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106-664: The Game Gear is an 8-bit fourth-generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990 in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and during 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear primarily competed with Nintendo 's Game Boy , the Atari Lynx , and NEC 's TurboExpress . It shares much of its hardware with the Master System , and can play Master System games through
212-551: A Time Asia article, "The Birth of Cool", author Hannah Beech describes Asian coolness as "a revolution in taste led by style gurus who are redefining Chinese craftsmanship in everything from architecture and film to clothing and cuisine" and as a modern aesthetic inspired both by Ming -era minimalism and a strenuous attention to detail. Paul Waley , professor of Human Geography at the University of Leeds, considers Tokyo , along with New York , London , and Paris , to be one of
318-548: A Genesis controller , intending the curved surfaces and greater length more comfortable to hold than the Game Boy. The console's mass was carefully considered from the beginning of the development, aiming for a total mass between that of the Game Boy and the Atari Lynx , another full-color screen competing product. Game Gear can use the Master Gear adaptor to play games from the similar Master System. The original Game Gear pack-in game
424-691: A biker . In the United Kingdom, the Game Gear had a 16% share of the handheld market in January 1992, increasing to 40% by December 1992. Sega reduced support for the Game Gear in favor of home consoles . The successful Genesis yielded two major peripherals, the Sega CD and the 32X . Sega's new 32-bit Saturn console was launched in 1994. Though selling 10.62 million units by March 1996 (including 1.78 million in Japan),
530-554: A Chinese military treatise written during the 6th century BC, general Sun Tzu , a member of the landless Chinese aristocracy, wrote in Chapter XII: Profiting by their panic, we shall exterminate them completely; this will cool the King's courage and cover us with glory, besides ensuring the success of our mission. Asian countries have developed a tradition on their own to explore types of modern "cool" or "ambiguous" aesthetics. In
636-523: A Nobody , coolness is used as a criticism: "Upon my word, Gowing's coolness surpasses all belief." The key themes of modern European coolness were forged by avant-garde artists who achieved prominence in the aftermath of the First World War, most notably Dadaists , such as key Dada figures Arthur Cravan and Marcel Duchamp , and the left-wing milieu of the Weimar Republic . The goal of such groups
742-596: A blue "sports" variation in North America bundled with World Series Baseball '95 or The Lion King . A white version was bundled with a TV tuner. Other versions include a red Coca-Cola theme bundled with Coca-Cola Kid , and the Kids Gear Japan-only variation for children. Over 300 total Game Gear games were released, although only six launch games . Prices for game cartridges initially ranged from $ 24.99 to $ 29.99. The casings are molded black plastic with
848-407: A confident manner. The grunge fashion style of the 1990s and 21st century allowed people who felt financially insecure about their lifestyle to pretend to "fit in" by wearing a unique piece of clothing, but one that was polished. For example, unlike the hippie style that clearly diverges from the norm, through Marc Jacobs ' combined "fashion-grunge" style of "a little preppie , a little grunge and
954-624: A definition of cool from the Gola people of Liberia , who define it as the ability to be mentally calm or detached, in an otherworldly fashion, from one's circumstances, to be nonchalant in situations where emotionalism or eagerness would be natural and expected. Joseph M. Murphy writes that cool is also closely associated with the deity Òsun of the Yoruba religion . Thompson acknowledges similarities between African and European cool in shared notions of self-control and imperturbability. However, he finds
1060-484: A drop in software sales in subsequent years. This generation ended with the discontinuation of the Neo Geo in 2004. Features that distinguish some fourth generation consoles from third generation consoles include: Additionally, in specific cases, fourth generation hardware featured: The PC Engine was the result of a collaboration between Hudson Soft and NEC and launched in Japan on October 30, 1987. It launched under
1166-399: A few different angles. The sum and substance of coolness is a self-conscious confidence in overall behavior, which entails a set of specific behavioral characteristics that is firmly anchored in symbology , a set of discernible bodily movements , postures , facial expressions , and voice modulations that are acquired and take on strategic social value within certain contexts. Cool
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#17328456444571272-407: A legitimate norm does not lead to perceptions of coolness. The level of autonomy considered appropriate is influenced by different variables for each individual. For example, people who think that societal institutions and authority are unjust or repressive equate coolness with higher levels of autonomy than those who are less critical of social norms and authority. According to this theory, coolness
1378-483: A little couture", he produces not only a bold statement, but one that is mysterious and awkward, creating an ambiguous perception of what the wearer's internal feelings are. While slang terms are usually short-lived coinages and figures of speech, cool is an especially ubiquitous slang word, most notably among young people. As well as being understood throughout the English-speaking world, the word has even entered
1484-605: A new engine for economic growth and societal buoyancy. The term "gross national cool" was coined by journalist Douglas McGray. In a June/July 2002 article in Foreign Policy magazine, he argued that as Japan's economic juggernaut took a wrong turn into a 10-year slump , and with military power made impossible by a pacifist constitution, the nation had quietly emerged as a cultural powerhouse: "From pop music to consumer electronics , architecture to fashion, and food to art, Japan has far greater cultural influence now than it did in
