Magazine Archive

Sega Players

Game Gear Debuts in U.S.

Matthew A. Firme

Sega's exhibit at the recent Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was a very busy place this year. While many people felt that the overall turnout at the show was below average, you'd never have guessed it from the Sega booth.

As expected, Sega officially introduced the hand-held Game Gear to the U.S. market and displayed many new games. There were also a few surprises--such as a plug-in stereo speaker system for the Genesis (still not officially announced). But Sega did not show its long-awaited CD drive or telephone modem. Most of the excitement centered on the Game Gear and the new Genesis titles. Rows of monitors and Genesis machines were set up, and in most cases there were lines of people waiting to play the games.

The Game Gear

As we predicted in the January issue of Game Player's, Sega decided to officially debut its new hand-held videogame system at Winter CES. The Game Gear has been on sale in Japan since early October, and will be released in a few test markets in the U.S. this spring. Sega says the machine should be available in larger numbers nationwide sometime this summer.

The Japanese debut of the Game Gear was very successful. Sega reports sales of more than 40,000 units in the first two days alone. Within 30 days of its release, the entire initial supply of 90,000 units had been sold, and back orders for additional systems exceeded 600,000.

But how will it do in the U.S.? Tom Kalinske, president and cheif executive officer of Sega of America, has great expectations. Kalinske predicts the Game Gear will sell even better in the U.S. than in Japan. In fact, he's confident that Sega will lead in the American hand-held market--a bold prophecy, considering that Nintendo has already sold more than five million Game Boys in the U.S. alone. But Sega points to marketing research which indicates that game players prefer the Game Gear's color graphics over the Game Boy's black-and-white screen.

"There is clearly a need for a quality portable system that provides features other systems have failed to deliver," says Robert Botch, Sega's marketing director for the Game Gear. "This means easy-to-view, full-color graphics and exciting quality games that appeal to all ages."

Exciting games and wide-range appeal were both in evidence at Winter CES. One title in particular, Shinobi, showed remarkable detail for a hand-held game. The martial-arts character Shinobi looked more like he does in Revenge of Shinobi for the Genesis than he does in the original eight-bit Sega Master System game. At CES, people of all ages waited in line to play Shinobi and other Game Gear titles, such as G-LOC (an arcade translation), Columns (which comes with Game Gear), and Super Monaco GP (adapted from a Master System and Genesis car-racing game).

Nevertheless, to become the hand-held leader, Sega will not only have to contend with the Game Boy--currently the best-selling portable in both the U.S. and Japan--but also with Atari's new $99 Lynx. At $159.99, the Game Gear priced significantly higher than the new Lynx and is comparable in terms of features.

The American version of the Game Gear will be virtually identical to the Japanese version described in the January issue of Game Player's. Horizontal in design, it measures 7 inches wide, 3.5 inches tall, and 1.25 inches deep. It requires its own special game cartridges (about the size of a credit card) and is not compatible with Genesis or Master System games.

Centered on the Game Gear's top panel is a 3.25-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) screen which can show as many as 32 colors at a time out of a possible 4,096. The LCD is backlit, which means it can be viewed in any lighting, even complete darkness. By comparison, Nintendo's Game Boy has a 2.5-inch black-and-white LCD which is not backlit; Atari's Lynx has a 3.5-inch backlit color LCD; and NEC's TurboExpress has a 2.6-inch color LCD that uses active-matrix technology, which is more superior to (but more expensive than) either the Game Gear or the Lynx.

To the left of the Game Gear's screen is a standard directional pad. On the right are three control buttons labeled 1, 2, and Start. At the lower left is a tiny speaker. On top is an on-off switch, a volume control, a stereo headphone jack, an auxiliary input jack, and an AC power connector. The Game Gear requires six AA batteries, which last for three or four hours.

The auxiliary input jack lets you hook up an optional VHF/UHF tuner or a video camcorder, which allows the Game Gear to function as either a TV or a portable video monitor. The TV tuner is scheduled to be available in the U.S. this fall. Although no price has been announced, it'll probably retail for under $100.

