Dan Hardy UFC Champ - maybe one day, but not now.

Look, a lot of people seem to have the shits with Dan Hardy. He's cocky, he's arrogant blardy blah. I personally like him for two simple reasons.

1. He makes me laugh
2. He smashes people in the face really hard

That's all I need really and I'm entertained. Whether you like it or not, MMA is about entertainment. This guy is entertaining and the Dan Hardy GSP trash talk is hilarious. And, I gotta say I was surprised to see some pretty slick Kung Fu from Hardy in the last Primetime installment. I don't know how long this will be up for, but at the moment you can watch the show here:

So I'm not hating on the guy, but do I think he can beat GSP? No, I don't. As always, you can be proven wrong and yes one solid hit could put GSP's lights out. But I just don't think that's going to happen. Once bitten, twice shy - and GSP never wants to feel the title seizing bite of the underdog ever again.

I think that the thrashing Matt Serra handed out to GSP created some kind of a mutation process that changed him as a fighter permanently. If someone is going to beat this guy, I don't see it happening with another lucky punch. Maybe when he's Couture's age, but not yet.

Dan Hardy is good, but he's still a young fighter and I see this one going down just like GSPs first title match against Hughes. Just too much, too early for a guy with potential who needs more time.

We'll see what happens.

Preview snapshot of a Spot the Difference game I'm creating

Well, with the gargantuan amount of work that always seems to be on my plate I never seem to get as much time to work on making games as I want to. One that I am making piece by piece is a Spot the Difference flash game, done with photo manipulations. The theory was that a simple game should be one that I can actually get done, but it's still crawling at a snail's pace at the moment.

Nonetheless, here's a couple of preview snapshots. I haven't put the entire image up on any of them so they are all fresh when it comes to release time, but you'll get the idea.

I'll get it done eventually and get it out there in the flash arcade world. Keep ya posted.

Clash of the Titans 2010 Trailer Goodness Mmmmm

So, I'm completely hanging for this movie. Yes, there's nothing new about it. Yes, we all know how the story goes. Yes, the trailers look freaking AWESOME!!

Here's the first of a collection of 6 TV spots. Super sweet:

Go check out the other five TV spots at Genre Addict where I found them.

Divinity 2 Ego Draconis Review - Best....RPG....EVER!!

I've been playing Divinity 2 for a while now. I haven't finished it yet but I don't need to - even before I've played right through it's easily the most fun RPG I've played yet. It has plenty of everything that makes RPGs awesome, and virtually none of the stuff that can make them suck. Believe it or not, I actually bought a new graphics card specifically so I could see this game in higher quality. Super dooper cool.

Here's why it rocks:

• Combat is always exciting, can be as varied as you want and stays interesting
• Once you clear an area of enemies it stays clear. So, you don't have to keep going back and killing a hundred wolves or zombies or whatever that keep respawning whenever you want to move around the world.
• There are ZERO "pick X number of X flower" quests. The only plants you pick are the ones you specifically want to use right away for helpful potions.
• The combo of high action and easy paced quests is spot on. Not too heavy, not too light - just right.
• The story actually works, and you actually find that it sinks in. In other RPGs I've pretty much just skipped right past the story elements and I honestly couldn't tell you what half the stories I've played through were. In Divinity 2, I was ultra surprised when one part of a quest was a test of how much you remember of the story, and I actually got everything right. There you go.
• Visuals are super awesome, without being the focal point of the game. A lot of games these days just prop themselves up with great looks, and forget the whole gameplay part. With this game it looks tops, but in a way that supports the gameplay and makes it more immersive.
• The score/soundtrack is really really good.
• Being able to turn into a dragon at will rocks. Nuff said.

Of course, there's a couple of downsides - there always is:

• Sometimes moving around the world can be a little laborious. There are some teleporters but it could have used a few more or some other fast way of getting around.
• I've had a few crashes. Not sure why - could be my PC but it doesn't crash on other games, so I don't know. I just quicksave a lot so I've been able to deal with it just fine.

There have been a couple of spots where I've either gotten stuck or just couldn't be bothered figuring out a quest for myself so the Divinity 2 Walkthrough from GameFAQs has been my constant companion. Also, this guide from Gamepressure has been my go to for detailed Divinity 2 Maps. Somebody also started a community / wiki here that you can check out: Divinity 2 Wiki

If you want to check the game out before you buy it there actually is a Divinity 2 Demo you can grab. Honestly though, if you love RPGs and you love dragons, save yourself the bandwidth and just play the thing. The demo is for you if you only like the occasional RPG and want to see if it fits the bill of the ones you actually go for. Other than that, in my view this one is an Epic Win.

So, I did you a solid and found out that the cheapest place you can get it for PC is if you go to Amazon and click on the little "13 new" link under the main buy new link. There's a store there with solid feedback that has it for $27.85 - that's the lowest price I could find.

If you want it second hand (don't blame me if you get scratches) then here's the latest Ebay listings for it.

Shane Carwin UFC Heavyweight Champ - Expect It

Sure, it's always a bit dangerous putting your neck out and making predictions in MMA. Anything can always happen, but if there was ever a fighter that was worth sticking your neck out for it has to be Shane Carwin. If you need a little extra convincing, just check out the Shane Carwin Wiki entry and scroll down to his record. How often do you ever see anything like that?

Out of the 11 wins that make up his perfect professional record, he has 5 submissions and 6 knockouts. I personally agree with Bas Rutten's assertion that the best fighters are those who show they can end a fight either standing or on the ground. Just like Rutten, Carwin is currently 50/50 each way.

In his fight against Gabriel Gonzaga, he showed that even when he does collect a punch straight on the chin he has the ability to stay clear and keep coming. Everybody pro fighter gets their bell rung at some stage, so the question is how do they handle it. Watch the video below for a refresher on how well Carwin does handle it:

Shane Carwin vs Gabriel Gonzaga Fight Video

Yes, Frank Mir has been doing better lately. Yes, he's stronger than he was before and has improved his stand up. Is that enough for him to take out Shane Carwin? Maybe, but I don't think so. The way I see it, Shane Carwin takes out Mir, maybe not in the first round as usual, but at some point it's going to happen. The next thing we'll see is Shane Carwin vs Brock Lesnar, and even Mir himself said that Carwin is just like Lesnar but only better.

There's only one way this is going, and that is that in 6-8 months time we see Shane Carwin crowned the UFC Heavyweight Champ. Once he gets it, even though there are some other sharks coming up in the division, I think he's going to hold onto it for quite a while.

Now let's see if I get proven right.

Keep updated on Shane's activities below:

Shane Carwin Twitter

Shane Carwin Official Website