1590-492: A person or brand) is autonomous ; that is, the person or brand is not constrained by the norms , expectations, or beliefs of others. Cool is also used for describing a general state of calmness and well-being, or similarly, a transcendent, internal state of peace and serenity. It can also refer to an absence of conflict, a state of harmony and balance, as in "the land is cool," or as in a "cool [spiritual] heart." Such meanings, according to Thompson, are African in origin. Cool
1696-408: A result of their disengagement with the establishment, the scope of self-critique was limited because their "mask" filtered negative thoughts of worthlessness, fostering the opportunity for self-worth . Starting in the 1990s and continuing into the 21st century, the concept of dressing cool left the minority and entered the mainstream, making it a dominant ideology. Cool entered the mainstream as
1802-464: A rounded front to aid in removal. Games include Sonic the Hedgehog , The GG Shinobi , Space Harrier , and Land of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse , which was considered the best game for the system by GamesRadar+ . Later games include franchises that had originated on the successful 16-bit Genesis and much of the Game Gear's library is Master System ports. Because of the landscape orientation of
1908-530: A stultifying official culture. Some clubs featured live jazz performances, and their smoky, sexually charged atmosphere carried a message for which the Puritanical values and monumental art of Marxist officialdom were an ideal foil. Arriving in Poland via France, America, and England, Polish coolness stimulated the film talents of a generation of artists, including Andrzej Wajda , Roman Polanski , and other graduates of
2014-729: A style of jazz called cool jazz appeared on the music scene, emphasizing a restrained, laid-back solo style. Notions of cool as an expression of inner self in a Taoist sense, equilibrium, self-possession, and an absence of conflict are commonly understood in African-American contexts well. Expressions such as "Don't blow your cool", or later, "chill out", and the use of "chill" as a general characterization of inner contentment or restful repose, all have their origins in African-American Vernacular English. As Ted Gioia wrote in A History of Cool Jazz in 100 Tracks : When
2120-486: A way to achieve respect. Designer Christian Lacroix has said that "the history of cool in America is the history of African-American culture ". Among black men in America, coolness, which may have its roots in slavery as an ironic submission and concealed subversion (as in an article by Thorsten Botz-Bornstein ), is enacted at times in order to create a powerful appearance, a type of performance frequently maintained for
2226-463: Is Columns , which is similar to Tetris which was bundled with the Game Boy launch. With a late start into the handheld console market, Sega rushed to get the Game Gear into stores quickly, having lagged behind Nintendo in sales without a handheld on the market. As one method of doing so, Sega based the Game Gear hardware on the Master System, with a much larger 4,096 color palette compared to
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#17328456444572332-417: Is a subjective, dynamic, socially-constructed trait, such that it is subjective. People perceive things (e.g., other people, products or brands) to be cool based on an inference of "autonomy". That is, something is perceived to be cool when it follows its own motivations. However, this theory proposes that the level of autonomy that leads to coolness is constrained. An inappropriate level of autonomy that opposes
2438-505: Is clearly a need for a quality portable system that provides features other systems have failed to deliver. This means easy-to-view, full-color graphics and exciting quality games that appeal to all ages." Before the Game Gear's launch in 1990, the 16-bit Genesis had been successfully marketed as a "more mature" option for players, and this was repeated against the Game Boy. Sega's marketing in Japan did not take this perspective, instead opting for advertisements with Japanese women featuring
2544-452: Is one of three pillars of a religious philosophy created in the 15th century by Yoruba and Igbo civilizations of West Africa. Cool , or Itutu , contained meanings of conciliation and gentleness of character, generosity, grace, and the ability to defuse fights and disputes. It was also associated with physical beauty. In Yoruba culture, Itutu is connected to water. This also gives it a connotation related to temperature. Thompson also cites
2650-558: Is powered by 2 AAA batteries or through a separate USB charger. Each unit also includes a headphone jack. A magnifying accessory modeled after the original system's Big Window accessory was included with preorders. A special version of the device (published by M2 and licensed by Sega) was being shipped with a limited edition of Aleste Collection in December 2020. This version includes a newly developed Game Gear title G.G. Aleste 3 as well as four other Aleste titles. Game Gear surpassed
2756-512: Is related in this sense to both social control and transcendental balance. Cool can similarly be used to describe composure and an absence of excitement or agitation in a person, especially in times of stress (as expressed in the idiom keep one's cool ). The word can also express agreement or consent, as in the phrase, "I'm cool with that." The word cool may refer to an attitude or style widely adopted by artists or intellectuals, who aided its insertion into popular culture . This concept
2862-695: Is that the "mask" of coolness is worn not only in time of stress, but also of pleasure, in fields of expressive performance and the dance. Struck by the re-occurrence of this vital notion elsewhere in tropical Africa and in the Pan-American African Diaspora , I have come to term the attitude "an aesthetic of the cool" in the sense of a deeply and completely motivated, consciously artistic, interweaving of elements serious and pleasurable, of responsibility and play. Ronald Perry writes that many words and expressions have passed from African-American Vernacular English into Standard English slang, including
