Polybius

[Jaker]

After reading GAMING URBAN LEGENS and hearing about Polybius, I was wondering, has anyone actually seen it?

[MarioAllStar2600]

I have read a couple of times this is just an urban myth. I don't know anyone who has played it though.

[zmweasel]

N/A

[Raccoon Lad]

There is a (presumably fake) titlescreen image on the net somewhere. FYI

[zmweasel]

N/A

[neotokeo2001]

There is a (presumably fake) titlescreen image on the net somewhere. FYI

http://home.bellsouth.net/coDataImages/p/Groups/140/140741/pages/407374/polubius.jpeg

[mr_jiggles_13]

this topic always interests me on every site i see it on... i once heard of this game that put you in a coma......didint hear anything else about it but that....im positive its fake though...but all the myth stuff is interesting........who here would play polybius.....cuz i sure as hell would, that would be cool

[SegaAges]

does polybius actually stand for anything, or is it a made up name? this one myth has gotten more written about it than anything else i have ever seen. i always figured it was a super crappy game that was made in incredibly small numbers, and so some people made up a story about this game. i mean, if i was creating a game, i would want everyone to know about it, even if the people thought that the government was using it. i have seen a few posts by people saying that if it did exist, they would at least want to try it. i know i would.

honestly, i think at one point, there really was an arcade game called polybius, but was made in extremely small quantities (very small game company with not much money=a very slim few arcade machines). and think of it this way, around maybe 10 years earlier or so, people said that elvis was controversial because he used his hips too much when he danced. so if parents saw some kid putting a quarter into a super boring game and they just sit there with a completely blank look on their face (lets face it, we have all played a super boring game and looked that way) a parent could say that this game was brainwashing their child. and then the skeptics come in and try to make up a reason why a game is brainwashing a kid, and then they point to the government. the people that come to take the money out of the machine happen to be dressed a little bit nicer that day (i am not even talking about black suits, i'm talking about just kind-of nice) and skeptics stretch it to men in black suits that work for the government. and why has nobody actually seen a real polybius cab, because of what i said earlier, the company was small, made no money, and no arcade or anywhere is going to have a cab sit in there that just collects dust.

where does this polybius story originate? anybody know? i bet if you look at where it originated, you will find mutliple small game companies, and go from there. i think polybius was a real game, but that title screen pic is obviously fake. i just think that it was a very boring game, and because of the time frame when it was released, skeptics and parents hopped on it and took it too far.

[Querjek]

http://home.bellsouth.net/coDataImages/p/Groups/140/140741/pages/407374/polubius.jpeg
Oh no! My mind is going out of control @_@ @_@ @_@
:bullshit:

[zmweasel]

N/A

[BHvrd]

Polybius was not and is not real.

-- Z

Can you prove this? :D

[zmweasel]

N/A

[Jaker]

That pic is oviously fake. :bullshit:

[SegaAges]

saying skeptic os probably the wrong word, but the thing is, it makes perfect sense. i actually put little to no thought into what i wrote. you may say it doesn't exist, and i am not saying it does, but you have about as much proof as i have about its existance.

how many super crappy arcade games came out in the eighties that you have never heard of? i bet there are more than 1.

it is very possible that polybius was some game that was super boring, a parent saw everyone else playing pacman and asteroids having a blast, and then their kid sitting there, looking half dead playing some game.

i am just trying to use my own reasoning as to why people would think of something dumb like that, and you have to admit, what i am saying does not sound all that far-fetched. remember when there was a big deal about music making people worship the devil and crap like that, well it is the same principle. some parent taking one small thing way too far.

[petewhitley]

The burden of proof, in this case, would be on the people claiming Polybius exists. Despite that, however, anyone with common sense and healthy skepticism will quickly realize that Polybius doesn't exist. Occam's Razor applies equally well to crop circles and nonexistent coin-ops.

-- Z.

Additionally, the technology (of psychology, not processing power) to produce a "game" with these supposed effects is unheard of, even today. Such a machine would be revolutionary in the field.

[zmweasel]

N/A

[neotokeo2001]

http://home.bellsouth.net/coDataImages/p/Groups/140/140741/pages/407374/polubius.jpeg


This game had a very limited release, one or two backwater arcades in a suburb of Portland. The history of this game is cloudy, there were all kinds of strange stories about how kids who played it got amnesia afterwards, couldn't remember their name or where they lived, etc.

The bizarre rumors about this game are that it was supposedly developed by some kind of weird military tech offshoot group, used some kind of proprietary behavior modification algorithms developed for the CIA or something, kids who played it woke up at night screaming, having horrible nightmares.

According to an operator who ran an arcade with one of these games, guys in black coats would come to collect "records" from the machines. They're not interested in quarters or anything, they just collected information about how the game was played.

