Scratch that, the future of any entertainment media!

Yes those who know me well know that I'm a download freak, a VC freak and an all-new Wiiware freak (soon-to-be XBLA and PSN freak). That's all cute and all but why exactly am I like this? Well simply because I think that in the future, games (as well as movies and music) will only be available trough download. Does that ring any bell to you guys? I share the same vision as Bill Gates.

Why so? Well with growing expansion of the Internet and piracy it would be really stupid to ignore downloadable content which combat piracy on it's own ground; the Internet. This was the primary focus of the iTunes store. Music was being pirated like there's no tomorrow on the Internet (Napster, Kazaa... you name it! ) and the main focus for Apple was to fight that kind of piracy in it's own territory. What did that do? It helped the music industry from dying.

I don't think this simple example proves much or can easily convince you of what I'm trying to say... so why don't we do a rundown of some of the biggest advantages of downloable games (I want to speak about games here ) ? So here are some advantages of having downloadable games over disc-based games:

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1- More effective against piracy

Like I mentioned above, having downloadable games is pretty much fighting piracy on it's own grounds. Also, hacking a device is much harder then hacking a disc. Well ok you're not technically ''hacking'' the disc but you know what I'm saying. What you might tell me now is that Xbox's and Wii's have been already hacked and that people can get VC/XBLA games illegally. Well that's because those consoles were not built primarily and only for downloadable content (espeacially not the Wii). So if a video game console company builds a console that is made only for downloadable content then they would take much more extra care in building a system that would be extremely hard to break unlike today's consoles. Of course hackers can always find ways but still... so can companies to fight them. If a console offers only downloadable games, companies could control to which consoles these games would go, like for an example; if somebody is about to download the game, the console could be scanned to see if it's clean and if it's not... then brick the thing! Ok this may sound a little absurd but that's only one of the ways that a company could come up with.

2- No limit to a developer's imagination

AKA, no disc storage limit. That would made somebody like Hideo Kojima and me (who are both perfectionists) very happy. So basically this would allow for much more rich and detailed games like Metal Gear Solid 4 to see the light of day. So there's no limit to what a developer could include in his/her games which could result in a growth of very big games like (again) Metal Gear Solid 4, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Okami, GTA4, etc... Plus if a console can stay permanently connected to the Internet (like the Wii), this would allow for a easier process to DLC for games; you'd wake up in the morning to see that you have a new sword available in Zelda or a new gun in Halo without the need of putting a single disc for that to happen to a single game only.

3- Much more friendly to new and non-popular games

Ever felt sad that such gems like No More Heroes didn't sell well? Then downloadable games are for you! Those kind of games would no longer be ignored by the mass public simply because Halo or GTA is sitting right next to it. Every single games would share the same type of spot no matter which is more popular which could show to the consumers that all those games are equal (in some way). So games like No More Heroes, Okami and so on would have done much more better in terms of sales then they have previously did as disc-based games. And also this would be awesome for independent studios seeing as they won't even need a publisher.

4- CHEAPER!!!

Yes downloadable games are also our wallet's best friends. There's no box to be made, no disc to be produced and absolutely no shipping! So all of this would result in much cheaper games then today. So the price of a full game could go from 60$ CDN to 30$ CDN or even less! I think this simple little thing could make gamers and developers alike extremely happy seeing as the gamers could have more money in their pockets and developers would still be making profits but maybe even more since people could buy more games then before due to the low prices.

5- All of your games in only one place

Who here has problems finding some place to put all of these game boxes or simply hates constantly changing discs? I know I do. Well with downloadable games you would have your console in your room and nothing else. No discs, boxes or whatnot. So switching between games would be faster then ever and it would also be easier to manage all of your games. This category suits portable consoles even better; you could have all of your games in your handheld so this way you can enjoy any of them on the go without the need of having to switch between game discs. So this would entirely eliminate the process of having to choose a game on Saturday morning to play with your handheld during work and just regretting you didn't pick the other one.

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Of course there are much more reasons to prefer downloadeable games over disc-based games like the fact that a downloadable game can't be discontinued (or at least, extremely rarely), also that bug fixes could be automatically be updated thus preventing such stuff as the GTA hot-coffee mod and that with an eventual growth of independent games this could offer much more choices to the gamers.

