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.
What do an excellent value, fun for the whole family and fierce competition have in common? They are all elements of TriBond by Patch Products. For those of you unfamiliar with the board game of the same name, Tri-Bond is the game of threes. Players are given three items and asked to try and figure out how they are related. A winning answer lets players move their pieces around the board in a Parcheesi-like race to get all their pieces home. The game has full voice support, with different actors reading different categories of questions. Some of the actors are … Continue reading TriBond makes the grade→
"You’re gonna die, mother f*****!" is probably the last thing you will hear in the grimy, crime filled world of Kingpin. (Note: we added the *’s, expect the full language in the game) Kingpin is a lot more than the average johnny-come-lately shooter. It sports amazing textures, a solid plot and some of the best sound support I’ve ever laid ears upon in a shooter. But of course all anyone is talking about is the violence, the blood and the liberal use of the "F word." So let me get that out of the way first. The first thing you … Continue reading Kingpin is a bite out of crime→
I think we have finally found our first serious contestant for the GiN strategy game of the year award. Total Annihilation: Kingdoms raises the expectations bar for gamers by giving them an intelligent artificial intelligence coupled with graphics that are truly spellbinding. The first thing you will notice about Total Annihilation: Kingdoms is that the game is completely beautiful. I found myself being overrun by enemies several times when I was just starting out because I was too busy looking at the pretty scenery to concentrate on strategy. I won’t fault Cavedog for using the Total Annihilation name, after all … Continue reading Total Annihilation: Kingdoms takes the strategy game crown→
WWII GI is a game that I don’t believe ever achieved its full potential. As I played it I must say I enjoyed the experience, but several logic flaws, game errors and overall graphics that are abysmal at best left me with a sense of emptiness. It’s like when you wait for years to see a movie, only to find out that poor acting or bad special effects have ruined the experience. You can’t help but smile, but at the same time you really wish it could have been more. WWII GI attempts to recreate the experience of an actual … Continue reading WWII GI is no breakthrough→
Game Review- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace is the game for anyone who watched the new Star Wars movie and wished they were there. Which, if the popularity of the new movie is any indication, is just about everyone. But unlike a lot of movie tie-in games that fall well short of the movie they are based on, this game stands on its own merit. Even if the movie did not exist, this game would still be a lot of fun to play. As it is, it’s the perfect way to extend your Star Wars experience well beyond the theater. … Continue reading Star Wars game will force up expectations bar→
It has been a long time since I’ve journeyed to the Sword Coast via the magic of a Dungeons and Dragons game. Computer RPGs have never really been able to capture the flavor of a pen-and-paper role-playing, with several friends sitting around a table drinking sodas, eating chips, solving problems and slaying dragons. (well, only occasionally slaying a dragon) But that all changed with the release of Baldur’s Gate. Black Isle studios, a development arm of Interplay, has a great deal of experience with computer RPGs, and for the first time, someone has gotten it right. Most computer RPGs, especially … Continue reading Baldur’s Gate→
It is rare indeed to see the sequel to anything — movies, television shows or games — actually turn out better than the original. Sequels usually fall into either the category of either a hastily made game that relies too heavily on its predecessor for plot, or a simple add-on pack that is not really a new game at all. I was relieved and pleased to find that this was not the case with Myth II: Soulblighter. The folks at Bungie were smart enough to keep basically the same interface as the original Myth, and pack the game with enough … Continue reading Myth II: Soulblighter will conquer strategy gamers→
Settlers III is not a game that will leap out at players as the most fascinating thing they have ever played. In fact, looking at the online help book can be quite daunting. But once you start to understand how to build your settlements into thriving colonies, Settlers can become quite addictive. The premise in this latest installment of the Settlers series finds your tiny hamlet on a vast unexplored world. This is not unlike the hundreds of other resource gathering and conquest games out there, but the beauty of Settlers is in the details. Settlers III has the most … Continue reading Settlers III will grow on you.→
It is so refreshing to find a 3D shooter that offers something different. Sure, Unreal and Half-Life are great games that have collectively sucked a lot of time away from my busy schedule. But at their core, they are all about getting to the biggest gun first and then blowing away anything that moves. Looking Glass Studios’ newest offering Thief: The Dark Project is different. If you try to play Thief the way you normally play Unreal, you are going to die quicky and painfully. After all, you are playing a thief in this game, so you better act like … Continue reading Thief: The Dark Project will steal your heart→
When I reviewed the original Fallout, I said that 80 years after a global nuclear war, the old neighborhood had changed a bit. Now Fallout 2 takes place a generation after the first, but things in the wasteland haven’t changed that much. Your character still has to face all the greed, crime, corruption, murder and mayhem that a degenerating society can throw at them, and it’s a heck of a lot of fun. When the original Fallout came out, people were amazed that such a quality role-playing game could take place without an elf, magic-user or dragon in sight. Many … Continue reading Fallout 2 serves up a mess of nukes and kooks→
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