Leigh Alexander writing for Gamasutra:

I mean, I still don’t like the question, but I’ve come to dislike the prompt to passionately deliver a litany of “what I’m playing lately” a little bit more. The “lately” is the cloying part. As if for participation in this field it’s not just enough to enjoy games, to think critically about them, to play them sometimes. To spend all your time making them, as some do. It’s that you also must devote yourself to clawing ever uphill, passionately, as a consumer. Like if you were all at a buffet, and you came back to the table with only what you liked on your plate and not everything, you are merely a casual eater.

Casual! I am enjoying exploring familiar old design spaces. I really am excited to find the energy and motivation to revisit that Final Fantasy X HD remaster. And I am playing a lot of Puzzle Craft, an utterly inane but soothing and manageable “casual game.” And that is it. I reckon I am not very “passionate” about games, in the way I feel I am supposed to be. I am that woman who likes farm games, who everyone brings up in every sexist article about “games for women.” I feel pressured to apologize.

This may be my favorite piece of the year-to-date; chock-full of quotable lines and familiar feelings. Alexander’s sentiment cuts to the core of The State of Gaming. I rarely play video games. I average two AAA titles and a handful of indies as my yearly allotment. As a substitute, I scrape together bits of time to check-in on industry news; Five-minutes here, ten-minutes there. Rather than commenting, I parse together thoughts on pieces in a blog format conducive to my limited time and incessant need to “be in the know.”

While I’m able to justify why I game, Alexander eloquently justifies why I don’t. This piece is a must read.

Ben Kuchera, Polygon:

Mario Kart 8’s sales numbers are amazing. The attach rate between the game and the console is something that every console holder should envy, but the problem is that with so few consoles there is a ceiling to the total number of sales Mario Kart 8 can do. Even assuming the game will cause systems to move, it’s likely to be the worst-selling game in the existence of the series.

On the other hand, Watch Dogs is now the best selling new IP in the history of the video game business. It’s very hard to find any apples to match with these oranges; Ubisoft matched a game that was announced in near-perfect fashion with a huge marketing spend and a release that spanned five consoles. The news would be more interesting if the sales didn’t break records.

These two events tell us much about the opportunities in the video game industry right now.

I am a huge fan of Ben Kuchera and his opinions. While I usually agree (at least somewhat), I cannot help but find this one extremely impractical. Though Nintendo is filling a bathtub with buckets rather than a lake with flood-gates, what happened to the argument that software sells hardware?

Global Hardware Totals (in millions) via VGChartz:

• Wii U: 6.21
• Xbox One: 4.57
• Xbox 360: 81.33
• PS4: 7.82
• PS3: 82.82

To evaluate the total Watch_Dogs market, let’s use the delta between current and prev-gen consoles + countless PCs. That is 151.76+ marketable machines. If this is the case, Ubisoft has successfully sold 4 million units of Watch_Dogs to an install-base of 151.76 million consoles + countless PCs. Nintendo has successfully sold 1.12 millions units of Mario Kart 8 to an install-base of 6.21. That is less-than 2% vs. 18% attach rate.

I actively applaud Ubisoft’s impressive figures but I see the success of Mario Kart 8 greater. Regardless of release date, Wii U unit numbers fall between Xbox One and PS4; Mario Kart 8’s success is only going to grow that number. How quickly that number grows remains to be seen, but early reports are positive.

To add, Ben’s dream of a multi-platform Mario collection release to third-party consoles seems appetizing albeit backwards. We will eventually see the release of the Mario catalog on the Wii U (and possibly 3DS) via the virtual console with added community support with the possibility of updated visuals (don’t cross your fingers). And, assuming Nintendo does not release Mario to third-party consoles, rather than release in a single bulk collection, the fan-base will continue to salivate at the trickling of legacy releases. To be completely forthright, I can’t remember a legacy release that I continued to play after 5-10 hours. Nintendo would be shooting themselves in the foot by releasing an HD legacy collection to Wii U owners let alone third-parties.

Though Nintendo admits they are already looking to the Wii U’s successor, any viable company should have a road map. Giving up the ghost only perpetuates the idea that Nintendo is weak. Instead, Nintendo’s ability to rebound a dire situation” with Mario Kart 8’s abundance of positive press and a phenomenal attach-rate (low install-base aside) should be considered an extremely gargantuan feat, offering a positive outlook on the future of Wii U.

My dream is that Nintendo 180s this dire situation with an impressive uptick in Wii U numbers and continued IP prominence.

Nintendo press release:

Nintendo reported today that the game sold more than 1.2 million total units across Japan, Europe and the Americas during its first weekend on the market.

Excluding Mario Kart 8, Mario Kart Advance remains the weakest entry in the series at 5.91 million units. There is work to be done.

Liam Martin, Digital Spy:

Mario Kart 8 has boosted weekly Wii U console sales by 666% in the UK.

My prediction is looking up.

Laura Naviaux, Sony Online Entertainment’s senior VP of global sales and marketing:

SOE has prided itself on being a major catalyst of women’s involvement in our industry. As our company continues to evolve and diversify our portfolio, we’ve found it imperative to refine our approach with game art and development, seeking out varied perspectives from the current and future leading voices in the industry. The market for compelling and original online game experiences is rapidly evolving and as a publisher it is our responsibility to listen and celebrate the spectrum of play styles among our global community, and deliver innovation in art, design and technology.

Congrats to scholarship winner Erin Loelius.

Andrew Webster delivers Temple Run and Temple Run 2 joint analytics:

Alongside the milestone, Imangi also revealed a number of details about its audience, which helps to illustrate the changing landscape of mobile games. 60 percent of all players are female, for instance, and the game is most popular in China, which accounts for 36 percent of all downloads. The next largest market is the US at 21 percent.<

Changing landscape indeed.