Published Apr 25, 2026, 7:30 AM EDT With loads of weird accessories and ‘90s attitude to spare, Sega's console pushed the boundaries of handheld gaming 35 years ago, the Game Gear walked so the Steam Deck could run Image: Wikimedia Commons / Sega Nobody before or since has made consoles like Sega did in the 1990s. The company was constantly trying new things, many of which involved attaching clunky accessories like the Sega CD or 32X onto a Genesis console. Between 1983 and 2001, it released a whopping 15 different pieces of hardware . Sega also enjoyed making new things from its old things, like the Game Gear handheld, which debuted in Europe and North America 35 years ago this month. The Game Gear used many of the same components as the 8-bit Master System, and aimed to be a more “mature” competitor to Nintendo’s massively popular Game Boy. It didn’t pan out the way Sega had hoped, but the Game Gear nevertheless played an important role in shaping the ambitions and scope of handheld gaming.…