Editing Game Gear (section)

===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>