Talk:Sega Game Gear

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Famicom style controller This article is within the scope of WikiProject Video games. For more information, visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.
Portal:CVG
 CVG Portal
Start This article has been rated as Start-Class on the assessment scale.
Mid This article is on a subject of mid priority within gaming for inclusion in Wikipedia 1.0.
This article is supported by the Sega task force.
CVG To-do:

Contents

[edit] U2 Music video

"...the singer Bono Vox appears playing a Game Gear inside of Dublin Subway."

Erm, there's no underground rail system in Dublin. I haven't seen this video, so don't know what is meant by this. Do you mean a pedestrian tunnel, or a DART station, or was it just not in Dublin? --Zilog Jones 16:19, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Actually there's a boy playing. In a bus. The bus should be in Berlin, Germany - near the Brandenburg Gate. --32X 01:24, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

That's interesting.

[edit] I don't know where this should go

The Game Gear was also released for a limited time in blue. This blue color, I believe, was only available if you bought the sports pack. (It also came with a little carrying case and either Madden or world series baseball...)

[edit] added

I added a bit on it, in the Rivalry with Game Boy section and updated the heading to Sales History and Game Boy Rivalry. That's odd.

[edit] Game Gears in stores

Are game gears still able to be found in stores. 64.192.107.242 03:33, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

Only in second hand or retro stores. You also find them on ebay and flea markets. --32X 00:18, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] TV tuner

I've reverted this [1] edit since my GG's serial begins with a "B" and works pretty well with the tv tuner. --32X 08:35, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

Well, I've just found that information: "if the model number of your GameGear starts with a letter, the tuner might not work." [2] --32X 09:56, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

Does anyone have info backing up the claim that Tuner support was removed due to a lawsuit? or even that it was removed at all? i tried google with all the obvious search combinations and found nothing. something like that we need to either find a source or remove--Lehk 05:07, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

From the Digital Press Technical Knowledge Base: "Somewhere in the middle of the Game Gear's lifespan, Sega decided to change the materials used in the making of the Game Gear's screen from glass to plastic. However, in doing this, the plastic screens became incompatible with the TV Tuner. To check to see if your Game Gear has a glass or plastic screen, simply turn the Game Gear over. If your Game Gear's serial number starts with a number, then the screen is made of glass and should work with the TV Tuner. However, if the serial number begins with a letter, it is made of plastic and will not work with the TV Tuner." The article doesn't mention anything about a lawsuit, however, I'll go back and do some more searching. It seems the lawsuit could possibly be related to the screen itself; as the site I found mentioned, the screen went from glass to plastic; could that be related to the lawsuit? (i.e. could people have cut themselves on the shattered screen on a dropped Game Gear?) -Chrono 05:14, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

With that information I've changed the text to "(if the system's serial number begins with a letter [...] the TV Tuner will probably not function with that particular unit)". It shouldn't be more than a temporary solution.

Hey, my Game Gear's serial begins with a B too! Do You think it might work 32X? -- 02:43 (UTC), 13 July 2006 71.107.186.4

I've moved this question a bit to keep the discussion readable. Read Talk:Sega Game Gear#Model numbers. and provide some additional information. --32X 11:42, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

My friend had a TV tuner on his Game Gear and I always thought you had hotwire it or buy a kit,I believe you could also buy it at a goodwill or more rarely a salvation army

[edit] Specs?

I know some people don't like it but I like seeing the technical specs of older consoles. Maybe another link?

[edit] Model numbers.

I think the problem here is with people confusing the SERIAL number with the MODEL number.

I have 2 Game Gears, both of which have serial numbers that start with a letter.

My older one, that I've owned from the early ninties, has a serial number that starts with the letter K, and the TV tuner works fine. The MODEL number on this unit is 2110-50.

My newer GG has a serial number that starts with AG, and the TV won't work on this one. The model number on this one is 2110G.

So it would seem that if your model number ENDS with a numerical, it should work, but if it ends with a letter, it won't. Gamer-al 22:50, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

Mine is a 2110-50 with the serial B10xxxxxx (where the x replace digits), European board, the screen (inside the Game Gear) is made of glass, the front cover is made of plastics. I have the feeling you're right with the model number. --32X 20:22, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Retail Price

Many game system entries need to have the launch price added. Also, much were games compared to Genesis game? --Navstar 23:12, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

I've found two sources: [3], [4]. Both mention an initial price of 149$ in the U.S., the first one mentions game being sold for 25$ to 30$. --32X 01:26, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Units sold

After a recent edit I start to wonder how many units were sold. I've found [5]: "In 1991 Sega sold over 500,000 units. In 1992 Sega sold 900,000 Game Gear consoles." That is pretty near the "over 1.5 million" units, which we have in the article's infobox. In the book Gameplan (English 1.5 version, @play-asia.com) the author wrote 3 million units (PDF). Both numbers suggest the 24.5 million being vandalism, but seriously: How many units were sold world wide? Both pages don't mention any sources, not to mention there are a lot of mistakes and wrong numbers in Gameplan. --32X 00:59, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

