Normally we shy away from self-promotion, but this week was too good to resist. If you happen to live in the Chicagoland area, you're probably familiar with the RedEye, the Windy City's free daily paper from the folks at the Tribune Company. Today's cover story is on the Wii, just in time for Super Smash Bros. Brawl and, if you turn to page seven, you'll find some select quotes from an interview with me! And if you don't happen to reside in the city, it's also available online!

Coincidentally, the publishing of this piece falls quite close to our site's fifth anniversary. Yes, fifth – it's our sapphire year. While this site didn't launch as 'The New Gamer' on March 3rd, that date kicked off what would become 'The New Gamer'. Also, March 3rd, 2003 is much easier to remember than November 4th, 2003, the date we underwent our name change (as evidenced by the fact that I consistently forget to mention the November 4th anniversary each and every year).

So I'd like to take this moment to thank those of you who read the site, those who have added it to their newsreader, those who have linked, commented or contacted us, or even just stumbled on us via a Guitar Hero image search – we thank all of you. While we write first and foremost for ourselves, it's knowing that others find value or insight, or are just morbidly curious, in our words that keeps us going. While we may not be the most visited, outspoken, or frequently updated site, we write what interests us, and we're glad that others seem to enjoy it (at least, that's what our site metrics say!).

Personally, I'd like to thank Mr. LeFeuvre and Mr. Riley, both of whom are fantastic contributors and are folks that I'm proud to call friends. I'd also like to thank those who have contributed in the past, either by reading drafts, submitting drafts or the occasional article, or simply inspiring us. And I certainly can't overlook the grace and glamor that my better half, unitdaisy, adds to the site's equation.

And if you'll allow me one final indulgence, I'd like to say that I can't imagine not writing about video games. Even when I was in short pants, clutching a worn copy of EGM, I tried to explain to my parents that I wanted to play and write about games, and while they insisted that such a thing lacked merit, here we are, toiling away at it. Even if this great Internet didn't exist, I can safely say that I'd still be penning my thoughts, even if I had no way to distribute them. Call it a compulsion, but it helps me put this fantastic, burgeoning medium in perspective.

Hopefully our articles, essays, and general thoughts do the same for you, or at least stoke the cerebral coals a bit. If so, we'd love to hear about it and, if not, well, throw your disdain in the comments section anyway. We'd love to hear more from our readers as we move into the next year as, rest assured, we'll still be scrawling away. Again, thanks for reading.