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.
When you first load up Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers on your Playstation 2, you will be treated to the first battle scene from the movie, recreated using the PS2’s DVD capabilities. Suddenly, the movie will fade into the game and just that quickly, you will become part of Tolkien’s world, or at least the Hollywood adaptation. You actually have to kick yourself to start moving and fighting, because the game is so good looking you will want to just watch things unfold. Thankfully all the original actors from the movie have come along to voice their roles … Continue reading One Game to Bind Them→
One of the greatest things about being a reviewer is that sometimes people actually listen to you. Stronghold: Crusader is the follow-up title to the original Stronghold game reviewed by GiN about a year ago. Anyhow, just about everything that I said needed fixed from the original title has been improved here. Of course I am sure I was not the only reviewer who brought up some missing features, but at least I was among the crowd calling for change. The Stronghold series bills itself as a castle-building simulation. While this is a good description, it is worth noting that … Continue reading Breeching the walls, again→
Normally I review the so-called hardcore RPG games. You know, the ones where you have about 30 different quests going on at the same time, have to concentrate on party interaction, follow main, romance and side quests and generally take a lot of notes. I never got into the Icewind Dale series because I was told they were hack and slash titles, with lots of combat but not much role-playing. Another staff member told me that they were actually pretty good and wanted to know if I wanted to try my hand at reviewing it. He assured me that I … Continue reading Icewind Dale II is Cool Combat→
When I play shooting games on the PS2 like Medal of Honor, I sometimes just wish I had a real gun to make all the shooting easier. A controller is just not as realistic as having a real gun in your hands. So it was with surprise that Empire Interactive sent in Endgame for review. Of course since we did not have a gun in the lab, they also sent along a giant green .50 Desert Eagle light gun. The gun itself is pretty interesting, and looks and feels just like a real .50 hand cannon, other than the fact … Continue reading Run and Gun with Endgame→
It’s so rare these days to find an RTS that actually has something new to add to the picture, but Legion fits the bill. On the surface Legion looks like a lot of the other historical titles that have come into vogue as of late. Over the past 10 years I have played at least that many titles involving Ancient Rome in some way. But Legion is by far the most interesting, and in many ways, the most historically accurate. The game combines the standard province management features found in most games these days, with a turn-based strategic map phase … Continue reading Strategius Maximus→
Barbarian is the latest arena fighting game for the PS2 platform. Players can take the role of one of ten different characters as they battle for supremacy in different environments across the world of Barbaria. If you are looking for an innovative break-the-mold type of title, then Barbarian is not going to be it. However, if you want one of the best fighting games out there, then Barbarian will fit the bill nicely. The various arenas in Barbarian are very well done and have a lot more interesting elements than even the much touted Dead or Alive series on the … Continue reading Barbarian is Capable Carnage→
When Grand Theft Auto 3 was being shown at E3 running on a PC, my interest was peaked a bit. I had played the game on the PlayStation 2 and had a pretty good time. But my lack of console savvy really kept the game from becoming a top favorite for me. So when the game arrived for the PC, I figured I would give it another go. Basically, GTA3 on the PC is essentially the same game as on the PS2, with a few notable exceptions. If you are a PS2 whiz and went all the way through the … Continue reading Kickin’ with GTA3 PC→
Operation Blockade is the type of game that I don’t normally like. Basically you are charged with defending a bunker against waves and waves of enemy troops. Its kind of like a shooter, but you don’t move from your position. You can spin around and look up and down, but you don’t go anywhere. That said, I played this game from start to finish, and whenever anyone in the test lab was walking by and happened to see it, they all asked if they could play. In the past games of this type suffered from one major flaw, and that … Continue reading Operation Blockade is Mindless Fun→
The development of wargames over the past few years has followed two distinct tracks. The far more popular one has been in the direction of real-time strategy games, with a role-playing modification being the feature of note lately. The road less traveled is turn-based. Despite wonderful real-time games, I have remained a steadfast fan of turn-based games. The genre almost died out a few years ago, but was saved mostly by the Might and Magic, and perhaps the Warlords series. (Does anyone still remember when Might and Magic was an RPG?) Today, turn-based strategy remains popular, though I doubt it … Continue reading This Wonder Takes The Throne→
No, this isn't going to be an editorial about having to walk to school in the snow, uphill both ways and how you kids don't appreciate anything, as my grandfather used to always say, again and again. But I did notice that there seems to be a change in the industry. And unlike the downward spiral of the GiNDex, this one is actually pretty cool. We normally try to mix up reviews from different genera's, but over the last few weeks the reviewers have been churning out a plethora of reviews of new games in a specific category. The category: … Continue reading RPGs Come Back Strong→
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