The number of 8 million units (see below) might be true: [6], [7]. Sadly there aren't any sources cited. I've changed it in the article now, since it sounds more reliable. --32X 02:22, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] number of sold units (edit war)

Here we go:
(diff) IP 69.150.41.38 changed it from 1.5 to 24.5 million units
(diff) User 32X (that's me) changed it from 24.5 to 1.5 million units
(diff) IP 67.190.40.19 changed it from 1.5 to 8 million units
(diff) User 32X (that's me) changed it from 8 to 1.5 million units

new change since I have found some sources (see topic above):
(diff) User 32X (that's me) changed it from "Over 1.5" to 8.65 million units --32X 02:26, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

pl:Sega Game Gear: "11 milionów"

Has anyone a reliable source at all? (Besides that, I've posted some information some days ago, just read the topic above.) --32X 01:09, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Some more information: IP IP 69.150.41.38 changed the number of sold units in Sega Game Gear, Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn and Sega Dreamcast (rev without an edit war). Changes were made in Console wars too: [8], [9], [10].
IP 67.190.40.19 did Changes on the first three mentioned articles. --32X 01:20, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Batteries

I've used Energizer/Duracell in it. It's fine. 67.188.172.165 05:48, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Since the same user left a message at the Nomad talk page I've left him some thoughts. You might be interested in it, or may not. --32X 19:34, 11 September 2006 (UTC)My friend had a Sega Nomad.I think they are mainly available thru

eBay.

[edit] Proposed move

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the debate was Not moved. Aside from the logo, note that the naming conventions don't mean the most common name used colloquially among Sega gamers; for example, a magazine might refer to a "Game Boy", without the "Nintendo", as something people recognize standing alone whereas few people would recognize "Game Gear" standing alone except perhaps to think it refers to generic joysticks or video cards. —Centrx→talk • 04:15, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

Sega Game Gear → Game Gear – Game Boy is at that title and not Nintendo Game Boy, despite Nintendo being part of the name of the system. This should similarly be at Game Gear, not Sega Game Gear, as Game Gear is clearly what most people will type in the search box. Voortle 14:17, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Survey

  • Support follows the common name convention. also redirects have been changed into the artilce title on multiple occasions and I have never seen a name change rejected for that reason. --Edgelord 23:17, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
  • Oppose because it's in the logo name [11], and naming conventions are for the logo name (i.e. PlayStation 3 vs. Nintendo GameCube Hbdragon88 17:48, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Discussion

"Generally, article naming should give priority to what the majority of English speakers would most easily recognize, with a reasonable minimum of ambiguity, while at the same time making linking to those articles easy and second nature."

Further down the page, one of the fundamental rules is:

"Use the most common name of a person or thing that does not conflict with the names of other people or things."

Our article titles are not intended to provide information or advertisements for the article itself (we're not marketting a book), they are intended to aid discovery. More people will think of - and search for - a "Game Gear" than a "Sega Game Gear". And since there is nothing else in the world (AFAIK) called a Game Gear (unlike the "Beetle", which is either an apples-and-oranges comparison or a really badly chosen example) I see no reason why the redundant word "Sega" deserves a place in the title.

As for "Game Gear is already a redirect to the article", that's like saying "don't rename it, because it's already got a name" (OK, so it's marginally harder to perform renames over existing redirects, but not prohibitively so). - IMSoP 23:06, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

You're wrongly interpreting the naming convention. We name to according what it is. Sega Mega Drive is named like so because it's shown in the logo. This is why Nintendo GameCube is named like so. That's why Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is also named like so, and why there was contentious edit warring took place at Wii; there was a massive argument whether it was to be named the Nintendo Wii. It is not advertisment; it's the damn name. See the CVG discussion about the naming issue as well, where it was said that Nintendo and Sega usually had their company name in the console product. Hbdragon88 17:48, 5 September 2006 (UTC)
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

[edit] Power

My Game Gear, an european model purchased at launch, is rated at 9v and the DCIN is center negative. I dunno if this is the same for all consoles/revisions, so I'll leave that for you to decide. unsigned comment from: 82.44.47.238 16:25, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

Same goes for my Game Gear, even the wrapping of the adaptor for the Mega Drive mentioned something like "For use with Sega Mega Drive and Sega Game Gear." --32X 19:58, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Peripherals

I think this article could benefit from a section listing the peripherals available for the Game Gear. It would make the page more readable and provide a good deal of concise information. Paul Haymon 12:15, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the debate was No consensus again. Perhaps Game Gear (Sega)? Let's not just keeping making the same move request over and over lest it be viewed as a disruption. —Wknight94 (talk) 13:08, 17 September 2006 (UTC) I never knew Sega Game Gear was compatable with perihperals.

