The Art of James Teeple

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Leicester, United Kingdom
I'm 21 / DMU Art Student / British-American.

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Personal Gaming History 1996- 2002 : “The Early Day’s” :D


My ever growing history with games goes way back. It takes me across the north Atlantic as far west as the States will allow, to a place called Lebanon. A small town in the state of Oregon, that’s where my childhood began and where I discovered a loyal and lasting partnership with good old games. The first game I ever played was “Street Fighter II”! It was “Capcom’s” second installment in the series originally released for arcade in 1991 then later ported to the hand held Gameboy. 

Pure chance landed that Gameboy and Street Fighter II in my possession. I remember a girl offering it to me for one buck at my primary school (kindergarten) and I took it gobsmacked.  Anyway it was a clunky old thing and killed batteries in minutes but the game was still cool.

After Street fighter II, I didn’t really experience games for a couple of years. I was all about sports, climbing trees, making Bows and swords, and general outdoorsy stuff.  My extra-curricular outside activities were about to take a substantial hit. In 1999 Low and behold a friend of the family lands a Sony PlayStation in our lap, yet another second hand games console but this thing rocked. The first game I picked up and played on the PlayStation was “Spider: The Video Game”.


Everything you need to know about the game is basically in that cover image. It was awesomely difficult but crazy cool game. Yes you are a spider; Gun on one leg, bowie knife on the other and your task, escape the lab killing every other machine crossed, genetically enhanced insects you come across. I never finished it, just too hard. But what a wacky/ cool concept! :P

Then that’s when I discovered “Crash Bandicoot”. If you didn’t play it when you were a kid, you must have played it at some point? If not, you haven’t lived. “A Sony Computer Entertainment, Universal Studios production, developed by Naughty Dog ©1996”. This theme tune was the theme tune of my childhood.

I’d pick it up today, play it and still love it. It is just that fun.  It is probably one of the best plat former’s of the last 2 decades in my opinion, and known as one of the best-selling PlayStation games ever. Having said that, another 2.5D platformer I loved was Pandemonium; Published in 1996 by “Crystal Dynamics”. Similar gameplay but you could shoot magic and collect treasure! Epic.

At around the same time, I was lovingly playing “Spiro 2: Gateway to Glimmer © 1999”. That game was one to love. I didn’t play the first instalment until finishing the last with “Spiro 3: Year of the Dragon”, then revisiting the first game because I loved them so much. It is a great action adventure style game, with a simple but enthralling storyline that both I and my 3 siblings played to death. Just something about collecting those Jems… I think that was when I first became a hoarder in games. The collection of PS1 games began to grow, and the ps1 became a great and friend console. Damn I loved those years.

Right PlayStation done. Those were the titles that stood out for me personally as all-time fav’s and it was important to list them as they really acclimatised me for what was to come and sowed the seed for my “addiction?” to games for the next ten years. So that leaves the PlayStation 2, Xbox Original, Xbox 360 and PC… Bring on part two in my next blog!

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