Atari Lynx VS Sega Gamegear.

[Majors]

Damn, son! I'm in awe.

Since this is a Lynx v. GameGear thread, the Express/GT is not in the discussion. It's, of course, not a contest, Turbo(PCE) ALWAYS wins <period> but we can keep that line of thinking over at the <now back up> PCEFX forums.

[k.vlaros]

Lynx on the basis of industrial design (original model) and "wow factor" for 1989. I had one shortly after launch and the early reactions of others to it were always strong.

edit---
The reminiscing led me to ebay. There's an odd auction up... For $150 you get a used Lynx II and 11 different SEALED games and a new battery. And the seller says he has more than 10 lots of these for sale. NOS? Repro? Scam? Listing is 160690486072

[ATARI800XLfan]

Lynx on the basis of industrial design (original model) and "wow factor" for 1989. I had one shortly after launch and the early reactions of others to it were always strong.

edit---
The reminiscing led me to ebay. There's an odd auction up... For $150 you get a used Lynx II and 11 different SEALED games and a new battery. And the seller says he has more than 10 lots of these for sale. NOS? Repro? Scam? Listing is 160690486072

Thanks for the response. I will have to check that out.

[retrosportsgamer]

^ I bought my Dreamcast fishing set from the same seller (new rod peripheral + new bass and marine fishing). Everything came legit.

I really wonder about those Lynx battery packs though.

[BurningDoom]

My Game Gear's speakers have aged poorly...they're pretty much crap now, so I can only play it with headphones anymore. So the Lynx wins by default, for me.

[retrosportsgamer]

My Game Gear's speakers have aged poorly...they're pretty much crap now, so I can only play it with headphones anymore. So the Lynx wins by default, for me.

The Lynx suffers from the exact same problem. It's a wash when it comes to speaker aging.

[ApolloBoy]

My Game Gear's speakers have aged poorly...they're pretty much crap now, so I can only play it with headphones anymore. So the Lynx wins by default, for me.

Actually that sounds more like dying capacitors than a speaker problem.

[Breetai]

My Game Gear's speakers have aged poorly...they're pretty much crap now, so I can only play it with headphones anymore. So the Lynx wins by default, for me.

Actually that sounds more like dying capacitors than a speaker problem.

I was just going to say that. Those handhelds, and a few other consoles (Turboduo/PCE Duo (black model), Turbo Express/PCE GT) all suffer from capacitors prone to leakage. The good news? It is fixable.

There is also a mod to replace the Game Gear screen with a much better one. Not sure if a similar mod is easily available for the Lynx or not.

[ATARI800XLfan]

So far it would seem the lynx is slightly ahead which kind of surprised me.

[nightrnr]

So far it would seem the lynx is slightly ahead which kind of surprised me.

I just can't let this thread end like this.

The Game Gear is totally better, if only for the games. The library and quality of games for Sega's system is surprisingly deep (IMHO).
The Lynx just can't compare in this respect. I was ahead of it's time, sure, but in the end, you have to look at the "Fun" factor of the thing.

Also, I always thought Lynx games looked "goofy". Something about the resolution or something just doesn't work for me. Maybe if ALL (or a lot more) of the games were either classic arcade ports or 3D titles, I'd have a different stance. But most 2D games are just odd to look at (just look at Batman or Ninja Gaiden).
And then there's what they did with Ms. Pac Man; looks much nicer on GG.

And, of coarse, there's the entire library of SMS games that the GG has as it's disposal. It's hard to compete against the library of an established, semi-successful system (and why the Turbo Express was so less prolific I can only attribute to game availability and lack of portable exclusives).

One thing the Lynx DOES have over the GG is Homebrew support. You gotta' love the underground scene for Atari systems and (assuming you have the cash to burn), that opens up the Lynx library a bit and makes it more interesting.
But it's still not up to Sega's library/standards, and availability (lack of) and price means it still won't make much of an impact on most retro gamers

One more thing:
I need to address the aging issues that have plagued BOTH systems. True, the GG has a large failure rating due to bad caps. But the Lynx has it's share of problems. Just look on Ebay and you'll find a slew of broken systems (for both portables). IMO, the Lynx is actually a bit harder to repair in most cases. The only thing it really has over the GG is that the Lynx II models have swappable LCD screens (which I can admit is very convenient). But I think they are about even in this respect.

Anyways, I'll always, ALWAYS, prefer the Sega Game Gear over the Atari Lynx.

P.S., the Atari Lynx (original model) is the single strangest looking portable that I've ever seen.