Game Gear
| Manufacturer | Sega |
|---|---|
| Type | Handheld video game console |
| Generation | Fourth |
| Released | |
| Introductory price | ¥19,800 (equivalent to ¥24,000 in 2024) US$149.99 (equivalent to $350 in 2025) £99.99 (equivalent to £220 in 2023) |
| Discontinued |
|
| Units sold | Around 14 million |
| Media | ROM cartridge |
| CPU | Zilog Z80 @ 3.5 MHz |
| Memory | 8 KB RAM, 16 KB VRAM |
| Display | 3.2 in (81 mm) backlit LCD, 160 × 144 px |
| Graphics | 4,096-color palette, 32 colors on-screen |
| Sound |
|
| Power | 6 × AA batteries (3 to 5 hours) |
| Dimensions | 210 × 113 × 38 mm (8.3 × 4.4 × 1.5 in) |
| Best-selling game | Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (400,000) |
| Successor | Genesis Nomad |
The Game Gear is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sega. It was released in Japan on October 6, 1990, in North America and Europe in April 1991, and in Australia in 1992. The Game Gear was Sega's first handheld console and competed with Nintendo's Game Boy, Atari's Lynx, and NEC's TurboExpress in the fourth generation of video game consoles.
Sega rushed the 8-bit Game Gear to market to compete with the Game Boy. It shares much of its hardware with the Master System, and can play Master System games with an adapter. Its hardware is superior to the Game Boy's, with a full-color backlit screen and a Z80 CPU. However, it resulted in a much shorter battery life, running for three to five hours on six AA batteries. Sega based the landscape design on the Sega Genesis controller and sought to repeat the Genesis's success by positioning the Game Gear as a more mature and attractive alternative to the Game Boy.
The Game Gear received praise for its hardware, but criticism for its short battery life, large size, and weak support from Sega. Its game library—which includes many ports of Master System games—and price point gave it an edge over the Atari Lynx and TurboExpress, but it was unable to effectively compete with the Game Boy. Sega canceled plans for a 16-bit successor and reduced Game Gear support to prioritize its home consoles. It sold around 14 million units in its lifetime. Majesco Entertainment rereleased the Game Gear as a budget system between 2000 and 2002, under license from Sega.