claims to have debunked the myth as a modern-day version of 1980’s rumors of Men in Black visiting arcades and taking down the names of high scorers at arcade games. Some sources claim it is a maze-style game, while others describe it as an action space-fighter. Conflicting information is even circulated regarding the style or genre of the game.
Several people have claimed to have a ROM of the game, but none of them have made it available for public scrutiny, a ‘lack of hard evidence’ situation typical of hoaxes. Other bloggers believe the story is a true urban legend – one that grew out of exaggerated and distorted tales of an early release version of ‘Tempest’ that caused problems with photosensitive epilepsy, motion sickness and vertigo the early release of the game was therefore pulled. Some internet commentators think it originated as a usenet hoax. The gameplay is said to be similar to ‘Tempest’ (a shoot ’em up game utilizing vector graphics), while the game is said to contain subliminal messages which would influence the action of anyone playing it. The supposed creator of Polybius is Ed Rotberg, and the company named in the urban legend is Sinneslöschen (German for ‘sensory-extinguishing’), often named as either a secret government organization or a codename for Atari. Some players stopped playing video games, while it is reported that one became an anti-gaming activist.
The players themselves suffered from a series of unpleasant side-effects, including amnesia, insomnia, nightmares, night terrors, and even suicide in some versions of the legend. Rather than the usual marketing data collected by company visitors to arcade machines, they collected some unknown data, allegedly testing responses to the psychoactive machines. This was followed by clusters of visits from men in black. The game, ‘Polybius,’ proved to be incredibly popular, to the point of addiction, and lines formed around the machines, often resulting in fighting over who played next. Polybius gets its name from the Greek historian who’s works are are relevant to modern cryptography.Īccording to the story, an unheard-of new arcade game appeared in several suburbs of Portland, Oregon in 1981, something of a rarity at the time. Not much evidence for the existence of such a game has ever been discovered. A short time after its release, it supposedly disappeared without a trace. According to the story, the Tempest-style game was released to the public in 1981, and drove its players insane, causing them to suffer from intense stress, horrific nightmares, and even suicidal tendencies. Polybius is a supposed arcade game featured in an Internet urban legend.