japanese sales figures highlight 3DS' holiday dominance
Sales figures from Japan over the holiday period highlighted the gulf that currently exists between Nintendo's ever strengthening 3DS and Sony's new kid on the block, the PS Vita.
A massive holiday sales spike of 1.6 million 3DS sales dwarfs the second place PS Vita, which managed just over 430,000 sales.
Software sales also reiterated the 3DS' dominance with three 3DS titles taking the top three spots. Mario Kart 7 was in first place with 1,160,169 sales during 2011, followed by Super Mario 3D Land with 1,080,192 and Monster Hunter 3G from Capcom, selling 985,498 in third place.
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EA to bolster RIM's PlayBook with Plants vs. Zombies
RIM PlayBook owners have the upcoming version 2.0 update to its OS to look forward to, but ahead of that two high flying game franchises have landed on the device, in the form of Rovio's Angry Birds and Chillingo's Cut the Rope.
EA, meanwhile, already supports RIM's tablet with titles such as Dead Space and Need for Speed, but the news that Plants vs. Zombies is on the way may go even further to reinforce PlayBook as an alternative to more established tablets out there.
"That's [Plants vs. Zombies] one of our best casual IPs that we have to date, it's done phenomenally well, all the way up to PC," EA's Eric Wood said.
"I'm a huge fan of it and we should see it here in a few weeks on platform."
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Ustwo proclaims death of its premium model, launches 99c Whale Trail on Android as last hurrah
In a statement coupling Whale Trail's launch on Android Market, the ustwo's self-proclaimed CHIEF WONKA mills has expressed disappointment with the game's performance on iOS to date, with Whale Trail notching up 140,000 paid downloads.
For mills at least, such a tally represents the "final nail in the ustwo premium coffin".
"We simply need to see ROI over a shorter time period," he said.
"This is a chance to see if Android users accept or reject a game that has so far cost £250,000 across both platforms to create and market and continually update with new content."
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PS Vita software's 'deeper DNA' will offer distinct experience to mobile, reckons Sony's Andrew House
It's early days for the PS Vita, having launched in Japan in December 2011 and with the February 22 western launch fast approaching.
Sony Computer Entertainment president CEO Andrew House took the time to iterate the key similarities and differences between Vita and smartphones which he believes will aid in its success.
He went so far as to brand the Vita's launch titles as "deeper, more immersive, really compelling gaming experiences, with a great sense of realism and strong storylines.
"Then we've married those [games] with some great network features, but also with a set of interfaces that I don't think really exist right now in any other devices out there," he added.
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Until next week, PocketGamer.biz pickers...
