Ow. I have to imagine that would hurt, but given the various chunks of metal this guy has stabbed through his ear, I don't think that's a primary concern. From a GameDaily gallery of gamer tattoos.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: N+ trailer

• Next Gen can't stop counting things as they list the top 25 people of 2007.
• Get your fresh hot sales charts: Japan, Australia, and, uh.. Sweden.
• Also, a specific look at the sales numbers for Rock Band.
• A director has been named for the upcoming Tekken movie.
• Two teenagers have been arrested for killing a 7 year old girl with Mortal Kombat moves.
• The Rock Band community site has been updated with new features.
• Eurogamer has new details on Rainbow Six Vegas 2.
• Zero Punctuation's video review for this week is Mass Effect. It's really kind of pointless since by now you should know he hates RPGs anyway.
• New York officials are removing the link to hoax site MAVAV from their presentation on video game violence.
• GameSetWatch lists some of the best games set during Christmas, but manages to leave out Shenmue.
• Yesterday it was reported that the American Beverage Association wanted to blame video games for fat kids. The ABA vice president says it was all a big misunderstanding. "We were pointing out how ridiculous and FLAWED it is to begin singling out any one cause for obesity and taxing it. There isn't one cause."
• Houston's Fox 26 talks to a neurotherapist during their video game addiction story who claims "brains can not tell the difference between being in real combat and being in a game."
• A candle holder in the shape of an Atari 2600 joystick. Why didn't I think of that.

PC and mobile news

New content: SimCity Societies patch, The Witcher 1.2 patch, Space Empires V 1.66 patch, Combat Mission: Shock Force 1.05 patch

• New titles out now on GameTap include Street Fighter III: Third Strike and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Covert Ops Essential.
• George Broussard answers a few questions about Duke Nukem Forever. Nothing terribly important.
• Square Enix has released more details on Final Fantasy IV -- The After: Return of the Moon.
• Speaking of mobile phone-only sequels to popular franchises that you can't play because they're Japanese but that's just as well because they're usually crap anyway, Silent Hill: The Escape was released today.
• All PopCap games are 50% off today.
• Members of SOE have confirmed allegations of developer misconduct in Everquest II, but they don't seem to really see it as misconduct.

Nintendo news

New media: Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games DS trailer

• Supposedly you can play Dragon Quest IV on the DS in English using the Japanese game and an Action Replay.
• Music4Games has interviews with the composers of NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams and Super Mario Galaxy.
• Ninja Gaiden DS has been scheduled for a March 2008 release.
• Nintendo has made the Wii Opera SDK open to the public.
• Oops. IGN's Nintendo editor happens to be married to a Nintendo PR executive. I could say it's a conflict of interest, but that's kind of implying IGN had a journalistic standard to uphold in the first place. At any rate, Casamassina responds.
• Amazon has Yoshi's Island DS for $19.99, Puzzle Quest Wii for $14.99, and the Wii licensed component cables for $19.99.

Sony news

New content: Holiday-themed Folklore pack, Guitar Hero III tracks (including one free)
New media: Dissidia Final Fantasy screenshots

• Japan will be getting two limited edition PS3/Devil May Cry 4 bundles.
• Series creator Kazunori Yamauchi says that Gran Turismo Portable will come after GT5.
• The truth comes out: Activision wants to be compensated before allowing Gutar Hero III controllers to work with Rock Band.
• Amazon has Ninja Gaiden Sigma for $39.99, Skate for $39.99, and Dirt for $39.99.

Microsoft news

New content: Guitar Hero III tracks (including one free)
New media: Ninja Gaiden II screenshots

• Hudson has announced a third add-on pack for Bomberman Live.
• A "traditional" real-time strategy sequel to Kingdom Under Fire is in the works.
• Microsoft has reduced the price of the Xbox 360 racing wheel to $99.
• Rare has teased the existence of Killer Instinct 3 on their Christmas card this year. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean it's true.
• Amazon has Crackdown for $19.99, Virtua Fighter 5 for $39.99, and the standard 360 controller for $39.99.