2968-556: Is the aesthetic quality of something (such as attitude , behavior, appearance, or style ) being generally admired by society. Because of the varied and changing interpretation of what is considered cool , as well as its subjective nature, the word has no single meaning. For most, coolness is associated with exemplifying composure and self-control . When used in conversation, it is often as an expression of admiration or approval, and can be used when referencing both people and items of interest. Although commonly regarded as slang , cool
3074-684: Is unique among handhelds, pulling sales away from the Atari Lynx and NEC TurboExpress and helping to establish the Game Gear's market position. However, the Game Boy's library is over 1000 individual games. Several Game Gear games were released years later on the Nintendo 3DS 's Virtual Console service on the Nintendo eShop . The emulator for the Virtual Console releases was handled by M2 . On June 3, 2020, as part of its 60th anniversary, Sega revealed
3180-429: Is widely used among disparate social groups and has endured in usage for generations. There is no objective expression of coolness, as it varies wildly within cultures, ideologies, interests, and individuals. One consistent aspect, however, is that being cool is widely seen as desirable. Although there is no single concept nor objective manifestation or expression of coolness, coolness as a trait can be considered from
3286-413: The Master System , with more powerful features than the Game Boy, including a full-color screen instead of monochromatic . According to former Sega console hardware research and development head Hideki Sato, Sega saw the Game Boy's black and white screen as "a challenge to make our own color handheld system". To improve upon the design of its competition, Sega modeled the Game Gear with a similar shape to
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3392-598: The Mega Drive/Genesis console, the Super NES eventually took the top selling position, selling 49.10 million units worldwide, and would remain popular well into the fifth generation of consoles. Nintendo's market position was defined by their machine's increased video and sound capabilities, including exclusive first-party franchise titles such as F-Zero , Super Mario World , Star Fox , Super Mario Kart , Donkey Kong Country , The Legend of Zelda: A Link to
3498-606: The National Film School in Łódź , as well as the novelist Jerzy Kosinski , in whose clinical prose cool tends towards the sadistic. In Prague , the capital of Bohemia, cool flourished in the faded Art Deco splendor of the Café Slavia , which was part of the dissident underground called itself the "Jazz Section", following the crushing of the Prague Spring by Soviet tanks in 1968. According to this theory, coolness
3604-799: The Satellaview and the Super Game Boy . The Satellaview was a satellite service released only in Japan and the Super Game Boy was an adapter for the SNES that allowed Game Boy games to be displayed on a TV in color. Nintendo, working along with Sony , also had plans to create a CD-ROM drive for the SNES (plans that resulted in a prototype version of the Sony PlayStation ), but eventually decided not to go through with that project, opting to team up with Philips in
3710-763: The Sega Mega Drive (known as the Sega Genesis in North America) and the Super Nintendo (known as the Super Famicom in Japan). Cartridge-based handheld game consoles became prominent during this time, such as the Nintendo Game Boy , Atari Lynx , Sega Game Gear and TurboExpress . Nintendo was able to capitalize on its success in the third generation , and managed to win the largest worldwide market share in
3816-403: The "cool pose" as one of the factors in black underachievement. Robin D. G. Kelley criticizes calls for assimilation and sublimation of black culture, including the "cool pose". He argues that media and academics have unfairly demonized these aspects of black culture. At the same time, through their sustained fascination with blacks as "exotic" others, appropriated aspects of the "cool pose" into
3922-409: The "cool pose", as lower in achievement, higher in aggression, and more likely to need special education services than students with standard movement styles, irrespective of race or other academic indicators. The issue of stereotyping and discrimination with respect to the "cool pose" raises complex questions of assimilation and accommodation of different cultural values. Jason W. Osborne identifies
4028-542: The 1960s to the 1990s by becoming integrated in the dominant fabric of fashion culture. America's mass production of "ready-to-wear" fashion in the 1940s and 1950s established specific conventional outfits as markers of one's unchanging social role in society. Subcultures such as hippies felt repressed by the dominating conservative and conformist ideology of the 1940s and 1950s and rebelled. According to Dick Pountain's definition of cool , hippies' fashionable dress can be seen as cool because of its prominent deviation from
4134-762: The 1980s, when it was an economic superpower." The notion of Asian "cool" applied to Asian consumer electronics is borrowed from the cultural media theorist Eric McLuhan , who described "cool" or "cold" media as stimulating participants to complete auditive or visual media content, in sharp contrast to "hot" media that degrades the viewer to a merely passive or non-interactive receiver. "Aristocratic cool," known as sprezzatura , has existed in Europe for centuries, particularly when relating to frank amorality or illicit pleasures behind closed doors; Raphael's Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione and Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa are classic examples of sprezzatura . The sprezzatura of
4240-577: The American and Japanese NTSC standard to the European and Australian PAL standard. Companies such as Konami , with large budgets and a healthy following in Europe and Australia, readily optimized several games (such as the International Superstar Soccer series) for this audience, while most smaller developers did not. Also, few RPGs were released in Europe because the market for the genre
