Sega Game Gear

The Sega Game Gear was a handheld game console and was Sega's response to Nintendo's Game Boy.

Work began on the console in 1989. At that point, the project was codenamed Project Mercury and was in response to Nintendo's Game Boy.

The system was released on October 6, 1990 in Japan. It was released in North America in 1991, and Europe and Australia in 1992.

The Game Gear was basically a pocket Sega Master System, though it seemed to have arguably better graphics due to the larger color palette. The system is held lengthwise at the sides, preventing the cramping of hands that plagued the Game Boy.

In addition, it featured an advertising campaign that is memorable for being amusing and sometimes bizarre. One commercial shows a dog looking back and forth at both portables while the narrator says, "If you were colorblind and had an IQ of less than twelve, then you wouldn't care which portable you had. Of course, you wouldn't care if you drank from the toilet, either." Another has a gamer hitting himself in the head with a rigid, dead squirrel in order to see color on his Game Boy.

While technically superior to the Game Boy (color graphics, a backlit screen, and an optional TV tuner accessory), it did not gain a significant market share due to problems that plagued the device and the enormous popularity of the Nintendo portable. For example, the device required six AA batteries, but the backlit screen consumed them in three to five hours. It was also somewhat bulky. The Game Boy excelled over the Game Gear and other competitors because of this. Mostly, however, the Game Gear suffered from a lack of quality games, as a result of Sega's failure to enlist as many key software developers as Nintendo.

Because of the similarities between the Master System and the Game Gear, Master System games had been burned on ROMs on Game Gear cartridges. Likewise, a Master System to Game Gear Covertor, the Master Gear, had been released, which allowed Master System games to be played on the Game Gear. The reverse could not be done due to the Game Gear's aforementioned larger color palette.

Today, the Game Gear is widely considered to have been a failure, and unlike the Game Boy no newer versions were released. The Game Gear, however, did better than other portable systems that tried to compete with the Game Boy. Support ended in 1997, but Majesco released a Core version of the Game Gear in 2000 for a reduced price.

See also

• Sega Nomad
• Game Boy
• Handheld game console

Specifications

• Main Processor: Zilog Z80 (8-bit)
• Processor Speed: 3.58 MHz (same as NTSC dot clock)
• Resolution: 160 x 144 pixels
• Colors Available: 4,096
• Colors on screen: 32
• Maximum Sprites: 64
• Sprite Size: 8x8
• Screen Size: 3.2 Inches
• Audio: 4-channel tone generator
• RAM: 24 KB

External links

• Console Database - Sega Game Gear info and FAQs

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