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The Sega Game Gear was a handheld game console released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in the US and Europe, and 1992 in Australia. Being an early 1990s handheld, the Game Gear mainly competed with the Nintendo Game Boy, the Atari Lynx, and the NEC TurboExpress. The Game Gear was the second portable game system with a color display, following the Lynx (1989).

History

Unused Game Gear design concept

The Game Gear was developed during 1989 and 1990, and was primarily intended to compete against the Nintendo Game Boy. It featured more powerful hardware than the Game Boy, and like the competing Lynx, had a backlit color screen which gave it an advantage over the Game Boy's non-backlit monochrome display. Sega based the Game Gear on the Master System in order to reduce development time, but the Game Gear has some notable hardware improvements, such as a much larger color palette (4,096 compared to the SMS's 64) and true stereo sound. While this means Game Gear games are not compatible with the Master System, it is possible to play Master System games on the Game Gear with an adapter such as the Master Gear Converter. The US Game Gear was originally packed with a wrist strap and a puzzle game called Columns.

The system originally sold for ¥19,800 in Japan, $149.99 in the US, and £99.99 in Europe. The Game Gear sold about 11 million units, compared to about 100 million units for the Nintendo Game Boy.

Sega retroactively assigned the "Mercury" codename to the Game Gear after the release of the Saturn.

Hardware

The Sega Game Gear has a Z80 CPU running at 3.58 MHz, a 3.2" diagonal full color fluorescent backlit screen, and a mono speaker (although sound can be in stereo with headphones). The Game Gear will run for about 4-6 hours on a set of six AA batteries.

Models

There are many different Game Gear revisions and models. These are just a few, listed with minimal info.

HGG-3210: Japanese version. Can have either the VA0 or VA1 board revisions.
HGG-3223: "Kid's Gear" version which was only sold in Japan. Has a different front shell but is otherwise identical to previous systems. Always has the VA1 board revision.
2110: First US version from 1991, compatible with all games and accessories. Can have either the VA0 or VA1 board revisions.
2110K: Revised US version sold between 1993 and 1996. Uses the VA4 board revision and has a different LCD compared to the 2110.
2110G: Another US revision sold between 1994 and 1996, and uses the VA5 board revision. This model number was also used for the Majesco Game Gear (detailed below).
2110-50: First EU version sold between 1991 and 1993. Can have either the VA0 or VA1 board revisions.
MK-2110-50: Second EU version. Always has the VA1 board revision.

Majesco Game Gear (2001)

In 2001, US distributor Majesco reintroduced the Game Gear and began selling it at Toys 'R Us and several discount retail chains for US$29.99. It is easily recognizable by its darker plastic, purple start button, black power switch and colorless text on the screen lens. Although it is compatible with every Game Gear game, it is not compatible with the US version of the TV Tuner and some Master System converters. Production ended around 2002.

Accessories

The Game Gear had a large number of accessories, including:

Car Antenna
Master Gear Converter
TV Tuner
AC Adapter
FM Receiver
Car Adapter
Battery packs:
- Rechargeable Battery Pack
- PowerBack
Gear to Gear Cable allowing 2 player games