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Polybius Arcade

Started by Agent : Orange, September 11, 2012, 11:56:17 PM

Do you believe Polybius really existed?

Yes
No, it's a myth
Do Not Care
If it did, I still prefer Astro Blaster for epileptic rendering
Polybius is the name of an apparent arcade game that made the rounds in Oregon in the early 80s. The game supposedly caused players to have panic and anxiety problems, including night terrors. In true urban legend fashion, there are stories of men dressed in black coming to claim records from the game, but not emptying the machine's quarter bin. The game was thought to be part of some kind of government program, conditioning or testing for something. There are no Polybius coinops that survived, and pictures of the cabinet and title screen have popped up online. One of the original arcades that carried the game is now apparently a bar, and still gets phone calls from curiosity seeker looking to track down the game.

This is a great story, and has all of the necessary elements to keep the legend going. It's just a creepy scenario, and there's something compelling about the government using video games to achieve some kind of nefarious end when the coinop gaming scene was still sparkly and new, and attracted quite a following and community of fans.

Some links for your consideration:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polybius_%28video_game%29
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/polybius
http://www.coinop.org/g.aspx/103223/Polybius.html
Details and images of the cabinet here: http://www.freewebs.com/polybiustheory/

Has anyone run into this before or heard about it as a talk show or podcast topic?

coaster

I hear once they start playing the game, they enter the grid and have to fight some guy named clu.

ziznak

First time I've heard of it.  Now I want to track down it's rom file and play it.  Have you ever used the mame32?  It's THE best arcade game emulator.  I used to have a copy with tons of old arcade roms(games) but deleted it long ago since I rarely played it after a certain point.  Really interesting "last starfighter" plot.

Quote from: ziznak on September 12, 2012, 12:39:02 AM
First time I've heard of it.  Now I want to track down it's rom file and play it.  Have you ever used the mame32?  It's THE best arcade game emulator.  I used to have a copy with tons of old arcade roms(games) but deleted it long ago since I rarely played it after a certain point.  Really interesting "last starfighter" plot.
I love MAME. I use a super nintendo to USB converter so I can play with old school controllers :)

Quote from: coaster on September 12, 2012, 12:30:45 AM
I hear once they start playing the game, they enter the grid and have to fight some guy named clu.
What did you think of the Tron remake/sequel/whatever?

coaster

Quote from: Agent : Orange on September 12, 2012, 01:21:16 AM
What did you think of the Tron remake/sequel/whatever?
Well I've never seen the original, but being a huge fan of Jeff Bridges I thought I'd give Legacy a go. Watched it twice actually. I liked it for the most part. The cgi was impressive except for Clu's face which they butchered. Thought the movie moved pretty fast, and they didn't really give any back story, I guess they assumed everyone had watched the previous Tron. But I still enjoyed it. I will have to get around to watching the original soon.

ziznak

Quote from: Agent : Orange on September 12, 2012, 01:21:16 AM
What did you think of the Tron remake/sequel/whatever?
I liked the new tron too.  Sad that it seems to have flopped in theaters n what not.  I didn't even know it existed until I found it on the torrent sites.

edit: holy crap even the ROM is shrouded in mystery and legend... Agent O, you never fail to dig up some crazy shit.

btw I used to use the sidewinder controller with the MAME... now I wish I still had those files

Quote from: ziznak on September 12, 2012, 03:07:39 AM
I liked the new tron too.  Sad that it seems to have flopped in theaters n what not.  I didn't even know it existed until I found it on the torrent sites.
A god help me, that movie made me admit that Daft Punk has produced something good. The soundtrack was incredible.

Quote from: ziznak on September 12, 2012, 03:07:39 AM
edit: holy crap even the ROM is shrouded in mystery and legend... Agent O, you never fail to dig up some crazy shit.
The whole thing is fairly impenetrable. The sites I linked to mention copies of Polybius out there somewhere, but it's always obscured somehow. Surely if this game ever existed it would have a widely available ROM? I take this as an indication that this game probably never existed.

But it turns out that making custom Polybius games and cabinets has turned into quite an operation! If you go to youtube you can find many people that make their own versions of how they think Polybius was.

Quote from: ziznak on September 12, 2012, 03:07:39 AM
btw I used to use the sidewinder controller with the MAME... now I wish I still had those files
Sidewinders were awesome too!

ziznak

haven't tried it yet but grabbed this fan made tribute version which actually looks pretty ... ummmm... epileptic if you will... interesting domain name too!
http://www.sinnesloschen.com/1.php

I think it's very possible that the game existed and the ROM just doesn't exist anywhere.  If the company went belly up that fast I would think only some of the game programmers might have a copy of it... on a floppy disk.  It could have very easily just gone extinct like a lot of abandon-ware.