But hey I can't fit all of that in there. Since Microsoft pretty much shares the same vision as me, I do believe that the next Xbox might not have a disc slot and that every games on the system could only be downloaded. Or at least that's what I'm hoping . With the rise of XBLA, PSN and VC/Wiiware... there's no doubt that the gaming future that I envision will indeed come to a reality soon. This is how I view the future of our industry, how do you see video games in the future?

So after whinning about the Canadiens' lose on my last blog post, I did mention that I was going to get an HDTV very soon. Well the day right after that, I did . I went to Futureshop with my father and finally bought my very first HDTV. To be precise, this is a Samsung 32'' HDTV and also one of their new series (the 450 one... or something). So when we got back from Best Buy-owned Electronic Store, I quickly opened the box to install my brand new million-pixels rectangle magic box. I've had some small difficulties with it's stand but it all worked out and I also kept my promise; here's a picture:

Looks good huh? Also about that wooden stand; I bought it 2 weeks prior to this purchase and assembled it myself with my father and let me tell you that it was quite painful indeed . You guys can also see my Wii from there along with my controllers at the bottom left and my Gamecube stuff at the bottom right. The up-right section is (you might have guessed) for my eventual Xbox 360. How I'll manage all my games when I'll get it? We'll all find out this summer . btw the antenna aren't coming out of the TV but actually from a receiver behind it.

So far I'm really enjoying this TV and I've got to say; it really feels good to finally be part of the HD era. Still the only problem is that I cannot do a single thing in HD yet! I don't have the cable and let alone a HD-compatible satellite receiver or anything. I've connected component cables to the Wii and configured the whole thing but still... Mr Samsung has beat the crap out of it . Well it's not that bad, at least I can now play my GCN games in progressive scan mode. But the graphics are jagged. So my true HD experience will have to wait until this summer when I'll get my Xbox 360... THEN I'll have some true HD fun.

But surprisingly Wii games aren't too bad on the HDTV, I played Brawl and it wasn't so bad but Godfather was just plain awful in terms of graphical performance. What's even more surprising is that the VC games look pretty good too; Super Mario Bros has a very simple palette of colours so there's no big problem there but Zelda OOT didn't look bad at all. But still, for my true HD gaming experience I'm going to have to wait a little longer.

Also since I've taken a picture of my TV, I thought I would take a picture of my room:

Please note that this is still a work-in-progress, I'm still changing some stuff here and there in my room but in general that's how it looks like. Plain simple right? See I DON'T have a giant Miyamoto poster , so enough with those bad-mouth rumours! Also notice the Montreal Canadiens banner on top, I've had this for more then 10 years in my room believe it or not and it's starting to age a lot. Maybe I'll remove it someday, maybe not. If I do I'll replace it with something else in relation to the HABS. Also take a look at my prehistoric PC. Oh and about that; I've been recently thinking a lot about getting a Laptop this summer. I'm still not fully sure but I think I might.

So what am I going to do from now on? Well first of all I'm going to reduce greatly my activity on this site since the finals are coming soon and well I'm not going to be gaming much until June 12th (my last exam day). But I'll still be updating this blog. So yeah this is all for now, game on everybody and get yourself an HDTV if you still haven't!

Tonight the Montreal Canadiens lost Game 5 against the Philadelphia Flyers. This was their most important game in round 2 and this simply means that the Montreal Canadiens' presence in the NHL Playoffs this year has sadly come to an end.

Nonetheless, the Montreal Canadiens, The greatest and biggest NHL team of all-time, have had an absolute terrific regular season this year and they most certainly deserve credits for that. What I must say is that this series was captivating from the very beginning regardless of the Flyers' early indiscipline and this game in particular was very exciting. Carey Price has proven tonight that he can still play but Guy Carbonneau's lucky tie didn't prove useful .

The Habs have had a great run in the playoffs this year beginning with Boston on the first round. This was in no doubt THE most exciting series of them all and fans from both teams and from other teams all agree on that. Boston fought well but it wasn't enough to stop the mighty Habs. But it seems that the Flyers have had the perfect formula to make the mighty Eastern Division top-seeded fall.

