Overview
We've ported the Fruit Jam Arcade Machine/Console Emulator to ESP32!
Pew pew! 👾 Do you wanna play a game of pixel-accurate Space Invaders 🛸, even when you can't remember where you put your original 1978 Taito or Midway arcade cabinet. Or maybe Mr. or Ms. Pac-Man 🍒 is more your speed? Heck yesh! Donkey Kong 🦍? Check. Galaga ✨? YES! How about some 🍔 Burger Time 🍟? Totally!! Lunar Rescue 🌕 perhaps? LET'S DO THIS!!!
What about a dedicated Game Boy or Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) with microSD card cartridges?
Rather than running them on the Intel 8080 or Zilog Z80 or MOS 6502-based arcade PCBs, these are native Arduino ports for the Feather ESP32 v2 + 2.4" TFT FeatherWing, which loads your original game ROMs from a microSD card at boot. The video is output to the TFT LCD color display with I2S audio sent to a speaker via the MAX98357A 3W Class D Amp breakout.
This single arcade machine port architecture is a contrast to the MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) concept in a couple of key ways. One, it runs on a microcontroller instead of a computer + operating system, so your game boots up instantly and requires no fiddling around and associated overhead. And two, you get one game, and one game only at a time to play on your machine, so you can stop rage-quitting and launching something else!
Wii or SNES/NES Classic Controller
These official Nintendo controllers made for the Wii/WiiU and NES Classic/SNES Classic consoles are excellent and they communicate over I2C. This allows you to use real controllers without the need for a USB Host.
Get real OEM controllers on auction sites or local game stores, the clones are hit-and-miss.
Page last edited October 04, 2026
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