SEGA is bringing the Game Gear back as a teeny tiny console

It’s the 1990s, and mobile gaming has just taken off. Nintendo is ruling the scene with its Game Boy, a fantastic slab of plastic that was somehow capable of playing all their biggest hits at the time, even if the experience was more basic in comparison to home consoles at the point. Diminished visuals aside, the benchmark was right there: A gaming experience, in your pocket and ready for activation at any given time.

SEGA saw an opportunity back in 1990, hopping into the market with their Game Gear system that was meant to blast process their staunch rival in the face with a device that was a technological leap forward. The SEGA Game Gear had a colour screen, its design was ergonomically friendly and it was home to the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog and several other SEGA icons.

The only problem? The steep price tag, a drought of decent games and the requirement of having to drag a sack of AA batteries with you at all times to keep this thirsty beast fed, saw the Game Gear fizzle out by the mid-90s. Even with all of its hang-ups, the Game Gear was still a relative success for SEGA with many millions of units sold, but it could never topple Nintendo from their lofty perch of handheld domination once they introduced the Game Boy Colour and then secured their throne with the Game Boy Advance in the 2000s.

Not one to let a good idea rest, SEGA is reviving the Game Gear for their 60th anniversary celebrations. Only this time, as an itty bitty remake.

Recently announced in Famitsu via Kotaku, the Game Gear Micro will ship in four colours (Blue, black, yellow and red), and will retail for around $45 in Japan. No word yet on whether or not it’ll make its way across the rest of the world, but given that the globe went absolutely mad for mini versions of Nintendo, SEGA and PlayStation consoles in the past, I wouldn’t be surprised if it did hop across the pond.

As for games? Only one has been confirmed so far, the absolutely delightful Game Gear version of Sonic the Hedgehog that was all the rage at school when that one rich little bastard showed up with the console and a butler carrying a box of AA batteries for the braggart. It’s not the first time we’ve seen a teeny tiny version of a handheld games console, as back in 2005 Nintendo unleashed the Game Boy Micro onto a hungry market.

I’m pretty sure I had one, but I think I may have misplaced it somewhere in the Microverse.

Last Updated: June 3, 2020