Sega Game Gear
Manufacturer	Sega
Type	Handheld game console
Generation	Fourth generation
First available	JP October 6, 1990 EU / NA 1991[1] AUS 1992
CPU	Zilog Z80
Media	Cartridge
Units sold	11 million[1]

The Sega Game Gear is a handheld game console which was Sega's response to Nintendo's Game Boy. A console manufacturer is a company that manufactures and distributes Video game consoles It is also known as a first-party Video game publisher. is a multinational Video game Software and Hardware development company and a former Home computer A handheld game console is a lightweight portable electronic machine for playing Video games Unlike Video game consoles the controls screen and speakers Video games were introduced as a commercial entertainment medium in 1971, becoming the basis for an important entertainment industry in the late 1970s/early 1980s in the United In the History of computer and video games, the fourth generation (more commonly referred to as the 16 bit era) began on October 30, 1987 For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Events 105 BC - Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) Events Notable releases Namco releases Star Blade, Super World Stadium, Solvalou Australasia is a Region of Oceania: New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and neighbouring Islands in the Pacific Events Notable releases Namco releases Suzuka 8 Hours, Bakuretsu Quiz Ma-Q Dai Bouken, The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit Microprocessor designed and sold by Zilog from July 1976 onwards In various types of electronic equipment a cartridge can refer one method of adding different functionality or content (e This is a list of Video game consoles and Handheld game consoles that have sold or shipped at least one million units A handheld game console is a lightweight portable electronic machine for playing Video games Unlike Video game consoles the controls screen and speakers is a multinational Video game Software and Hardware development company and a former Home computer is a Multinational corporation headquartered in Kyoto Japan founded on The is a handheld video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was the third commercially available color handheld console, after the Atari Lynx and the Turbo Express. The Atari Lynx was a Handheld game console released by Atari Corporation in 1989 The TurboExpress or ( PC Engine GT in Japan was a portable version of the TurboGrafx-16 / PC Engine, released by NEC in 1990 for $249

Work began on the console in 1989 under the codename "Project Mercury", following Sega's policy at the time of codenaming their systems after planets. Events Notable releases Bullfrog Productions releases Populous on June 5 1989, which was The system was released in Japan on October 6, 1990, North America, Europe and Brazil in 1991,^[1] and Australia in 1992. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Events 105 BC - Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Events Notable releases Namco releases Star Blade, Super World Stadium, Solvalou For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) The launch price was US$150. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been ^[1] Sega dropped support for the Game Gear in early 1997. Events October 4 &mdash Gunpei Yokoi (1941-1997 dies after a double Car accident

Features

Design

The Game Gear was basically a portable Master System with a lower resolution screen, but allowed for a larger color palette. The Sega Master System is an 8-bit cartridge-based Video game console that was manufactured by Sega and was first released in 1986. In Computer graphics, a palette is either a given finite set of Colors for the management of Digital images (that is a color palette) or In addition, it could also produce stereo sound (through headphones) as opposed to the Master System's monaural output, though very few games made use of the stereo capabilities. Unlike the original Game Boy, the system was held in a "landscape" position, with the controls at the sides, making it less cramped to hold. The term landscape mode has the following meanings In facsimile and Photocopying, the mode for Scanning lines across the longer dimension

Because of the similarities between the Master System and the Game Gear, it was fairly easy for Master System games to be ported to Game Gear cartridges. In various types of electronic equipment a cartridge can refer one method of adding different functionality or content (e Alternately, the Master Gear Converter was released during the system's lifetime which allowed original Master System games to be played on the Game Gear.

Variations

The blue Game Gear sports edition, identical to the standard Game Gear, except in body color, was released in 1993, with the game World Series Baseball. Another specialty edition was a red Coca-Cola themed Game Gear unit, released to the Japanese market in 1994, which came with a game entitled Coca-Cola Kid. Coca-Cola is a carbonated Soft drink sold in stores restaurants and Vending machines in more than 200 countries Another limited edition released in Japan only was the white Game Gear, with only 10,000 units sold. ^[2] Sega also introduced Kids Gear, a packaging of the Game Gear system in a different color case. Another limited edition Game Gear was the red Magic Knight Rayearth version, featuring the game and a small miniature of one of the game's characters. Software advertised for Kids Gear focused more on children's game titles. Kids Gear was also only released in Japan.

Games

A screenshot from Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) for Game Gear

Main article: List of Game Gear games

300 titles were released for the Game Gear,^[2] although at the time of the console's launch there were only six software titles available. is a Platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis system This is a list of the 266 games available for the Sega Game Gear handheld Video game system Sega made sure that a wide variety of video game genres were represented on the system, in order to give it a broad appeal. See also [[Game classification]] Video games are categorized into Genres based on their Gameplay interaction Prices for game cartridges initially ranged from $24. 99 to $29. 99 each. They were molded black plastic with a rounded front for convenient removal. The original Game Gear pack-in title was Columns, which was similar to the Tetris cartridge that Nintendo had included when it launched the Game Boy. Description The game takes place inside a tall well-shaped playing area as in Tetris. The is a handheld video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo.

