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.
Sometimes reviews are just too easy. Such is the case with Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. Basically I can sum up my feelings and advice in just three words. BUY THIS GAME. Well, perhaps being the resident World War II expert, I should go into a little bit more detail. This is by far the best World War II game and possibly the best shooter ever created. Coming off of a few weeks of Return to Castle Wolfenstein, I thought I had met the ultimate title in this genre. But believe me, Medal of Honor makes Wolfenstein look like Hoyle … Continue reading Winning the Medal of Honor→
Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance takes the monster-hit PC role-playing series into new territory – the console platform. And thankfully, the game is more than worthy of its namesake. Hardcore PC role-players should note that Dark Alliance is at its core, a console game. While not every quest is solved with combat, for more than 90 percent of the game you will probably be slaying something. But where other console ports like Diablo failed, Dark Alliance really shines. The flavor of the Forgotten Realms comes through perfectly. People you chat with look realistic, even when zoomed in, and all the voice … Continue reading Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance is a Quest You Can’t→
A man’s home may be his castle, but if you want to keep your Middle Ages home safe, then it better be a stronghold. Fans of the old Castles series will be overjoyed to discover a new realtime castle building sim for their PC. Players become the chief architect for wooden Motte and Bailey castles, advanced stone concentric designs or even fortresses never before seen. Of course you also have train archers, crossbow men, pike men, knights and others to man your defenses against armies that would like nothing better than to fill in your moats, climb over or bash … Continue reading Stronghold is Strategy and Structure Amid Medieval→
There are two ways you can spend the holiday season. The first involves dinner with the family, huge lipstick-smeared kisses from aunts you barely know and riveting conversation about how in the old days people walked to school in the snow and it was uphill both ways. And then there is the fun way: Baldur’s Gate II. It was almost a given that the sequel to the winner of the GiN RPG of the Year would be awesome. About the worst thing that could have happened is that nothing at all would have changed, and even then Baldur’s Gate II … Continue reading Baldur’s Gate II Rocks RPGs→
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates opened the Comdex Computer Show in Las Vegas this week by proclaiming the new name of the show "Comde-xp" in support of his company's new operating system and office suite. However, fully a third of his speech was devoted not to high-end networking tools or productivity software, but to the Xbox launch this week. If the 15,000-person capacity crowd was any indication of the pending popularity of the Xbox system, then Microsoft is going to have a huge hit on their hands. Gates even brought out an Xbox to demonstrate the capabilities of the system to … Continue reading Games Invade Comdex→
Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis is one of the most realistic war simulations I have ever played. At times this can be both wonderful and frustrating at the same time. You start out in the campaign mode as a single infantry soldier. You are confused as to what is happening and so are the rest of the men, as evidenced by the different cut scenes where you and your buddies get to talk. You get to do everything from being part of a massive infantry attack on a town, to running in full retreat when you are obviously overwhelmed, to … Continue reading Flashpoint Explodes Standard War Games→
When I originally heard about the ambitious real-time strategy project from Nexon called Shattered Galaxy, where they would create a massively multiplayer world of perpetual war, I was a bit skeptical. I had visions of one giant tank rush and of overlord players running around stomping every new person to strap on their combat boots. To say I was pleasantly surprised is putting it mildly. Far from the frag-fest I was expecting, Shattered Galaxy actually shows more strategic prowess than most turn-based games. It’s a different type of strategy however than most are used to. You control between six and … Continue reading Shattered Galaxy Breaks the Mold→
I want to say that Arcanum is the "thinking person’s role-playing game" but shouldn’t every RPG be for thinking people? I also want to rave about how much I enjoyed playing the game, but I think I better first explain that Arcanum won’t appeal to everyone. Arcanum is a role-playing game in the purest since. Never have I encountered a title that caused me to really think about gameplay so deeply. Even my ruling favorite RPG series, Baldur’s Gate, did not rise to this level of complexity. This can be a good or a bad thing, depending on your personal … Continue reading Arcanum is Bookish, Hardcore Fun→
Anarchy Online sounds a bit like some shooter free-for-all, at least judging from the main title. But despite this, the game is actually an online massively multiplayer RPG that is second to none in terms of character development and detailed landscapes. The first thing however that sets Anarchy Online apart from most massively multiplayer RPGs is that the world of Anarchy Online takes place in a science fiction universe. Getting away from the normal medieval theme that seems to permeate every other online world is quite nice. With the futuristic setting comes a lot of interesting paths that a character … Continue reading Anarchy Online is Revolutionary→
We have all run into this problem at one time or another. We love a game, yet we don’t treat the CD very well. Perhaps we are in a hurry to switch to another game, or perhaps we are tired of digging into the jewel case to switch disks yet again. So we set the CD where it does not belong, like on our desk or on top of the PC or monitor. Hey, we will go back and get it later. But sometimes we don’t. And sometimes something falls on it, or it gets slid across the fake wood … Continue reading GameDoctor Erases Scratches→
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