John Breeden II, Chief Editor

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.

Recent Posts

It’s A RAID!

This week one of our astute Australian readers contacted us at GiN world headquarters and told us of an interesting event occurring in that country. It seems the offices of one of the companies we track on the GiNDex was being raided. We confirmed a few facts and had the story about the Brilliant Digital Entertainment on the Web about 30 minutes before CNN. It turns out now that the raid had little to do with the game industry, though the implications of the raid might. It turns out this raid was part of the music industry's continued push to … Continue reading It’s A RAID!

Kung Fu-tastic

Blade and Sword takes the extremely popular top-down Diablo-style gameplay to new levels. And while Blade and Sword will surely remind you of countless other similar titles, it will also become a unique favorite of players who like this type of gaming. This action RPG takes place in ancient China, and is heavy with unique martial arts moves from that country. You can play one of three different characters, each with a different emphasis. One is more stealthy and quick, one is strong and powerful and one is kind of the middle of the road knight-type warrior. Blade and Sword … Continue reading Kung Fu-tastic

RC Cars hits the right frequency

My next door neighbors gave their three boys RC cars for Christmas. I know this because they were all outside on Christmas day driving RC trucks and cars all along the lawn. They seemed to be having a great time, but after a while they said they were too cold to keep playing. Even though the cars were ready to tackle the winter weather, the kids could only take so much. The RC Cars game smartly takes advantage of the humongous popularity of these devices. The RC by the way stands for radio-controlled, just in case you didn’t know. But … Continue reading RC Cars hits the right frequency

Humorous Hauntings

Ghost Master is a simulation where you do your best to scare the heck out of unsuspecting mortals. Those of you who have played Dungeon Keeper will feel right at home here. You have all the same type of irreverent humor, and you get to play on the flip side of where most games begin. Not that you are a bad guy as the leader of a ghost army, but you do have a different perspective on things. The game is divided up by a series of missions. Each mission has a goal that must be achieved, and you can … Continue reading Humorous Hauntings

Evil is so Good

When I first heard that the classic Temple of Elemental Evil D&D module was being made into a computer game, I was enthralled. This was a module that took about an entire summer vacation to complete, back in school when a summer vacation meant an entire summer off, and not just a week or two. Starting at first level, our entire group was at least fifth by the time we were done. So of course I was ready to return to Greyhawk and find out if everything was as I remember it from those many years ago. The biggest change … Continue reading Evil is so Good

Conspiracies Plots a Good Time

I remember sitting back in my college dorm with about 10 people gathered around my 386 PC. We were all moving a man in a trench coat around the screen and trying to solve a mystery. The man was Tex Murphy, and I believe the Tex Murphy adventures inspired the developers of the world’s newest adventure game, Conspiracies. Conspiracies is set in the future, in a very dark future. You play a down on his luck private investigator named Nick Delios. I am not sure why all the detectives in these games are down-on-their-luck loser types, but Nick fits the … Continue reading Conspiracies Plots a Good Time

Bloody Holiday Fun

The game industry has several defined buying seasons, the most powerful of which is obviously over the December holidays. But game companies are starting to branch out somewhat as well, giving holidays like Halloween their own genre-specific titles to help people get into the season. This is evident in humorous titles like Ghost Master, which GiN will have a review of in a few days. Nosferatu: Wrath of Malachi is more of a traditional Halloween game. It is very much like a haunted house in that things are always very dark, and monsters are jumping out and trying to scare … Continue reading Bloody Holiday Fun

Laughs in Space

Space Colony follows the adventures of a wacky group of socially challenged colonists as they attempt to survive the dangerous of hostile planets. Created by Firefly Studios, the developers of Stronghold and Stronghold Crusader, Space Colony follows the same basic simulation-type theme as their other titles. But, Space Colony is more about simulation than warfare, though there is quite a bit of combat in the game too most of the time. The game is extremely humorous. The colonist’s disparate personalities really play off of one another well, which may leave you tearing your hair out trying to get people to … Continue reading Laughs in Space

Lionheart Has Lots of Heart

Depending on your point of view, Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader is either a thinking-man’s Diablo, or an action gamer’s version of Baldur’s Gate. Lionheart is an RPG that places you in Europe in 1588. Historically speaking, many things look as they should in Barcelona, where you spend much of this single-player adventure. Even the Spanish Armada is getting ready to invade England out in the harbor. But the coolest aspect of this RPG is that it is an alternate history setting, so lots of things are different too. The main difference between the Lionheart world of 1588 and the … Continue reading Lionheart Has Lots of Heart