Game Gear
The is an 8-bit fourth-generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990 in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and in 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear primarily competed with Nintendo's Game Boy, the Atari Lynx, and NEC's TurboExpress. It shares much of its hardware with the Master System, and can play Master System games through the use of an adapter.
Although the Game Gear was rushed to market, it still went on sale more than a year after the Game Boy. With a full-color backlit screen, a landscape format and a more powerful Z80 CPU, Sega positioned the handheld device as technologically superior to the Game Boy. Ultimately, its unique game library and price point gave it an edge over the Atari Lynx and TurboExpress, but its short battery life, large size, lack of original games, and weak support from Sega left the Game Gear unable to surpass the Game Boy, selling 10.62 million units by March 1996.
The Game Gear was discontinued in 1997. It was re-released as a budget system by Majesco Entertainment between 2000 and 2002, under license from Sega.
History
Developed as codename "Project Mercury", the Game Gear was launched in Japan on October 6, 1990, in North America and Europe in 1991, and in Australia in 1992. Originally retailing at in Japan, in North America, and £99.99 in the United Kingdom, the Game Gear was developed to compete with the Game Boy, which Nintendo had released in 1989. The decision to make a handheld console was made by Sega's CEO Hayao Nakayama and the name was chosen by newly appointed Sega of America CEO Michael Katz. Both Sega's chairman Isao Okawa and cofounder David Rosen approved of the name. The console had been designed as a portable version of the Master System, with more powerful features than the Game Boy, including a full-color screen instead of monochromatic. According to former Sega console hardware research and development head Hideki Sato, Sega saw the Game Boy's black and white screen as "a challenge to make our own color handheld system".To improve upon the design of its competition, Sega modeled the Game Gear with a similar shape to a Genesis controller, intending the curved surfaces and greater length to be more comfortable to hold than the Game Boy. The console's mass was carefully considered from the beginning of the development, aiming for a total mass between that of the Game Boy and the Atari Lynx, another full-color screen competing product. Game Gear can use the Master Gear adaptor to play games from the similar Master System. The original Game Gear pack-in game was Columns, which is similar to Tetris which was bundled with the Game Boy at launch.
With a late start into the handheld console market, Sega rushed to get the Game Gear into stores quickly, having lagged behind Nintendo in sales without a handheld on the market. To simplify development, Sega based the Game Gear hardware on the Master System, with a much larger 4,096 color palette compared to the Master System's 64 colors. Part of the intention was easy conversion of Master System games. The Game Gear's stronger hardware impacted its battery life, running for three to five hours on six AA batteries, falling short of the Game Boy, which could run for more than 30 hours on four AA batteries. Its quick launch in Japan sold 40,000 units in its first two days, 90,000 within a month, and more than 600,000 back orders. According to Sega of America marketing director Robert Botch, "there is clearly a need for a quality portable system that provides features other systems have failed to deliver. This means easy-to-view, full-color graphics and exciting quality games that appeal to all ages."
Release and marketing
Before the Game Gear's launch in 1990, the 16-bit Genesis had been successfully marketed as a "more mature" option for players, and this was repeated against the Game Boy. Sega's marketing in Japan did not take this approach, instead opting for advertisements with Japanese women featuring the handheld, but Sega's worldwide advertising prominently positioned the Game Gear as the "cooler" alternative to the Game Boy.In North America, marketing for the Game Gear included side-by-side comparisons against the Game Boy which likened Game Boy players to the obese and uneducated. Most of these advertisements feature the "Sega Scream" with a person yelling the name. One Sega advertisement in early 1994, which contained a dog looking between the two consoles, features the quote, "If you were color blind and had an IQ of less than 12, then you wouldn't mind which portable you had." Such advertising drew criticism from Nintendo, who sought to have protests organized against Sega for insulting disabled people. Sega of America president Tom Kalinske responded that Nintendo "should spend more time improving their products and marketing rather than working on behind-the-scenes coercive activities". Ultimately, this debate would have little impact on sales for the Game Gear.
Europe and Australia were the last regions to receive the Game Gear. Due to delays, some importers paid up to £200 per system. Upon launch in Europe, video game distributor Virgin Mastertronic unveiled the price as £99.99, positioning it as being more expensive than the Game Boy, but less expensive than the also full-color Atari Lynx. Marketing in the United Kingdom included the slogan, "To be this good takes Sega", and advertisements with a biker. In the United Kingdom, the Game Gear had a 16% share of the handheld market in January 1992, increasing to 40% by December 1992.
