ARC@KU

ARC Annual Showcase Event 2026

5–11 August 2026 Town House, Kingston University

Annual ShowcasePublic ExhibitionGeneral PublicHome computersConsolesProgrammingGaming historyHands-onComputing history

After last year's success, ARC@KU is throwing open the doors to the public once again. This time we've raided the archive for even more of the machines that started it all! From Wednesday 5th to Tuesday 11th August, Kingston University's Town House will once again come alive with the bleeps, bops and bloops of the classic era of home computing and gaming - and everyone's invited!

We've widened our net back into the past with machines like the Fairchild Channel F, the first ever machine to use cartridges - before even Atari! And we've pushed further into the future - or rather, the slightly later past! - with machines from the early 3D era, including the original PlayStation, Xbox, Sega Saturn,Dreamcast and N64.

Just like last year, we'll have all the icons, all the also-rans, the legends and the gloriously doomed, all switched on and at your mercy!

So come and play the classic games, bash out a line of BASIC like it's 1982, or settle the decades-old playground argument about whether the Spectrum or C64 was the true way, truth and the light. Or was it the Megadrive v SNES? Or the PlayStation v Xbox? Whether you grew up with these things or weren't yet a glint in Clive Sinclair's eye, there's something here for everyone.

Entry is free, there's no need to book, and all ages are welcome.