--- title: DIY Game Console Does It With Optical Disks | daily.dev description: A hobbyist named Emmet built a custom DIY retro game console that uses CDs as the storage medium for ROM files, complete with a shell script that loads the... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/diy-game-console-does-it-with-optical-disks-ezj6hrkbk twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: DIY Game Console Does It With Optical Disks | daily.dev og:description: A hobbyist named Emmet built a custom DIY retro game console that uses CDs as the storage medium for ROM files, complete with a shell script that loads the... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/diy-game-console-does-it-with-optical-disks-ezj6hrkbk og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/eZJ6hRKbk.png og:image:alt: DIY Game Console Does It With Optical Disks og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # DIY Game Console Does It With Optical Disks **[Hackaday](https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A hobbyist named Emmet built a custom DIY retro game console that uses CDs as the storage medium for ROM files, complete with a shell script that loads the correct game into the right emulator. The console runs Batocera, a Linux retrogaming distro, on an Intel N150-powered single board computer, and pairs with custom ESP32-S3-based wireless BLE gamepads. The build also features custom CD labels, jewel case art, and a 3D printed case to give it an authentic console feel, part of a broader trend of hobbyists reviving optical media for nostalgia and storage projects. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Giving The NES An Optical Data Storage Add-On](https://daily.dev/posts/giving-the-nes-an-optical-data-storage-add-on-7qv3i8oqc) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [You, too, can make this ESP32 handheld console that can play retro games](https://daily.dev/posts/you-too-can-make-this-esp32-handheld-console-that-can-play-retro-games-qky4fonpb) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Making A Retro\(ish\) Game Console From Scratch](https://daily.dev/posts/making-a-retro-ish-game-console-from-scratch-ltbc64ddx) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [4 retro gaming projects that transform dusty old hardware into a nostalgia machine](https://daily.dev/posts/4-retro-gaming-projects-that-transform-dusty-old-hardware-into-a-nostalgia-machine-jpkmiomcs) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I wanted my emulation PC to feel like a console, so I removed every reason to touch a keyboard](https://daily.dev/posts/i-wanted-my-emulation-pc-to-feel-like-a-console-so-i-removed-every-reason-to-touch-a-keyboard-ewbaqvcxb) · XDA Developers · 3 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#gaming](https://daily.dev/tags/gaming), [#hardware](https://daily.dev/tags/hardware), [#iot](https://daily.dev/tags/iot) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/diy-game-console-does-it-with-optical-disks-ezj6hrkbk) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"DIY Game Console Does It With Optical Disks","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/diy-game-console-does-it-with-optical-disks-ezj6hrkbk","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/diy-game-console-does-it-with-optical-disks-ezj6hrkbk"},"datePublished":"2026-10-01T05:32:52.336Z","dateModified":"2026-10-01T05:33:08.945Z","description":"A hobbyist named Emmet built a custom DIY retro game console that uses CDs as the storage medium for ROM files, complete with a shell script that loads the...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/33be36f796af2bb57285c80fefb93099?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/33be36f796af2bb57285c80fefb93099?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Hackaday","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Hackaday","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--JhDfhy70--/f_auto,q_auto/v1767541814/logos/hackaday","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/diy-game-console-does-it-with-optical-disks-ezj6hrkbk","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"gaming,hardware,iot","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hackaday","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"DIY Game Console Does It With Optical Disks"}]} ```