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.

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

Accessories

Sonic Games for the Game Gear

Miscellaneous

Mega Game Gear

Something that was supposed to be released but never did was a kinda clone of the Super Game Boy, (Mega Game Gear?) was an convertor that was supposed to play Game Gear games on the Genesis/32X !! But companies like Sega or Nintendo has a tendance to "work" on a great device but never comes out...hate that when it happens.

Wide Gear

Another odd piece of hardware is the Wide Gear, a device that let's you connect your Game Gear to a TV and plug even a Genesis controller for playing. This thing is huge but at least it does work. It's too expensive to buy (more than $1000).

Game Gear PC TV?

A board devel oper's Game Gear with a modification for TV out exists - the entire circuit board fits easily within one of the battery compartments. It plays games on a TV set just fine - there's is a border around the action, but every- thing is clean and viewable. It also have (for some reason) the Game Gear developer's hardware - consists of two cards to plug into a PC, an In- Circuit Emulator, a 5.25" floppy (presumably containing an assembler) and a LARGE circuit board - with composite video out.

In an older issue of EGM, they showed a Game Gear modified by Sega to have RCA outputs on it to allow playing Game Gear Games on TV. They jammed a couple of extra circuit boards into the battery compartments. Theoretically, almost anybody should be able to modify their GG to have Composite output, just as long as one knew exactly where on the circuit board to tap to get the correct signal

Coca-Cola Game Gear

Did you know that in Japan they made a "Coca-Cola Limited Edition" Game Gear? If you are passing in Atlanta(Georgia), just make a stop by the Coca-Cola Museum. There is one displayed. It also came with a red cartridge called: "COCA-COLA KID"! This unit is really beginning to be a collector item since Video Game Collectors and Coca-Cola Collectors are trying to get their hands on it!

MKR Game Gear/Kids Gear

In Japan, the Game Gear was released in a white color casing and a white TV tuner. Another variant is Magic Knight Rayearth GG in a red color with Rayearth logo. Another variant is the one called the "Kids Gear". The Kids Gear was released in 1996, it's basicaly the GG that was renamed as the KG. The KG was released with Virtua Fighter Mini.

The KG has a little different shape (around start button, maybe...) and illustration of Virtua Fighter faces front side. Of course GG can play KG games and KG can play GG games.

External links

Console Database - Sega Game Gear info and FAQs

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