During my PAX East coverage I referred to Jerry Holkins, "Tycho" of Penny Arcade, as a "minor deity of gaming." I reserve Major status for the programmers and developers who act as the primary creative forces of our beloved media. Sid Meier, and Will Wright, and John Cormack, for example.

Cliff Bleszinski stands among them, in my mind. Let's call him a "second generation Major deity."  He is one of our creative figures who was born not before the rise of video games, but during; and he could stand on the success of Unreal by itself, never mind Gears of War. Cliff is a celebrity in gaming circles, that rare combination of both technical talent and personality that makes him adept in a design conference, and a press event, and rubbing elbows with the fans. He's the full package, an example of what gamers may aspire to, successful and charitable.

Can someone explain to me, then, why he was bumped from the Jimmy Fallon show last week for a flash-in-the-pan teenybopper pop star? 

When one attends an event like PAX East, it's easy to be lulled into the illusion that gaming is a mainstream aspect of American culture the way I tend to think of it. When a major deity of gaming takes second stage on a third-shift late night talk show, the illusion shatters quickly, and I find it...upsetting.  Not on Cliff's behalf, of course; I have no doubt that he takes these things in stride. I imagine that late night television might be just the cherry on top for him.  It's on behalf of my love for gaming.

Does gaming maintain any sort of advantage from flying as low as it does, collectively, on America's radar of cultural attention? I can't think of one. I wouldn't argue that there's some purity of the art form being maintained by not holding as large a chunk of the consciousness pie as I think we ought to...gaming has been about business since day one. There's no soul to be sold here that wasn't long since signed for.

Is there a sort of tipping point event we, the gaming community, are waiting for that will drive our hobby into that space of legitimacy that warrants the sort of attention our society affords pop stars and the latest Hollywood hottie of the month?  What, precisely, is missing here?  It's certainly not the bottom line - gaming has been taking it to box office receipts for a decade.  I'd argue that with the advent of DVR's that gaming is driven by a larger sense of immediacy than television; we put off our television shows for gaming, not vice versa.

I agree with Wil Wheaton that the Jack Thompson stereotype has been long since done away with...so why isn't gaming truly broken into the mainstream even when 53% of adults self-identify as gamers?  I can see how the gamer population may be satisfied with having our own, dedicated forms of media which cover most of the angles we care about.  Our immediate needs are being served...but I'm interested in more than that.  I want recognition that extends outside our own circles.  I want to see gaming given the respect it deserves.

I would like to see the day when Cliff Bleszinski getting bumped by a Justin Beiber is too ridiculous to go through with. That will only come with talking about who we are as gamers, and why the members of our pantheon are who we've made them.