As a journalist John has covered everything from rural town meetings to the U.S. Congress and even done time as a crime reporter and photographer.|His first venture into writing about the game industry came in the form of a computer column called "On the Chip Side," which grew to have over 1 million circulation and was published in newspapers in several states. From there he did several "ask the computer guy" columns in magazines such as Up Front! in New Mexico and Who Cares? in Washington D.C. When the Internet started to become popular, he began writing guided Web tours for the newly launched Washington Post online section as well as reviews for the weekend section of the paper, something he still does from time to time.
His experience in trade publications came as a writer and reviewer for Government Computer News.
As the editor of GiN, he demands strict editorial standards from all the writers and reviewers. Breeden feels the industry needs a weekly, reliable trade publication covering the games industry and works tirelessly to accomplish that goal.
First let me say that I am a huge World War II fan. I play tabletop games based on the war, have a subscription to World War II magazine and have a father who fought in the war. I also purchase about every realtime strategy game that comes out for that genre, in addition to the never-real-but-always-fun first person shooters. When I heard about WWII Online, with a persistent world, a constantly changing frontline and thousands of players fighting the war, I was in heaven. At E3 this year I made it a point to check out the game, and … Continue reading Johnny May Not Come Marching Home Again→
It's inevitable. Even with all the great high-end computer games and now the massively multiplayer market boom, gamers still like to gather in groups. They like to know that there are others like them, with a passion for games of all sorts. They like to discuss strategy, fight battles and generally have a good time in ways that are not possible during a single player experience. So where do the gamers go? Well, for the most part the convention, or con, is the epitome of gamer society. Call it a gathering of the tribes. Like the salmon, there is an … Continue reading The Pros of Cons→
Those of you who read our original review of Deus Ex know that the term is part of a Latin phrase used to describe a person or thing that appears out of nowhere and unexpectedly resolves a great conflict. Ironically, this Game of the Year Edition is the Deus Ex for this fine title. The main difference between the standard version of the game and this one is that you can now play multiplayer, which is a must these days for any shooter. While the original Deus Ex was a fine single-player experience, nothing beats matching wits against an actual … Continue reading Deus Ex: GOTY Edition Improves Perfection→
The GiN exclusive investigation into the plight of booth babes at E3 this year has certainly stirred up a lot of controversy. No fewer than 200 letters from readers arrived the day after the piece was published. Many more continue to pour in, even weeks later. GiN has always strived to be a community newspaper for the game industry and as such, we have randomly chosen several letters from among those submitted to publish here. We made sure the sample had a mixture of both industry and consumer readers. We think this is the best way to get into the … Continue reading We Really Stirred Things Up→
America is a real-time strategy game set in the American West during the expansion period of the 1800’s. Most of the games take place following the Civil War, so that is the technology level you can expect from the various opponents. The world is divided into four factions vying for control of the land, which is mostly high-plains desert, but is also punctuated by natural resources like trees, gold, horses and wild animals. Each faction is historically accurate in the damage it does and relative power against other units – except for one faction, which for the most part is … Continue reading America is Cowboys and Indians for Adults→
There were so many great new titles to see at E3, that it is hard to figure out where to begin. So what I wanted to do was take a look at an interesting game that was still pretty far out in terms of release date. Thankfully, we will see many great titles in just a few weeks. And since Ken and Hargosh wrote about console games endlessly at E3, I thought I would take a quick glance at a PC title. Disciples II: Dark Prophecy follows another game I reviewed called Disciples: Sacred Lands. Both titles stand out in … Continue reading Disciples II Takes Form→
Last year we predicted that the E3 show would be the largest and most exciting show ever. For the most part, we were correct. But this year promises to be even more interesting. The console war this year is in full swing, with Sega having stumbled out of the hardware side of the market. Last year it was Sega vs. Sony vs. Nintendo. But just when Sega has been relegated to also-ran status, here comes Microsoft. Looks like we will have a three-way race once more. GiN has appointments with all the top competitors, so we will be there to … Continue reading E3 Promise→
Game Review- Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel
Fallout Tactics – Brotherhood of Steel takes the very-cool post apocalyptic world of the Fallout role-playing universe and uses it as a setting for a tactical combat game. It has the same look and feel as the Fallout RPG, but without the detailed inter-party relationships and without the myriad of external side quests. I am a huge fan of the Fallout series. Perhaps it was one too many Mad Max movies growing up or one too many generic sci-fi movies set following a nuclear war, but this is a universe that I enjoy. It probably goes back to one of … Continue reading Fallout Tactics is a Strategic Heavy-Hitter→
There is a logic out there that says that value software (games priced around $20) have to be bad titles. Many of us have seen this first hand and have purchased low-priced games only to be completely disappointed. That is why WWII Normandy came as such a surprise. When it arrived at the GiN testing labs I, as the resident WWII buff, immediately claimed it as mine to review. However in the back of my mind I was thinking it would be something like WWII GI, which was a dismal piece of value software for the PC. WWII GI had … Continue reading WWII Normandy Puts VALUE in ValuSoft→
Game Review- Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business
I have been waiting a long time to get back into the action of the Jagged Alliance world. I’ve been following this series since the beginning, having been attracted to the arsenal of real-world weapons and interesting character personalities. And some of these mercs have been on my team a long time, like when we liberated Metavira back in 1995. After solving the first Jagged Alliance, I was delighted to play the first sequel called Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games. This was basically a series of single player missions connected in only the loosest sense of the word. However, it added … Continue reading JA2:UB Zeroes In On a Kill→
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