Supported gamepads¶
Supported gamepads¶
List of supported gamepads with supported features, known bugs, etc.
Sony DualSense (PS5)¶
Supported "extra features":
| Rumble | Lightbar color | Player LEDs | Adaptive trigger effects | Gyro / Accelerometer | virtual mouse (touchpad) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
- Pair instructions: While pressing and holding the Create button, press and hold the PS button until the light bar blinks (Sony official instructions).
- Protocol: BR/EDR
Sony Dualshock 4 (PS4)¶
Supported "extra features":
| Rumble | Lightbar color | Gyro / Accelerometer | virtual mouse (touchpad) |
|---|---|---|---|
- Supports both the 2013 (CUH-ZCT1) and 2016 (CUH-ZCT2) editions
- Some clones are known to work Ok
- Pair instructions: While pressing and holding the SHARE button, press and hold the PS Button until the light bar flashes (Sony official instructions).
- Protocol: BR/EDR
Sony DualShock 3 (PS3)¶
Supported "extra features":
| Rumble | Gyro / Accelerometer |
|---|---|
- Requires that the DS3 is manually paired to the device.
- Some clones are known to work Ok
- Protocol: BR/EDR
Sony Motion Controller¶
Supported "extra features":
| Rumble | LED | Gyro / Accelerometer |
|---|---|---|
- Requires that the controller is manually paired to the device.
- Protocol: BR/EDR
Nintendo Switch Pro¶
Supported "extra features":
| Rumble | Player LEDs | Gyro / Accelerometer |
|---|---|---|
- Some clones are known to work Ok
- Protocol: BR/EDR
Nintendo Switch JoyCon¶
Both Left and Right JoyCon are supported.
Supported "extra features":
| Player LEDs | Gyro / Accelerometer | Orientation mode |
|---|---|---|
| Sideways (horizontal) |
- Each JoyCon represents one gamepad. Cannot be used as a single/combined gamepad.
- Some clones are known to work Ok
- Protocol: BR/EDR
Nintendo Wii U Pro controller¶
Supported "extra features":
| Player LEDs | Rumble |
|---|---|
- Some clones are known to work Ok
- Protocol: BR/EDR
Nintendo Wii Remote¶
Supported "extra features":
| Player LEDs | Rumble | Orientation modes |
|---|---|---|
| Sideways mode (default) / Wheel mode (Accelerometer) / Vertical mode |
- Supports both Wii Remote (RVL-003) and Wii Remote Motion Plus (RVL-036)
- Supports 3 modes:
- Sideways mode (default)
- Wheel mode (Accelerometer)
- Vertical mode
- Supported features: player LEDs, rumble, accelerometer
- To start pairing, use the "Sync" method (press "Sync" button).
- Protocol: BR/EDR
Sideways mode¶
- Default mode. No need to press anything special to enter this mode.
- Use Wii Remote in horiontal position.
- D-pad for regular movements.
- Button "1" for fire.
- Button "2" for jump.
Wheel mode (Accelerometer)¶
- Enter this mode by pressing "A" (A == accelerometer, easy to remember) while connecting or reconnecting.
- Rotate left/right for left/right movements
- Use D-pad for up/down movements
- Button "A" for fire.
- Button "shoulder" to jump.
- LED #3 will be on in this mode.
Vertical mode¶
- Enter this mode by pressing button "+" while connecting or reconnecting.
- D-pad for regular movements.
- Button "shoulder" for fire.
- Button "A" to jump.
- LED #4 will be on in this mode.
Nintendo Wii Remote + Nunchuk¶
When Nunchuk is attached to the Wii Remote, the Nunchuk can be used.
Nunchuk as regular joystick¶
- Default mode. No need to press anything special to enter this mode.
- Use Nunchuk joystick for regular movement.
- Nunchuck button C for fire.
- Nunchuck button Z for jump.
Wii Remote can also be used, but both of them control the same joystick.
Nunchuk as second joystick¶
To control both Commodore joysticks (useful when in Unijoysticle Enhanced mode), you have to press the "+" button in the Wii Remote while connecting or reconnecting.
- Enter this mode by pressing button "+" while connecting or reconnecting.
- Use Nunchuk joystick for "right" movement.
- Nunchuck button C for "right" fire.
- Use Wii Remote D-pad for "left" movement.
- Use Wii Remote shoulder button for "left" fire.
Nintendo Wii Remote + Classic Controller / Classic Controller Pro¶
A Nintendo Classic Controller or Classic Controller Pro can be used when it is attached to the Wii Remote. When attached, the Wii Remote will be "disabled" and only the Classic Controller can be used.
- LEDs: supported
Nintendo Wii Balance Board¶
- Supports the 4 corners
- Supports temperature
- Protocol: BR/EDR
Xbox Wireless (model 1708, 2 buttons)¶
Supported "extra features":
| Rumble | Trigger Rumble |
|---|---|
- This is the "2 button" model
- Must be the model 1708 (released in 2016) and not earlier. Model 1797 should work.
- Supports Xbox Controller firmware: v3.1 (BR/EDR), v4.8 (BR/EDR), v5.15 or newer (BLE)
- Pair instructions: Same as model "1914", see below.