The game was weird looking, kind of abstract, fast action with some puzzle elements, the kids who played it stopped playing games entirely, one of them became a big anti videogame crusader or something. We've contacted one person who met him, and he claims the machines disappeard after a month or so and no one ever heard about them again.

Until the ROM showed up.

Here's what we've found so far:

* Found english strings "insert coin" and "press 1 player start" and "only" - looks like a 1 or 2 player game.
* Text in the game says "(C) 1981 Sinnesloschen


'Atari test marketed the game in Portland suburbs of Beaverton and Hillsboro. As a joke, Atari used the pseudonymous "Sinnesloschen" during the beta phase, a reference to long nights of coding without sleep and lots of Heineken. Atari cut the beta phase short after several complaints that the rotating mazes and flashing backgrounds made players disoriented and nauseous. Vertigo and photosensitive seizures were probably the main culprits in the game not being released officially.'... sure I won't play that game.



-------THE REAL STORY-------

No arcade game called Polybius induced amnesia, caused gamers to wake up screaming in the middle of the night, or attracted the attention of mysterious "men in black" who periodically came to "collect records" from Portland-area machines. This one is just a gag someone invented several years ago which has now become enshrined on the web, another version of the conspiracy rumors involving military intelligence agents visiting arcades to collect stored information from game consoles which date to at least the early 1980s. (Back then we were supposed to watch out for men in black who came around to take down the initials of high scorers at Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Defender.)

[pango]

does polybius actually stand for anything, or is it a made up name? this one myth has gotten more written about it than anything else i have ever seen. i always figured it was a super crappy game that was made in incredibly small numbers, and so some people made up a story about this game. i mean, if i was creating a game, i would want everyone to know about it, even if the people thought that the government was using it. i have seen a few posts by people saying that if it did exist, they would at least want to try it. i know i would.

honestly, i think at one point, there really was an arcade game called polybius, but was made in extremely small quantities (very small game company with not much money=a very slim few arcade machines). and think of it this way, around maybe 10 years earlier or so, people said that elvis was controversial because he used his hips too much when he danced. so if parents saw some kid putting a quarter into a super boring game and they just sit there with a completely blank look on their face (lets face it, we have all played a super boring game and looked that way) a parent could say that this game was brainwashing their child. and then the skeptics come in and try to make up a reason why a game is brainwashing a kid, and then they point to the government. the people that come to take the money out of the machine happen to be dressed a little bit nicer that day (i am not even talking about black suits, i'm talking about just kind-of nice) and skeptics stretch it to men in black suits that work for the government. and why has nobody actually seen a real polybius cab, because of what i said earlier, the company was small, made no money, and no arcade or anywhere is going to have a cab sit in there that just collects dust.

where does this polybius story originate? anybody know? i bet if you look at where it originated, you will find mutliple small game companies, and go from there. i think polybius was a real game, but that title screen pic is obviously fake. i just think that it was a very boring game, and because of the time frame when it was released, skeptics and parents hopped on it and took it too far.

polybius is actually a name of a hero from greek mythology. i'm not sure why that was chosen though.

[tyranthraxus]

The current Retrogaming Times has a bunch of Polybius links. One of them
claims the game was on an arcade order form from the day. I will believe it
when I see it 8-) One of the stories is that it was beta name for Tempest.

If it was anything real this game was either a beta name for some game or just plain vaporware and some jokester got this story going during the early
days of the internet. Beta testing is the only thing that would fit any of these so called stories. Limited release with company techs checking it out.
But its most likely a pile of B.S. since all these stories are so vague about the
actual gameplay.

Were there any game companies based in Portland in the 80s?

[zmweasel]

N/A

[Ed Oscuro]

I don't think I'll be visiting Coinop.org anymore...actually, I never have gone there in the first place, but if anybody brings it up...

I can't believe that description is anything but somebody's lame attempt at creating an urban legend. Really a shame. Also, the top comment in the scrolling text box...uh...detailed, but still horribly wrong. o_O

[neotokeo2001]

SCREEN SHOTS of POLYBIUS
VIEW AT YOUR OWN RISK

http://home.bellsouth.net/coDataImages/p/Groups/140/140741/pages/407374/control.gif

x_x @_@ x_x @_@ x_x @_@ x_x @_@ x_x @_@ x_x @_@ x_x @_@

[neotokeo2001]

Don't look at this in a dark room:





http://home.bellsouth.net/coDataImages/p/Groups/140/140741/pages/407374/flash.gif

8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

[Ed Oscuro]

I love the fake "MIND CONTROL ACTIVATED" MSKludged onto one of the frames in that first animation...looks like the font on most monitors' setting screens :D

[Flack]

It mind controlled me so much it made me think the score in E.T. was going backwards.

If just because I didn't see something in the 80's means it doesn't exist, you can go ahead and wipe six continents and 49 other states off the map.

