2026 Retrocomputing Challenge: Retro Terminal Bartop Arcade Topper

What happened

The gorgeous device you see in the image above in fact started out as a bartop arcade cabinet build. It’s also a feel, a vibe, and [valkyrie0528]’s Retro Terminal Bartop Arcade Topper has it in spades.

The front section — with arcade buttons and joystick — is a removable panel. While building it, the panel was uninstalled and [valkyrie0528] placed a keyboard in the empty recess to do some configuration. Sitting at the machine like that felt like being right back in the 80s, perched at an 8-bit home computer.