08 Jan 12, 01:56PM
This is one of the creepiest things I have ever come across as a gamer.
Apparently, in 1981, mysterious arcade games called "Polybius" appeared in arcades in the Portland, OR area. These games were said to be highly addictive, and caused horrifying side effects in the people who played them. Effects included seizures, vertigo, night terrors, amnesia, insanity, inability to feel sadness, and suicide. These effects were supposedly caused by subliminal messages in the game. The game was supposedly created by a guy named Ed Rotberg from a German company who's name translates to "Loss of Senses". No records of either the person or company have ever been found. One arcade owner claimed to see men wearing black clothing taking archived records from the machines, but not bothering with the money. Then, after a few months, the machines were suppose to have vanished just as mysteriously as they appeared. No trace of any of these machines has ever been found. The only piece of evidence that they existed is a single grainy black-and-white photograph of a Polybius arcade cabinet.
See this site for more:
http://www.freewebs.com/polybiustheory/
Apparently, in 1981, mysterious arcade games called "Polybius" appeared in arcades in the Portland, OR area. These games were said to be highly addictive, and caused horrifying side effects in the people who played them. Effects included seizures, vertigo, night terrors, amnesia, insanity, inability to feel sadness, and suicide. These effects were supposedly caused by subliminal messages in the game. The game was supposedly created by a guy named Ed Rotberg from a German company who's name translates to "Loss of Senses". No records of either the person or company have ever been found. One arcade owner claimed to see men wearing black clothing taking archived records from the machines, but not bothering with the money. Then, after a few months, the machines were suppose to have vanished just as mysteriously as they appeared. No trace of any of these machines has ever been found. The only piece of evidence that they existed is a single grainy black-and-white photograph of a Polybius arcade cabinet.
See this site for more:
http://www.freewebs.com/polybiustheory/