4346-486: The Atari Lynx and NEC TurboExpress, but lagged far behind the Game Boy in the handheld marketplace. Retrospective reception to the Game Gear is mixed. In 2008, GamePro listed the Game Gear as 10th on its list of the "10 Worst-Selling Handhelds of All Time" and criticized aspects of the implementation of its technology, but also stated that the Game Gear could be considered a commercial success at nearly 11 million units sold. According to GamePro reviewer Blake Snow, "Unlike
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4452-663: The British educated classes displayed a haughty indifference that displayed traces of an older aristocratic cool . What it meant to be "cool" resonated behind the Iron Curtain, where it offered relief from the earnestness of socialist propaganda and socialist realism in art. In the Polish industrial city Łódź , jazz, the "forbidden music", served Polish youth of the 1950s much as it had served its African-American creators, both as personal diversion and subterranean resistance to what they saw as
4558-430: The Game Boy, the Game Gear rocked the landscape holding position, making it less cramped for human beings with two hands to hold. And even though the Game Gear could be considered a success, its bulky frame, relative high price, constant consumption of AA batteries, and a lack of appealing games ultimately kept Sega from releasing a true successor." In speaking with Famitsu DC for its November 1998 issue, Sato stated that
4664-488: The Game Gear Micro retroconsole. The Micro was released in Japan on October 6, 2020, through Japanese storefronts in four different versions, varying in color and the game selection, with each containing four separate Game Gear games. Each unit otherwise is the same size, measuring 80 mm × 43 mm × 20 mm (3.15 in × 1.69 in × 0.79 in) with a 29 mm (1.1 in) display, and
4770-420: The Game Gear achieved ''a respectable chunk of market share'' since overall ''about 14 million systems'' were sold, but that "Nintendo's Game Boy was such a runaway success, and had gobbled up so much of the market, that our success was still seen as a failure, which I think is a shame." GamesRadar+ offered some praise for the system and its library, stating, "With its 8-bit processor and bright color screen, it
4876-531: The Game Gear unable to surpass the Game Boy, selling 10.62 million units by March 1996. The Game Gear was discontinued in 1997. It was re-released as a budget system by Majesco Entertainment between 2000 and 2002, under license from Sega. Developed as codename "Project Mercury", the Game Gear was launched in Japan on October 6, 1990, in North America and Europe in 1991, and in Australia in 1992. Originally retailing at ¥19,800 in Japan, US$ 149.99 (equivalent to $ 300 in 2023) in North America, and £ 99.99 in
4982-520: The Game Gear was never able to match the success of its main rival, the Game Boy, with ten times the sales. Game Gear's late sales were further hurt by Nintendo's release of the smaller Game Boy Pocket running on two AAA batteries . Plans for a 16-bit fifth generation direct successor to the Game Gear were made and canceled, leaving only the Genesis Nomad , a portable version of the Genesis. Moreover,
5088-403: The Game Gear's screen and the similarities to Master System hardware, it was easy for developers to port Master System games to the Game Gear. Because of Nintendo's control over the console video game market, few third-party developers were available to create games for Sega's systems. This contributed to the many ports from Master System. Likewise, because of this, much of the Game Gear library
5194-566: The Game Gear. Europe and Australia were the last regions to receive the Game Gear. Due to delays, some importers paid up to £200. Upon launch in Europe, video game distributor Virgin Mastertronic unveiled the price as £99.99, positioning it as being more expensive than the Game Boy, but less expensive than the also full-color Atari Lynx. Marketing in the United Kingdom includes the slogan , "To be this good takes Sega", and advertisements with
5300-426: The Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo decided to censor the game's gore, but Sega kept the content in the game, via a code entered at the start screen. Sega's version of Mortal Kombat received generally more favorable reviews in the gaming press and outsold the SNES version three to one. This also led to Congressional hearings to investigate the marketing of violent video games to children, and to
5406-429: The Hedgehog , pushing the Genesis as the "cooler" alternative to Nintendo's console and inventing the term "Blast Processing" to suggest that the Genesis was capable of handling games with faster motion than the SNES. Their advertising was often directly adversarial, leading to commercials such as "Genesis does what Nintendon't" and no scream at all. When the arcade game Mortal Kombat was ported for home release on
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#17328456444575512-488: The Master System's 64 colors. Part of the intention was easy conversion of Master System games. The Game Gear's technological superiority over Game Boy means that Game Boy can run for more than 30 hours on four AA batteries and the Game Gear runs for three to five hours on six AA batteries. Its quick launch in Japan sold 40,000 units in its first two days, 90,000 within a month, and more than 600,000 back orders. According to Sega of America marketing director Robert Botch, "there
5618-638: The Mega Drive in Japan to concentrate on the new Sega Saturn . While this made perfect sense for the Japanese market, it was disastrous in North America: the market for Genesis games was much larger than for the Saturn, but Sega was left without the inventory or software to meet demand. Nintendo executives were initially reluctant to design a new system, but as the market transitioned to the newer hardware, Nintendo saw
5724-686: The Mona Lisa is seen in both her smile and the positioning of her hands. Both the smile and hands are intended to convey her grandeur, self-confidence, and societal position. Literally translating to "disdain and detachment", sprezzatura is the art of refraining from the appearance of trying to present oneself in a particular way. In reality, of course, tremendous exertion went into pretending not to bother or care. English poet and playwright William Shakespeare used "cool" in several of his works to describe composure and absence of emotion. In A Midsummer Night's Dream , written around 1595 or 1596, he contrasts
