Sega's first entry in the handheld gaming arena was the Game Gear, an 8-bit color unit that resembled Atari's Lynx. The Game Gear used a Z80 processor, which was the same as the SMS's. Theoretically, the cartridges for the SMS could play on the Game Gear if they could fit inside. However, Sega specifically made the handheld device incompatible with the SMS because of the display.

SMS games were designed to play on televisions with large screens (13 inches and above). If these games were played on the Game Gear, many of the elements that would appear small on a television would be microscopic on the Game Gear's tiny 3.2-inch screen. And if text appeared in any games, like in Monopoly, it would be rendered unreadable on the Game Gear. Also preventing SMS games from being played on the Game Gear was the difference in the graphics processors that the systems used. The SMS could display 128 colors, and the Game Gear could display only 32.

Game Gear with Master Gear Converter

So even though the Game Gear could theoretically play the SMS games, it didn't make any sense for it to do so. Instead, Sega went ahead and made new games for the Game Gear, ones that could play on the tiny screen without causing much eyestrain. Eventually, a library of approximately 250 games was released.

Despite the large number of games available for the Game Gear, Sega executives apparently thought it wasn't enough. The Game Gear was competing against the Game Boy, which had hundreds of games. Since the SMS was technically compatible with the Game Gear, the Sega brass decided that by allowing the SMS games to play on the Game Gear, it could add roughly another 120 titles to the Game Gear's roster.

But how could Sega do this when the SMS cartridges couldn't possibly fit into the Game Gear's cartridge slot? Hence, the birth of the Master Gear Converter. The Master Gear Converter plugged into the Game Gear, just like any standard cartridge. However, the Master Gear Converter also had a cartridge slot that accepted the larger SMS cartridges. Once a cartridge was inserted into a Master Gear Converter that was plugged into the Game Gear, the handheld machine treated the SMS cartridge as if it were one of its own.
 

« Previous Page

Show me more »