Sega Game Gear

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Sega Game Gear
Manufacturer	Sega
Type	Handheld game console
Generation	Fourth generation
First available	October 6, 1990 1991 1992
CPU	Zilog Z80
Media	Cartridge
Online service	None
Units sold	8.65 million
Top-selling game	Sonic the Hedgehog

The Sega Game Gear is a handheld game console which was Sega's response to Nintendo's Game Boy. It was the third commercially available color handheld console, after the Atari Lynx and the Turbo Express.

Work began on the console in 1989 under the codename "Project Mercury", and the system was released in Japan on October 6, 1990. It was released in North America and Europe in 1991 and in Australia in 1992. The launch price was $149.99. ^[1][2] Support for the Game Gear was dropped in early 1997.

[edit] Design and technical features

The Game Gear was basically a portable Master System with a lower resolution screen, but allowed for a larger color palette, and therefore potentially better-looking graphics. In addition, it could also produce stereo sound (through headphones) as opposed to the Master System's monaural output, although 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. One of the more famous and unusual peripherals for the Game Gear was the "TV Tuner Adapter", a device that plugged into the system's cartridge slot, and allowed one to watch TV on the Game Gear's screen. Other add-ons included a magnifying glass to compensate for the relatively small size of the Game Gear's screen, and a rechargeable battery pack.

Sega had taken a similar approach when developing the Sega Mega Drive, basing it on Sega's 16-bit arcade hardware. This enabled direct conversion of popular games. Likewise, because of the similarities between the Master System and the Game Gear, it was possible for Master System games to be written directly onto ROMs in Game Gear cartridges. Similarly, an adapter called the "Master Gear" allowed Master System cartridges to be plugged in and played on the Game Gear. The reverse (playing a Game Gear game on a Master System console) was impossible due to the Game Gear's aforementioned larger color palette.

[edit] 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 or 8x16
• Screen size: 3.2 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: 24 KB
• Batteries: 6 AA

[edit] Emulation

As of 2006, emulators for Game Gear have been made for the GP2X, GP32, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Symbian, Windows Mobile, Ipod, PC, Palm OS, and the PlayStation Portable, which use less power, fewer batteries and a smaller form factor along with emulation through software.

[edit] Sales history and Game Boy rivalry

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.

Pricewise, the Game Gear was more expensive than the Game Boy ($149.99, versus $89.95 for the Game Boy). ^[3] 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 a dog looking back and forth at both portables, with a narrator saying, "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." [1] 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 hitting himself in the head with a rigid, dead squirrel in order to see color on his Game Boy [2]. 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. 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). However, less offensive advertising included the phrase SEGA does what Nintendon't, but even that phrase didn't discourage Nintendo fans from buying the Game Boy instead.

Although its color backlit screen and ergonomic design made it technically superior to the Game Boy, the Game Gear did not manage to take over a significant 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 10-12 hours of four-AA battery lifespan for the Game Boy. External and rechargeable battery packs were sold to extend the devices' battery life. At that time, rechargeable batteries had strict limitations (e.g. the batteries needed to be discharged before being recharged). Ni-Cd batteries were the mainstream type of rechargeable batteries during that era, and Ni-MH and Li-Ion batteries would not become mainstream until after the Game Gear was phased out.

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, which came with a game entitled Coca-Cola Kid.

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 moderate 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 Game Gear, however, did better than other portable systems that tried to compete with the Game Boy, such as the preceding Atari Lynx. The Game Gear did suffer from some of the same key problems that plagued the similar Lynx, though the Sega did somewhat better than Atari due to more titles and a stronger marketing campaign. 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.

Support ended in 1997, but Majesco released a core version of the Game Gear in 2000 for a reduced price. 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. It also had a somewhat better speaker that didn't 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 Majesco logo was not prominent, and these were marketed under the Sega name.

The Game Gear was rereleased 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.^[4] It was released under several brands including Coleco and PlayPal.

Though its sales success has been surpassed by the Sony PSP, the Game Gear is still the longest supported handheld console not made by Nintendo to date.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• List of Game Gear games

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Sega Game Gear