Industry and multi-console news:

• Remember that Will Wright will be on The Colbert Report tonight.
• The general manager of EA Montreal described the cost of making games now as "crazy", and predicted that growing budgets will cause a shift in business models in the next few years.
• The World Series of Video Games will air on CBS on December 30. The one hitch? "The gory content in the games being played, like Counter Strike 1.6, Halo 2 and Quake 4, is considered inappropriate for the Saturday afternoon timeslot." So they'll just concentrate on the contorted faces of greasy clan players instead. It can't go wrong!
• A man accused of stealing two PS3s was shot and killed (along with his dog) when police went to his apartment to arrest him. Considering he was unarmed at the time, there's currently an investigation as to why there were shots fired at all.
• Racketboy looks at how Sega is ruining the Sonic franchise, and how they can bring him back. Don't fill your "run real fast" game with tiny platforms hovering over endless chasms of death, that's my tip.
• Burger King will be including DDR toys in BK Kids Meals through December. Toys in fast food meals are a lot more complex now than when I was a kid. Half these things need batteries.
• A website reporting on a report claimed to be in OXM says Alan Wake could be pushed to 2008. Label it a rumor until there's some news that isn't fifth-hand.
• If you want to kill some time, at YouTube there's a large collection of videos of betas, tech demos, and unreleased games. Anything from the never released Clockwork Knight 3 to a 1997 concept demo for Space Channel 5.

PC news:

• The founder of Napster is creating a social networking site for MMORPGers, a kind of Myspace for Azeroth.
• PC Gamer has a preview/interview about the vehicles in Unreal Tournament 2007.
• A Chinese MMORPG is giving away real world land to players of their game.

Nintendo news:

• Donkey Kong Jr, Victory Run, Ristar and Columns are this week's new Virtual Console games.
• The Wii sold out in Japan, but that shouldn't be any surprise.
• Wii pre-orders in Australia have reached 30,000.
• If you didn't bother to stay up and watch the SSX Blur trailer on Game Head, you can find it here.
• First screenshots of Theme Park on the DS.
• UK games mag GamesTM claims "something big" is coming to the Virtual Console, "something that, for the past decade, certain corners of the retro community have been crying out for." That could be several things, really.
• If you squint hard enough, you can see the first gameplay screens of Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings in this Famitsu scan.

Sony news:

• There isn't any source on this, so take it with a grain of salt, but news submitted to GameBrink claims that the PS3 censors games based on region coding. For instance, blood will be turned off when Resistance is played in a Japanese PS3.
• David Jaffe says he wants to do God of War 3, but that there hasn't been any work started on it yet (contrary to an EGM rumor).
• Factor 5 will be working on downloadable PS3 games.
• Sony filed for a patent back in May of 2005 for a Wii-like pointing device. It's important to note, though, that they mainly seem to describe it as an easier way of controlling TVs, DVD players, and other devices, in contrast to giant universal remotes with 8000 buttons. It's also important to note that filing date because some people who can't be bothered to read already think this just happened a few days ago and proves Sony is "copying" Nintendo.

Microsoft news:

• Remember that the new Halo 3 ad airs tonight during Monday Night Football, and Halo 3 beta signups also start today at halo3.com.
• Blue Dragon was ranked second behind Final Fantasy XIII in a Famitsu poll of what readers were excited about.