Girls Mode is really impressive. More developers need to take a look at that demographic.

SoA has turned into a very nice gaming franchise.

Nintendo really seems to be trying to appeal to that demographic, based on recent ads they've released. (Such as the second one in this video for NA, and I can't find the one for Japan but it highlighted Girls Mode 3, Animal Crossing and Pokemon)

I think more companies should take a look at it also.

I think that was expected. Or at least it should've been, given the sales of the other entries in those franchises.

JRPGs just don't sell gangbusters if they're not Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest. Or Pokemon. Or Yo-Kai Watch. I think that's all of them.

That second ad is definitely a good idea.  It's a direction with a lot of potential.

I was actually thinking about this yesterday, as I was chuckling at a 8-10 year old girl who was completely absorbed in her DS.  She had her head down, inches away from the console, and was just following along behind her mom by some kind of instinct.  That, and the most hardcore gamer I know is a married housewife who spends far more time playing casual PC games than I do playing "core" games.

The biggest problem, I think, is that a lot of the branded games for girls have been garbage.  If real effort is put into these titles, I think they can yield nice returns.  I give Nintendo a lot of credit for making games like Animal Crossing, which have the potential to interest people across demographic barriers.  It's a smart strategy to have at least a few such titles in your line-up.  Sony is trying with the Vita (in Japan) but it's too little, too late.

It's funny but, looking back, my niece's favore Wii "game" was designing Mii's.  I just sat there and watched her try to create the cast of Twilight.  All kinds of lightbulbs were going off in my head but, unfortunately, I'm not a game developer.