[Ed Oscuro]

The only problem with that is those other continents and states surely exist. There's no debate there. The premise you're working off of -- that people who are serious and trustworthy have confirmed the existance of those other states and continents, and that similarly serious people looked into this Polybius rumor -- doesn't quite seem to hold true with Polybius, looking at how Coinop.org presents the issue.

I'll take a mountain of evidence over some "the CIA had this videogame" foolishness any day. Doesn't mean the game is inexistant...but a true Tempest game? Nonsense. Even better...a tool of the CIA? Heh heh.

[Ze_ro]

You're putting WAY too much thought into this, as do most conspiracy theorists. Some dude with too much time on his hands came up with an amusing story, and it blossomed from there.

That's what they want you to think! For all we know, everyone who really did play it got amnesia and forgot it, and the military collected and destroyed all the existing machines!

I'm just kidding, I'm not THAT paranoid. :P


Additionally, the technology (of psychology, not processing power) to produce a "game" with these supposed effects is unheard of, even today. Such a machine would be revolutionary in the field.

Not necessarily... if flashing lights can give people seizures, it wouldn't surprise me if there were SOME way to stick post-hypnotic suggestions into a video game. Especially using goofy video hardware. If a hypnotist can put people in a trance, then I don't see why a computer couldn't do the same thing (Although if it were possible, you'd think there would be some "hynosis stop smoking" computer programs out there).

Plus, there's no indication that it's entirely done with video hardware. There could always be extra stuff inside the machine that fires microwaves or EM pulses at your head or something.

Even if it's fake, I'd love to find out this thing was real someday. I'd play it.

--Zero

[Ed Oscuro]

Not necessarily... if flashing lights can give people seizures, it wouldn't surprise me if there were SOME way to stick post-hypnotic suggestions into a video game.

There's a difference between the sensory overload effect of a flashbang going off in your face ("the human equivalent of the little timer on your computer turning around"), and actually STICKING (note: sticking means that they Stick) ideas in your head. A flashbang goes off and your brain has to think about what it just saw. Most everything you ever see gets thrown out as a matter of course, but like the possum in the car lights, your mind isn't used to that much information all at once. We aren't prepared to deal with everything the universe has to offer.

We sure as hell don't remember everything we see. Now, buying into lies and BS from The Establishment, yeah, that's one thing...but you have to remember that's at the end of a conscious process.


Especially using goofy video hardware.

I've got a Genesis 3, I can't do anything like this. You wanna try? I'll sell it to you, REAL CHEAP >)

[petewhitley]

Additionally, the technology (of psychology, not processing power) to produce a "game" with these supposed effects is unheard of, even today. Such a machine would be revolutionary in the field.

Not necessarily... if flashing lights can give people seizures, it wouldn't surprise me if there were SOME way to stick post-hypnotic suggestions into a video game. Especially using goofy video hardware. If a hypnotist can put people in a trance, then I don't see why a computer couldn't do the same thing (Although if it were possible, you'd think there would be some "hynosis stop smoking" computer programs out there).

Plus, there's no indication that it's entirely done with video hardware. There could always be extra stuff inside the machine that fires microwaves or EM pulses at your head or something.

Even if it's fake, I'd love to find out this thing was real someday. I'd play it.

--Zero

As someone working/degreed/licensed in the field of psychology, I can say that in all of my studies and real-world experience I've never encountered anything which would indicate it's possible. Could post-hypnotic suggestions be in a game? Sure. But who hypnotized the subjects in the first place? Certainly not the machine. It just doesn't work that way. As you said, if this were so you'd have successful computer programs to help us quit smoking, lose weight, etc. And you need to understand that hypnosis in general is still a very fringe form of psychology, relatively underdeveloped, and not widely accepted as useful or even effective (though I myself think it serves some purpose). Were this technology possible, the government would put it to work for far more sinister uses than fooling around with young video-gamers.
Just my educated opinion.

[zmweasel]

N/A

[Ed Oscuro]

Second that. I thought the whole issue was cleared up two (maybe three?) decades ago, but somebody's always gotta be kicking that one around.

Until then, This is as close as we get to subliminal messages in advertising. (http://www.slumdance.com/blogs/brian_flemming/archives/000610.html)

[Ze_ro]

A flashbang goes off and your brain has to think about what it just saw.

Perhaps the trick is to confuse our brain, and then sneak in the "commands" while it's not paying attention. Like while the game is going, flash a message in the opposite corner of the screen for 1/60th of a second... since you weren't even looking right at it, you might not even notice it... but after seeing it enough times, maybe it might have an effect. Like you said, the mind throws things out as a matter of fact. Perhaps you can "slip one by the goalie" and get it to stick in your head without your brain consciously acknowledging it. If people can repress memories without realizing it, then there's probably some way to do mind control properly (I keep thinking of the "Somebody Else's Problem" fields used in The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy...)

