MiSTer FPGA Forum

Semi-recently there was a change to the SMS core to change the Game Gear aspect ratio from 4:3 to 10:9. The GG's resolution is 160x144, and if the pixels were square then it would have a 10:9 aspect ratio. But the GameBoy's resolution is also 160x144, and whenever I look at comparison photos, the GG's screen looks wider. So maybe 4:3 would be closer?

A 10:9 option is still good for those who want square pixels and integer scaling, though.

(I don't have a GameGear to compare with; Sonic Mega Collection Plus on the PS2 scales GG games to closer to 4:3 though that might not be accurate at all.)

Hi,
I agree with you, I have a Game Gear and my screen is more 4:3 and when I play games the screen is filled. I have it tested with Sonic 1 .

Just by cropping the screen from this random image I found, I was getting 353 × 265, which is a 4:3 aspect ratio. Not the most scientific method, but the pixels are clearly not square.

Edit: I've since realized this image is obviously edited—and it's of a Game Gear Micro! Sorry!

In the name of science, I just bought a Game Gear to test. Here's a photo of the screen during the intro for Sonic the Hedgehog 2:


And here's a screenshot from MiSTer stretched to 640 × 480:


Measuring the screen with a ruler, I get 66 mm × 50 mm—an exact 4:3 ratio.

Of course, it's debatable that 4:3 actually looks better, but it seems to be the way the original system presents the games.

And while we're talking about video options, shouldn't the "TV System" option be greyed-out for Game Gear games? Don't all Game Gears run at 60 Hz?

Just spitballing here, but I suspect that the option found its way into the core because the Game Gear and Master System are identical, or at least in enough ways that somebody might not bother to do rework to implement the other one (at least that's how the emulator folks approach these systems). I do realize that FPGA development isn't necessarily the same, but it's probably considered a "bonus feature" instead of a nuisance.

Recently, several cores have been updated to support custom aspect ratio.
Hope the SMS / GG core get this update too

As pictured real GGs do not have square pixels. While many MS/GG dual releases didn't bother resizing things, Sonic looks hella skinny in Sonic 1 GG because he was actually adjusted for the GG screen, so the default really ought to eventually be 4:3 to match real hardware, no custom aspect ratio required. Square pixels for GG could be an extra option like the Genesis core's corrected aspect ratio option.