Sega's classic hardware producer Yosuke Okunari talks Game Gear Micro akiba-souken.com/article/47239/🇯🇵 there have been a bunch of these interviews lately so I'll just pick out whatever's new:
on Okunari's earlier statement that Sega wasn't planning more mini hardware after MD Mini: "when I said that, I was thinking 'well, this is a micro, not a mini, and Sega Toys is doing the Astro City Mini, not us...'"
(Okunari shared some statements on the status of the next genuine "mini" last week, icymi )
on Okunari's personal relationship with Game Gear: he was in college when it came out & wanted to play Shining Force Gaiden but GG seemed to be kid-oriented & money was tight, so he focused his attention on MD & didn't really touch GG until joining Sega in '94, where he caught up
on specific GG Micro hardware features requested by Okunari: he retained the headphone jack, which wasn't in the original spec; he wanted the power supply to use USB rather than AC, and he also wanted to retain the ability to use batteries since u think batteries when u think GG
on the yellow GG Micro eschewing variety w/ 3 Shining Force games: those games form a trilogy, and they were selected when they thought there'd only be 3 games per unit; later, when they expanded to 4, Nazo Puyo: Arle no Roux was chosen as a palate cleanser & bc "curry is yellow"
when picking the overall software lineup, they weighed up whether to pick popular arcade conversions vs. original games, games that were popular back then, games that did well on 3DS Virtual Console, etc plus general public opinion, past and present
on games that didn't make the cut, Okunari's big regret is Pengo—it features the tune "Popcorn" in the BGM which couldn't be licensed, and while they had the option of replacing it, using the overseas version which has different music etc, Okunari didn't want to compromise
on whether they considered third-party games for Game Gear Micro: not really, as this was conceived as a Sega 60th anniversary product, but Okunari would personally like to see future GG Micros focused on third-party publishers like Taito or Namco
the red GG Micro, which contains two Megami Tensei Gaiden games, was partly about commemorating Atlus' GG legacy & respecting their legacy as part of Sega's recent history, but Okunari also wanted to put them out because his plans to release Last Bible on 3DS VC couldn't happen
Sylvan Tale (blue GG Micro) & Royal Stone (black GG Micro) are two other RPGs that never made it to 3DS VC—Okunari had hoped to release them after Defenders of Oasis & Crystal but those games underperformed so he couldn't put them out on 3DS, but he made sure to do so this time
Okunari asks the interviews which games they'd like to see; on Sonic Drift: early on, when they planned for each GG Micro to be genre-focused, Sonic Drift 2 was in contention for the Sonic-themed Micro, but when they switched to variety picks it was ultimately pipped by Outrun
the other game mentioned is Dragon Crystal: again, early on they planned for the black GG Micro to be themed around early GG games with Columns, GG Shinobi, Dragon Crystal & Pengo, but when Pengo was dropped, they changed their plans & Dragon Crystal slipped through the cracks
the interviewer suggests it seems like it'd be easy to keep putting out more GG Micro variants; Okunari says they obviously don't have anything planned but ofc he'd personally like to; part of the idea with the GG Micro is that they're fun just to collect & put on display
...and that's that
btw, I'll save yall some time:
Taito's GG library segaretro.org/Taito#Game_Gear
Namco's GG library segaretro.org/Namco#Game_Gear
iirc GG Rastan is literally the overseas SMS ROM in a GG cart, so it has that squished Master Gear Converter look
oh and that's Crystal Warriors* btw
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