Okay, read this.

Now, I don't know what pisses me off more. The fact that this has happened, or the fact that fanboys all over the Internet are rejoicing, totally ignoring the reasons behind why it happened.

But right now, I'm too lazy (of course) to write a big rant post about this. So I'll do that later...maybe.

I can't drum worth crap. I'm going to play on Medium from now on, unless I end up learning drums in real life somewhere down the road.

I just beat Rock Band Solo Tour on guitar. Damn, that last song was loooong. Not hard, but then again, I was playing on "Hard", not "Expert."

You know what else was long? The friggin' credits. Those ran for probably over 20 minutes! Why didn't I just skip them? I don't wanna do that to the developers. They worked so hard on games, so I sit through the credits to acknowledge their achievement...but 10 minutes into the credits, I stopped paying attention and got on the Internet. ^-^

The site was long due for a redesign. And so I retire the "iJar" name and bring back the classic "diario de dizon."

But that doesn't mean I'm gonna start updating this regularly. I only did this because I was bored...obviously. :P

Since seeing some TV previews of Stephen King's The Mist, I've been wanting to see it...but guess what! Movies 8 isn't showing it! Instead, they're showing stupid Christmas movies and Hitman. Hitman!? WTF?

Only one movie out of the movies sowing at Movies 8 has a "Fresh" Rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Normally I don't care about the rating on Rotten Tomatoes when it comes to movies I'm interested in seeing. But I'm not interested in seeing any of those movies except Beowulf, which happens to have a 70% fresh rating, so Rotten Tomatoes supports me here. The Mist also has a 69% Fresh rating. Everything else is "Rotten."

So I guess I'll go see Beowulf sometime soon...'cause if it's a good movie, they'll get rid of it fast.

To summarize my previous few days: I got Rock Band, my Xbox died that day. Sucks. Now onto other stuff.

I just finished watching the Futurama movie. Apparently it's not out yet...oh well. I watched it. Simply AWESOME.

I love how it has a bunch of references to older episodes. It was great. I also figured out the big twist around the half-way mark in the movie. Very cool.

I didn't understand the ending...but hey, it's a Mario game! Story doesn't matter!

That's why I was very surprised while reading Rosalina's story book. That was actually pretty...moving. Awesome.

Super Mario Galaxy is simply awesome.

I'm not gonna bother trying to get the other 59 stars. I gotta return it tomorrow. I'll come back to this game later someday...

Also, this game makes me really excited for the next Zelda game. Now that Mario's been given the true "next-gen" Wii touch, I can't wait for Zelda's non-Gamecube port debut on the Wii.

Rock Band comes out Tuesday...and I'm getting that feeling that Gamexchange won't have it until at least a week after that. If that's true, it's gonna suck! However, on Tuesday, if GXC doesn't have it, I'll check Walmart and Gamestop as well..and I guess maybe Hastings..or whatever. I NEED THAT GAMELWEJFLKAej;l23k5jklwejr a/.sd

And I don't even own the game! I rented it yesterday, and OMG, this game is so freakin' awesome. It definitely tops Metroid Prime 3 as my favorite Wii game, and dare I say it, this game is even better than Super Mario 64!

Everything about this game is awesome. The gameplay, the graphics...and OMG, the music. It's about time Nintendo started using orchestrated music in their games, and it is BEAUTIFUL. Why can't they do the same with Smash Bros.? You hear that new Meta Knight song? Yeah, it's horrible. It's even worse than the SNES version.

But anyway, Galaxy is just so unexpectedly awesome. Sure, it's a Mario game, we all know that, but whoever expected there to be stuff like bloom lighting and orchestrated music in a Mario game? Mario even gets orchestrated music before Zelda, and you'd expect Zelda to get that sooner!

And gameplay. Yes, this is a true successor to Mario 64. Forget that Sunshine crap.

No my complaints: sometimes when walking on spherical worlds, the controls get weird, specifically when you're upside down. A lot of the time, Mario will be going the opposite direction I want him to go. >=[ Luckily, spherical worlds aren't the whole game, as some bigger planets exist, too, and the spherical stuff is still pretty cool every once in a while.

Another thing I hate: the side sommersault. They changed it so that it's harder to do in this game. In Mario 64 and Sunshine, I could pull this jump off easily, and I used it all the time. In Galaxy, I attempt to do it and fail, pulling off either a long jump or a regular jump, or just running in the opposite direction and not jumping at all. Due to this, I pretty much just have to stop using it (or trying to use it).

I've only got 33 stars, and I have to return this game tomorrow. I think I can finish it tonight...maybe. If not, oh well. I'll buy this game somewhere down the line. It's worth it.

