The Legend of Polybius

1981 was the birth of two legendary arcade games. The first and perhaps most disturbing legend in the history of gaming was Polybius. It is hotly debated whether this arcade machine ever actually existed by eye witness accounts verify that the machine was real.

In mid-1981 in Portland, Oregon an arcade cabinet appeared over night without the arcade owners knowledge. Huge lines were formed by those wishing to play the game. Strange men visited the machine every day, spoke to no one, collected data from the machine and left. Fights began to break out over who would play next and according to some of those who allegedly played the game, whilst they played they could hear a woman screaming in the distance the whole time they were at the machine. Some people who played the game committed suicide. The cabinet disappeared months later with no trace of it ever being there at all.

In 2009, secret CIA files were uncovered revealing the MK ultra plans and documented events. This plan was created after the allied victory in WWII and the discovery of Nazi plans to use LSD to interrogate prisoners and also turn it into a gas to use against the allies. The American government employed top Nazi scientists to help study the effect of LSD on the mind. One of the most shocking cases came from the 1950s, a town in France began experiencing mass hallucinations. This was originally blamed on mouldy bread but after these files were discovered it was realised the town had been used by the American government to test the effect of LSD on the human mind. These tests continued well into the 1980s too leading back to Polybius.

The US military contacted Atari to make a modified version of the arcade game: Battlezone (not the game Dopefish appears in) for use to train tank drivers in 1981. The US military had already shown an interest in the gaming industry and mere months after this deal Polybius appeared in the arcade in Portland. Supposedly the game is a maze shooter and as the game goes on the colours grow more and more intense. This reflects the effect of LSD on the mind and with this military connection Polybius could well have been dispensing gaseous LSD to unsuspecting members of the public. A further connection lies with the gamers who committed suicide, many cases of suicide stem from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, this can be given by a bad LSD trip.

With only eye witness reports of the game it has been dismissed as an urban legend but could it be true? I also mentioned another legendary arcade game in 1981, Nintendo's very own gold mine: Donkey Kong. The character was based off of King Kong but what happens when the two apes clash? Find out next time!

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