Over the past few days, I’ve posted my version of year-end awards in the form of “Brent’s Favorites of 2008″. I wanted to share some additional comments about some of my choices.
Restaurant (National Chain): Cheddar’s
The food and service are usually excellent at Cheddar’s, but what really sets it apart is that the prices are less expensive than other similar restaurants.
Restaurant (Fast Food): Chick-Fil-A
I usually eat lunch at Chick-Fil-A 3 or 4 times a week, so that pretty much made it a shoo-in for my favorite fast food restaurant of the year. The reason I eat there so much is that I discovered many of their menu items contain significantly less fat than other fast food places.
Restaurant (Local): China Wok
China Wok doesn’t have the biggest buffet among Chinese restaurants in the area by a long shot, but the food is so much better that it’s a great example of quality over quantity. That’s not to say that there isn’t a good selection, because they still pack a lot of variety into their buffet.
Video Game: MLB Power Pros 2008 (PS2)
It might seem a little surprising that I picked a PS2 game as my favorite video game of the year, but I have PC games as a separate category, and I just bought my XBOX 360 a few weeks ago. MLB Power Pros 2008 is a game that I would have dismissed without a second thought if not for the great reviews I read about it. The players have a very cartoonish look, similar to the Miis on the Wii. The player creation system plays out like a minauture Role Playing Game. But, if you get into it, you’ll find that it plays a much better game of baseball than most “serious” baseball games.
PC Game: TrackMania Nations Forever
It wasn’t until I picked TrackMania Nations Forever as my favorite PC game of the year that I realized I must not have played many PC games that made a lasting impression on me during 2008. That’s because I didn’t start playing TrackMania until the last week of 2008, yet I already thought it was better than any other PC game I could remember playing during the year.
TrackMania Nations Forever is a free racing game that is loads of fun. The graphics are sharp and the gameplay is outstanding, and I understand that it will run well even on lower-end PCs. It includes around 65 tracks, but there is also a track editor, and when you play online, if you choose a server that is using tracks you don’t have, the game will automatically download them for you. There are also websites where you can download additionl tracks and car models. I’ve read that there are literally thousands of user-made tracks available. And yes, all of this is free.
For $40, you can upgrade to TrackMania United Forever, which adds 6 additional racing environments and vehicle types. I’ll probably do that soon, because the amount of content available for the free version of the game is nearly infinite, with more coming every day, and I figure $40 for “nearly infinite” times 6 is a pretty good deal.
Card Game: Rage
I’ve only played Rage once, but that’s as long as it took for it to become my favorite card game. The basic rules are similar to Rook or Spades where you make a bid on how many points or tricks you think you’ll win, and then try to win tricks by playing the highest card. Rage includes some special cards that spice up gameplay, however, such as cards that allow you to change the trump color in the middle of a hand, eliminate trumps altogether, or cause whoever wins the trick to lose 5 points from their total score. I just hope I get to play it again, because it got very mixed reviews from my friends.
Board Game: Scattergories
I didn’t actually play Scattergories very much in 2008, but when I think about all of the board games I like, Scattergories is still my favorite after all of these years. Some readers might be shocked that I didn’t pick Sorry or Oh What a Mountain!
Website: Facebook.com
I seem to spend as much time on Facebook as I do on all other websites combined, so it must be my favorite.
