Sega Game Gear (WIP)

Check the dumping hardware overview for a list of known preservation hardware.

If you need help, please come chat with us on the VGPC or No-Intro discord servers.

Warning:

• Some unlicensed carts (mostly modern/aftermarket carts, including flashcarts) are badly made and can only take 3.3V rather than the standard 5V that most carts take and is provided by the console, and will be damaged and potentially damage the console/dumping hardware, if provided with more than 3.3V. You should check what voltage the components of an unlicensed cart can take before using it, and if it requires 3.3V, make sure to set your dumper to the correct voltage, and not use the cart on a console (unless its modified to work with such carts).

Dumping Game Gear games requires specialized hardware and currently has limited options. The methods listed below require soldering a Game Gear slot or buying a pre-built device.

[ This template was moved to dumping_important_notes ]

1. JoeyGG
2. Open Source Cartridge Reader
3. SMSCPROGR

Using a JoeyGG is fairly straight-forward. Insert your game into the JoeyGG, connect the USB cable to your computer, and your computer should mount a USB drive containing the game's ROM and save data.

The Open Source Cartridge Reader (OSCR) requires building or purchasing an adapter to dump Game Gear cartridges. Visit the OSCR wiki for proper settings, and dumping instructions.

This Sega Master System/Mark-III cartridge reader/programmer can dump Game Gear games with a Sega Master System to Game Gear adapter.

If you're comfortable with it, you can communicate with the reader over XMODEM, otherwise, clone the project's repo and extract the dumpcart.py script. Connect the reader to your computer. On GNU/Linux, it should mount as a character device under /dev/ttyACM0, otherwise change the –device flag to the correct device.

./dumpcart.py --device /dev/ttyACM0 --read gamename.gg

Unscrew the back of the cartridge with a 3.8mm Gamebit or line head screw driver and lift up the top half of the cart's shell to unclip the shell and expose the PCB.

Once you've dumped your games, it's time to generate and submit metadata to a preservation project for validating and cataloging. See the dump submission instructions for more information.