Post by Tails X-Treme on May 15, 2005 13:41:22 GMT -5
This seems like a rumor in most places, but I´m just trying to spread it around to see if it actually exists.
Here´s the info: (It comes from another board, very long post)
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 Sinneslöschen" Maybe a German company?
If anyone has heard any additional information about this game, we'd appreciate hearing about it.
Coinop.org Member Ratings / Comments
by PolyBiusResearch . Comment: "Greetings people, I am part of a private group that are investigating in "PolyBius" And after reading your comments yes I have the rom but it only generates the title screen and makes this strange "swooEER" noise. I cannot release it. Another member in my group found it on the internet. Sorry but i would be kicked out. A couple new facts about polybius: People who played it have an urge toplay it again, even though they cant remember playing it. It changes your mood, people who played it reportadly were sad and after they couldnt be sad anymore...." (2003-08-17 20:23:25Z)
by mranime01 . Comment: "i have seen a coin op machine of it but i didnt play it it looked stupid but when i read the article in game pro i rushed to ebay to see if it was still there but then it was gone so it does exist but i thought it was a real thing from the begining i mean the company name says it all....right?" (2003-08-17 11:06:24Z)
by waffleking . Comment: "anybody out there who has this rom send it to me at waffleking11@juno.com. if it exists, i have nothing to fear. i have a strong mind. I used to be a big conspiracy-theory freak so why the hell not?!" (2003-08-17 04:07:34Z)
by polybiusinfofinder . Comment: "10:30 am 8/11/03 i am someone who has a lot of free time. thus, i have decided to spend as much of it as possible trying to find info on the legendary polybius arcade game. i noticed some one beat me to the name of the publisher meaning senseless, and u found out the men who came to collect data. as well as the nightmeres.very clever. The only picture i have found with my research is the title screen. also, the companies name font is the same williams used on several of its games, making cut and paste easy for an aspiring prankster, and where is a copy of this game? who owns even one of these? this is something i will enjoy looking for data. and i will keep u all posted on this legenday artifact that we might know as the polybius.
by ultimate12 . Comment: "has anyone ever found a ROM for this game and if so what system is it for?" (2003-08-14 13:08:07Z)
by Big_In_PDX . Comment: "Would like to know what Suburb this game was alledgedly in. I do live in Portland, Oregon and I would go and investigate this." (2003-08-13 20:28:33Z)
by immortalcold . Comment: "Polybius was a Greek historian who dabbled in cryptography. I have searched long and hard to find information on this game but everywhere I go the info is the same. A ROM reportedly exists but cannot be located." (2003-08-09 13:24:22Z)
by Gamerman . Comment: "Come on, this thing is nothing more than an urban legend. There is no Polybius, or any ROM of it. This is just a fancy story that entertains conspiracy theorists. The screen shot is just a fake some dude must have made with Photoshop. A video game that makes people hate video games is a rediculous idea. The day they find a Polybius game will be the day they find the PS2s that Saddam Hussein networked together to launch missles." (2003-08-09 04:52:23Z)
by armored_shadow . Comment: "Polybius was an ancient philosopher in ROman times, captured in Achaea by Rome." (2003-08-08 07:58:56Z)
by howardwen . Comment: "I call troll. I'm a videogame journalist and am investigating this. I am concluding this is a fabricated urban legend, perhaps to promote an independently produced movie (like what was done for Blair Witch). ONLY this site and Gooddealgames.com list this game. If anybody can prove/disprove Polybius, then feel free to contact me directly: wen@airmail.net Howard www.howardwen.com " (2003-08-04 13:54:48Z)
by Emrys3177 . Comment: "I have been reading a lot about this game recently, and am actually crazy enough to want to find it. Various sites and magazine companies have been reporting that a ROM of this devastating game seems to exist. If it truly is out there does anyone happen to know where it can be located or downloaded from? I want to be one of the few insane people to try it since Portland '81." (2003-08-03 15:27:20Z)
by SilentWes324 . Comment: "Sinneslöchen means senses deleting in german and polybius was a greek philosopher. If you are looking at this site you probably read the artice in gamepro so maybe since more people know about it the truth can be discovered. If anyone has any information on where I can find the rom or any other information that might help please contact me at SilentWes324@hotmail.com" (2003-08-01 22:58:08Z)
by Mappy . Comment: "This game should be emulated on MAME like yesterday. That will put a stop to all this BS. Or mabye it was already emulated, but it wiped out any memory we might had had of it. And what about the company?. Who are they. What other games did they release. Somebody has to know. " (2003-08-01 15:03:50Z)
by Sh0wtime . Comment: "hard to believe this story is true when there is a picture, but nobody is able to get the ROM of where the screenshot was taken. anywho... my email is akfoseven@yahoo.com. if you have the ROM and would like guinea pigs for your evil experiments with this game, I sacrifice my sanity for the sake of weird science." (2003-07-29 06:04:10Z)
by Lady_Eboshi . Comment: "The name "Sinneschlöchen" is German for "senses-deleting" or "senseless" and I think Polybius was the name of a many-eyed monster in Greek mythology. Has anyone considered emulating it for MAME?" (2003-03-02 21:40:45Z)
Also, Sinneslöchen means in German not senses-deleting, but "hole in the senses" It comes from Sinn: senses and löchen: hole.