5830-464: The Nomad was intended to supplement the Game Gear rather than replace it; in press coverage leading up to the Nomad's release, Sega representatives said the company was not discontinuing the Game Gear in favor of the Nomad, and that "We believe the two can co-exist". Though the Nomad had been released in 1995, Sega did not officially end support for the Game Gear until 1996 in Japan, and 1997 worldwide. Though
5936-546: The Past and Super Metroid . The CD-i format was announced in the late 1980s, with the first machines compatible with the format being released in 1991. The Philips CD-i's main selling point was that it was more than a game machine and could be used for multimedia needs. Due to an agreement between Nintendo and Philips about an abortive CD add-on for the SNES (which eventually evolved into Sony 's PlayStation ), Philips also had rights to use some of Nintendo's franchises. The CD-i
6042-624: The Turbo Duo, ceased manufacturing in North America by 1994, though a small amount of software continued to trickle out for the platform. The Mega Drive was released in Japan on October 29, 1988. The console was released in New York City and Los Angeles on August 14, 1989, under the name Sega Genesis, and in the rest of North America later that year. It was launched in Europe and Australia on November 30, 1990, under its original name. Sega built their marketing campaign around their new mascot Sonic
6148-473: The TurboGrafx advertising from 1990 to 1994. The platform was well received initially, especially in larger markets, but failed to make inroads into the smaller metropolitan areas where NEC did not have as many store representatives or as focused in-store promotion. The TurboGrafx-16 failed to maintain its sales momentum or to make a strong impact in North America. The TurboGrafx-16 and its CD combination system,
6254-414: The United Kingdom, the Game Gear was developed to compete with the Game Boy , which Nintendo had released in 1989. The decision to make a handheld console was made by Sega's CEO Hayao Nakayama and the name was chosen by newly appointed Sega of America CEO Michael Katz. Both Sega's chairman Isao Okawa and cofounder David Rosen approved of the name. The console had been designed as a portable version of
6360-542: The add-on was expensive but unique for collectors and contributed to the system's popularity. The Super Wide Gear magnifies the screen. The Car Gear adapter plugs into cigarette lighters to power the system while traveling, and the Gear to Gear Cable (VS Cable in Japan) establishes a data connection between two Game Gear systems using the same multiplayer game. Master Gear enables the Game Gear to play Master System games. Game Gear model variations include several colors, including
6466-523: The aesthetic of coolness in Japan to samurai , but this is historically inaccurate. In fact, in many art forms including rakugo , samurai from the countryside were often depicted as the target of ridicule by the average commoner in the civilized Edo period. Some argue that the ethic of the samurai caste in Japan and warrior castes in India and East Asia all resemble what it means to be "cool". The samurai-themed works of film director Akira Kurosawa are among
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#17328456444576572-484: The air in the smoke-filled nightclubs of that era became unbreathable, windows and doors were opened to allow some 'cool air' in from the outside to help clear away the suffocating air. By analogy, the slow and smooth jazz style that was typical for that late-night scene came to be called "cool." He continued, "The goal [of cool jazz] was always the same: to lower the temperature of the music and bring out different qualities in jazz." Marlene Kim Connor connects cool and
6678-1526: The amount of translation required. Popular US games imported at this time included Final Fantasy IV (known in the US as Final Fantasy II ), Final Fantasy VI (known in the US as Final Fantasy III ), Secret of Mana , Street Fighter II , Chrono Trigger , and Super Mario RPG . Secret of Mana and Street Fighter II would eventually receive official release in Europe, whilst Final Fantasy IV , Final Fantasy VI , Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG would be released in Europe years later on other consoles or formats outside of this generation. US$ 399.99 (Silver version) (equivalent to $ 890 in 2023) Game Boy (using Super Game Boy ) Hudson Soft HuC6280 A (based on 8-bit 65SC02 ) 1.79 MHz (0.77 MIPS ) or 7.16 MHz (3.08 MIPS) 32X Add-on: SA-1 enhancement chip : Upgrades: Enhancement chips : Hudson Soft HuC6280A PSG 32X Add-on: 32 KB main, 128 KB video RAM Upgrades: Enhancement chips: Upgrades: Enhancement chips: Upgrades: Hudson Soft HuC6280 A (based on 8-bit 65SC02 ) 1.79 MHz (0.77 MIPS ) or 7.16 MHz (3.08 MIPS) Philips SCC68070 @ 15.5 MHz Motorola 68000 @ 12.5 MHz (2.19 MIPS) Philips SCC66470, MCD 212 Sega ASIC coprocessor Oki MSM5205 MCD 221 Ricoh RF5c164 Super CD-ROM²: Upgrades: 1 MB RAM CD BackUp Ram Carts: Cool (aesthetic) Coolness , or being cool ,
6784-623: The broader popular culture. George Elliott Clarke writes that Malcolm X , like Miles Davis , embodies essential elements of coolness. As an icon, Malcolm X inspires a complex mixture of both fear and fascination in broader American culture, much like the "cool pose" itself. Bongani Madando considers film icon Sidney Poitier as one who embodies coolness on-screen. In Japan, synonyms of cool could be iki and sui , referring to traditional aesthetic ideals among commoners that developed in Edo-period Japan. Some tend to immediately connect
6890-457: The closed doors and negative messages of the "generalized other". They also believe that attaining black manhood is filled with pitfalls of discrimination, negative self-image, guilt, shame, and fear. The "cool pose" may be a factor in discrimination in education, contributing to achievement gaps in test scores . In a 2004 study, researchers found that teachers perceived students with African-American culture-related movement styles, referred to as