Other features include true stereo sound and competitive play through an optional cable that links two Game Gears together. Future accessories will include an AC power adapter, a 12-volt cigarette lighter adapter, and a rechargable battery pack.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Although nearly all of the new games at Winter CES sparked interest, the one people seemed to talk about the most was Sonic the Hedgehog. The star of this Genesis game, Sonic, is a dizzyingly fast blue hedgehog. He looks cocky--and with his speed, it's no wonder. He can run so fast that the backgrounds seem to blur, a truly remarkable effect. The scenes scroll by so fast that you almost feel woozy as you watch

Sonic the Hedgehog has more going for it than pure rapidity. The graphics are excellent, as good as many games for the Amiga personal computer. And there's a sense of good-spirited mischief in Sonic's expressions and manner that make him instantly likeable. He's destined to become the Roadrunner of the 1990s.

Despite the complexity of the graphics, the speed of the scrolling, and the many items and characters scattered throughout the game, the Hedgehog cart we saw at Winter CES was only about half finished. What more could there be? Well, how about secret rooms, "Easter Eggs," and hidden items! Secrets like these will be a big part of the game, and they should help insure that Sonic the Hedgehog becomes one of Sega's best-selling new titles.

Two other Genesis games were also noteworthy, both long awaited sequels. And both were very impressive.

In Phantasy Star 3, you'll return to the fabulous Algol system--and explore beyond it. This promises to be the most detailed role-playing game ever released for a home videogame system.

And Joe Musashi returns in Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi. This time, Musashi is accompanied by Yamato, his loyal dog. The action is nonstop and the graphics are terrific.

Another Genesis game we can't wait to play is Alien Storm. Only a demo was running at the show, but the graphics were enough to sell us on this one. You move through Anytown, USA, running into neighbors as you go. But any one of them might suddenly explode into an alien monster. You don't know whom to trust. All you can do is be ready, and suspect everyone.

Finally, how would you like a maze game that's different each time you play? Watch for Fatal Labyrinth--the mazes change, and so do the functions of various items and magic spells, so the game is always fresh.

Independent Software

Not all of the excitement at Winter CES was generated by Sega of America. Independent companies occupied a large area in Sega's booth and were showing dozens of new Genesis games.

Accolade is working on a Genesis version of the futuristic computer game Star Control. Based on the preliminary version we saw, this should be a very detailed and very exciting game--a combination of role-playing, military strategy, and arcade action.

Taito is planning to release three new Genesis titles: Saigaia, a scrolling shooter; Space Invaders '91, a revamped version of an old classic; and Rastan Saga II.

RazorSoft, whose violent TechnoCop has caused much controversy, is back with StormLord, a side-scrolling adventure. This time the question is whether or not the female figures in the game are nude. RazorSoft's position is that the Genesis audience is older and more mature, and the company plans to put a voluntary warning label on the package, as was done with TechnoCop. However, Sega of America wouldn't allow the risque version of StormLord to remain on display at Winter CES. Sega says an alternate version, which was allowed to remain on display, will be released instead. In this version, the women are unquestionably clothed. RazorSoft still hopes to release the original version.

Data East, whose Genesis titles were reported in last month's issue, hadn't yet worked out the details of its licensing agreement with Sega in time for CES, and therefore wasn't displaying any games at the show. However, Data East plans to proceed with Crystal Quest, a race game set in space, and Midnight Resistance, based on the arcade game, as soon as the agreement is finalized. At least for now, Vapor Trail has been put on hold. Data East plans to release more Genesis titles throughout the year.

Tengen will release Genesis versions of the popular arcade games Pit Fighter and Pac-Mania, plus R.B.I. Baseball III. Pit Fighter is notable as the first Genesis game to use entirely digitized characters, giving the game a unique realistic look.

Mentrix, a new Sega licensee, announced its first Genesis title: Wardner, which is based on the arcade game Pyros.

Nuvision is working on Swamp Thing, based on DC Comics superhero.

Micronet/Bignet USA is planning to release three Genesis titles in 1991: Junction, a fast-moving puzzle game; Raiden, a shoot-em up; and Warior of Rome, a military strategy game.

Sega Forever, ©MCMXCVIII - MMIV
We are not in anyway affiliated with Sega or any other 3rd party companies that have made Sega licensed products.