M2 Co.,Ltd., in technical cooperation with SEGA, are proud to provide an integrated porting environment for the Game Gear on the Nintendo DS Virtual Console.

Game Gear is a handheld game system that went on sale from SEGA in 1990. What made the Game Gear so notable at the time was its backlit color LCD screen. Portable game systems that used cartridges were still rather new, and at the time the Game Gear was well accepted by children who were shocked by its beautiful LCD screen.

Game Gear appealed greatly to the ego of the owner. Home video game hardware makers were waging a fierce battle, and players’ hearts were aligned with their favorite companies, so SEGA fans held the system with pride. 6 AA batteries yielded only about 2 hours of play time, and by today’s standards the LCD screen had rather strong after-image artifacting. This resulted in a portable system trying so hard to be advanced that it ended up being ahead of its time, which likely turned these perceived flaws into somehow lovable traits for many of its owners back in the day.

And thus the system known as the Game Gear left its mark on history, and now it’s been revived in the modern age on Nintendo’s latest portable game system, the Nintendo DS. This will likely will have a deep emotional impact on any gamer from back then, no matter their affiliation. We at M2 are honored to have taken part in such a proud task.

This time we’ve worked the basic features into the virtual console platform. Pause and button configuration options are integrated into the emulation environment. We stand by our company’s motto of using current techniques to connect the past with the future by using the modern technology of the Nintendo 3DS to faithfully and entirely reproduce the experience of the Game Gear system.

After starting up a game, try changing the screen settings. The Game Gear’s unique rounded shape is recreated in 3D in a way only possible on the Nintendo 3DS system, so an image of the system itself pops out from around the screen where the characters inside move about, recreating things just as so many gamers fondly remember. Truly, the whole Game Gear experience. To those who owned a Game Gear back in the day, you can relive those nostalgic memories, while those who didn’t can experience a part of gaming history.

At M2, we strive to continue refining our techniques so we can revive classic games, along with player’s memories of them, into the modern age.

Related links:

• SEGA Virtual Console Home Page