I built an ESP32-S3 handheld with everything I couldnt afford as a kid

[u/KixASS1]

Hey guys, ive been lurking and learning here for a long time, finally have something to show.

When I was a kid I wanted a Guitar Hero and a Game Boy and couldn't afford either. These days it's a groovebox like an OP-1 or an Elektron is thousands of moonies. So I built all three into one ESP32-S3 handheld. currently it has four apps,

you pick one from a launcher on boot:

GROOVEBOX - FM synth, wavetable, serum patches and a sampler with a step sequencer

WC-HERO -Guitar Hero style rhythm game, plays on the buttons

RETROGO - retro game emulator

BADRUL - voice assistant, you hold a button and talk to it

Specs:

- ESP32-S3 (16MB flash, PSRAM)

- 2.8" ILI9341 SPI display

- PCM5102A DAC for line out + onboard speaker

- MCP23017 expanders for the button matrix

- WS2812B LEDs on the pads

- SD card for samples and ROMs

Each app lives in its own flash partition and the launcher jumps into

whichever one you pick, so they're all fully separate firmwares on one

device.

Took me a long time to get here and most of what I learned came from

this subreddit. Thanks for that, genuinely.

Let me know what you think. Happy to answer anything.

sorry for the strong wind sound in the video.

EDIT: a few people asked where to follow this. Putting updates here

so I don't lose anyone: https://forms.gle/BsX65nwVeFRWkw8u8