Popular titles included Sega's own series, notably Sonic the Hedgehog, Disney movie extensions, such as The Lion King, and 3rd-party developer games like Mortal Kombat. Video Games See also [[List of games featuring Sonic the Hedgehog]] Nearly all games in the series feature a teenage hedgehog named "Sonic the Hedgehog" The Lion King is a Video game based on Disney 's popular animated film. This article concerns the first entry of the fighting game series

In an unusual step for Sega (but also practiced by rival Nintendo on their Game Boy handhelds), Sega decided not to region encode Game Gear cartridges, meaning that any system could play any games regardless of the country they were released in. Regional lockout is the programming practice code chip or physical barrier used to prevent the playing of media designed for a device from the country where it is marketed on the This practice helped to make the console popular among import gamers. Import gamers are a subset of the Video game player community that partake in the practice of playing Video games from another region usually from Japan

Sales and competition

The Game Gear was not very popular in Japan, where it was released to a generally apathetic audience, with build quality issues plaguing it early in its service life. Another problem was battery life; while better than earlier color backlit systems, its 5 hour battery life (using alkaline batteries) still wasn't as good as the Game Boy (due to that system's monochrome screen, lack of a backlight, and less powerful hardware). Battery life was a much bigger issue before handheld systems had built-in rechargeable batteries; gamers needed either a constant supply of six AA batteries, or a rechargeable battery pack that was sold separately.

The Game Gear was more expensive than the Game Boy ($149. 99,^[3] versus $89. 99 for the Game Boy). The significantly larger price tag contributed to driving away potential Game Gear buyers.

When first launched in America, a memorable TV advertising campaign was used to promote the system as superior to the Game Boy. One commercial featured Creamed Spinach Color: Game Gear vs. Game Boy]</ref> An advertisement was shown in black and white, with players milling about aimlessly in a dark void, playing Game Boys. A lone rebel appears with a Game Gear, cuing the narrator's comment of "The Sega Game Gear: Separates the men from the boys. " Another showed a gamer, played by future actor Ethan Suplee, hitting himself in the head with a rigid, dead squirrel in order to see color on his Game Boy. Ethan Suplee (born May 25, 1976) is an American film and television Actor know for his roles as Frankie Stechino in Boy Meets World ^[4] When the Game Boy began to appear in different colors, Sega's ad ridiculed it by showing the Game Boy disguised in loaves of bread. Another ad from that era featured a professor explaining that though the Game Boy now was available in bright colors, the graphics were still monochrome, and therefore Game Gear was still superior. Still another memorable ad compared the Game Boy's "creamed spinach color" to Game Gear's "BIG BEAUTIFUL COLOR". Although Sega was rather proud of these original marketing campaigns, it may have backfired since many gamers—loyal to their existing Nintendo handhelds—saw the ads as offensive, condescending or even patronizing. Negative advertising may have also been detrimental since it implied that the Game Gear was in second place (as indeed it was).

Although its color backlit screen and ergonomic design made it arguably superior to the Game Boy, the Game Gear managed just a small share of the market. This can be blamed partly on the perception that it was too bulky, and on its somewhat low battery performance: the device required six AA batteries, and the backlit screen consumed these in approximately five hours (six on the later versions), compared to 10-14 hours of four-AA battery lifespan for the Game Boy( though still better than the Lynx and Turbo Express). A AA battery (double a or /ˈdʌbəl eɪ/ is a dry cell-type battery commonly used in portable Electronic devices External and rechargeable battery packs were sold to extend the devices' battery life. However, Sega's biggest problem was that it failed to enlist as many key software developers as Nintendo, so the Game Gear was perceived as lacking as many games. Although it was a decent success, the Game Gear did not manage to achieve the commercial success that Game Boy did, in that when it went off the market it was not replaced by an immediate successor. The is a handheld video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. The Game Gear, however, did better than other portable systems that tried to compete with the Game Boy, such as the preceding Atari Lynx. The Atari Lynx was a Handheld game console released by Atari Corporation in 1989 The Game Gear did suffer from some of the same key problems that plagued the similar Lynx, though Sega did somewhat better than Atari due to more titles and a stronger marketing campaign, as well as fixing many of the durability and build quality issues. In the end, the Game Gear gained most of its sales by pushing the Lynx out of the market rather than eating into the Game Boy's dominant share.