One of my most favorite sites... any gamer that's been playing as long as we have can easily spend too much time here:
http://homeoftheunderdogs.net/

one more thing! congrats on the avy change... this one reflects your name well although I do like seeing superman pour himself a stiff one.

Eddie Coyle


          Happy Happy Halloween from Silver Shamrock...

         

Zircon

Quote from: coaster on September 12, 2012, 02:16:48 AM
Well I've never seen the original, but being a huge fan of Jeff Bridges I thought I'd give Legacy a go. Watched it twice actually. I liked it for the most part. The cgi was impressive except for Clu's face which they butchered. Thought the movie moved pretty fast, and they didn't really give any back story, I guess they assumed everyone had watched the previous Tron. But I still enjoyed it. I will have to get around to watching the original soon.
The original was much better coaster.

coaster

Quote from: Zircon on September 12, 2012, 03:03:18 PM
The original was much better coaster.
I wish I could find it online. Netflix doesnt have it. no surprise there.

HorrorRetro

Quote from: Eddie Coyle on September 12, 2012, 02:57:09 PM
          Happy Happy Halloween from Silver Shamrock...

         

I love Halloween III.  It's so bad I have to watch it every October.  It's now a family tradition.

Regarding video games, I was a Tempest addict.  I do mean addict.  I stole for money to play that stupid game.  :o

HorrorRetro

Quote from: coaster on September 12, 2012, 03:41:38 PM
I wish I could find it online. Netflix doesnt have it. no surprise there.

Here's a site to watch Tron.  http://stagevu.com/video/lvqemvmwlzbq

Quote from: HorrorRetro on September 12, 2012, 05:02:25 PM
I love Halloween III.  It's so bad I have to watch it every October.  It's now a family tradition.

Regarding video games, I was a Tempest addict.  I do mean addict.  I stole for money to play that stupid game.  :o

Don't know if there's anything to it, but Polybius is always described as being Tempest-like. This might possibly be due to the fact that Tempest could apparently cause motion sickness in players prone to that. Synchronicity!

Quote from: ziznak on September 12, 2012, 02:50:26 PM
haven't tried it yet but grabbed this fan made tribute version which actually looks pretty ... ummmm... epileptic if you will... interesting domain name too!
http://www.sinnesloschen.com/1.php
Apparently Sinnesloschen is the original company behind Polybius. Means "senses killing" or somesuch in German iirc.

Quote from: ziznak on September 12, 2012, 02:50:26 PM
I think it's very possible that the game existed and the ROM just doesn't exist anywhere.  If the company went belly up that fast I would think only some of the game programmers might have a copy of it... on a floppy disk.  It could have very easily just gone extinct like a lot of abandon-ware.

One of my most favorite sites... any gamer that's been playing as long as we have can easily spend too much time here:
http://homeoftheunderdogs.net/
I suppose the lack of a real ROM doesn't mean the game never existed. Like you say machines can be destroyed, especially if they only saw limited release in the Portland area to begin with.

Quote from: ziznak on September 12, 2012, 02:50:26 PM
one more thing! congrats on the avy change... this one reflects your name well although I do like seeing superman pour himself a stiff one.
I'm sure Superman will belly up to the bar again soon enough ;)

Quote from: Zircon on September 12, 2012, 03:03:18 PM
The original was much better coaster.

I was only halfway sold on the original. I think it might be because I never saw it as a kid, and so I'm being too harsh on judging it. I definitely admittedly need to give it another spin.

HorrorRetro

I've seen the original Tron probably more times than any other movie.  I absolutely loved it when it came out, and I still watch it now and then.  David Warner is one of my favorite actors.  I thought the sequel was okay, but nothing spectacular.

Eddie Coyle

Quote from: HorrorRetro on September 12, 2012, 05:02:25 PM
I love Halloween III.  It's so bad I have to watch it every October.  It's now a family tradition.

Regarding video games, I was a Tempest addict.  I do mean addict.  I stole for money to play that stupid game.  :o
Halloween III looks better each year due to the defecit of good horror movies nowadays. I remember it being absolutely destroyed by the critics and fans of the original Halloween films. But in retrospect, it's theme and concept was pretty interesting.

        Stealing is wrong! But, I sent my younger sisters into prostitution to pay for "Pitfall", "Galaga" and "Berserk"

          BTW, "Blue Sunshine" is a great lost film. For whatever reason that and "The Sentinel" were movies that I only saw once as a kid, but they stuck with me long after.

HorrorRetro

Quote from: Eddie Coyle on September 12, 2012, 08:44:40 PM
    Halloween III looks better each year due to the defecit of good horror movies nowadays. I remember it being absolutely destroyed by the critics and fans of the original Halloween films. But in retrospect, it's theme and concept was pretty interesting.

        Stealing is wrong! But, I sent my younger sisters into prostitution to pay for "Pitfall", "Galaga" and "Berserk"

          BTW, "Blue Sunshine" is a great lost film. For whatever reason that and "The Sentinel" were movies that I only saw once as a kid, but they stuck with me long after.