I rented Call of Duty 4 yesterday...I intended to rent Super Mario Galaxy, but Family Video didn't have it. >=[

Well, I just beat Call of Duty 4. Yeah, it took me only one day. :P Still, it was pretty damn cool. Very intense...but not GOTY for me...'cause I'm not big on tactical shooter. Sure, this is no Rainbow Six, which is good, actually, 'cause it's not THAT tactical. It's more arcadey...but it's not Unreal or Halo. I died multiple times... I was playing on Hardened, btw, which is pretty much "Hard Mode." I'm not even going to try it on Veteran. The second-to-last level on Hardened was hell...Veteran must be..OMG, I don't even want to think about it!

But one level was just absolutely badass. It was the level that was shown during E3 last year. You're basically just following a guy and doing what the says..yeah, sounds boring, but it's incredibly tense and just awesome-feeling...but then the level after that is my second-least-favorite level.

And the cinematics were just...awesome...and it's pretty much like Half-Life in that it's all seen through your character's perspective...and some stuff happens to your characters...well, at least one of them. :P

So...I guess I'll just play the multiplayer now, then return it tomorrow and see if they have Mario Galaxy.

...and what's with all games having humorous end credits music? Gears of War, Portal, now Call of Duty 4! That's true next-gen right there!

As we all know, I'll be buying Rock Band...which pretty much leaves me unable to buy any of the other awesome games coming out for this last part of the year...so I will have to resort to renting them! So here's a list to remind me what to rent:

• Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
• Call or Duty 4 (360)
• Assassin's Creed(360)
• Mass Effect (360)
• Zack and Wiki (Wii)
• Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (Wii)

I'm sure I could finish most of those games in a 2 night (3 day) rental...except for maybe Mass Effect. Whatever.

I didn't spend an hour or two working on it just for it to go unused!

I finished Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations. And so ends the Phoenix Wright Trilogy. Man, that was a great game, and a great series...now bring on Apollo Justice!

I'm too lazy to make individual posts for each of these topics, and I don't want to go into much detail? Why? 'cause I'm lazy. Seriously. What's up with that? I have pretty much NOTHING to do on this Saturday, so I could easily take the time to write up some nice, long, detailed entries for my blog...but no. I'm lazy. I'm not gonna do that. >=[ So here's just the facts:

J.R. Watches Movies! - Saw IV
Say what you want, but the Saw movies are interesting. A lot will say, "Saw sucks" and be like, "All it is is gore" and "It's not scary" and stupid crap like that. Whatever.

I watch the movies because I want to know what happens. I want to know why the things happen. I want to know the story. Of course, I'm some people are going, "LOL STORY." Sure, the plot is quite silly, but with most movies, you must suspend your belief, and if you do that with Saw, the experience is enjoyable...

'course, Saw IV literally did NO explaining...but it certainly makes you want to watch Saw V for the same reason I watched Saw IV: to understand WTF happened and why. And there's a Saw VI coming, I'm sure V will not answer many questions either. I'm fine with that. That's 2 to 4 dollars a year to watch a movie that's more than slightly interesting.

Sure, Saw may not be a cinematic masterpiece, but that doesn't make them not entertaining. Not every movie you watch has to be the Green Mile or whatever. I'm sure people will say that movie sucks, too. -_-

J.R. Plays Games! - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations
Well, I'm on the last case now (Case 5), on the second trial portion of the game. If this game is anything like the others, this will either be a really really really long trail, or a long trial, with trials to follow. I must say, this last case is quite epic. I don't wanna spoil it...but since no one else plays the games, does it really matter? Oh well, highlight some crap if you want spoilers:

You play as Phoenix during the beginning of the "case", before a murder even occurs. After the murder occurs, Phoenix becomes incapacitated...and then you play as Edgeworth, Phoenix's rival, and major prosecutor in the series. So you finally get to hear Edgeworth say "HOLD IT!" and "TAKE THAT!" You also do some investigating as Edgeworth, and instead of Maya accompanying you (Maya is currently trapped in a cavern...I dunno what might happen to her. It'd suck if she dies), Detective Gumshoe takes her place. It's quite funny. 'course, since you're playing as Edgeworth in the next trial, Godot drops out, as he only is interested in battling Phoenix Wright. So Franziska von Karma takes Godot's place at the prosecution's side (She's the prosecutor from the second game...). After this trial is over, you're back in control of Phoenix Wright. Since Maya is still trapped, Franziska is your partner instead. It's like, "WHOA...all the prosecutors are helping you out this time! Don't you love it when enemies team up for the greater good?" But then Godot shows up. He is not interested in helping Phoenix. But he reveals why he has that awesome visor on his head. He explains that he's died before, has had his organs regenerated, and is essentially a cyborg fueled by coffee, which makes him more awesome. 'course, I already knew this, 'cause the previous case reveals Godot's identity before his death, but the game doesn't go outright and say it.

