#POLYBIUS ROM SINNESLOSCHEN SERIES#

The product was recalled, the subcontractors, Sinneslöschen, were disbanded and the program was lost. The game was claimed to be very inventive and addictive, but the graphics, through mistake rather than design, were dangerous and prompted epileptic fits. Retrieved March 10, 2007.] He claims to have been working for a South American company that wished to promote a 'new approach' to computer graphics (probably vector graphics). On March 20, 2006, a man under the name Steven Roach made a post on telling the story of his involvement with Polybius, and how he hopes to 'lay it to rest.' Weatherall, Duane (March 2, 2007). The Polybius legend received some mass-market attention in the September 2003 issue of GamePro magazine, as part of a feature story on video game urban legends called 'Secrets and Lies.' The magazine determined the legend to be neither true nor false, but 'inconclusive.' ] However, has apparently 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 had claimed to have a ROM of the game, but none of them have made this ROM available for public scrutiny, a 'lack of hard evidence' situation typical of hoaxes and conspiracy theories. Others 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 the game was reported to have caused motion sickness and vertigo, and was therefore pulled. Some think it originated as a usenet hoax by a curious character named Cyberyogi, whose real name is Christian Oliver Windler. The gameplay is said to be similar to 'Tempest', a shoot 'em up game utilizing vector graphics. The supposed creator of Polybius is Ed Rottberg, and the company named in the urban legend is 'Sinneslöschen' (German for 'sense-delete'), 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.

#POLYBIUS ROM SINNESLOSCHEN SERIES#

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.

The game, 'Polybius', proved to be incredibly popular, to the point of addiction, and lines formed around the machines, quickly followed by clusters of visits from men in black.

]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.

No 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 caused its players to go insane, causing them to suffer from intense stress and horrific nightmares. 'Polybius' is a supposed arcade game featured in an Internet urban legend.

Polybius rom sinnesloschen