Sony's chief financial officer, Nobuyuki Oneda, has warned that the games sector "is weak" and presents "a major challenge" after the company posted a drop in profit of more than 90 per cent.

During Q2, Sony's profits fell from YEN 28.5 billion (EUR 190 million) to YEN 1.7 billion (EUR 11 million) - with the loss attributed to costs incurred by a laptop battery recall and PS3 development.

The games division made a YEN 43.5 billion (EUR 289 million) loss, attributed to the investment required for manufacturing, marketing and research costs for the PS3. Sales and operating revenues also fell by more than 20 per cent to hit YEN 170 billion (EUR 1.13 billion).

Although sales for the Sony group rose by 8 per cent to YEN 1.85 trillion (EUR 12.3 billion), attributed to an increase in demand for flatscreen TVs, the company incurred costs of YEN 51 billion (EUR 339 million) due to the global recall of 9.6 million notebook batteries.

Speaking at a news conference, Oneda said that without the battery recall and PS3 costs to contend with, "We would have been on track with the midterm plan, or more than that.

"But the game segment is weak and is the major challenge for us now," he added.

PS2 software shipments during the quarter were down by 3 million units to 47 million, but the figure for PSP software rose from 9.9 million to 12.9 million units. PS2 and PSP hardware shipments rose to 5.02 million and 3.89 million respectively. However, both hardware and software sales were down overall, with sales and operating revenue standing at YEN 170.3 billion (EUR ).

Earlier this month, Sony was forced to slash its financial forecasts for 2007. However, the company still expects to ship six million PS3 units by March. ...

RedOctane has announced that it will release proper, official wireless Guitar Hero controllers in the US next month, and they'll cost just US$ 59.99.

They will be compatible with either Guitar Hero 1 or 2 (the latter's due out next month in the US and Europe), and we're assured that they use the same mechanism, and have been created to the same high quality as the wired Guitar Hero SG controllers.

They're also going to be white, we're told (I don't know why I did that in italics either), but it's not clear whether the actual shape has changed at all.

It's also yet to be confirmed whether the wireless controllers will be released in Europe, so we'll be nagging our friends at RedOctane on a daily basis until we know for sure.

"RedOctane has long been committed to offering high-quality videogame accessories for gamers," said Dusty Welch, head of publishing at RedOctane.

"Being able to give our fans an option to rock the wireless guitar controller was definitely a priority for us, and it'll provide another exciting experience for players to achieve rock star status!" ...

Developer David Jaffe admits he'll probably end up working on more God of War games after the first one proved so popular, but right now he's falling in love with Sony's "e-Distribution Initiative" (EDI) - PlayStation 3's answer to Xbox Live Arcade and Nintendo's Virtual Console.

Speaking to Newsweek's N'Gai Croal, Jaffe said he'd happily do EDI games "until the cows come home", and describes his first game, Criminal Crackdown (also due out on PSP), as "cops and robbers meets basketball" or "a cross between Twisted Metal and Bomberman", where the criminals race around the environment as players take on the role of cops and bounty hunters, attempting to catch the crims and keep them long enough to transport them to jail for different points values.

It's playable "for 4 players, online, offline, 4 different maps, 10-12 different cars. It's a really good value and a lot of fun for players. If it's successful, we hope to support it with downloadable content." But that won't mean lots of microtransactions and 'consumables' by the sound of it. "I know there are a lot of guys much smarter than me that are very much into the microtransaction model - dollar signs don't really keep me awake at night," he tells Newsweek. "Concepts keep me awake at night."

It's not the only EDI game he's doing either. "This team and I are rolling onto a new one starting in about a month," he explains. "And there's another one in Santa Monica that we're about to start development on. This is really all I want to be doing now."

Because to Jaffe, EDI games are like pop songs, whereas big games like God of War are like operas. "For me, it's been a lot more fun to write pop songs than operas. And in the future, because I think these services are going to be really successful, I think it's actually going to end up being more lucrative to write pop songs, just like in the real world, than operas."

But that won't stop there being more God of War games, he adds. "I guarantee you'll get more God of War," he tells Newsweek, "'cause I don't think I have much of a choice. If it was up to me, he would have fallen off the mountain in the first game and actually died. It would have been like, 'All right, we're done. He's dead.' [Laughs.]" ...

