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Game Gear
The Game Gear 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.
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 ¥19,800 in Japan, US$149.99 (equivalent to $300 in 2024) 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.[citation needed] 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."
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.
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Game Gear
The Game Gear 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.
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 ¥19,800 in Japan, US$149.99 (equivalent to $300 in 2024) 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.[citation needed] 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."
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.