Polybius (video Game) - Legacy

Legacy

Several people have claimed to have a ROM image of the game, but none of them have made it available for public scrutiny, a "lack of hard evidence" situation typical of hoaxes. Conflicting information is even circulated regarding the style or genre of the game. Some sources claim it is a maze-style game, while others describe it as an action space-fighter.

The Polybius legend received some mass-market attention in the September 2003 issue of GamePro magazine, as part of a feature story on video game urban legends called "Secrets and Lies". The magazine determined the legend to be neither true nor false, but "inconclusive". Additionally, Snopes.com claims to have debunked the myth as a modern-day version of 1980's rumors of "Men in Black" visiting arcades and taking down the names of high scorers at arcade games. In 2011, a Polybius machine was allegedly found in a Newport, Oregon storage locker. An unnamed person said that the game was recognizable from its "name on the side of what looks like an old Pac-Man game." The alleged game soon vanished after the reports. In October 2012 a Polybius cabinet appeared in the lineup of arcade games at Barcade in Brooklyn, New York. The owners claimed it to be original but this was quickly revealed to be a Halloween joke.