[edit] Proposed move

Sega Game Gear → Game Gear – Game Boy is at that title and not Nintendo Game Boy, despite Nintendo being part of the name of the system. This should similarly be at Game Gear, not Sega Game Gear, as Game Gear is clearly what most people will type in the search box. I'm relisting this as there was no good consensus last time, as few people actually voted. "Game Gear" also gets about 4 to 5 million more hits than "Sega Game Gear". Voortle 14:17, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

  • Support. Clearly the most common name. Voortle 22:02, 9 September 2006 (UTC)
  • Strong Oppose, because:
  • the redirect is there (so you're able to refer to [[Game Gear]] or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Gear">Game Gear</a>),
  • the logo mentions Sega in the title [12],
The logo for the Game Boy system mentions Nintendo. Should we thus move the Game Boy article to Nintendo Game Boy? Voortle 02:06, 10 September 2006 (UTC)
  • the last request for a move was only 14 days ago (and was drawn some hours ago due to only 4 other voters, who voted draw),
  • There were only four voters, which there was a tie in the support and oppose. Hence there was no consensus, and move requests can be relisted to gain consensus. Voortle 02:09, 10 September 2006 (UTC)
  • you haven't even changed the reason for a proposed move,
  • "Game Gear" also gets about 4 to 5 million more hits than "Sega Game Gear". - You haven't said where. I guess "Game" and "Gear" would each get even more hits.
  • Yeah, but "game" and "gear" refer to different things, whereas there is no difference between "Sega Game Gear" and "Game Gear". Voortle 02:12, 10 September 2006 (UTC)
  • That's a reason to oppose moving? Voortle 02:10, 10 September 2006 (UTC)
  • In case you want to bring up google, it's not a valid source for anything. <<personal attack removed>>
--32X 00:26, 10 September 2006 (UTC)
That was not a personal attack. I just showed you how worthless a google search is when it comes to rate or compare things too each other. Besides that, my edit history argument is only one of several. And I bring it up since such a RM eats quite some time which could be used to improve the article. Anyway, I'll once again bring up my arguments. Right now I've a magazine from 1995 in front of me where Disney Software and Virgin Interactive advertise the Lion King. Some of the mentioned systems are "Super Nintendo", "Game Boy", "Sega Master System" and "Sega Game Gear" (like on that logo). Even on the TV tuner there's written "Sega Game Gear" (logo). --32X 04:27, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Btw, I just don't get it. A guy who moved iPod to The iPod wants to move Sega Game Gear to Game Gear, even when he doesn't contribute to the article. It doesn't make any sense to me ... --32X 04:30, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

[edit] Source

http://www.vgmuseum.com/systems/gg/

[edit] Region Free?

I never had one myself, but I've heard that the GG was region-free. Is that accurate? Kelvingreen 09:23, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

I have a GG but no games from foreign markets. I heard/read the same but I cannot prove it. --32X 07:22, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] New Gamegears

Hey what are they called? Can anyone post a link? And what company is still supporting the old Gamegear? --Elven6 00:11, 18 November 2006 (UTC) That's a myth.

[edit] Sound Hardware

I used to have both the Game Boy and Game Gear, and the one thing that sticks in mind between the systems was the background music on Game Gear games was generally worse. Game Gear music was often harsh and distracting, the worst offender being X-Men (nails on chalkboard!). Is it just a difference of musical talent, or a real problem with what the hardware can deliver? 68.0.226.163 01:31, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

Having parts of my cultural background in the demoscene, all I can say is that hardware doesn't matter that much. Of course there are good and bad limitations, but it mostly depends on taste (composer and listener) and musical talent. I for example like the YM music of an Atari ST, while a friend of mine can't stand it because he could (and even has) composoe better music on a SID of a C64.
It's possible to compare sound chips by what they have and what is missing, but there's still the wide field of taste.
Conclusion: While it's possible to do good music on really bad sound chips, it's also possible to do horrible music on high end hardware. I wouldn't rate one system over the other one. --32X 13:13, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Game Gear's battery life

Isn't 5 hours way too long? The Game Gear could chew through it's six alkaline AA batteries (using alkaline battery technology of the early 90s)in just 2 hours! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Hellcat fighter (talk • contribs) 08:03, 2 March 2007 (UTC).

Well, it depends on the batteries and how bright and loud it was set while playing. It's hard to prove that, since batteries from that time have lost their power and newer ones are way beyond them in terms of capacity. Five hours sound a bit hight to me too, but with a good setting it might be possible. --32X 11:00, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

Thats a pretty poor battery life but my gameboy SP and DS always had poor battery life.

[edit] contradictory sentences on stereo/audio

I found two contradictory phrases in this article: In technical details: "In addition, it could also produce stereo sound (through headphones) as opposed to the Master System's monaural output, although very few games made use of the stereo capabilities."

In Sales history and Game Boy rivalry: "The Game Gear is capable of outputting only mono sound, compared with stereo sound on the Game Boy (via earphones)."

I removed the second one, since it seemed most out of place, but I'm not sure which one is correct. Perhaps I should have removed both... 213.22.44.33 16:41, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Using and comparing info from other Wikipedia articles(GameBoy & GameGear), I made the comparison between both handheld consoles' audio capabilities. The GameBoy can do stereo, but the GameGear only mono. Hellcat fighter 05:53, 16 March 2007 (UTC) Gameboy and DS take earphones and headphones available through kits or Nintendo Power.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../s/e/g/Talk%7ESega_Game_Gear_9e2a.html"