Polybius: The Cursed Video Game

In 1981 a game was released in United States called Polybius. Months later retired because of the demands of the players. The players denounced that the game provoked **epileptic attacks, psychoses, nightmares, tendency to suicide **and in your house there were paranormal events. It was never proven that the game existed because those who played Polybius at that time do not remember it or remember it vaguely. Today it is very easy to find the game online, and you can contemplate subliminal messages on it.

View of the graphics of the game

According to an urban legend, Polybius is a arcade game that would have been released during 1981, causing devastating effects to its players; for example, madness, stress, horrible nightmares and even tendency to suicide. It is said that, shortly after its release, the game would have disappeared without a trace.

Urban Legend

According to urban legend, a video game never before seen appeared in several playrooms in the suburbs of the city of Portland (Oregon), known as Polybius. Supposedly, the game was manufactured by a company called Sinneslöschen (in German 'loss of the senses') and programmed by Ed Rottberg. In the game, the player managed a ship that shot a series of enemies while the phases were developed with a theme type puzzle. Likewise, all witnesses agreed that a particularity of the game was that the ship did not move with the command, but the screen rotated around the ship. The game constituted a revolution at that time, and its graphic aspect, with bright colors and abundant lighting effects, was a great attraction for all videogame players.

Soon the game became very popular, to the point of producing addiction in some players. Long lines were always formed to play. The stories of the people who had the opportunity to play it spoke of strobe combinations and graphics, which contained subliminal messages. The game produced neurological affections in the players, such as dizziness, nervous tics, vomiting, memory loss, auditory and optical hallucinations, epileptic attacks and night terrors. They also claimed to see ghostly faces out of the corner of the eye running through the game screen at an almost imperceptible speed, as well as messages that incited suicide or conformism, such as "Kill yourself", "No imagination", "No thought" , "Conform", "Honor apathy", "Do not question authority" or "Surrender". Many claim to have heard voices and laments interspersed with the very strong and confusing sound of the video game.

A scene from the Simpsons, where the video game is seen

Interestingly, the game at first caused a great addiction, then generate a visceral hatred to it. The players forgot what the game was in a staggered way, so today it is almost impossible to find a testimony from someone who has managed to play and remember it perfectly.

When the games rooms were closed, some witnesses claimed to see two men in black suits (the Men in Black, another urban legend) who came to talk to the owner of the room and made notes about the effects of the videogame. This increased the suspicion that the machine belonged to the US Government.

The legend included an anecdote about the fact that the Men in Black had forgotten to leave the options menu of the machine, and on the screen there were parameters such as:

• nightmares,
• night terrors,
• amnesia,
• hallucinations (auditory and optical)
• subliminal messages.

Finally, the local Portland press echoed the death of a player who suffered a epileptic seizure while playing. The next day, employees of the company, dressed as always in black, went to all the rooms where the game had been installed and took all the units, making it disappear forever.