Sega Game Gear (GG)
The Sega Game Gear is a handheld game console released by Sega in 1990 as a response to Nintendo's Game Boy console . It became the third handheld console to feature color graphics, following the Atari Lynx and TurboExpress .
Work on the console began in 1989 under the working title Project Mercury , following Sega 's tradition at the time of using planet names as working project names.
The console first went on sale on October 6, 1990 in Japan. In the United States, Europe and Brazil, the console became available in 1991, and in Australia in 1992.
Sega set out to make a handheld 8-bit game system that would be vastly superior to the Game Boy by any means necessary . Since Sega 's previous console , the Master System , outperformed Nintendo's 8-bit consoles in terms of technical characteristics, it was decided to use Master System -based hardware in the Game Gear . The strongest similarity to the Master System architecture allows easy porting of Master System games to the Game Gear . Unlike the Game Boy system, the Game Gear systemhad a color screen, supported expansion modules inserted into the cartridge slot (a converter for connecting Master System cartridges, a receiver, and even a TV tuner), the console was comfortable to hold in your hands, unlike the Gameboy. A special Super Wide Gear lens was sold separately for the console , visually increasing the screen size to 5 inches versus the usual 3.2.
Of the shortcomings, first of all, it is worth noting the high power consumption (one set of batteries lasted a maximum of 4 hours). There were also not very many high- quality games for the Game Gear , which stemmed from the policy of Nintendo . And although this console was not as popular as the Gameboy, it firmly held its market niche and was officially supported until 1997 (sales ceased in Japan in December 1996), which indicates the great potential of the Game Gear. In 2000, Majesco resumed production of the Game Gear in a slightly modified case.
Game Gear Specifications
- Processor : Zilog Z-80, clock speed 3.6 MHz.
- RAM : main memory 24 KB, video memory 16 KB.
- Sound : 4 channels (3 voices, 1 noise). The sound of each channel can be shifted to the left or right for a pseudo stereo sound.
- Screen : 3.2 inches, backlit. Resolution 160×144, 20×18 cells, 8×8 each (visible part); 256×224, 32×28 cells of 8×8 each (total resolution): 4096 colors per palette, up to 32 colors simultaneously displayed.
A total of 233 games were released for the console in the United States and 196 games each in Europe and Japan.