If Halloween III is judged on its own merits and not compared to others in the series, it's great. 

I loved Galaga too.  Tron was also a favorite. Oh, how could I forget Stargate and Defender?  There was just something about spending all those hours in the mall in a dark arcade. 

I love Blue Sunshine.  The scene with the naked old guy in The Sentinel freaks me out. I got my husband to watch it, and now it freaks him out just when I mention it. 

I think the movie that scares me the most is Beyond the Door.  It's pure, unadulterated '70s supernatural horror, my favorite genre.  Beyond the Door (1974) TV Spot

Quote from: HorrorRetro on September 12, 2012, 09:19:02 PM
I loved Galaga too.  Tron was also a favorite. Oh, how could I forget Stargate and Defender?  There was just something about spending all those hours in the mall in a dark arcade. 
I miss the days of arcades. Consoles just don't do it the same way.

Eddie Coyle

Quote from: HorrorRetro on September 12, 2012, 09:19:02 PM

I loved Galaga too.  Tron was also a favorite. Oh, how could I forget Stargate and Defender?  There was just something about spending all those hours in the mall in a dark arcade. 

I love Blue Sunshine.  The scene with the naked old guy in The Sentinel freaks me out. I got my husband to watch it, and now it freaks him out just when I mention it. 

I think the movie that scares me the most is Beyond the Door.  It's pure, unadulterated '70s supernatural horror, my favorite genre.
We had a bowling alley that got games a good two years after everybody else was sick of them. Pac-Man Fever hit us in '83. Galaga probably arrived in late '86. Such neglect. No wonder we have suicide epidemics.

         Beyond the Door is a good one. I saw that once, on a really shitty independent channel in Worcester,MA that aired low budget movies in the overnight. So, that trailer is the first time I've seen any portion of it since March, 1985. Part of a double bill with 1974's "The Mutations" with Donald Pleasance(of course...Christopher Lee must have been busy)

HorrorRetro

I first saw Beyond the Door in, oh, '78 or so.  It was on right after an episode of the Night Stalker, which is one of my all-time favorite TV shows.  Back then, both Night Stalker and Beyond the Door were terrifying. We were sleeping out on the living room floor that night with no lights on.  I think the Night Stalker episode was the "The Trevi Collection," which guest starred Lara Parker as a witch.  The episode featured these mannequins that moved across the room on their own.  That scene alone was almost enough to give a 10-year-old a heart attack.  I think that's my favorite Night Stalker episode. 

Eddie Coyle

Quote from: HorrorRetro on September 12, 2012, 10:41:39 PM
I first saw Beyond the Door in, oh, '78 or so.  It was on right after an episode of the Night Stalker, which is one of my all-time favorite TV shows.  Back then, both Night Stalker and Beyond the Door were terrifying. We were sleeping out on the living room floor that night with no lights on.  I think the Night Stalker episode was the "The Trevi Collection," which guest starred Lara Parker as a witch.  The episode featured these mannequins that moved across the room on their own.  That scene alone was almost enough to give a 10-year-old a heart attack.  I think that's my favorite Night Stalker episode.
Lara Parker, one of my innumerable childhood TV crushes, and also in the somewhat silly "Satanists are everywhere" 1975 film Race With The Devil.

          The Night Stalker films and TV series were terrific, and I think "Kolchak" was actually part of the pre-Sajak/Letterman CBS Late Night programming circa 1987-88, albeit briefly.

           

HorrorRetro

Quote from: Eddie Coyle on September 12, 2012, 10:52:00 PM
        Lara Parker, one of my innumerable childhood TV crushes, and also in the somewhat silly "Satanists are everywhere" 1975 film Race With The Devil.

          The Night Stalker films and TV series were terrific, and I think "Kolchak" was actually part of the pre-Sajak/Letterman CBS Late Night programming circa 1987-88, albeit briefly.

           


Race with the Devil is one of my favorites. My sister and I, we're twins, saw a preview for it back around the same time we saw Beyond the Door.  I never knew what it was called.  All the preview showed was where the Winnebago is surrounded by the people in shrouds and then the torches get lit. I think we both screamed at that point, which is probably why we didn't hear the name of the movie.  We lived in Alaska, and our programming was very limited and movies didn't often repeat.

For years, that preview stuck with me, and I tried to figure out what that movie was without a name.  A few years ago, I finally figured it out and rented it from Netflix.  I've seen it a few times since then.  It still gets me.  We go for long drives in the country, and I always think back to the Satanists chasing the Winnebago lol.

I adore Lara Parker.  I saw her in an episode of The Rockford Files last week.  I think she still does Dark Shadows events around the country.