Decline
Sega reduced support for the Game Gear in favor of home consoles. The successful Genesis yielded two major peripherals, the Sega CD and the 32X. The 32-bit Saturn console was launched in 1994. Though selling 10.62 million units by March 1996, the Game Gear was never able to match the success of its main rival, the Game Boy, with ten times the sales. Sales of the Game Gear were further hurt by Nintendo's release of the smaller Game Boy Pocket, running on two AAA batteries.Plans for a 16-bit fifth generation direct successor to the Game Gear were canceled, leaving only the Genesis Nomad, a portable version of the Genesis. Moreover, the Nomad was intended to supplement the Game Gear rather than replace it; in press coverage leading up to the Nomad's release, Sega representatives said the company was not discontinuing the Game Gear in favor of the Nomad, and that "we believe the two can co-exist". Though the Nomad had been released in 1995, Sega did not officially end support for the Game Gear until 1996 in Japan, and 1997 worldwide.
Though the system was originally discontinued in 1997, third-party publisher Majesco Entertainment released a version of the Game Gear at, with games in 2000 under license from Sega. New games were released, such as a port of Super Battletank. This machine is compatible with all previous Game Gear games, but incompatible with the TV Tuner and some Master System adaptors. The system and its re-released games were sold throughout 2000 and 2001 but were discontinued the following year. Over ten years later, on March 2, 2011, Nintendo announced that its 3DS Virtual Console service on the Nintendo eShop would feature Game Gear games.
Technical specifications
Much of the Game Gear's internal hardware is derived from the Master System, as the handheld was designed to be compatible with that system's library of games. It shares the same Zilog Z80 CPU, an 8-bit processor clocked at 3.5MHz, and the Texas Instruments SN76489 sound chip, a programmable sound generator. The chip generated stereo sound, audible using headphones as the device only included a single monaural speaker. The system also contains 8KB of RAM and 16KB of video RAM.The Game Gear measures wide, high, deep, and was designed to be played horizontally. At the center of the device is a color liquid-crystal display that measures diagonally and is able to display up to 32 simultaneous colors from a total palette of 4,096, with a frame rate of about 60Hz with 160×144 non-square pixels. The screen is backlit for low light using a small cold cathode fluorescent lamp tube.
The Game Gear is powered by six AA batteries which provide an approximate battery life of 3 to 5 hours. This was a source of significant criticism from reviewers. In response, Sega released two types of external rechargeable battery packs, intended to lengthen play time and reduce consumer cost.
Available accessories included a TV Tuner with a whip antenna for the cartridge slot, to become a handheld television. Released at , the add-on was expensive but unique for collectors and contributed to the system's popularity. The Super Wide Gear magnifies the screen. The Car Gear adapter plugs into cigarette lighters to power the system while traveling, and the Gear to Gear Cable establishes a data connection between two Game Gear systems using the same multiplayer game. Master Gear enables the Game Gear to play Master System games.
Game Gear model variations include several colors, including a blue "sports" variation in North America bundled with World Series Baseball '95 or The Lion King. A white version was bundled with a TV tuner. Other versions include a red Coca-Cola theme bundled with Coca-Cola Kid, and the Kids Gear Japan-only variation for children.
Game library
Over 300 total Game Gear games were released, with six titles available at launch. Prices for game cartridges initially ranged from $24.99 to $29.99 in the United States. The casings are molded black plastic with a rounded front to aid in removal. Games include Sonic the Hedgehog, The GG Shinobi, Space Harrier, and Land of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, which was considered the best game for the system by GamesRadar+. Later games included entries in franchises that had originated on the successful 16-bit Genesis. Much of the Game Gear's library consists of Master System ports. Because of the landscape orientation of the Game Gear's screen and the similarities to Master System hardware, it was easy for developers to port Master System games to the Game Gear.Because of Nintendo's control over the console video game market, few third-party developers were available to create games for Sega's systems. This contributed to the many ports from Master System. Likewise, because of this, much of the Game Gear library is unique among handhelds, pulling sales away from the Atari Lynx and NEC TurboExpress and helping to establish the Game Gear's market position. However, the Game Boy's library includes over 1000 individual games. Several Game Gear games were released years later on the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console service on the Nintendo eShop. The emulator for the Virtual Console releases was handled by M2.