6996-483: The competition of Nintendo in the handheld console market with the Game Gear, noting that "for all the handhelds that have gone up against the might of Nintendo and ultimately lost out, Sega's Game Gear managed to last the longest, only outdone in sales by the Sony PSP . For its fans, it will remain a piece of classic gaming hardware whose legacy lives on forever." XGP Fourth generation of video game consoles In
7102-519: The console only accessible to a niche market. A less expensive version, retailing for $ 399.99, did not include a memory card, pack-in game or extra joystick. Nintendo, NEC and Sega also competed with hardware peripherals for their consoles in this generation. NEC was the first with the release of the TurboGrafx CD system in 1990. Retailing for $ 399.99 at release, the CD add-on was not a popular purchase, but
7208-455: The contemporary meaning of the word cool . The definition, meaning "something fashionable", is said to have been popularized in jazz circles by tenor saxophonist Lester Young . This predominantly black jazz scene in the U.S., as well as expatriate musicians in Paris , helped popularize notions of cool in the U.S. in the 1940s, giving birth to "Bohemian" or beatnik culture. Shortly thereafter,
7314-661: The creation of the Interactive Digital Software Association and the Entertainment Software Rating Board . Sega concluded that the superior sales of their version of Mortal Kombat were outweighed by the resulting loss in consumer trust, and cancelled the game's release in Spain to avoid further controversy. With the new ESRB rating system in place, Nintendo reconsidered its position for the release of Mortal Kombat II , and this time became
7420-574: The cultural value of cool in Africa, which influenced the African diaspora , to be different from that held by Europeans, who use the term primarily as the ability to remain calm under stress. According to Thompson, there is significant weight, meaning, and spirituality attached to coolness in traditional African cultures, something which Thompson argues is absent from coolness in the Western context: The telling point
7526-518: The development of the add-on instead (contrary to popular belief, the CD-i was largely unrelated to the project). The fourth generation was also the era when the act of buying imported US games became more established in Europe, and regular stores began to carry them. The PAL region has a refresh rate of 50 Hz (compared with 60 Hz for NTSC ) and a vertical resolution of 625 interlaced lines ( 576 effective), compared with 525/480 for NTSC. Because
7632-647: The erosion of the commanding market share it had built up with the Nintendo Entertainment System . Nintendo's fourth-generation console, the Super Famicom, was released in Japan on November 21, 1990; Nintendo's initial shipment of 300,000 units sold out within hours. The machine reached North America as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System on August 23, 1991, and Europe and Australia in April 1992. Despite stiff competition from
7738-432: The eventual creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board . The emergence of fifth generation video game consoles , beginning around 1994, did not significantly diminish the popularity of fourth generation consoles for a few years. In 1996, however, there was a major drop in sales of hardware from this generation and a dwindling number of software publishers supporting fourth generation systems, which together led to
7844-475: The following year. Over ten years later, on March 2, 2011, Nintendo announced that its 3DS Virtual Console service on the Nintendo eShop would feature Game Gear games. The Game Gear is designed to be compatible with Master System games and consequently, many of its internal components were inherited from that system. It shares the same CPU, the Zilog Z80 , an 8-bit processor clocked at 3.5 MHz, and
7950-636: The fourth generation as well. However, particularly in the lucrative North American market, there was a fierce console war that raged through the early '90s, which eventually saw Sega outselling Nintendo in North America by 1991. Sega's success in this era stemmed largely from its launch of its popular Sonic the Hedgehog franchise to compete with Nintendo's Super Mario series, as well as a very stylized marketing campaign aimed at American teenagers. Several other companies released consoles in this generation, but none of them were widely successful. Nevertheless, there were other companies that started to take notice of
8056-422: The handheld, but Sega's worldwide advertising prominently positioned the Game Gear as the " cooler " console than the Game Boy. In North America, marketing for the Game Gear includes side-by-side comparisons against the Game Boy and liken Game Boy players to the obese and uneducated. Most of those advertisements feature the "Sega Scream" with a person yelling the name. One Sega advertisement in early 1994 features
8162-435: The hippie rebels of the late 1960s became the senior executives of business sectors, such as the fashion industry. Since they grew up with cool and maintained the same values, they knew its rules and thus knew how to accurately market and produce such clothing. However, once cool became the dominant ideology in the 21st century, its definition changed to not one of rebellion but of one attempting to hide their insecurities in
8268-462: The history of video games, the fourth generation of video game consoles , more commonly referred to as the 16-bit era , began on October 30, 1987, with the Japanese release of NEC Home Electronics ' PC Engine (known as the TurboGrafx-16 in North America). Though NEC released the first console of this era, sales were mostly dominated by the rivalry between Sega and Nintendo across most markets:
8374-667: The maturing video game industry and begin making plans to release consoles of their own in the future. As with prior generations, game media still continued to be distributed primarily on ROM cartridges , though the first optical disc systems, such as the Philips CD-i , were released to limited success. There was additionally technical competition with home computer games on the Amiga and on DOS -based IBM clones . As games became more complex, concerns over video game violence, namely in titles such as Mortal Kombat and Night Trap , led to
