A low-cost gaming console using ESP8266 with TFT display and joystick
Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: In this paper, the design, implementation, and evaluation of a small, low-cost gaming console based on the ESP8266 microcontroller will be provided. Its objective is to build an educational, hobbyist friendly platform to show how a Wi-Fi enabled microcontroller can drive a color TFT display, process joystick input and execute simple games on a breadboard using only easily accessible components. It is composed of an ESP8266 development board, a TFT display module with a connector that is connected via SPI, two axes thumb joystick with a push button, a solderless breadboard, jumper wires, and a USB cable to power and program. The Arduino core on which it is written supports ESP8266 and includes graphics libraries that are opensource and can be used to create a simple game loop, input processing, rendering and optional Wi-Fi capabilities, including OTA updates or high-score synchronization. We tested the system in terms of responsiveness, stability, quality of rendering, and reproduction by the students and makers. It is found that even with the limitations of the ESP8266 and the display interface, it is possible to create a smooth and responsive gameplay experience leaving room to add more gameplay elements, as well as simple networking functions. Its contributions have been a reproducible recipe of wiring hardware, a modular firmware architecture that can support many straightforward games, and lesson plans addressing timing, graphics and input handling on resourceconstrained Wi-Fi microcontrollers. The suggested design will allow practical embedded system, graphics programming, and interactive design learning without the need of custom PCBs or custom tools.
Language: English
Topic: Arduino and IoT Applications
Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7204177973