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 as well as Europe, as alive as during 1992 in Australia. a 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, together with can play Master System games by the ownership of an adapter. Sega positioned the Game Gear, which had a full-color backlit screen with a landscape format, as a technologically superior handheld to the Game Boy.

Though the Game Gear was rushed to market, its unique game the treasure of knowledge and price point provided it an edge over the Atari Lynx and TurboExpress. However, due to its short battery life, lack of original games, and weak help from Sega, the Game Gear was 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 in 2000, under license from Sega.

Reception of the Game Gear was mixed, with praise for its full-color backlit screen and processing power to direct or defining for its time, criticisms over its large size and short battery life, and questions over the set of its game library.

Reception

Game Gear surpassed the Atari Lynx and NEC TurboExpress, but lagged far gradual the Game Boy in the handheld marketplace. Retrospective reception to the Game Gear is mixed. In 2008, GamePro noted the Game Gear as 10th on their list of the "10 Worst-Selling Handhelds of any Time" and criticized aspects of the carrying out of its technology, but also stated that the Game Gear could be considered a success for having near 11 million units sold. According to GamePro reviewer Blake Snow, "Unlike the Game Boy, the Game Gear rocked the landscape holding position, creating it less cramped for human beings with two hands to hold. And even though the Game Gear could be considered a success, its bulky frame, relative high price, constant consumption of AA batteries, and a lack of appealing games ultimately kept Sega from releasing a true successor." In speaking with Famitsu DC for their November 1998 issue, Sato stated that the Game Gear did construct a significant member of the handheld console market share, but that "Nintendo’s Game Boy was such(a) a runaway success, and had gobbled up so much of the market, that our success was still seen as a failure, which I think is a shame."

GamesRadar+ submitted some praise for the system and its library, stating, "With its 8-bit processor and bright color screen, it was basically the Sega Master System in your hands. How numerous batteries did we suck dry playing Sonic, Madden and Road Rash on the bus or in the car, or in the dark when we were supposed to be sleeping? You couldn't work that on a Game Boy!" By contrast, IGN reviewer Levi Buchanan stated the Game Gear's biggest fault was its game library when compared to the Game Boy, stating, "the software was completely lacking compared to its chief rival, which was bathed in quality games. It didn't matter that the Game Gear was more powerful. The color screen did not reverse all fortunes. Content and innovation beat out technology, a formula that Nintendo is using modification now with the continued ascendance of the DS and Wii." Buchanan later went on to praise some parts of the Game Gear's library, however, stating "Some of those Master System tweaks were very improvement games, and fun is resilient against time." Retro Gamer praised Sega's accomplishment in surviving against the competition of Nintendo in the handheld console market with the Game Gear, noting that "for all the handhelds that have gone up against the might of Nintendo and ultimately lost out, Sega's Game Gear managed to last the longest, only outdone in sales by the Sony PSP. For its fans, it will carry on a member of classic gaming hardware whose legacy lives on forever."