8480-597: The most praised of the genre, influencing many filmmakers across the world with his techniques and storytelling. Notable works of his include Seven Samurai , Yojimbo , and The Hidden Fortress , the last being one of the primary inspirations for George Lucas 's Star Wars (which also borrows a number of aspects from the samurai, for example the Jedi Knights of the series). Samurai have been presented as cool in many modern Japanese movies such as Samurai Fiction , Kagemusha , and Yojimbo . In The Art of War ,
8586-631: The name TurboGrafx-16 in North America on August 29, 1989. Initially, the PC Engine was quite successful in Japan, partly due to titles available on the then-new CD-ROM format. NEC released a CD add-on in 1990 and by 1992 had released a combination TurboGrafx and CD-ROM system known as the TurboDuo . In the United States, NEC used Bonk , a head-banging caveman, as their mascot and featured him in most of
8692-597: The nonchalant, smooth-talking gangster who is an expert with a switchblade , personifies the bitter-sweet strain of cool; Puritanism and sentimentality are both anathema to the cool character. During the turbulent inter-war years, coolness was a privilege reserved for bohemian milieus like Brecht's. Cool irony and hedonism remained the province of cabaret artistes, ostentatious gangsters, and rich socialites. The luxuries depicted in Evelyn Waugh 's Brideshead Revisited and Christopher Isherwood 's Goodbye to Berlin traced
8798-407: The outlines of a new cool. Peter Stearns , a professor of history at George Mason University , suggests that the seeds of a cool outlook had been sown among this inter-war generation. The Second World War brought the populations of Britain, Germany, and France into intimate contact with Americans and their culture. WWII also brought hundreds of thousands of GIs , whose relaxed, easy-going manner
8904-455: The post-war African-American experience in her book What is Cool?: Understanding Black Manhood in America . Connor writes that cool is the silent and knowing rejection of racist oppression, a self-dignified expression of masculinity developed by black men that were denied mainstream expressions of manhood. She writes that mainstream perception of cool is narrow and distorted, with coolness often perceived merely as style or arrogance rather than
9010-512: The preferred version among reviewers. The Toy Retail Sales Tracking Service reported that during the key shopping month of November 1994, 63% of all 16-bit video game consoles sold were Sega systems. The console was never popular in Japan (being regularly outsold by the PC Engine ), but still managed to sell 40 million units worldwide. By late 1995, Sega was supporting five different consoles and two add-ons, and Sega Enterprises chose to discontinue
9116-501: The quote, "If you were color blind and had an IQ of less than 12, then you wouldn't mind which portable you had." Such advertising drew outrage from Nintendo, who sought to have protests organized against Sega for insulting disabled persons . Sega of America president Tom Kalinske responded that Nintendo "should spend more time improving their products and marketing rather than working on behind-the-scenes coercive activities". Ultimately, this debate would have little impact on sales for
9222-460: The sake of a social audience. Cool , though an amorphous quality—more mystique than material—is a pervasive element in urban black male culture. Majors and Billson address what they term the "cool pose" in their study and argue that it helps black men counter stress caused by social oppression, rejection and racism . They also contend that it furnishes the black male with a sense of control, strength, confidence and stability and helps him deal with
9328-408: The same sound chip, a Texas Instruments SN76489 , a programmable sound generator . The chip generated stereo sound , audible using headphones as the device only included a single monaural speaker. The system also contains 8 KB of RAM and 16 KB of video RAM . The Game Gear is 210 millimeters (8.3 in) wide, 113 mm (4.4 in) high, 38 mm (1.5 in) deep, and
9434-596: The shaping fantasies of lovers and madmen with "cool reason", in Hamlet he wrote "O gentle son, upon the heat and flame of thy distemper, sprinkle cool patience", and the antagonist Iago in Othello is musing about "reason to cool our raging motions, our carnal stings, our unbitted lusts." The cool "Anatolian smile" of Turkey is used to mask emotions. A similar "mask" of coolness is worn in both times of stress and pleasure in American and African communities. In The Diary of
9540-518: The simulation speed of contemporary game systems was directly linked to the output frame rate , which was in turn synchronized with the TV's refresh rate, this meant that the game would run more slowly on a PAL television. The smaller number of vertical lines in the NTSC signal would also lead to black bars appearing on the top and bottom of a PAL television. Developers often had a hard time converting games designed for
9646-558: The standard uniformity and mass production of clothing created by the "totalitarian" system of fashion. Hippie-inspired fashion included various styles featuring bold colors, such as the "Trippy Hippie," the "Fantasy Hippie," the "Retro Hippie", the "Ethnic Hippie", and the "Craft Hippie". Additionally, according to strain theory , the hand production of hippie fashion made their clothing cool all on its own. Handmade clothing passively rebelled against consumerism by allowing hippies to reject that lifestyle, which in turn made them cool . As
9752-562: The system was originally discontinued in 1997, third-party developer Majesco Entertainment released a version of the Game Gear at US$ 30 (equivalent to $ 50 in 2023), with $ 15 games in the year 2000. New games were released, such as a port of Super Battletank . This machine is compatible with all previous Game Gear games, but incompatible with the TV Tuner and some Master System adaptors. The system and its repressed games were likely sold throughout 2000 and 2001 but were likely discontinued
