Sega Game Gear

The Sega Game Gear was Sega's response to Nintendo's Game Boy. It was released in 1991 and was basically a pocket Sega Master System, though it seemed to have arguably better graphics. However, despite its technical superiority, it did not gain a significant market share due to the enormous popularity of the Game Boy. It did have a few setbacks: the backlit screen led to high battery drain, and it was rather large. Mostly, however, it suffered from a lack of quality games, as Sega failed to sign up as many key software developers as Nintendo. Today, the Game Gear is widely considered to have been a failure, and unlike the Game Boy no newer versions were released.

Specifications

• Main Processor: Zilog Z80 (8-bit)
• Processor Speed: 3.58 MHz (same as NTSC dot clock)
• Resolution: 160 x 144 pixels
• Colors Available: 4,096
• Colors on screen: 32
• Maximum Sprites: 64
• Sprite Size: 8x8
• Screen Size: 3.2 Inches
• Audio: 4-channel tone generator
• RAM: 24 KB