As he launched into a 30-minute demonstration of "Gears of War 2" yesterday at Microsoft's showcase event in San Francisco, game designer Cliff Bleszinski volunteered an update on the length of the series.

He said it is not announced as a trilogy.

He explained that the decision to make a second game occurred only once Microsoft started receiving large retail orders for the first game and said a decision to make a third one would be made closer to the release of "Gears 2" this holiday season.

And then there could be a fourth, fifth, or sixth game after, he added.

This marked the second time in two days that a top figure on the "Gears" series said that the series shouldn't be thought of as a trilogy, so clearly it's a point the creators want to stress. Why? I'm not quite sure.

Maybe they know that I'm skeptical about trilogies.