Gearheads of War's Tyler Bleszinski with his daughter Maya

One of the guilty pleasures of having a blog is when a Google Alert arrives in our inbox, pointing out that somewhere, someone is a) reading our blog and even better b) taking the time to write about it. All PR is good PR, as far as the staff of Level Up is concerned (that's a capital "G" after the apostrophe, by the way) but even more compelling than good PR is the opportunity to become e-quainted with other talented and compelling bloggers.

We made the acquaintance of SportsBlogNation president Tyler Bleszinski--yes, he's also the older brother, by three years, of Gears of War designer Cliff "Cliffyb" Bleszinski--after reading an eminently fair assessment that he'd written on his own blog Gearheads of War about our critique of the dialogue in Gears of War. Since then, we've emailed from time to time on subjects various and sundry. During one such exchange, prompted by our inaugural Monday Morning Quarterback post about the April sales charts, Bleszinski voiced his concern about the impact that the Wii--more specifically, the tidal wave of casual game-oriented newcomers that Nintendo's hit console was ushering into the market--would have on hardcore gamers like himself. Intrigued, we asked Bleszinski to tackle the following question, "Why do you feel threatened by the prospect of a dominant Wii?" Here is his reply.

My brother Cliff and I have been into games long before he ever created Gears of War. He and I played through the original Zelda together and I remember having tournaments with him where we'd play the original Nintendo Ice Hockey game. I liked to stack my team with the fat guys because they had a booming shot that could score from anywhere and were really good at checking. Cliff went the skinny guy route and tried to skate circles around me.

But the times, they are a-changing. If Nintendo has its way, young males will no longer be the dominant segment of the console audience--and this transition appears to be happening faster than I expected. The other day I was in Target looking to pick up some games when I saw an older woman--very likely a grandmother--waiting for the clerk's attention. She wanted him to get her a couple of games from inside the locked glass cabinet. When he asked her which ones, she stated Cooking Mama and Wii Play.

1. PAX...The case of Penny Arcade v. Jack Thompson
2. Wii...Upcoming Manhunt 2 has Florida A.G. shook
3. GH?...A guitar-based platformer? Take a look.
4. RND...We were interns once, and young