Editing Game Gear (section)

==History==
Developed as [[codename]] "Project Mercury",<ref name="RetroGamer">{{cite journal|last=Wild|first=Kim|year=2009|title=Retroinspection: Sega Game Gear|url=https://archive.org/stream/retro_gamer/RetroGamer_041#page/n75/mode/2up|journal=[[Retro Gamer]]|publisher=Imagine Publishing Ltd.|issue=41|pages=78–85}}</ref> the Game Gear was launched in Japan on October 6, 1990,<ref name="encyclopedia" /> in North America and Europe in 1991, and in Australia in 1992.<ref name="RetroGamer" /> Originally retailing at {{JPY|19,800}} in Japan,<ref name="encyclopedia" /> {{US$|149.99|1991|round=-2}} in North America, and [[Pound sterling|£]]99.99 in the United Kingdom,<ref name="RetroGamer" /> the Game Gear was developed to compete with the [[Game Boy]], which [[Nintendo]] had released in 1989.<ref name="allgame" /> The decision to make a handheld console was made by Sega's CEO [[Hayao Nakayama]] and the name was chosen by newly appointed Sega of America CEO Michael Katz. Both Sega's chairman [[Isao Okawa]] and cofounder [[David Rosen (businessman)|David Rosen]] approved of the name. The console had been designed as a portable version of the [[Master System]], with more powerful features than the Game Boy, including a full-color screen instead of [[monochromatic]].<ref name="IGNGG" /> According to former Sega console hardware research and development head Hideki Sato, Sega saw the Game Boy's black and white screen as "a challenge to make our own color handheld system".<ref name=":0">{{bulleted list | {{cite book|last1=Sato|first1=Hideki|series=[[Famitsu DC]]|url=https://retrocdn.net/index.php?title=File:Sega_Consumer_History_JP_EnterBrain_Book.pdf&page=23|title=Interview: The Witness of History|chapter=セガ・コンシューマー・ヒストリー (Sega Consumer History)|publisher=[[Enterbrain]]|date=February 15, 2002|pages=22–25|language=ja|isbn=978-4-75770789-4}} | [http://shmuplations.com/segahistory/ Translation] by Shmuplations, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814114513/http://shmuplations.com/segahistory/|date=August 14, 2020}} }}</ref>

To improve upon the design of its competition, Sega modeled the Game Gear with a similar shape to a [[Sega Genesis#Peripherals|Genesis controller]], intending the curved surfaces and greater length to be more comfortable to hold than the Game Boy.<ref name="RG2" /> The console's mass was carefully considered from the beginning of the development, aiming for a total mass between that of the Game Boy and the [[Atari Lynx]], another full-color screen competing product.<ref name=":0" /> Game Gear can use the Master Gear adaptor to play games from the similar Master System.<ref>{{cite magazine|date=March 1995|title=Gear Up Master System Games|url=https://retrocdn.net/images/0/07/GamePro_US_068.pdf|magazine=[[GamePro]]|publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG]]|issue=68|page=136|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113193151/https://retrocdn.net/images/0/07/GamePro_US_068.pdf|archive-date=January 13, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> The original Game Gear pack-in game was ''[[Columns (video game)|Columns]]'', which is similar to ''[[Tetris (Game Boy)|Tetris]]'' which was bundled with the Game Boy at launch.<ref name="allgame" />

[[File:Sega GameGear 003.jpg|thumb|Game Gear displaying the [[Sega]] trademark in color]]
With a late start into the handheld console market, Sega rushed to get the Game Gear into stores quickly,<ref name="book">{{cite book|title=Innovation and Marketing in the Video Game Industry: Avoiding the Performance Trap|last1=Wesley|first1=David|last2=Barczak|first2=Gloria|publisher=Gower Publishing, Ltd.|year=2010|isbn=978-0-5660-9167-4}}</ref> having lagged behind Nintendo in sales without a handheld on the market.<ref name="RG2" /> To simplify development, Sega based the Game Gear hardware on the Master System, with a much larger 4,096 color [[Palette (computing)|palette]] compared to the Master System's 64 colors.<ref name="RetroGamer" /> Part of the intention was easy conversion of Master System games. The Game Gear's stronger hardware impacted its battery life, running for three to five hours on six AA batteries, falling short of the Game Boy, which could run for more than 30 hours on four [[AA batteries]].<ref name="RG2" /> Its quick launch in Japan sold 40,000 units in its first two days, 90,000 within a month, and more than 600,000 back orders. According to Sega of America marketing director Robert Botch, "there is clearly a need for a quality portable system that provides features other systems have failed to deliver. This means easy-to-view, full-color graphics and exciting quality games that appeal to all ages."<ref name="RetroGamer" />

===Release and marketing===
Before the Game Gear's launch in 1990, the [[16-bit]] [[Sega Genesis|Genesis]] had been successfully marketed as a "more mature" option for players, and this was repeated against the Game Boy. Sega's marketing in Japan did not take this approach, instead opting for advertisements with Japanese women featuring the handheld, but Sega's worldwide advertising prominently positioned the Game Gear as the "[[Cool (aesthetic)|cooler]]" console than the Game Boy.<ref name="RG2" />

In North America, marketing for the Game Gear included side-by-side comparisons against the Game Boy which likened Game Boy players to the [[Obesity|obese]] and uneducated. Most of these advertisements feature the "Sega Scream" with a person yelling the name. One Sega advertisement in early 1994 features the quote, "If you were [[color blind]] and had an [[Intelligence quotient|IQ]] of less than 12, then you wouldn't mind which portable you had."<ref name="RG2" /> Such advertising drew criticism from Nintendo, who sought to have protests organized against Sega for insulting [[Disability|disabled people]]. Sega of America president [[Tom Kalinske]] responded that Nintendo "should spend more time improving their products and marketing rather than working on behind-the-scenes coercive activities". Ultimately, this debate would have little impact on sales for the Game Gear.<ref name="book" />