So what does all that mean? Well the Canadiens' road to the Stanley Cup in 2008 is over and the Flyers will continue on to possibly face the Penguins of Pittsburgh in round 3. All I can say is Congratulations to the Flyers but I believe Round 3 will be their last one, I expect Pittsburgh to win it and go to the Final round. This also means that no Canadian team will win this years' Stanley Cup and we'll have to wait for 2009 for that. Also this means the end of my consecutive NHL blog posts and the final video highlight will be posted ASAP. Also because there's no Canadian team in the playoffs anymore, this also means that I'm not supporting any team anymore and this makes it better for me and my exams .

So I'm not going to blame any player for this loss; Kovalev (my favourite one) was still excellent and Carey Price........ Price was terrific. I don't like him but I've got to admit that this rookie has gotten a lot of talent which he will be sure to improve during the next season. The guy is still a rookie and I think some people should really give him a break instead of blaming him for that loss. I mean it's already a miracle that a rookie can get his team that far in the playoffs so that's why I respect Price.

So that's it, it's all over for the HABS for now. But I'm still not loosing hope... hope that we will soon bring back home the cup. The Canadiens are alive and kicking and I'm most certainly looking forward to the next season.

I would like to thank all those who read my blog posts about the NHL playoffs and virtually supported Montreal, you guys are amazing. I will still make mentions of the NHL playoffs in my blog but it's only going to be as a side-note. So I'm getting back to talk about video games . My predictions for the final round? Pittsburgh vs Detroit!

NEVER stop believing...

GO HABS GO!!

Hey it's been quite awhile since's I've posted a video game-related blog post . Well I'm just taking a small break from Hockey posts by posting one lenghty VG post about 2 things that are going through my mind atm.

So first off; New Prince Of Persia game headed to the X360, PS3, PC and a separate version for the DS. Wow, am I excited or what? This pretty much made my week . So for those who don't know I'm simply a huge Prince of Persia fan. I think the series that was made by Ubisoft Montreal (Yayz ) was truly fun, innovative, original and very immersive.

The Sands of Time was a truly compelling game with a interesting and very immersive story and characters. No doubt it was named GOTY in many places. The Warrior Within was... let's say; a departure. It was nothing like it's predecessor but not really in the good way. It portrayed the Prince as a cold-blooded warrior in a very obscure environment. While the gameplay and originality was still there (and in some parts, largely improved), the game's feel wasn't quite right...but it was still a terrific title. Then came The Two Thrones, which I still see as the best Prince of Persia game yet (no wonder Ubisoft ported it to the PSP and Wii as ''Rival Swords''). This game combined everything that was good about the 2 first titles and made the overall presentation much better with it's own improvements. It was in no doubt, a masterpiece.

So I've found some info and screens about the next Prince of Persia game here. Cel-Shaded graphics? God it looks so sweet . It seems like we're going to be dealing with a totally different Prince this time in a different setting. Ok, why not? Oh and the ''time mechanics'' are now gone. Alright, fine. But seriously the minute I saw one of those screenshots and then read the article, I immediately fell in love with this game. All I can say is; the next holiday season can't come soon enough. Also there seems to be a DS version coming too, which is said to be a different game then this one, let's just hope it's nothing like Battles of Prince of Persia . No Wii love?

Now let's speak about GTA4's score, a shocker heh? Well it seems that the game got a 10/10 from just about every critics under the sun, it's crazy! But does it deserve it? I'm going to dare to say no. Yes ok I didn't play the game yet, I've got a Wii, my beard looks ugly, bla bla bla... But seriously, every GTA games since GTA3 have been pretty much made under the same layer and GTA4 also sports the same kind of thing you would expect from a GTA game. Yes I'm saying this and I'm also the owner of 3 GTA games: GTA3, Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories.

But the one thing that got me to buy GTA games is the surprising and incredible sense of freedom in the game. When I say this, I'm not talking about killing innocent civilians and cops for my guilty pleasure (I'm actually one of the only GTA players who DOES NOT kill civilians and/or cops) but actually the only thing I praise the series for: open-ended environment. This is a big thing for me in video games and you'll most certainly see that kind of thing in my games when I'll be a game designer .

