First I've heard of this - Polybius

I read that during a location test in Washington, some folks ended up having epileptic fits because of some flashing the game goes through and because of that they yanked it. This was stated in a post by someone claiming to be one of the programmers of the game... of course there was no evidence presented...

If I could only find that link...

Found it:

by stevenroach. Comment: "I think it's about time I laid this to rest, however entertaining the speculation. My name is Steven Roach who is primarily based in the Czech Republic. Sinneschlossen was a company set up by myself and several other mainly amateur programmers in 1978 that worked on component parts for Printed Circuit Boards that saw programming as a limited but very profitable sideline. I think the fact that it wasn't the focal point of our business took the pressure off of us and hence we created some quality work which quickly gained a reputation within the industry. We were approached around 1980 by a Southern American company that shall remain nameless for legal purposes to develop an idea they had for producing an Arcade Game with a puzzle element that centred around a new approach to Video Game Graphics. They were very keen indeed to gain an upper hand in what was already a very competitive market so we were offered a staggering commission-based renumeration package to develop something special that utilised the technology. We developed the game in little more than two portacabins that were knocked together where we spent many stressful mornings, evenings & nights which was a great pity because it compromised our relaxed and innocently amateurish approach to our business in spite of the financial possibilities. Marek Vachousek was the programmer who came up with the name Polybius - he had studied Greek Mythology at Masaryk University and came up with the name because it sounded quite bold and mysterious, which is what we wanted quite simply. The inspiried graphics combined with the puzzle elements and scintilating gameplay was something to behold - we playtested it for hours and hours and it certainly was an addictive game that was well loved professionally and recreationally by all that played it. The company couldn't have been happier and we all thought we were on the verge of something very special indeed. We then received a phonecall stating that there were concerns within the company that the basic graphics which featured prominently in so many other games of the time were fine for the average gamer to spend hours at a time without any noticable physical or mental detriments but the intense and engrossing gameplay of this new step was very much an unknown quantity so the game was put back several months due to divided opinion within their board of directors, much to our consternation for breaking our backs to finish it on time. We received heartening collated playtesting figures and were then told that the game would receive a temporary limited release which bouyed us significantly but shortly after, we received terrible news - a thirteen year old boy from the Lloyd District of Portland, Oregon had suffered an Epileptic Fit while playing the game, only six days after the machines had literally been installed. One of the senior employees that I knew very well contacted me to tell me that it caused immense ripples of panic throughout the company who were of the opinion that they had "created a monster" as such. It may sound laughable now but please bear in mind that this was 25 years ago when the Video Game Industry was in it's infancy. Every effort was made to withdraw the game from the public domain as quickly as possible but the scaremongering was already out in force and a lot of the children were queueing up or daring their friends to play this supposedly nightmarish game. Company Directors descended on the town to assess the situation which may account for these reports of "Strange Men in Black Suits hanging around" and the machines were often taken in daylight, causing minor but noticable incidents. As far as I was made aware, only seven machines were distributed around the area and no other health-related incidents were reported. I heard "off the record" that the company made a one-off settlement to the boy's family and no more was heard, apart from all the internet-based speculation and resulting paranoia. We disbanded Sinnesscholssen shortly afterwards because we didn't want to restrict ourselves to the stringent deadlines of other companies and favoured distancing ourselves from the game in case of any lingering recriminations which could have done a great deal of damage to our personal and professional reputations which was our livelihood and with some of us having very young families, this was extremely important to us. As far as I'm aware, no ROM's or otherwise exist unless they remain in the bowels of the company that distributed it. We only received a basic payment in view of the fact that the game was withdrawn without nationwide or international distribution so we grew to loathe it and was often a cursed word whenever we used to meet up and still is today, which is a shame. I still believe we created something that should have changed the face of gaming and would have set us apart from the rest of the industry but Arcade Games were often compared to drugs at the time because of their addictiveness and we created something that small-minded bureaucrats perceived to be the Heroin of the Video Game World that's only crime was to be many years ahead of it's time. I'm sure people will doubt the sincerity of this so feel free to drop me a line at [email protected] as I'm happy to answer any questions. Steven. " (2006-03-20 14:21:27Z)
 
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It's gotta be be real! I'm pretty sure I've seen Bart Simpson playing it on the Simpson's. I remember seeing the name and thought, that is a kick a** name for a video game.

ken
 
It's gotta be be real! I'm pretty sure I've seen Bart Simpson playing it on the Simpson's. I remember seeing the name and thought, that is a kick a** name for a video game.

ken

I saw that too. IIRC, it had 'Property of the US Government' on the side of it.
 
Another Polybius Surfaces

A new one just surfaced in Galveston: http://houston.craigslist.org/vgm/1489851128.html

In case it disappears:

Old Arcade Game - Polybius - $500 (Galveston)

Date: 2009-12-01, 11:02AM CST
Reply to: [email protected] [Errors when replying to ads?]



For Sale - Old arcade game "Polybius" - $500 obo

Cabinet made out of wood and metal. Not a lot of art work on it but it seams to be the original paint. The coin slot works, the system powers on and every thing seems to work. There may be some issues with the monitor (kind of gives me a headache to look at it), but it does what it is supposed to do.

This unit has been sitting in my dads basement for about 20 years and now I am stuck with it. I don't understand how to play this game at all. I just want to get it out of my storage locker. Make me an offer.



  • Location: Galveston
  • it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
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PostingID: 1489851128
 
im pretty sure the guy just wants to see how many responses he can get, and the whole I just want it out of here I don't know about it is hillarious. Who the hell would have something and not research it before they try and sell it, or have it for so long and not ever research it.. come on..

If it went up on ebay then it could be more "believeable" because then he'd be risking his account lol
 
There may be some issues with the monitor (kind of gives me a headache to look at it), but it does what it is supposed to do.

This is a really nice touch on the part of the poster. Not too overt, just enough to get the "elvis is alive on mars" types drooling. I bet the email address they have that going to is exploding right about now.
 
Wow, what a coincidence...and in his photo, it's sitting next to the rare upright pinball game Varkon (which is definitely a real game), just like in the other pic! :D
 
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