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Sega's Game Gear: A Look Back
Written by Señor Cha Cha on Friday, May 19, 2006
It was clear in 1990 that the Game Gear, with its backlit, color screen, was destined to rule the handheld gaming roost. We take a comprehensive look back at the one retro handheld that *almost* made it...
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The front of the machine is attractive enough. The screen, which was big at the time, is smack dab in the middle, with a functional d-pad on the left and two face buttons (coldly named 1 and 2) to the right. Also worth noting is the system's lone speaker, which is located directly underneath the d-pad, and the blue Start button, which rests overtop the buttons. Not a bad design, actually. The Game Gear is certainly a lot more comfortable than the Game Boy, the Atari Lynx, and the Turbo Express, and the screen is pretty cool, though not nearly as sharp as the Turbo Express'.
On the back we have the cartridge slot and the two battery compartments. Again, the Game Gear takes six double AAs and they're quickly depleted. As for the carts, they just slide into place, though getting dust inside of the unit wrecks some havoc, so it's not uncommon to blow into the system in order to get games to work.
Also note the two T shaped slots to the left and right of the serial number, as well as the hole underneath the black and white Sega sticker. These were used to fasten peripherals such as the TV Tuner, Master Gear, and magnification device.
On top of the unit are all the miscellaneous functions. From left to right there's the Volume dial, headphone jack, Gear-to-Gear cable jack (for multi play), AC socket, and sliding power switch. Also note that on the right side (not shown) of the Game Gear is its Brightness dial, used for adjusting the screen's clarity.
Lastly, there's the bottom of the Game Gear, which is where you'll want to attach the handy dandy wrist strap (included with each system). Personally, I always found these to be stupid. No sane person should ever want to carry their $120-$200 system by a piece of rope.
Sadly, I missed out on most of the Game Gear's accessories, though I did have this magnification peripheral, dubbed Super Wide Gear. It works, but it also adds some serious bulk to the machine, and this is a first party device! It's akin to putting coke bottle glasses on your grandma. However, despite how ridiculous it looks, it definitely serves its purpose.
posted May 22, 2006