Technical specifications

• Main processor: Zilog Z80 (8-bit)^[3]
• Processor speed: 3. The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit Microprocessor designed and sold by Zilog from July 1976 onwards 58 MHz^[3] (same as NTSC dot clock)
• Resolution: 160 x 144 pixels
• Colors available: 4,096^[3]
• Colors on screen: 32^[3]
• Maximum sprites: 64
• Sprite size: 8x8 or 8x16
• Screen size: 3. NTSC ( National Television System Committee) is the Analog television system used in the United States, Canada, Japan, Mexico 2 inches (81 mm)
• Audio: 3 square wave generators, 1 noise generator, the system has a mono speaker, but stereo sound can be had via headphone input
• RAM: 8 KB
• Video RAM: 16KB
• Power:
  • internal: 6 AA batteries^[3]
  • external: 9V DC, 300mA, 3W^[5]

• Physical:
  • dimensions: 20cm x 11,3cm x ?
  • weight: ~400g

Accessories

Several accessories for the Game Gear were also produced by Sega:

• The Game Gear TV Tuner plugged into the system's cartridge slot, and allowed one to watch TV on the Game Gear's screen. A AA battery (double a or /ˈdʌbəl eɪ/ is a dry cell-type battery commonly used in portable Electronic devices Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic However, later versions of the Game Gear and the cost-reduced Majesco Core Game Gear hardware (see below) is incompatible with the unit, as it lacks the video passthrough. Majesco Entertainment is a Japanese / American Video game publisher founded in 1986. These units can output sound from the Tuner.
• The Super Wide Gear was an accessory that magnified the Game Gear screen to compensate for its relatively small size.
• The Car Gear adapter plugged into car cigarette lighters to power the system while travelling.
• An adapter called the MasterGear Converter allowed for Sega Master System cartridges to be plugged in and played on the Game Gear. The Sega Master System is an 8-bit cartridge-based Video game console that was manufactured by Sega and was first released in 1986. The reverse though, of playing a Game Gear game on a Master System console, was not possible due to the Game Gear's larger color palette.
• The Gear-to-Gear Cable was an accessory that established a data connection between two Game Gears using the same multi-player game and let users play against each other.

Remakes and emulation

Support ended in 1997, but Majesco released a core version of the Game Gear in 2000 for a reduced price. Majesco Entertainment is a Japanese / American Video game publisher founded in 1986. The Majesco Core Game Gear differed slightly from the original Game Gear in that it was black and had a purple start button rather than dark grey and a blue start button, the logo on the front of the unit was no longer in color, and it did not support the television tuner accessory. Its screen had a better refresh rate than the original model. It also had a somewhat better speaker that did not distort as much when played loudly. It was part of Majesco's strategy of eking profits from products with margins too slim for the original manufacturer to pursue, and was accompanied by Majesco's licensed reissue of several classic Game Gear cartridges. Majesco-reissued cartridges are distinguished by having no plastic case, and a Majesco Sales logo on the label, as well as the current games ratings system, which differs slightly from the one formerly used by Sega. The Entertainment Software Rating Board ( ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that applies and enforces ratings, Advertising guidelines and The Majesco logo was not prominent, and these were marketed under the Sega name.

The Game Gear was reincarnated in a smaller handheld form factor in late 2006. This small handheld device was powered by 3 AAA batteries, had a brighter active matrix screen, and contained 20 Game Gear and Sega Master System games. The Sega Master System is an 8-bit cartridge-based Video game console that was manufactured by Sega and was first released in 1986. ^[6] It was released under several brands including Coleco and PlayPal. Coleco was a company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as " Co nnecticut Le ather Co mpany "

As of 2006, software emulators for Game Gear have been made for a number of devices such as the GP2X, GP32, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Symbian, Windows Mobile, iPod, PC, Palm OS, and the PlayStation Portable, many of which use less power, fewer batteries and come in smaller form factors than the Game Gear. An emulator duplicates (provides an emulation of the functions of one System using a different system so that the second system behaves like (and appears to The GP2X is an open-source Linux -based handheld Video game console and media player created by GamePark Holdings The GP32 (GamePark 32 is a Hand held console built by the Korean company Game Park. The Game Boy Advance (often shortened to GBA) is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed manufactured and marketed by Nintendo. The is a dual-screen Handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. Symbian OS is an open Operating system, designed for Mobile devices with associated libraries, User interface frameworks and Windows Mobile is a compact Operating system combined with a suite of basic applications for Mobile devices based on the Microsoft Win32 iPod is a popular brand of Portable media players designed and marketed by Apple Inc MEKA is primarily a Sega Master System emulator It also emulates the SG-1000, SC-3000, SF-7000, Sega Mark III, Sega Game Palm OS (also known as Garnet OS) is an embedded Operating system initially developed by U The PlayStation Portable (officially abbreviated PSP) is a Handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. Some PC Emulators such as the Kega Fusion can also play Game Gear ROM's. Kega Fusion is an Emulator of the Sega Mega Drive (Sega Genesis for Microsoft Windows, written by Steve Snake.

Though its sales success as a non-Nintendo handheld has been surpassed by the PlayStation Portable (PSP), the Game Gear still stands as the longest supported handheld console not made by Nintendo. The PlayStation Portable (officially abbreviated PSP) is a Handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment.

It has been confirmed that Game Gear games will be added to the Wii's Virtual Console under the label of the Sega Master System starting in February 2008. Virtual Console, sometimes abbreviated as VC, is a specialized section of the Wii Shop Channel, an online service that allows players to purchase and download The Sega Master System is an 8-bit cartridge-based Video game console that was manufactured by Sega and was first released in 1986. ^[7]

References

External links

• Official Sega support information
• Game Gear at the Open Directory Project