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Hello all

I've noticed some of the Game Gears I've repaired have a BIOS whereas others don't. Why did SEGA add/remove the BIOS? What came first? BIOS or no BIOS?

I'm really curious why SEGA added one.

Also if anyone knows... what is the difference between the single and twin ASIC chip mainboards?

Really curious about these little portables.

Thanks for any info

Have a look here:
http://www.smspower.org/Development/BIOSes#GameGear

Wow very interesting, thank you. I presume the SMS mode is when you use a SMS adaptor on the Game Gear? or?

Very cool none the less. I find these little things fascinating.

It serves three purposes: to reduce piracy, to make it hard to make unlicensed games and to not start a game when the connection is bad. On the first count, it didn't help much. Some existing pirate stock didn't work. On the second count, it was mostly destroyed legally some years later, as the Mega Drive BIOS worked similarly and third parties won the court cases. It's nowhere near the NES anti piracy/unlicensed chip.

The single chip board saved money to manufacture and the batteries lasted longer.

Very good info, thank you very much.

Pretty interesting that the single ASIC boards last longer on batteries.

Is there any performance advantages between the 2 boards? I notice FPS drops in some games on my very very early game gear I use (2nd month of 1991) I'm wondering if they have better performance later on...?

Thanks guys :)

No, a faster CPU would have caused a lot of compatibility issues. (Nothing that a turbo button couldn't solve, though.)

Cool ok :) Thank you for the info. Very interesting.

The Game Gear was a awesome bit of hardware for the time.

Author	Message
dreamscape Joined: 11 Nov 2014 Posts: 126 Location: England, UK	SEGA Game Gear BIOS, Why? Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 5:13 pm
	Hello all I've noticed some of the Game Gears I've repaired have a BIOS whereas others don't. Why did SEGA add/remove the BIOS? What came first? BIOS or no BIOS? I'm really curious why SEGA added one. Also if anyone knows... what is the difference between the single and twin ASIC chip mainboards? Really curious about these little portables. Thanks for any info

gallos_11 Joined: 07 Jun 2010 Posts: 195	Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 5:58 pm
gallos_11 Joined: 07 Jun 2010 Posts: 195	Have a look here: http://www.smspower.org/Development/BIOSes#GameGear

dreamscape Joined: 11 Nov 2014 Posts: 126 Location: England, UK	Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 6:26 pm
	Wow very interesting, thank you. I presume the SMS mode is when you use a SMS adaptor on the Game Gear? or? Very cool none the less. I find these little things fascinating.

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14747 Location: London	Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 7:57 pm
	It serves three purposes: to reduce piracy, to make it hard to make unlicensed games and to not start a game when the connection is bad. On the first count, it didn't help much. Some existing pirate stock didn't work. On the second count, it was mostly destroyed legally some years later, as the Mega Drive BIOS worked similarly and third parties won the court cases. It's nowhere near the NES anti piracy/unlicensed chip. The single chip board saved money to manufacture and the batteries lasted longer.

dreamscape Joined: 11 Nov 2014 Posts: 126 Location: England, UK	Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 8:05 pm
	Very good info, thank you very much. Pretty interesting that the single ASIC boards last longer on batteries. Is there any performance advantages between the 2 boards? I notice FPS drops in some games on my very very early game gear I use (2nd month of 1991) I'm wondering if they have better performance later on...? Thanks guys :)

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14747 Location: London	Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 8:18 pm
	No, a faster CPU would have caused a lot of compatibility issues. (Nothing that a turbo button couldn't solve, though.)

dreamscape Joined: 11 Nov 2014 Posts: 126 Location: England, UK	Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 8:49 pm
	Cool ok :) Thank you for the info. Very interesting. The Game Gear was a awesome bit of hardware for the time.

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