14 DAY TRIAL // When it was initially announced that Cliff Blezinki, the well known Gears of War developer, would appear on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in order to talk about a new game announcement, a lot of people saw this as another clear sign that videogaming, even in its most hardcore incarnation, was going mainstream. Well, the breakout is to be delayed for a few days, as the Thursday appearance has now been moved to Monday because of conflicts.
Gavin Purcell, who is a producer on Late Night, was the one to first announce the news. It seems that the guest who will replace Bleszinski is Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber, who has just stolen the hearts of all preteen girls in the United States.
Cliff Bleszinski, one of the most outspoken developers working at Epic Games, has Twittered that “As much as I'd like to start a fight with @justinbieber, the truth of the matter is that we wanted to take a couple more days to polish what we're showing. Sorry all, appreciate your patience!” After a few hours, the videogame developer also said, “In hindsight I should have used this to cause a pop culture flame war between 12 year old girls and gamers.”
As compensation, the Gears of War man is set to make an appearance at a GameStop store in New York's Union Square. Show up late afternoon for a chance to get things signed and get a photo taken with the developer. A sort of mob will probably form at some point, so interested gamers should be there early.
It's still not clear what game Epic will talk about on Monday on Late Night. Rumors from publishing industry sources have been indicating that Gears of War 3 will only be launched in 2011 but the company is also working, through a subsidiary, on a project called Bulletstorm.