
Polybius (Urban Legend) - benbreen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polybius_(urban_legend)
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stock_toaster
The great polybius documentary by Ahoy:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7X6Yeydgyg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7X6Yeydgyg)

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tomca32
Ahoy's videos are absolutely amazing. So much work goes into them and each one
is a full documentary on a particular gaming topic.

Can't recommend that channel enough.

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grawprog
The Angry Video Game Nerd's video on Polybius has gotta be one of my
favourites.

[https://youtu.be/x4hktqhBpzY](https://youtu.be/x4hktqhBpzY)

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marapuru
Loved that one as well :-) It brought my my first notion of Polybius.

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imwally
This was the theme of one of Nine Inch Nails recent music videos:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDV-
dOvqKzQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDV-dOvqKzQ)

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Deimorz
Well, not really, that's an actual game that uses the "Polybius" name:
[https://store.steampowered.com/app/906120/POLYBIUS/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/906120/POLYBIUS/)

It's a pretty great game though, it feels like what someone that had only ever
played 80s arcade games would think VR games would be like. There's a good
video here of Jeff Minter (the developer) talking through the first part of
the game:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VXsAiNdelk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VXsAiNdelk)

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egypturnash
I am pretty sure Minter’s game functions as a hypnotic induction device.
Luckily he has chosen to load it with a text generator that commands its user
to EMBRACE ENLIGHTENMENT or ESCHEW SLIGHTLY WARM TEA rather than do anything
horrible.

That is, unless I have only seen the decoy “subliminals” and missed the
_actual_ subliminals buried far too deep in the visual noise to make out
consciously...

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jhbadger
Odd that the Wikipedia article doesn't mention what is almost assuredly the
actual basis of the legend -- the real East German arcade game "Poly Play" (so
named because it had several games in it). After all, besides the similarity
of the name, there is the fact that the Polybius game was supposedly created
by a fictitious German company "Sinneslöschen".
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly_Play](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly_Play)

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hopler
The only connection is the shared lexeme "poly" which is a common lexeme in
English, and having a single detail connected to Germany? That's thin for
"actual basis" of the legend.

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erk__
The YouTube Ashens had a successful fundraising last year for a heist movie
based around the Polybius legend. Filming just begun last week.

[https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ashens-and-the-
polybius-h...](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ashens-and-the-polybius-
heist#/)

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triplee
Wow, this is right in my age bracket and I never heard this one at all.

Surprised it hasn't made the rounds again revamped as "Don't go to this
website!" or "OMG my friend's brother downloaded this app. and..."

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oarabbus_
Ah, I remember reading about this in EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly). Scared
the shit out of me as a kid.

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geoelectric
The Polybius episode of Dimension 404 was pretty fun.

