The Japanese company celebrates its 60th anniversary with a miniature version of its first portable console, released back in 1990.
SEGA has announced Game Gear Micro, a miniature version of its first handheld console originally released in Japan in October 1990. The announcement is one of the big surprises that Sonic the Hedgehog's parents were preparing for the company's 60th anniversary and serves , also, to celebrate the console's 30th birthday.
October 6 for 4,980 yen: four colors confirmed
Game Gear Micro will hit the Japanese market this October 6 in a total of four colors: black, blue, yellow, and red. The price, at least in Japan, will be 4,980 yen, which at the current exchange rate is about 41 euros.
According to the scoop that Famitsu has announced on its website, the console will have these dimensions: 80 mm wide x 43 mm high x 20 mm thick (40% thinner). The screen will be 1 inch and will have a crosshead and action buttons so as not to miss any command regarding the product from decades ago.
In regards to games, each unit of the presented variations will arrive with four classic Game Gear video games pre-installed; with genres like puzzles, action or RPG. The system will incorporate functions such as quick save of the games to interrupt them at any time and power through two AAA batteries with option to batteries (USB rechargeable). The person responsible for this work is none other than M2 Co., Ltd, experts in dealing with SEGA products.
Confirmed games in each Game Gear Micro pack
At the moment, these are the confirmed game packs in each presented version of Game Gear Micro:
Black Pack: Out Run, Puyo Puyo Tsu, Royal Stone and Sonic the Hedgehog.
Blue Pack: Baku Baku Animal: Sekai Shiikugakari Senshuken, Gunstar Heroes, Sonic & Tails and Sylvan Tale
Yellow Pack: Nazo Puyo: Arle no Roux, Shining Force, Shining Force II and Shining Force: Final Conflict
Red Pack: Columns, The G.G. Shinobi, Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible and Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible Special
Game Gear, icon of sega in the nineties
Game Gear hit the market in October 1990; in the United States and Europe we had to wait until April 1991 to find it in stores. It served at the time as a response to Nintendo's Game Boy, and was characterized by being – together with Turbo Express and Atari Lynx – one of the first color portable consoles in history. Broadly speaking, we are talking about a Master System in a portable format: lower resolution, but slightly better graphics and, above all, portability. Its Zilog Z80 CPU allowed what was initially a dream for many to continue becoming a reality on that 3.2-inch screen at 160 x 144 resolution.
Videogame history with more than 300 video games in its catalog. The screen, which promised to last about 5 hours, was one of its major drawbacks as it was powered by traditional batteries. That did not prevent Game Gear from being on the market until 1997 and having the support of large publishers. In exchange, its initial price was around 130 euros, although over time it ended up falling below a price of 100 euros. Despite not being a great commercial success, Game Gear sold throughout its useful life 10.6 million units and more than 38 million video games.
Additionally, SEGA will market a display-size magnification peripheral called Big Window Micro. It can be booked soon in stores such as Amazon Japan, Rakuten and SEGA Store.
