Sega Game Gear

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Sega Game Gear
Game gear eu logo.svg
American / Japanese Game Gear logo
Sega-Game-Gear-WB.png
Manufacturer Sega
Type Handheld console
generation fourth generation of consoles
publication
JapanJapan October 6, 1990
United StatesUnited States January 1991
EuropeEurope 1991
Main processor Zilog Z80
Storage media Modules
Controller Control elements were attached to the housing
Online service none
Units sold about 11 million
Most successful game Sonic the Hedgehog 2
successor Sega Nomad
info Sega's first handheld console

The Sega Game Gear ( Japanese ゲ ー ム ギ ア , Gēmu gia ) is a handheld console by Sega , which was first released on October 6, 1990 in Japan. As a fourth generation console , it was in direct competition with Atari's Atari Lynx and Nintendo's Game Boy .

description

Work on the console began after the Game Boy was released in 1989. At that time, development was under the code name "Project Mercury" and they wanted to produce a product that was superior to the Game Boy.

The system appeared on October 6, 1990 in Japan , 1991 in North America and Europe, and only in 1992 in Australia . The non-binding sales price was initially 299 DM . Similar to Nintendo's Game Boy with Tetris , the Game Gear was sold in a bundle with columns .

The Game Gear was basically a portable Sega Master system , but with a larger color palette and lower resolution. Thanks to the color display and background lighting, it was graphically superior to the Game Boy, and the sound output was better. The processor was clocked a little slower (Gameboy 4.2 MHz, Game Gear 3.58 MHz). In addition, there was an attachable TV tuner available as an accessory , which allowed reception of the analog TV program.

Despite its technical superiority, the Game Gear could not achieve a significant market share, which was due to the enormous popularity of the Game Boy and a number of disadvantages compared to the Game Boy:

  • The illuminated screen meant that the battery life with 6 Mignon batteries was about five hours (6 hours for the later optimized version). With a SEGA battery pack available as an accessory, it was about 4 hours more. This is very little compared to the Game Boy's average of 14 hours with 4 batteries.
  • The shape of the Game Gear was comparatively large, so that it was not as easy to slip into a jacket pocket or the like like a Game Boy. got stuck.
  • The Game Gear was twice as expensive as the Game Boy at a price of around DM 300.
  • The comparative advertising in the USA, which defamed the widespread and popular Game Boy as technically simple and its users as simple-minded, alienated a large number of potential customers.
  • Mainly, however, the Game Gear suffered from a lack of games. Since development only began after the Game Boy was released, many game developers had already specialized in this. Due to the lack of commercial success of the SEGA handheld, there was also no incentive to develop for both systems.

Because of the technical similarities between Master System and Game Gear, many Master System games have been ported. A converter, the Master Gear, made it possible to play master system games on the Game Gear. The reverse was not possible because the Game Gear had a larger color palette. Game Gear later benefited from the Sega Mega Drive's popularity and received ports from mega-drive games such as Ristar and the first two parts of Streets of Rage .

In retrospect, Game Gear is largely viewed as a failure, but it turned out to be a modest profit for SEGA. Nevertheless, SEGA tried again in 1995 on the console market with the Sega Nomad , a portable Sega Mega Drive, which was never available in Europe. Despite everything, the Game Gear fared better than other systems that tried to compete with the Game Boy (e.g. Ataris Lynx ). Game Gear support was finally discontinued in 1997; However , in 2001 Majesco released a special version of the Game Gears (called Core) at a reduced price in addition to re-releasing some games.

The increasing proliferation of DVB-T and the associated switch-off of terrestrial television in many parts of Europe the television receiver with the optional TV tuner is now both in Germany and in Austria and Switzerland only possible with an antenna adapter cable networks. Another problem is the capacitors used, which lose capacitance over time. This is expressed by a very quiet sound and a very low contrast and brightness of the screen.

Technical specifications

  • Main processor: Zilog Z80 (8-bit)
  • Processor clock: 3.58 MHz
  • Resolution: 160 × 144 pixels
  • Displayable colors: 4096
  • Colors that can be displayed at the same time: 32 (TV tuner: all 4096 at the same time)
  • Maximum number of sprites : 64
  • Sprite size: 8 × 8 or 8 × 16 (or double in zoom mode)
  • Screen diagonal: 8.1 cm
  • Backlight: CCFL
  • Size: 20cm × 11cm × 3.4cm
  • Weight: about 400 g
  • Power supply: 6 AA batteries , battery pack or 9 V mains plug
  • Audio: four-channel sound
  • RAM: 8 KB
  • Video RAM: 16 KB
  • Accessories: TV tuner, FM tuner, clock, battery packs, master gear converter, screen lens (magnifying glass for a larger image), carry case (bag for game gear, battery pack and some games), Gear2Gear link cable

Games (selection)

More than 300 games were released for the console. A large number of these were ports from other Sega consoles such as the Master System and Mega Drive.

Below is a list of some of the most popular games:

Game Gear Micro

Sega announced that on June 3, 2020 (60th year of its existence) it would be introducing something "big". On this day, the Game Gear Micro was finally presented, which will be available in four different colors (gray, blue, yellow and red) according to the current plan from October 6, 2020 exclusively in Japan at a price of 4,890 yen (around € 40) should be. Each color version has four different games preinstalled:

There will also be an extra bundle for the equivalent of around € 200, which will contain all four color versions as well as a magnifying accessory called "Big Window Micro".

The screen diagonal is 1.15 inches.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c SEGA hardware history. In: sega-network.de. 2003, accessed February 10, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b Feature: The 10 Worst-Selling Handhelds of All Time ( July 30, 2008 memento in the Internet Archive ), Gamepro.com, July 30, 2007.
  3. ↑ The top-selling GameGear games. In: vgchartz.com. Retrieved December 8, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b c d tiny for the anniversary: ​​Sega announces "Game Gear Micro" | Blick - Games. In: look. Retrieved June 4, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b c Sega celebrates 60 years with the new Game Gear Micro. In: PC Games . June 3, 2020, accessed June 4, 2020 .