The remainder of the information about the game is listed as “unknown”. The author of the entry claims to be in possession of a ROM image of the game, and to have extracted fragments of text from it – most interestingly “© 1981 Sinneslöschen”. The first documented reference to the game was in an anonymously authored entry on the site in 2003 (links citing a 1998 reference lead to an unresponsive page and are unable to be verified.) The entry mentions the name Polybius and a copyright date of 1981. One day, shortly after its release, Polybius vanished just as mysteriously and silently as it appeared, with no official record of the game’s existence anywhere. More drastic accounts include tales of amnesia, hallucinations, and even suicide. Allegedly, many players of the game ended up addicted, sick, and plagued by nightmares. Comparisons have been made to Atari’s 1980 title Tempest.Īccording to internet retellings, men dressed in black would visit the machines, retrieve data from them, and leave without ever speaking a word.
Thought to be named for the Greek historian known for his assertion that historians should not report what they cannot verify through witnesses, Polybius has been described as an extremely addictive combination of 3D style mazes and a space shooter, with spinning graphics and bright colors that increase in intensity as the game progresses.
Elaborate hoax, paranoid conspiracy theory, or terrifying example of government utilization of an entertainment industry in order to study mind control tactics? This is what documentarians Jon Frechette, Todd Luoto, and Dylan Reiff are hoping to find out.Īccounts tell the story of a plain black cabinet appearing in select arcades in and around Portland, Oregon in 1981, marked only by the blue lettering spelling out the word POLYBIUS. The game abruptly vanishes without any explanation. Government men retrieving data from the cabinet, without ever saying a word to anyone. “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” – The Usual Suspects, 1995Ī peculiar and addictive arcade game rumored to make players ill, and worse.
0 kommentar(er)