- Protocol:
- BLE: Since firmware v5
- BR/EDR: Before firmware v5
Xbox Wireless (model 1914, 3 buttons)¶
Supported "extra features":
| Rumble | Trigger Rumble |
|---|---|
- This is the "3 button" model
- Should be model 1914. Other "3 button" models should work as well.
- Supports Xbox Controller firmware: v5.15 or newer
- Pair instructions:
- Turn on your controller by pressing the Xbox button.
- Press the controller’s Pair button for 3 seconds and release.
- Done. Bluepad32 will connect to it once it receives the "advertisement" broadcast message.
- Protocol: BLE
Xbox Adaptive Controller¶
- Supports Xbox Controller firmware: v5.15 or newer
- Pair instructions:
- Press "pair" button at the back of the controller.
- Wait until Xbox logo blinks
- Done. Bluepad32 will connect to it once it receives the "advertisement" broadcast message.
- Protocol: BLE
Android¶
- Tested with: ASUS, Moga Pro 2, Amazon Fire TV gamepads, SteelSeries Status Duo
- Protocol: Depends on the gamepad. Most use BR/EDR. Only a few use BLE.
Steam Controller¶
- Controller must be flashed with Bluetooth firmware
- Supported features:
- Disables "lizard mode" (keyboard / mouse mouse)
- Supports D-pad, triggers, buttons, thumbstick, right pad
- Pair instructions:
- Press "Y" + "Steam" button
- Protocol: BLE
Stadia Controller¶
Supported "extra features":
| Rumble |
|---|
- Controller must be flashed with Bluetooth firmware
- Pair instructions:
- Press "Y" + "Stadia" button
- Protocol: BLE
SteelSeries Nimbus¶
- Tested with Nimbus SteelSeries for iOS.
- Protocol: BR/EDR
OUYA¶
- Only 1st gen is supported. It is unknown whether the newer version works Ok.
- Protocol: BR/EDR
8BitDo Family¶
Supported "extra features":
| Model | Rumble | Player LEDs | Gyro / Accelerometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ultimate | |||
| SN30 Pro | |||
| Pro 2 | |||
| Lite | |||
| Lite 2 | |||
| M30 | |||
| Arcade Stick | |||
| Zero 2 | |||
| NES30 |
- Tested with: 8BitDo SN30 Pro, 8BitDo Pro 2 8BitDo Arcade Stick, 8BitDo Lite, 8BitDo NES30, 8BitDo M30, 8BitDo Zero 2, 8BitDo Ultimate Controller
- All 8BitDo modes are supported: Switch, Android, Windows and macOS.
- Protocol: BR/EDR
Atari VCS Joystick¶
- Buttons / joystick supported
- The "paddle" (when you rotate the joystick) is reported as
THROTTLE - Protocol: BR/EDR
iCade Family¶
iCade Cabinet¶
- The original iCade cabinets works great.
- Might work with other controllers that support the iCade protocol.
- Protocol: BR/EDR
iCade 8-bitty¶
- Protocol: BR/EDR
Amazon Fire TV Remote¶
- Only 1st gen is supported
- Protocol: BR/EDR
Generic HID controllers¶
In general, any Bluetooth Classic (not BLE) controller that supports HID is supported, or should be easy to support it.
BLE controllers are supported, but this is an experimental feature as of Bluepad32 v3.6
There many generic Bluetooth controllers that sometimes are offered as gifts in conferences. Usually these generic Bluetooth controllers have different connection modes. Use the HID one.
- Select Button + X + Right trigger to enter into Gamepad mode
- Select Button + X + Left trigger to enter in iCade mode.
Bluetooth gamepads and their protocol¶
Most gamepads, as of 2024, use BR/EDR (AKA Bluetooth Classic). Only a few use BLE. Worth noting is that BR/EDR is only supported on ESP32 and Pico W, but NOT in ESP32-S3 / ESP32-C3.
| Chip | BR/EDR | BLE |
|---|---|---|
| ESP32 | ||
| ESP32-S3 | ||
| ESP32-C3 | ||
| Pico W |
Non-comprehensive list of supported Bluetooth gamepads their protocols:
| Gamepad | BR/EDR | BLE |
|---|---|---|
| DualSense (PS5) | ||
| DualShock 4 (PS4) | ||
| DualShock 3 (PS3) | ||
| Nintendo Switch Pro | ||
| Nintendo Switch JoyCons | ||
| Nintendo Wii U Pro | ||
| Nintendo Wii Remote | ||
| Nintendo Balance Board | ||
| Xbox Wireless | * | * |
| Xbox Adaptive | * | |
| Steam | ** | |
| Stadia | *** | |
| Android | ||
| 8BitDo | ||
| Atari | ||
| iCade | ||
| Nimbus | ||
| OUYA 1st gen |
*: Xbox Controller Firmware v3.x and v4.x use BR/EDR. Firmware v5.x and later use BLE.
**: Requires Steam Controller Bluetooth firmware update
***: Requires Stadia Bluetooth firmware update