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[snapty00]

I know Sega made tons of mistakes with GameGear (e.g., bulkiness, battery life, and inconsistent software support), but what ultimately led Sega to take the GameGear out of the market?

Was Sega selling each unit for a price that was under the price it cost to manufacture each unit? What was the software-to-hardware ratio on average? How many units did the biggest games sell? What was the ratio of first-party games to third-party games like?

Does anybody have some of these figures?

I'm just wondering if there was a good reason why Sega didn't stick with it in hopes of making a dent in the handheld market place and possibly making a better version of the GameGear (similar to the Game Boy Pocket) down the road.

 

[btrboyev]

The gamegear was a pretty successful handheld, actually the only one that did well against the gameboy. Sega cut support of the system in late 96 or early 97, not a bad run from its launch in 1991. I think was struggling with its console hardware too much to focus on redisigning the gamegear to keep up with the gameboy. Basically i think thats it..they could have kept it going along well if they tried.

 

[Ryck]

Wasn't it because of the Nomad?

 

[Ecrofirt]

I wanted a nomad.

Genesis on the go, good god.

 

[Justin Bailey]

I got a gamegear for Christmas one year, why I asked for that instead of a gameboy is beyond me.

 

[neptunes]

I got a gamegear for Christmas one year, why I asked for that instead of a gameboy is beyond me.

besides pokémon, zelda and mario gameboy, was there any system selling games for the gameboy?

 

[Mejilan]

I wanted a nomad.

Genesis on the go, good god.

For maybe an hour on a set of batteries... ;p

 

[drohne]

i had one. i hated it. before that i had a gameboy. i hated that too. portable gaming was a near-total wasteland before the gba. and it seems on the verge of becoming a wasteland again. oh well.

 

[Insertia]

i had one. i hated it. before that i had a gameboy. i hated that too. portable gaming was a near-total wasteland before the gba. and it seems on the verge of becoming a wasteland again. oh well.

Same here.
I had a Game Gear and that thing drained 4 AA batters like a bitch.

I never understood the appeal of the original Gameboy, even though I owned like 4 of 'em. The games were awful.

 

[Mejilan]

I agree with drohne about the wasteland comment before the GBA, but am not so negative about the future as he. Though, I actually finally picked up a handheld when the GBC came out. Technically, the GBA was third, but I got the GG as a surprise gift, along with 2 games. I never bought any other games for it. For some reason, I couldn't get into the GG (which was my first handheld.) But I liked the GBC when it came out years later, and absolutely love my GBA today.

 

[arter_2]

I got a gamegear first real system that was bought for me i was lik 5 and it rocked. i had my moms atari but the gamegear was alllll mine

 

[jarrod]

Wasn't it because of the Nomad?

Nope, Nomad was more a 'gift' to Genesis owners than a serious handheld. Sega never planned pushing it as a viable platform, it was a boutique item moreso.

Game Gear, like Genesis/MD, Sega/Mega CD, 32X & Pico, had it's software pretty much halted in favor of Sega focusing everything on Saturn.

besides pokémon, zelda and mario gameboy, was there any system selling games for the gameboy?

Uh... Tetris? Donkey Kong '94 was pretty big too and the SaGa/FF Legend games for Square.

 

[Defensor]

I sold mine years back because at the time I couldn't find that TV Tuner attachment

 

[DarthWoo]

The thing I'm still pissed most about Sega pulling wasn't any of its systems, but of the game Star Peace/Legacy Online. I put several months into that game, including months when the game went pay to play. Just look at the little page I made about my city! I just felt like ranting about that for a bit, but in case anyone is interested, a few of the former players are organizing to try and obtain the game from one of the former developers in order to get it up and running. Check it out here.

 

[Mejilan]

The thing I'm still pissed most about Sega pulling wasn't any of its systems, but of the game Star Peace/Legacy Online. I put several months into that game, including months when the game went pay to play. Just look at the little page I made about my city! I just felt like ranting about that for a bit, but in case anyone is interested, a few of the former players are organizing to try and obtain the game from one of the former developers in order to get it up and running. Check it out here.

Errrr, what's this?

 

[DarthWoo]

Errrr, what's this?

It was an online business simulator type game that was developed by Oceanus Communications a few years back. It had been passed around between various publishers, and eventually worked its way to Sega. Although popular among the people who played it, it had a pretty high learning curve, so it scared away most younger players. I think many of the people who were still playing when it disappeared were about 25-35 on average. There was one guy who claimed to be over 40. The graphics were sort of Sim City-ish. Basically you had a giant land mass (the planet) divided into several cities. In addition to building your own business, there was also politics, and players could run for office in the cities as mayor, or as president of the planet. It was really quite engrossing once you managed to set up a relatively self-sustaining corporate empire.

 

[Mejilan]

Thanks for filling me in. Doesn't sound too appealing, and the screens I saw in that forum were downright HIDEOS. Still...

 

[DarthWoo]

I don't recall there being any screens in the forum. If you were referring to the ones on my site, those were actually just a composite map that I made from taking screenshots of my city at the highest zoom-out and pasting them together, so none of the interface is in there.

 

[Mejilan]

That would explain the HIDEOS-ness, then.

 

[Baron Aloha]

Why did Sega pull the GameGear?

Why does Sega do any of the crap that they do?

 

[BeOnEdge]

Why does Sega do any of the crap that they do?

:lol

 

[sc0la]

SEGA didn't pull the GameGear as much as they pulled a GameGear.

the first in a string of euphemisms for SEGA's many business failures. See also: "Pulled a Dreamcast" and the ever popular "Pulled a SEGA"