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.
Max Payne had a lot of things going against it when I decided to give it the once-over for review. I, like all other professional writers, try to keep my bias out of reviews. But off the bat, things did not look good. I have seen so many variations on shooters this past year that I doubted I would find anything new with this title. Also, I am not a big fan of third-person shooters, mostly after having been poisoned to them by lackluster – and some very bad – titles like Eradicator (anyone remember this one?) and Soldier (based … Continue reading Max Payne is Pure Pleasure→
Four games and several years ago, the Baldur’s Gate saga was born in this fine nation. The original game caused a revolution in the way people, especially PC gamers, thought about role-playing games. It was probably the first RPG to sell over a million copies, and it did it in less than three months. The follow-on pack, Tales of the Sword Coast, was not met with the same critical acclaim, but none-the-less added something to genre, namely the now popular "super-huge-you-can-play-for-weeks-inside-dungeon." Then came the actual sequel, Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn. All these titles were fun to play and … Continue reading Baldur's Gate Series Ends Gloriously→
Where computer gameplay and excercise coincide. Gamers sometimes get the reputation of being couch potatoes because they sit around all day playing. But if you spend all day playing with the Sports-PC interactive backboard, you are more likely to end up looking like Kevin Sorbo than Bill Gates. The Sports-PC wall is another example of computer games making inroads into areas they have stayed traditionally away from, including the local gym. The Sports-PC wall is an interactive backboard that challenges players to hit targets as they light up. But instead of a game gun, players use an actual racket and … Continue reading Up Against the Wall→
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→
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