Īmerican skeptic producer and author Brian Dunning believes Polybius to be an urban legend 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 company named in most accounts of the game is Sinneslöschen, described by writer Brian Dunning as “not-quite-idiomatic German” meaning “sense delete” or “sensory deprivation” (derived from Sinne, ‘senses’ and löschen, ‘to extinguish’ or ‘to delete’). The story tells of how Polybius players stopped playing video games, while one became an anti-gaming activist.
Polybius subliminal messages series#
Players supposedly suffered from a series of unpleasant side effects, including amnesia, insomnia, stress, nightmares and night terrors. The urban legend describes how the machines were visited by men in black, who collected unknown data from the machines, allegedly testing responses to the game’s psychoactive effects. The game is described as proving popular to the point of addiction, with lines forming around the machines often resulting in fighting over who would play next. The story tells of an unheard-of new arcade game appearing in several suburbs of Portland, Oregon in 1981, something of a rarity at the time. The remainder of the information about the game is listed as “unknown”, and its “About the game” section describes the “bizarre rumours” that make up the legend. The author of the entry claims in the description to be in possession of a ROM image of the game, and to have extracted fragments of text from it, including ” 1981 Sinneslöschen”. The entry mentions the name Polybius and a copyright date of 1981. The first documented reference to the game was an anonymously authored entry added to the site on August 3, 1998. Polybius is thought to take its name from the Greek historian of the same name who was known for his assertion that historians should never report what they cannot verify through interviews with witnesses. (Note the ‘Property of the US Government’ gag.) It’s in a Batman comic, too. Around a month after its supposed release in 1981, Polybius is said to have disappeared without a trace. There is no evidence that such a game has ever existed.Įven The Simpsons references Polybius. The story describes players suffering from amnesia, night terrors, and a tendency to stop playing all video games. Polybius is an arcade game described in an urban legend, which is said to have induced various psychological effects on players.
0 kommentar(er)
