Sega Game Gear

For the American automobile manufacturer, see Mercury (company).

Sega Game Gear
Manufacturer: Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
Release Date RRP Code JP 1990-10-06 ¥19800 HGG-3200 US (NY/LA) 1991-04-15 $149.95 US (Nationwide) 1991-04-26 $149.95 DE 1991 ES 1991 FR 1991-06 990F NL 199x PT 1991 UK 1991-06-29 £99.99 FI 199x SE 1991 GR 199x IT 1991 CZ 1992-10 AU 1991 MX 1992 BR 1991-07 R$160,000 KR 1991-01 ₩198,000 SPC-150 SA 199x 500‎﷼‎ IS 199x NO 199x

The Game Gear (ゲームギア) is a handheld video game console developed by Sega and released in late 1990. It is a full colour console and was Sega's first attempt to compete in the handheld games market (the second being the Sega Nomad, a handheld Mega Drive). In South Korea it is known as the Handy Gam*Boy (핸디겜보이) and Handy Aladdin Boy (핸디알라딘보이).

While not explicitly designed to compete with other handhelds, it was beaten to market by Nintendo's Game Boy and Atari's Lynx consoles, and also had to fend off competition from NEC's TurboExpress. After development of the Sega Saturn began, the Game Gear was retroactively given the codename Mercury.

Hardware

The Game Gear is a "portable" video game device, designed to be held lengthwise at the sides and has a backlit, colour LCD screen.

Similarly to the Mega Drive, which at the time was Sega's main focus in the home console market, the Game Gear is derived from the earlier Sega Master System, with almost identical hardware save for a new VDP capable of displaying palettes consisting of a wider variety of colors, and the playback of stereo sound. Most Game Gear games run software with a smaller screen resolution than their Master System counterparts; the screen is fully capable of displaying higher resolutions, but doing so can make intricate details such as text hard to see.

Like the Master System, the Game Gear features a D-Pad and two buttons, and , but also adds a third,  START . This is one button short of a Game Boy.

Unfortunately, due to technical limitations of the era, the Game Gear demands six AA batteries to be played on the go, of which the fluorescent backlight on the LCD screen will eat through in three to five hours (though a battery pack provides longer playtime). Furthermore, the system gives off more heat than the Game Boy, often leading to "sweaty palms" after prolonged use. The system was also considered not to be very "portable"; its bulky size means it does not fit in many pockets, and the power-draining backlight of the LCD screen (which cannot be turned off) meant Game Gears were unusable after a short period of time. An AC adaptor can be plugged into the system so that it runs off the mains, but this was not considered practical for consumers of the day.

Game Gears were also manufactured at a time where capacitor problems were rampant across the electronics industry. As a result, screen and audio failures are common, and fixes are not always simple.

Models

Main article: Game Gear consoles.

• 

  Worldwide model

• 

  North American model (Sports Edition)

• 

  North American model (Majesco)

• 

  Japanese model (light blue)

• 

  Japanese model (red)

• 

  Japanese model (yellow)

• 

  Japanese model (white)

• 

  Japanese model (Coca Cola Kid edition (Model #3210CR))

• 

  Japanese model (Magic Knight Rayearth edition (Model #HGG-3210 RAY))

• 

  Kid's Gear (キッズギア) Japanese model (Virtua Fighter Mini edition)

• 

  Japanese model (Smoke)

• 

  Korean model (Handy Gam*Boy)

• 

  Korean model (Handy Aladdin Boy)

• 

  Prototype model

Technical specifications

See Sega Master System specifications for further specifications

The hardware is largely identical to the Sega Master System, with some of the differences mentioned below.

• CPU: Zilog Z80 (8-bit)

• Speed: 3.579545 MHz (same as NTSC colorburst)

• Resolution: 160 x 144 pixels
• Color palette available: 4096 colors

• Colors on screen: 32

• Sprites on screen: 64

• Sprite size: 8x8

• Screen size: 3.2 Inches
• Audio: SN76489
• RAM: 24 KB

History

Main article: Sega Game Gear/History.

Region comparison

Main article: Fourth generation/Region comparison.

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English	Game Gear	Game Gear
Japanese	ゲームギア	Game Gear
Korean	핸디겜보이	Handy Gam*Boy
Hebrew	גיימגיר

Games

Main article: Sega Game Gear games.

Production credits

• Hiroshi Yagi
• Hiroyuki Ohtaka

Source:

Developer mentions

Magazine articles

Main article: Sega Game Gear/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: Sega Game Gear/Promotional material.

Logos by regions

Logo	Region
	International logo
	Used in Japan, Asia and Africa
	Used in North America, Asia and parts of South America
	Used in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay
	Used in Western and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Australasia
	Used in Arabian Peninsula
	Used in Scandinavia
	Used in South Korea

Artwork

• 

  Console outline

External links

• Sega of Japan catalogue pages (Japanese): Game Gear
• Console Database - Sega Game Gear info and FAQs
• SMS Power - Technical information and more on the Game Gear and its bigger brother, the Master System

References

Sega home video game consoles
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