But I'm kinda disappointed now. The central character, and defendant, of this case is a nun named Iris. The reason that Phoenix is interested in her is that she looks a lot like his evil ex-girlfriend who tried to kill him in the first case, and killed a bunch of other people in the case prior to this one. Iris talks about how she's at the temple (where the murder took place) because she has committed some "sins." I was like, "WHOAMG, it's her! It's Phoenix's ex!" And I was like, "Wow, that's so cool if she actually has reformed." But, nope. Turns out Iris had a twin sister that turned out to be evil. DAMN IT! But I have yet to discover why Iris cares about Phoenix, considering that she has never met him, and Dahlia (her twin) claimed to hate Phoenix's guts.

Oh yeah, you also find out the identity and location of Maya's mother all these years (which was only mentioned in the first game to be missing) and that Iris and Dahlia are related to the Feys. This is so awesome, because this game is actually tying up all the loose ends in the whole trilogy. With all the games in a series I've played, they always end with some stupid question that is never answered, but it looks like Phoenix Wright is going to find answers to all questions.

So yeah, that's pretty much where I'm at. I'm playing as Phoenix, Godot is back as prosecutor, and Maya is still trapped in that cavern. I have yet to figure out what's exactly going on with Iris, and I still need to find out why Godot's got a grudge against Phoenix, and wait for the game to reveal his true identity for real...yeah.

End spoilers.

Damn it, I said I wouldn't write much...oh well. Whatever.

Every year, GameFAQs has a "Game Character Battle": essentially, a popularity contest involving video game characters. Game characters would be nominated, then every day, a poll would be put up, pitting characters against each other. The winner of the contest would usually be one of two characters: Link or Cloud. It got very predicatable, and pretty boring.

But this year, there was a new format for the character battle, and new nominations. Among them: The Midgar Zolom (FF7), Bidoof and Mudkip (Pokémon), and...the might L-Block (Tetris).

The L-Block created a MAJOR upset, at first, barely making it into the next round, but in the later rounds, L-Block realized his potential, and ruthlessly vanquished the likes of Snake, Master Chief. In the end, the battlefield revealed this:

I went out today to rent Guitar Hero 3. I decided to stop buy Walmart 'cause I heard that some stores had put up Rock Band demos...And YES, our Walmart had a Rock Band PS3 demo! ...unfortunately, two little kids were playing it (or trying to play it, I don't know...). So I played Super Mario Galaxy while I waited my turn.

When the kids finally left, I held the beautiful Rock Band guitar in my hand. I went through the menu...and my heart died. I couldn't navigate the menu...the strum bar just wasn't very responsive. But I went on to pick a song (Tom Sawyer by Rush), put it on Expert for the hell of it...OMG, WTF. This guitar sucks. I missed notes for no reason. I was like, "Maybe I'll pick a song on Hard." I did that. I hit the notes this time, but it would act like I hit the note twice whenever I strummed just once. So I ended up failing again. How disappointing...but I'm gonna give the guitar the benefit of the doubt. It most likely suffered the demo display curse: little kids breaking the damn controllers. One of those tuney things on the head of the guitar was broken, off...so I'm sure it saw a lot of wear...even if the final guitar does end up sucking this much (I highly doubt that Harmonix would settle for the performance the Walmart guitar had), I could just use a Guitar Hero III guitar on it instead.

But anyway, I moved on to the drums. I put it on a Random song and chose Easy. One word can describe the drums: AWESOME. It was a lot of fun. I decided to quit the song and try another on Medium. Two words: MORE AWESOME. I can only imagine a song on Hard! When I finally put the drum stick down, I quickly left, as I noticed while I was playing that some people were standing behind me, waiting to play.

And that was that.

GOD DAMN, I want this game even more now...just for the drums! I'm sure the guitar will be fine when I buy the game, as I won't be letting anyone break it. >=[

Took me forever to get this game...but now I've got it. Actually, I've had it...but only for a couple of days. I just finished the second case yesterday. Very cool, just 'cause it broke a lot of Phoenix Wright "traditions" so it was something new.

It's a shame most of you guys aren't into the series. Daniel said to me yesterday, "I'm surprised you haven't beat it already." I was like, "WTF?" Phoenix Wright games are NOT short games. They are hella long. Sure, there's only like...4 cases, but each case is at least twice as long as the one before it. Plus, there's some head-scratching moments in the game that might have you stuck for a while. There was a few parts in case 2 that I said, "screw it, I'm looking it up in an FAQ." But yeah, I'm still enjoying the game.

Also, Godot is badass...I should've been him for Halloween. =[

By any means (buying, renting, "acquiring"), I must play these games:

- Zack & Wiki: The Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (Wii)
- Manhunt 2 (Wii)
- Mercury Meltdown Revolution (Wii)
- Guitar Hero 3 (PS2, I guess...)
- Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
- and, of course, Rock Band