Europe and Australia were the last regions to receive the Game Gear. Due to delays, some importers paid up to £200 per system. Upon launch in Europe, video game distributor [[Virgin Interactive|Virgin Mastertronic]] unveiled the price as £99.99, positioning it as being more expensive than the Game Boy, but less expensive than the also full-color Atari Lynx.<ref name="RetroGamer" /> Marketing in the [[United Kingdom]] included the slogan, "To be this good takes Sega", and advertisements with a [[Motorcycling|biker]].<ref name="RG2" /> In the United Kingdom, the Game Gear had a 16% share of the handheld market in January 1992, increasing to 40% by December 1992.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Geared For Success |magazine=[[Sega Force]] |date=March 4, 1993 |issue=16 (April 1993) |page=17 |url=https://retrocdn.net/images/9/98/SegaForce_UK_16.pdf#page=17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329203427/https://retrocdn.net/images/9/98/SegaForce_UK_16.pdf |archive-date=March 29, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Decline===
Sega reduced support for the Game Gear in favor of [[home console]]s. The successful Genesis yielded two major peripherals, the [[Sega CD]] and the [[32X]]. The 32-bit [[Sega Saturn|Saturn]] console was launched in 1994.<ref name="RetroGamer" /> Though selling 10.62 million units by March 1996 (including 1.78 million in Japan),<ref name="Sega Stats">{{cite magazine|url=https://imgur.com/hXXa6DE|title=Weekly Famitsu Express|magazine=[[Famitsu]]|volume=11|issue=392|date=June 21, 1996|access-date=August 2, 2019}} See lines 8 and 20 for units sold in Japan and other regions, respectively.</ref> the Game Gear was never able to match the success of its main rival, the Game Boy, with ten times the sales.<ref name="IGNGG" /> Sales of the Game Gear were further hurt by Nintendo's release of the smaller [[Game Boy Pocket]], running on two [[AAA battery|AAA batteries]].<ref name="RG2" />

Plans for a [[16-bit]] [[History of video game consoles (fifth generation)|fifth generation]] direct successor to the Game Gear were canceled, leaving only the [[Genesis Nomad]], a portable version of the Genesis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uk.retro.ign.com/articles/974/974695p7.html|title=IGN Presents The History of SEGA|author=Fahs|first=Travis|date=April 21, 2009|website=[[IGN]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623173515/http://www.ign.com/articles/2009/04/21/ign-presents-the-history-of-sega?page=7|archive-date=June 23, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=July 8, 2013}}</ref> Moreover, the Nomad was intended to supplement the Game Gear rather than replace it; in press coverage leading up to the Nomad's release, Sega representatives said the company was not discontinuing the Game Gear in favor of the Nomad, and that "we believe the two can co-exist".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ramshaw|first=Mark James|date=November 1995|title=Generator|url=https://archive.org/details/nextgen-issue-011/page/n31/mode/2up|journal=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|publisher=[[Imagine Media]]|issue=11|page=31}}</ref> Though the Nomad had been released in 1995, Sega did not officially end support for the Game Gear until 1996 in Japan, and 1997 worldwide.<ref name="RG2">{{cite magazine|last=Kapa|first=Damien|year=2005|title=Sega Game Gear|url=https://archive.org/stream/retro_gamer/RetroGamer_017#page/n25/mode/2up| magazine=[[Retro Gamer]]|publisher=Live Publishing|issue=17|pages=26–35|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>

Though the system was originally discontinued in 1997, [[Video game publisher|third-party publisher]] [[Majesco Entertainment]] released a version of the Game Gear at {{US$|30|2000|round=-1}}, with {{US$|15|long=no}} games in 2000 under license from Sega. New games were released, such as a port of ''[[Super Battletank]]''. This machine is compatible with all previous Game Gear games,<ref name="IGNGG" /> but incompatible with the TV Tuner and some Master System adaptors.<ref name="RetroGamer" /> The system and its re-released games were sold throughout 2000 and 2001 but were discontinued the following year.<ref name="SMS Power! - Game Gear Hardware" /><ref name="GamePro (US)">{{cite book |title=GamePro (US) Issue 152 - May 2001 |date=May 2001 |publisher=GamePro (US) |pages=26 |edition=Issue 152 - May 2001 |url=https://retrocdn.net/images/c/cc/GamePro_US_152.pdf |access-date=April 13, 2024 |ref=GamePro (US)}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Amazon.com - April 05, 2001 - Archive.org Capture |website=Amazon |url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/409566/funlife |access-date=April 13, 2024 |archive-date=April 5, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010405023936/http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/409566/funlife |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=IGN.com Sonic Advance Article - Dec 2001 |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/12/14/sonic-the-hedgehog-advance |website=IGN.com |publisher=IGN |access-date=April 13, 2024}}</ref> Over ten years later, on March 2, 2011, [[Nintendo]] announced that its [[Nintendo 3DS|3DS]] [[Virtual Console]] service on the [[Nintendo eShop]] would feature Game Gear games.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://3ds.nintendolife.com/news/2011/03/sega_names_first_game_gear_games_for_3ds_virtual_console|title=Sega Names First Game Gear Games for 3DS Virtual Console|author=Newton|first=James|date=March 3, 2011|website=[[Nintendo Life]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623175854/http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2011/03/sega_names_first_game_gear_games_for_3ds_virtual_console|archive-date=June 23, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=July 8, 2013}}</ref>