It's the arcade game that spawned an urban legend. It's a game that never was, but for a game that never was it sure has caused a lot of commotion.
A game rumored to be so addictive it caused severe side effects in those who played it.
There was a game that you could play that would come into your head, that would affect your mind. It's said players were unwittingly part of a secret government experiment to try and control their minds.
It goes back, I think, to MKULTRA and the Americans in the 1970s when they were using hallucinogenics to try and control the populace.
Shady men in black were reportedly spotted monitoring the machines before removing them, and then nothing. Until 20 years later, when the police bias legend re-emerged.
Planting the seed and allowing people to have their own monster is much better than me creating one. The Polybius story starts in Portland, Oregon, in November 1981. Video arcades were all the rage.
Gangs of American teens descended, desperate to test themselves on the latest releases. It was loud. It was gregarious. It was exciting. You'd be jostled just to get in the door.
This is Cat DeSpira, a journalist who grew up in the Portland gaming scene.
What Polybius was, was allegedly a game dropped on the streets of Portland, basically in the arcades, in a black cabinet, unmarked.
It had a rambling series of numbers and letters that moved around the screen. That movement, it was reported, led to some horrific side effects.