Here´s the info: (It comes from another board, very long post)
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 Sinneslöschen" Maybe a German company?
If anyone has heard any additional information about this game, we'd appreciate hearing about it.
Coinop.org Member Ratings / Comments
by PolyBiusResearch . Comment: "Greetings people, I am part of a private group that are investigating in "PolyBius" And after reading your comments yes I have the rom but it only generates the title screen and makes this strange "swooEER" noise. I cannot release it. Another member in my group found it on the internet. Sorry but i would be kicked out. A couple new facts about polybius: People who played it have an urge toplay it again, even though they cant remember playing it. It changes your mood, people who played it reportadly were sad and after they couldnt be sad anymore...." (2003-08-17 20:23:25Z)
by mranime01 . Comment: "i have seen a coin op machine of it but i didnt play it it looked stupid but when i read the article in game pro i rushed to ebay to see if it was still there but then it was gone so it does exist but i thought it was a real thing from the begining i mean the company name says it all....right?" (2003-08-17 11:06:24Z)
by waffleking . Comment: "anybody out there who has this rom send it to me at waffleking11@juno.com. if it exists, i have nothing to fear. i have a strong mind. I used to be a big conspiracy-theory freak so why the hell not?!" (2003-08-17 04:07:34Z)
by polybiusinfofinder . Comment: "10:30 am 8/11/03 i am someone who has a lot of free time. thus, i have decided to spend as much of it as possible trying to find info on the legendary polybius arcade game. i noticed some one beat me to the name of the publisher meaning senseless, and u found out the men who came to collect data. as well as the nightmeres.very clever. The only picture i have found with my research is the title screen. also, the companies name font is the same williams used on several of its games, making cut and paste easy for an aspiring prankster, and where is a copy of this game? who owns even one of these? this is something i will enjoy looking for data. and i will keep u all posted on this legenday artifact that we might know as the polybius.
by ultimate12 . Comment: "has anyone ever found a ROM for this game and if so what system is it for?" (2003-08-14 13:08:07Z)
by Big_In_PDX . Comment: "Would like to know what Suburb this game was alledgedly in. I do live in Portland, Oregon and I would go and investigate this." (2003-08-13 20:28:33Z)
by immortalcold . Comment: "Polybius was a Greek historian who dabbled in cryptography. I have searched long and hard to find information on this game but everywhere I go the info is the same. A ROM reportedly exists but cannot be located." (2003-08-09 13:24:22Z)
by Gamerman . Comment: "Come on, this thing is nothing more than an urban legend. There is no Polybius, or any ROM of it. This is just a fancy story that entertains conspiracy theorists. The screen shot is just a fake some dude must have made with Photoshop. A video game that makes people hate video games is a rediculous idea. The day they find a Polybius game will be the day they find the PS2s that Saddam Hussein networked together to launch missles." (2003-08-09 04:52:23Z)
by armored_shadow . Comment: "Polybius was an ancient philosopher in ROman times, captured in Achaea by Rome." (2003-08-08 07:58:56Z)
by howardwen . Comment: "I call troll. I'm a videogame journalist and am investigating this. I am concluding this is a fabricated urban legend, perhaps to promote an independently produced movie (like what was done for Blair Witch). ONLY this site and Gooddealgames.com list this game. If anybody can prove/disprove Polybius, then feel free to contact me directly: wen@airmail.net Howard www.howardwen.com " (2003-08-04 13:54:48Z)
by Emrys3177 . Comment: "I have been reading a lot about this game recently, and am actually crazy enough to want to find it. Various sites and magazine companies have been reporting that a ROM of this devastating game seems to exist. If it truly is out there does anyone happen to know where it can be located or downloaded from? I want to be one of the few insane people to try it since Portland '81." (2003-08-03 15:27:20Z)
by SilentWes324 . Comment: "Sinneslöchen means senses deleting in german and polybius was a greek philosopher. If you are looking at this site you probably read the artice in gamepro so maybe since more people know about it the truth can be discovered. If anyone has any information on where I can find the rom or any other information that might help please contact me at SilentWes324@hotmail.com" (2003-08-01 22:58:08Z)
by Mappy . Comment: "This game should be emulated on MAME like yesterday. That will put a stop to all this BS. Or mabye it was already emulated, but it wiped out any memory we might had had of it. And what about the company?. Who are they. What other games did they release. Somebody has to know. " (2003-08-01 15:03:50Z)
by Sh0wtime . Comment: "hard to believe this story is true when there is a picture, but nobody is able to get the ROM of where the screenshot was taken. anywho... my email is akfoseven@yahoo.com. if you have the ROM and would like guinea pigs for your evil experiments with this game, I sacrifice my sanity for the sake of weird science." (2003-07-29 06:04:10Z)
by Lady_Eboshi . Comment: "The name "Sinneschlöchen" is German for "senses-deleting" or "senseless" and I think Polybius was the name of a many-eyed monster in Greek mythology. Has anyone considered emulating it for MAME?" (2003-03-02 21:40:45Z)
Also, Sinneslöchen means in German not senses-deleting, but "hole in the senses" It comes from Sinn: senses and löchen: hole.