9858-521: The use of an adapter. Although the Game Gear was rushed to market, it still went on sale more than a year after the Game Boy. With a full-color backlit screen, a landscape format and a more powerful Z80 CPU, Sega positioned the handheld device as technologically superior to the Game Boy. Ultimately, its unique game library and price point gave it an edge over the Atari Lynx and TurboExpress, but its short battery life, large size (due to its screen), lack of original games, and weak support from Sega left
9964-554: The vocabulary of several languages outside English, and several languages have their own words for the concept. In this sense, cool is used as a general positive epithet or interjection, which can have a range of related adjectival meanings . One of the essential characteristics of cool is its mutability—what is considered cool changes over time and varies among cultures and generations. Author Robert Farris Thompson , professor of art history at Yale University , suggests that Itutu , which he translates as "mystic coolness",
10070-477: The world's "capitals of cool", and The Washington Post 's Anthony Faiola called Tokyo "Japan's Empire of Cool" and Japan "the coolest nation on Earth": Analysts are marveling at the breadth of a recent explosion in cultural exports, and many argue that the international embrace of Japan's pop culture, film, food, style and arts is second only to that of the United States. Business leaders and government officials are now referring to Japan's 'gross national cool' as
10176-534: Was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1998, selling only 1 million units worldwide despite several partnerships and multiple versions of the device, some made by other manufacturers. Released by SNK in 1990, the Neo Geo was a home console version of the major arcade platform. Compared to its console competition, the Neo Geo had much better graphics and sound, however, the prohibitively expensive launch price of $ 649.99 and games often retailing at over $ 250 made
10282-513: Was basically the Sega Master System in your hands. How many batteries did we suck dry playing Sonic, Madden and Road Rash on the bus or in the car, or in the dark when we were supposed to be sleeping? You couldn't do that on a Game Boy!" By contrast, IGN reviewer Levi Buchanan stated the Game Gear's biggest fault was its game library when compared to the Game Boy, stating, "the software was completely lacking compared to its chief rival, which
10388-514: Was bathed in quality games. It didn't matter that the Game Gear was more powerful. The color screen did not reverse any fortunes. Content and innovation beat out technology, a formula that Nintendo is using right now with the continued ascendance of the DS and Wii ." Buchanan praised some of the library: "Some of those Master System tweaks were very good games, and fun is resilient against time." Retro Gamer praised Sega's accomplishment in surviving against
10494-437: Was designed to be played horizontally. At the center of the device was its color liquid-crystal display that measures 3.2 inches (81 mm) diagonally and is able to display up to 32 simultaneous colors from a total palette of 4,096, with a frame rate of about 60 Hz with 160 × 144 non-square pixels . The screen is backlit for low light using a small cold cathode fluorescent lamp tube. The Game Gear
10600-408: Was idealized by teenagers, became sought by product marketing firms, and has even been used as a shield against racial oppression or political persecution, seen by many as a source of constant cultural information. To many, being cool has become a global phenomenon. Concepts of coolness have existed for centuries in several cultures. In terms of fashion, the concept of cool has transformed from
10706-489: Was largely responsible for the platform's success in Japan. The Sega CD was released with an unusually high price tag ($ 300 at its release) and a limited library of games. A unique add-on for the Sega console was Sega Channel , a subscription-based service (a form of online gaming delivery) hosted by local television providers. It required hardware that plugged into a cable line and the Genesis. Nintendo also made two attempts with
10812-495: Was not as large as in Japan or North America, and the increasing amount of time and money required for translation as RPGs became more text-heavy, in addition to the usual need to convert the games to the PAL standard, often made localizing the games to Europe a high-cost venture with little potential payoff. As a result, RPG releases in Europe were largely limited to games which had previously been localized for North America, thus reducing
10918-490: Was often self-consciously revolutionary, a determination to scandalize the bourgeoisie by mocking their culture, sexuality, and political moderation. Bertolt Brecht , both a committed Communist and a philandering cynic, stands as the archetype of this inter-war cool. Brecht projected his cool attitude to life onto his most famous character Macheath or "Mackie Messer" (Mack the knife) in The Threepenny Opera . Mackie,
11024-401: Was once an attitude fostered by rebels and underdogs —such as slaves, prisoners, bikers , political dissidents, etc.—for whom open rebellion invited punishment, so they hid defiance behind a wall of ironic detachment, distancing that defiance from the source of authority rather than directly confronting it. In general, coolness is a trait based on the inference that a cultural object (e.g.,
11130-432: Was powered by six AA batteries which provided an approximate battery life of 3 to 5 hours, a source of significant criticism from reviewers. To lengthen play time and reduce consumer cost, Sega released two types of external rechargeable battery packs. Available accessories included a TV Tuner with a whip antenna for the cartridge slot, to become a handheld television . Released at £74.99 (equivalent to US$ 130 ),
11236-432: Was seen by young people of the time as embodying liberation. To be cool or hip meant "hanging out", pursuing sexual liaisons, displaying a level of narcissistic self-absorption, and expressing a desire to escape all ideological causes. From the late 1940s onward, this popular culture influenced young people all over the world, to the dismay of the ruling paternalistic elites. The French intelligentsia were outraged, while
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