The Handheld Revolution · 1989–present
Sega Game Gear
Sought After?
Moderate collector interest, mostly for its Master System-adjacent library via an adapter.
Downsides
Notoriously brutal battery life (about 3-5 hours on six AA batteries) and a screen prone to developing dead pixels/lines with age.
Why It Faded
Couldn't match the Game Boy's battery efficiency or software library, and Sega's attention shifted to home consoles.
Trivia
Nearly all surviving vintage Game Gears today suffer from a common capacitor failure that causes a "screen of death" — replacement/repair kits are now a small cottage industry.