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Twin Eagles Group

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Twin Eagles Group
AbbreviationTEG
Formation1989
Dissolved2003
HeadquartersLima, Peru
ProductsVideo games
LeaderLobsang Alvites
Websitehttps://www.tegperu.org/

Twin Eagles Group (TEG) was a Peruvian scener group founded in 1989.[1] It originally produced hacked games for the Commodore 64,[2] and would eventually modify games for video game consoles such as the SNES and Nintendo 64. The group was commissioned to produce their ROM hacks. TEG was dissolved in 2003.[3]

History

[edit]

Twin Eagles Group was founded in 1989 by Lobsang Alvites, better known by the pseudonym Mr. Byte. Mr. Byte founded TEG at 16 years old. The reason was because he observed piracy groups in other parts of the world, and wanted to found a similar organization in Peru.[4] It was famous as a cracking group, adding a cracktro at the beginning before distributing a game.[5] Eventually, it became a major supplier of video games in Peru, and was famous throughout Lima. The games were mostly supplied to TEG from Europe.[4]

With its newfound popularity, TEG would grow in size, recruiting many new members of various ages. The members were not paid by Mr. Byte, working with the group because of their passion for computers. TEG was mainly operated at Mr. Byte's house.[4]

TEG also had a separate group of members that made ROM hacks, such as Sonic The Hedgehog 4 for SNES, a hack of Speedy Gonzales: Los Gatos Banditos.[6] It was also known for making hacks of soccer games like International Superstar Soccer, adding current teams to them, which gained popularity.[7][1] Their commissioned hacks were distributed by different sellers all over the world.[8] However, they needed to stop this practice when copyright law in Peru became more regulated.

During 2001, former Peru president Alberto Fujimori was succeeded by Alejandro Toledo. TEG decided to use this as a premise for a political video game. The game was titled La Tercera Vuelta, or The Third Round, as inspired by Peru's two-round election system. TEG later created The King of Peru, a fighting game featuring Alejandro Toledo and Alan García, who were the presidential candidates of the time. A sequel was also created, featuring more characters. However, the computer company distributing the game began to distribute pirated copies, which caused TEG to become bankrupt.[4]

Original games

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Game Notes System Published Year
Gunbee F-99 A shooting game inspired by the SNES game TwinBee. Amiga 1200 1998
The King of Peru 2 A fighting game featuring battles between presidential candidates Alberto Fujimori, Alejandro Toledo, Alan García, and Fujimori's secretary of intelligence, Vladimiro Montesinos.
The King of Peru 2001 A King of Peru game for PC.

Hacked games

[edit]
Game Notes System Published Year
Caballeros Del Zodiaco SNES 1996
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 A hack of Speedy Gonzales: Los Gatos Banditos. Replaces Speedy Gonzales' sprites with Sonic. SNES 1996
Caballeros Del Zodiaco 2 SNES 1997
Sextris A version of Tetris with pornographic images added. SNES 1997
Futbol Argentino '97 A hack of International Superstar Soccer with Argentinian teams. Versions with Brazilian, Colombian and Peruvian teams also were made. Sega Genesis 1997
Caballeros Del Zodiaco A port of the Super Nintendo game. Game Boy 1997
Ronaldinho Soccer 64 A hack of International Superstar Soccer Deluxe by Konami that added in South American teams. Nintendo 64 1998
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 A hack of Sparkster that replaces the main character's sprites with Sonic. SNES 1998

References

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  1. ^ a b Azevedo, Rafael Luis (2018-11-12). "O cara que produziu os games piratas de 'International Superstar Soccer'". Vice (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  2. ^ "Twin Eagles Group [TEG]". www.tegperu.org. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  3. ^ Marisca, Eduardo (2013-08-06). "The Networks Are Out There: Building Cultural and Economic Resilience Through Informal Communities of Practice". arXiv:1308.1284 [cs.SI].
  4. ^ a b c d Wong, Luis (2014-02-10). "Mr Byte: the 'gang' leader of gaming in Peru". Polygon. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  5. ^ Goldgel-Carballo, Víctor; Poblete, Juan (2020-03-03). Piracy and Intellectual Property in Latin America: Rethinking Creativity and the Common Good. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-03875-0.
  6. ^ "Sonic the Hedgehog (SNES)". Sonic Retro. Retrieved 2024-08-03.
  7. ^ "Games by Twin Eagles Group | Backloggd". www.backloggd.com. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  8. ^ "TEG - Contacts 1989". www.tegperu.org. Retrieved 2024-05-30.