I'm not saying this would work, or that it's actively being used... but who knows?


Could post-hypnotic suggestions be in a game? Sure. But who hypnotized the subjects in the first place? Certainly not the machine. It just doesn't work that way.

Why not? I really don't know anything about hypnosis... I've never experienced it (A friend of mine was hypnotized once, and her explanation of it was extremely confusing... my uncle was also hypnotized to stop smoking many years ago, and it's worked perfectly so far), only seen it's effects on other people. But it would seem to me that if you could program the proper video and audio aids, you should be able to get a computer to do the same thing, right? If there is some special trick that actually requires a person to be there to do the hypnotizing, then I'm certainly not aware of it.


As you said, if this were so you'd have successful computer programs to help us quit smoking, lose weight, etc.

Considering the whole "conspiracy theory" content of this thread, I think it's worthwhile to propose that the tobacco companies and McDonalds are actively suppressing such programs ;)

I think you'd have a hard time getting people to submit to a computer hypnosis routine anyways... advertisers would just orgasm in their pants at the possibilities. And here I thought Flash ad banners were annoying...


Were this technology possible, the government would put it to work for far more sinister uses than fooling around with young video-gamers.

Perhaps they already are, and we just aren't aware of it. Maybe Polybius was just a trial run to make sure to get the mind control stuff working properly before a mass deployment could be done. Y'know, work out the kinks (horrible nightmares would seem like a pretty big kink).

I'm not some tinfoil-hat kind of guy here... I'm sure Polybius WAS just a hoax, and I see very little reason for the government to brainwash us (and if they are, I would think they would have done a better job about it). I just feel like we can never really be 100% sure that the obvious answer is always the correct one, and I like to argue the losing side of things sometimes ;)

--Zero

[Cav]

Polybius was not and is not real.

-- Z

Can you prove this? :D


:hmm: ummm....that's not possible....you can't prove something doesn't exist. O_O

-Cav

[Flack]

Why would the government want to recruit fat kids hanging out in arcades anyway?

I can see it now. Some kid walks into NORAD headquarters, a'la Wargames. On the screen a nuclear war is taking place, represented by icons of planes, submarines, and missles. The crowd is silent as he makes his way towards the massive screens in front of him. As he reaches the screen, he shoves his hand into his pocket and pulls out a shiny new quarter, which he then leans up against the screen on the little plastic railing. "I call next game," he says.

[Ed Oscuro]

A flashbang goes off and your brain has to think about what it just saw.

Perhaps the trick is to confuse our brain, and then sneak in the "commands" while it's not paying attention.

You can't "sneak in commands." This was a topic of debate and research in the 1970s...nothing came of it.

Unless the government and corporations have really wanted nothing more than to make me (and many others) to hate them all along, I don't think "subliminal messages" are possible. There was a row recently over a Republican commercial where the word "Democrats" zoomed off the screen so a part of the word ("rats") was visible for a frame or two...it was mostly a bit funny and/or tasteless.

[rbudrick]

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/roundup.asp

That's a link to snopes.com's site on this. For those not in the know, Snopes is THE authority on urban legends online.

You are under my power, give me all your NWC carts. NOW, BITCH!

-ROb

[Ze_ro]

"I call next game," he says.

... he proceeds to take over the rest of the world (destroying much of it in the process), and enters his initials as "ASS" on the high score list.

--Zero

[SegaAges]

I like to get into discussions even if I am completely wrong.

Sure, I have insanely bad English skills (hell, I didn't even know what skeptical meant), but you know, I go to college for computers, not writing.

I was simply trying to think of ways that it could have possibly existed for the sake of argument, but from the rumors of what type of game it was (which I was dumb enough to not even pay attention to), my argument is pretty much completely flawed.

You seemed a little frusterated at me. I know I haven't gotten into discussions like this before, but just for the record dude, 99% of the time I like to argue from the other side just to see how much sense it makes.

Do I think that Polybius really exists? Of course I think its a hoax, and a funny one at that. It reminds me of when the Blair Witch Project came out and I had friends that thought the commercials were real and that the story was real.

Some hoaxes are just fun to dispute even if we both agree.

[SegaTecToy]

The game was weird looking, kind of abstract, fast action with some puzzle elements, the kids who played it stopped playing games entirely, one of them became a big anti videogame crusader or something.
Sen. Lieberman? :D

The US government have nothing to do with it. Blame the aliens, the aliens!! :eek 2:

[Dr. Morbis]

Has anyone interested in Polybius ever seen the movie "Strange Brew"? Part of the plot involves a beer company putting an arcade game in the cafeteria. When guys play the game, they become hypnotized. Then the company uses music (an organ) as the mind control device to get them to play hockey death mactches against each other (and their all dressed up like Star Wars storm-troopers when they play). It's actually a pretty funny movie, and a good movie example of using an arcade machine to affect people's minds.