Other then that, when you finish the story in a GTA game, it's just plain boring. I don't remember the last time I touched one of my GTA games. But GTA4 seems like that sense of freedom that I've been waiting in this generation of home consoles. It has an unprecedented depth of open-ended world and this is the prime reason why this game is on my wish list. I'm not a GTA fan nor am I even remotely interested in the GTA universe. Anyway, I'm finally getting a Xbox 360 this summer (confirmed ) so I'll most likely get this game along with it to test-drive the console. It was nice to see all those kids screaming ''GOTY'' in System Wars .

Speaking of GTA, I'm getting this week The Godfather: Blackhand Edition on my Wii. It's a GTA Clone but I think it's much more interesting then GTA. I'll give my impressions of the game when I play it.

But more importantly, I might finally get my HDTV THIS WEEK!!! Yes, that 32'' LCD Samsung HDTV that I've been drooling about for weeks might end up in my bedroom this weekend . I've already got the Wii's component cables so I think I'll try out SSBB first to see how the Wii looks in HD. I'll be sure to take pictures .

Alright so round 2 of the NHL playoffs is well underway with the Montreal vs Philadelphia series having been tied up tonight 1-1. Now about the first match; the Flyers were leading the game 3-2 up until the very end of the 3rd period when the Canadiens made an amazing comeback to tie the game and afterwards have won the game in overtime with a goal by Kostopoulos.

Now I've heard many Flyers fans whine about this victory left and right with excuses like ''poor refering'', ''instant replays'' and so on... all I've got to say is that the HABS deserved that victory, they made an incredible comeback and that's it. End of story, now forget it for God's sake! I don't care what ESPN or some other **** said.

Now tonight, all I've got to say is that the Flyers played like CRAP! Poor, very poor play from their part. They most definitely DID NOT deserve their victory tonight but hey, they still got it so who gives a crap? We're still in the beginning of the series so anything is possible, the HABS have still outplayed the Flyers nonetheless but they didn't play good enough. Tonight you should really give credit to Martin Biron for Philadelpia's victory, I have to admit, he's a terrific goaltender.

Thursday's score was 4-3 in favor of Montreal in Overtime and tonight's score was 4-2 for the Flyers. So it's 1-1 tie, alright, nothing wrong there, we can still make it through. I'm expecting 2 wins from Philadelphia in this series, nothing more.

So next game is in Philadelphia on Monday, who's going to win? I'm leaning towards Montreal for that game but I'm pretty sure the Flyers will get either Game 3 or 4, but not both.

Anyway, I still stick to my opinion no matter what that the Flyers are bad winners and very bad players. Let the HABS show them who's boss.

As always you can view game highlights in my profile; Game 1 is already available and Game 2 will come soon.

Yes you're reading this image correctly. The Montreal Canadiens have won Game 7 with an astonishing score of 5-0 against the Boston Bruins. All I can say is....owned. OWNED to the Boston Bruins for even thinking that they can beat us after 3 lucky wins, OWNED to all the HABS haters and OWNED to all the non-believers who lost faith in the Canadiens after their 2 straight loses.

I kept saying it and I'll keep saying; I BELIEVE IN THE HABS NO MATTER WHAT! That's how a true fan should behave and that's how a true fan is. So the Canadiens have literally creamed the Bruins tonight and this truly shows their strengh and determination. Like I said in one of my earlier blog posts; The Habs' victory doesn't depend on which team they face but rather on their determination, on how much they truly want the Stanley Cup.

So now, round 1 is over... it's a thing of the past. Now onto Round 2! Who will we face? Well there's 2 possibilities:

- If the Philadelphia Flyers win their series, we face them.

- If the Washington Capitals win the series against the Flyers, we face the New-York Rangers.

My bet is on the Philadelphia Flyers because like all other HABS fans, I want to see Benoit Brière back in Montreal . Right now it's a 3-3 tie in the Flyers vs Capitals series so they're going for a Game 7. So the answer to that question will be... answered tomorrow.

So now that the HABS have survived one round, I think I'm gonna get busy making a sig for myself for support . Like always you can expect many blog posts from me about the Montreal Canadiens during the 2008 NHL playoffs and also video highlights of the Habs' matches.

NEVER stop believing, GO HABS GO!!!