Via Eurogamer

Activision has released a bit more information about PSP version of Call of Duty, including its official name and some screenshots.

Call of Duty: Roads to Victory, it's called, and it's in development at Amaze, who will be aiming to get the game done in time for a spring 2007 release.

Like the other games in the World War II first-person shooter series, you play as multiple characters - in this case an infantry soldier in the 82nd Airborne, a Canadian First Army rifleman and an elite British Para Regiment commando.

We're promised "mounted machine gun battles, sniper encounters and aircraft attacks" across "13 intense battles", with "scrupulously honed" control schemes, four of which will be available so you can choose the method of tossing grenades, targeting enemies and leaping between standing and prone that suits you.

On top of that, there should be multiplayer with support for between four and six people, and modes including Deathmatch, Capture The Flag and King of the Hill, as well as unlockable weapons, artillery, vehicles and armour to add some replay value.

Screens Here ...

Benjamin Heckerdorn -- that oh-so-crafy modding guru we love to love -- is at it again with his console-morphing antics, and this time the victim is the ill-fated "64-bit" Atari Jaguar. The mission? To create a portable, all-in-one, battery-powered version of Atari's flailing attempt to make it in the ever-competitive console market. Putting his blue-ribbon mod skills to the test, Ben rearranged the console innards into a 1-inch thick game board, connecting circuitry at will via his trusty soldering iron. He noticed a few oddities while dissecting the machine (aside from the controller's keypad overlay circa 1985), including a 32-bit main bus and a striking similarity between the cartridge input and your average PCI slot. Nevertheless, he was able to cram the entire system, a svelte LCD panel, and a set of stereo speakers into a homegrown enclosure that pays its dutiful respects to the Jaguar motif. Keep reading to peep another angle, and those itching for a bit of post-modern gaming
nirvana should hit the read link for the full skinny...

Screen Via Comments ...

Ubisoft's stunning urban warfare simulator has scooped the Editors' gong at this year's Golden Joystick Awards.

Released a few months after Xbox 360, Advanced Warfighter was one of the first games to truly demonstrate the capabilities of the next-gen machine.

And with its gritty realism, intense atmosphere and over-the-shoulder cam, it has to be one of the most absorbing war games in recent years. It got us playing our 360's, that's for sure.

So that's your cue, Ubisoft - get that sequel out. QUICK! ...

Gamers vote Sony's next-gen console as The One to Watch for 2007

We've got two announcements hot from the glitzy Golden Joystick Awards ceremony; we've managed to get a drink refill and the PlayStation 3 has been voted as The One to Watch for 2007.

With massive titles like Metal Gear Solid 4 hitting the PS3 in the next 12 months, it's unsurprising that you lot are excited to see what goes down on Sony's third piece of hardware. We'll certainly be keeping a keen eye on over the next year.

Look for plenty more on Sony's slick PS3 in the next few weeks running up to US launch. ...

New Super Mario Bros. takes Nintendo Game of the Year award

It seems Nintendo's "He's is Back!" slogan used in the game's TV commercials couldn't have been truer

Mario fans have been calling out for the mascot to return to his 2D platforming roots to follow up on the legendary Super Mario World on the Super NES, and when New Super Mario Bros. landed on DS, it was destined to do well.

We thought the game was a tad on the easy side but then, so did everyone who had previously tackled the hellish, cannon-filled airships in SMB.3 or swooped their way to the secret exit on Cheese Bridge. But for the mainstream, its innovative two-screen platforming was perfect, and its nods to the old games make it retro cool.

Luckily, you won't have to wait another 15 years for more 2D Mario action because Super Paper Mario is on its way to Wii and, although it's some way off yet, it's looking brilliant.

Via CVG ...

Via CVG

Handheld GTA nabs Golden Joystick for Handheld Game of the Year

Another winner out of the hat from the 2006 Golden Joysticks Awards, and it's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories that nabs the gong for EDGE Handheld Game of the Year.

The pint-sized GTA has always been highly regarded as the PSP's finest, but now it's officially the best title available for tube and toilet play according to the legions of EDGE readers who crowned it their handheld champ. ...