Eddie Coyle

Quote from: HorrorRetro on September 13, 2012, 10:34:16 AM
Race with the Devil is one of my favorites. My sister and I, we're twins, saw a preview for it back around the same time we saw Beyond the Door.  I never knew what it was called.  All the preview showed was where the Winnebago is surrounded by the people in shrouds and then the torches get lit. I think we both screamed at that point, which is probably why we didn't hear the name of the movie.  We lived in Alaska, and our programming was very limited and movies didn't often repeat.

For years, that preview stuck with me, and I tried to figure out what that movie was without a name.  A few years ago, I finally figured it out and rented it from Netflix.  I've seen it a few times since then.  It still gets me.  We go for long drives in the country, and I always think back to the Satanists chasing the Winnebago lol.

The early to mid 70's were a heyday for occult/parapsychology themed films/TV. The obscure stuff really interests me like "The Devil's Rain" from '75 with Shatner or "The Premonition" with Richard Lynch from '76. Even detective shows like "Cannon" had occult-themed episodes, largely due to Manson Family hysteria. Or the long lost "Alice,Sweet Alice" from '76 that had that creepy old Italian lady with the mask...there's so many.

             And my exposure to most of the films was due to being an insomniac. And a nut.

           

ziznak

As a kid a lot of that seventies horror stuff really scared the crap out of me but now I can't seem to sit through 5 minutes.  The second I recognize that era's image contrast and actors hair styles I've already got my finger on the button.  TV shows fah-gettit not happening.  War movies however... totally different story.

HorrorRetro

Well, I'm a nut too and a sometime insomniac.  I love Devil's Rain.  I think that's John Travolta's earliest movie or at least one of the earliest with a very minor part toward the end.

My favorite TV genre is the early '70s made-for-TV suspense/horror movie back when the network channels were making their own movies of the week.  I simply love those movies and think they're still scary.  It's what you don't see that scares you.  Bad Ronald, Crowhaven Farm, The Screaming Woman, The House on Green Apple Road, Home for the Holidays, etc. 

On the other end of the '70's spectrum, you have the grindhouse blood, gore, and various 'sploitation sub-genres.  I am into those as well.  Just watched Coffey the other day.

Eddie Coyle

Quote from: HorrorRetro on September 13, 2012, 12:41:17 PM
Well, I'm a nut too and a sometime insomniac.  I love Devil's Rain.  I think that's John Travolta's earliest movie or at least one of the earliest with a very minor part toward the end.

My favorite TV genre is the early '70s made-for-TV suspense/horror movie back when the network channels were making their own movies of the week.  I simply love those movies and think they're still scary.  It's what you don't see that scares you.  Bad Ronald, Crowhaven Farm, The Screaming Woman, The House on Green Apple Road, Home for the Holidays, etc. 

On the other end of the '70's spectrum, you have the grindhouse blood, gore, and various 'sploitation sub-genres.  I am into those as well.  Just watched Coffey the other day.
Bad Ronald, which I have not seen on cable or broadcast TV since it aired on Good Friday, April 1, 1988 on WTBS at 3:35am, is the definitive made for tv 70's horror film,IMO. As creepy as a movie can be without gore. Awesome. I have it on DVD. TV movies were actually of high quality then, with some star power.

        Love grindhouse/Philippino-ploitation"women in prison/jungle"/blaxploitation etc of 1971-1977. "Foxy Brown" and "Hell Up in Harlem" were on a few nights ago. Mindless fun, the one genre that I never got into was the chop socky karate films. Couldn't stand them really. I prefer bad dialogue to flying fists.

HorrorRetro

Quote from: Eddie Coyle on September 13, 2012, 12:53:29 PM
        Bad Ronald, which I have not seen on cable or broadcast TV since it aired on Good Friday, April 1, 1988 on WTBS at 3:35am, is the definitive made for tv 70's horror film,IMO. As creepy as a movie can be without gore. Awesome. I have it on DVD. TV movies were actually of high quality then, with some star power.

        Love grindhouse/Philippino-ploitation"women in prison/jungle"/blaxploitation etc of 1971-1977. "Foxy Brown" and "Hell Up in Harlem" were on a few nights ago. Mindless fun, the one genre that I never got into was the chop socky karate films. Couldn't stand them really. I prefer bad dialogue to flying fists.

Bad Ronald truly is the best of the genre. I watched it awhile back on You Tube, and the creep factor was still there.  I have a really crappy VHS of it stashed away.

Like you, I never got into the kung fu or karate sub-genre.  It doesn't hold my attention.

Speaking of made-for-TV movies, one of my favorites is on tonight, The Little Girl who Lives Down the Lane with Jody Foster, Scott Jacoby, and Martin Sheen. 

It looks like Netflix has recently added quite a few cult films.  I'm seeing some news ones pop up today.  Netflix has recommended I watch The Big Doll House, another of the Philippine exploitation movies.

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