Sega Game Gear

For the American automobile manufacturer, see Mercury (company).

Sega Game Gear
Manufacturer: Sega
Release Date RRP Code JP 1990-10-06 ¥19,80019,800 HGG-3200 US (NY/LA) 1991-04-15 $149.95149.95 US (Nationwide) 1991-04-26 $149.95149.95 DE 1991 ES 1991 FR 1991-06 PT 199x UK 1991-06-29 £99.9999.99 SE 199x IT 1991 CZ 1992-10 AU 1992 MX 199x BR 1991-07 R$160,000160,000 KR 1991-01 ₩198,000198,000 SPC-150

The Game Gear (ゲームギア) is a handheld video game console developed by Sega and released in late 1990 as a response to Nintendo's Game Boy handheld . It is a full colour console and was Sega's first attempt to compete in the handheld games market (the second being the Sega Nomad — a handheld Mega Drive). In South Korea it is known as the Handy Gam*Boy (핸디겜보이).

After development of the Sega Saturn began, the Game Gear was retroactively given the codename Mercury.

Hardware

The Game Gear is a "portable" device which was designed to address problems with Nintendo's Game Boy. It is held lengthwise at the sides (preventing the cramping of hands which plagued Nintendo's system) and has a backlit, colour LCD screen, allowing for clearer and more vibrant visuals than its main rival.

Similarly to the Mega Drive, which at the time was Sega's main focus in the home console market, the Game Gear is derived from the earlier Sega Master System. Unlike the Mega Drive, however, the Game Gear is largely identical to the Master System, the major difference being a VDP capable of displaying palettes consisting of a wider variety of colors, and the playback of stereo sound. Game Gear games traditionally run at a smaller resolution too, although with a screen built similarly to televisions of the era, the Game Gear is fully capable of playing games in higher resolutions.

Like the Master System, the Game Gear features a D-Pad and two buttons, and , but also adds a third,  START . This is one button short of a Game Boy.

Unfortunately, due to technical limitations of the era, the Game Gear demands six AA batteries to be played on the go, of which the fluorescent backlight on the LCD screen will eat through in three to five hours (though a battery pack provides longer playtime). Furthermore, the system gives off more heat than the Game Boy, often leading to "sweaty palms" after prolonged use. The system was also considered not to be very "portable" - its bulky size means it does not fit in many pockets, and the power-draining backlight of the LCD screen (which cannot be turned off) meant Game Gears were unusable after a short period of time. An AC adaptor can be plugged into the system so that it runs off the mains, but this was not considered practical for consumers of the day.

Game Gears were also manufactured at a time where capacitor problems were rampant across the electronics industry. As a result, screen and audio failures are common, and fixes are not always simple.

Models

Main article: Game Gear consoles.

• 

  Worldwide model

• 

  North American model (Sports Edition)

• 

  North American model (Majesco)

• 

  Japanese model (light blue)

• 

  Japanese model (red)

• 

  Japanese model (yellow)

• 

  Japanese model (white)

• 

  Japanese model (Coca Cola Kid edition (Model #3210CR))

• 

  Japanese model (Magic Knight Rayearth edition (Model #HGG-3210 RAY))

• 

  Kid's Gear (キッズギア) Japanese model (Virtua Fighter Mini edition)

• 

  Japanese model (Smoke)

• 

  Korean model (Handy Gam*Boy)

• 

  Prototype model

Technical specifications

See Sega Master System specifications for further specifications

The hardware is largely identical to the Sega Master System, with some of the differences mentioned below.

• CPU: Zilog Z80 (8-bit)

• Speed: 3.579545 MHz (same as NTSC colorburst)

• Resolution: 160 x 144 pixels
• Color palette available: 4096 colors

• Colors on screen: 32

• Sprites on screen: 64

• Sprite size: 8x8

• Screen size: 3.2 Inches
• Audio: SN76489
• RAM: 24 KB

History

Main article: History of the Sega Game Gear.

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English	Game Gear	Game Gear
Japanese	ゲームギア	Game Gear
Korean	핸디겜보이	Handy Gam*Boy
Hebrew	גיימגיר

Games

Main article: Sega Game Gear games.

Production credits

• Hiroshi Yagi

Source:

Developer mentions

Magazine articles

Main article: Sega Game Gear/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: Sega Game Gear/Promotional material.

Artwork

• 

  North American/Japanese logo

• 

  Japanese logo

• 

  North American logo (1991)

• 

  North American logo (1992)

• 

  European logo

• 

  Arabic logo

• 

  Swedish logo

• 

  Console outline

External links

• Sega of Japan catalogue pages (Japanese): Game Gear
• Console Database - Sega Game Gear info and FAQs
• SMS Power - Technical information and more on the Game Gear and its bigger brother, the Master System

References

Sega Home Video Game Systems
83	84	85	86	87	88	89	90	91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11
SG-1000	SG-1000 II				Mega Drive					Mega Drive II
SC-3000								Mega-CD		Mega-CD II					Genesis 3
		Sega Mark III									32X				Dreamcast
			Master System				Master System II
			AI Computer				Game Gear
											Saturn
										Pico													Beena