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.
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→
The Longest Journey has been the top selling adventure game in Europe for sometime, but only recently has started to make inroads in the United States. I can tell you this right off the bat: you will not find a better looking game anywhere. Adventure games have gotten a bit of a bad rap lately, but not so much because people do not like them as much as folks have just sort of lost interest in them. Back about five or 10 years ago they were all the rage, but now seem encompassed by shooters and real-time strategy games. The … Continue reading The Longest Journey is Paradise Found→
It takes a lot of guts for a German company to come out with a World War II game. In that country, its often taboo to even talk about the war, much less create a game to glorify it. I can just hear the German peaceniks falling out of their chairs as a generation of young people leads the Third Reich to battle on their computers. In truth, companies like SSI have been making WWII games for years, and letting players take command of either the Axis or the Allies. But this is the first time a German company has … Continue reading Sudden Strike Blitzkriegs RTS Market→
When the Blair Witch movie went from a film student’s basement cutting room to Hollywood blockbuster, it was inevitable that many people would be looking to cash in on the project. A video game tie-in was inevitable. Now, as we approach Halloween this week, the lab dims the lights and sets out to review the first of three games based on the Blair Witch legend. The release of this game coincides not only with the spookiest holiday on the books, but also the release of the movie Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows. The three planned games are being released … Continue reading Who’s Afraid of the Blair Witch?→
A lot of trade magazines that cover the entertainment industry are, perhaps unduly, focused on movies. In quite a few of them, the pending actor’s guild strike has been covered with the same gloom and doom that might befall a pending natural disaster. But while some sectors of the entertainment industry might be crippled by the lack of card-carrying guild member actors, computer games should do just fine. The pending strike has a lot of complex issues behind it, but boils down to what every labor dispute these days is really about: people either wanting or deserving more money. Gone … Continue reading Strike Two, But Not Out→
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