POLYBIUS - The Video Game That Doesn't Exist

[@thegardenofeatin5965]

Here's how to solve the mystery: Create a company called Seneslochen, release a game called Polybius, and see who sues you.

[@erojerisiz1571]

good idea

[@dx.feelgood5825]

The Garden of Eatin fucking genius. Because then it'll be copyright infringement if it's real..

[@thegardenofeatin5965]

Trademark infringement, actually.

[@dx.feelgood5825]

The Garden of Eatin same possible charges either way *shrug*

[@christophersoper]

You will get sued for the company name Edit: u need to get sued for copyright on the game, not the company name. Thats what I ment

[@markterrano7659]

There was another potential source to disprove the myth. As an 80s arcade adult (I used to visit multiple arcades every week) I knew several of the arcade owners. It was a fairly small scene and I think if you find any 80s Portland area arcade owner they can probably tell you the other owners of the era. Video Games and pinball machines were a significant capital investment, and the glossy single-sheet brochures from the arcade companies were what arcade owners had to make a big purchase decision on. So they all regularly visited each others arcades and played the new games, scoped out how many people were waiting to play and estimated the hourly income from machines at their competitors arcades. I remember talking to arcade owners in line playing Dragon's Lair for instance. I wasn't in Portland in that era but in New Orleans which was a big test market for arcades. Any game that had rumors of long lines would have attracted immediate interest by other arcade owners.

[@markterrano7659]

Also, video game arcades might have business records in the Portland area for that era still existing - knowing how many arcades there were and where they are located would give another angle to this really interesting documentary.

[@centurionzen1005]

@@Dank445 I just realized this was only five days ago! Holy crap!

[@Mk101T]

I've been trying to remember the name of a particular one , maybe you'll know Mark ? I'll try and describe it ... It didn't have great graphics , just flat 2d. But the player would move a marker to form off squares , and try and take over more area than a computer AI doing the same thing. At least I think that's what it was about from jogging memory , which mostly I think I just watched others play it. I remember a next generation star trek episode , where they were playing what looked like a 3d version of this game. I think they called it stratageum , err something like it. Some alien grand master of the game beats everyone , except Data ... who doesn't really beat him but forces stale mate. Anyways that's just to give you some visual representation if it helps. This game , what ever its name , is what comes to mind when I think of the Polybius mystery . Add edit: Found a clip of the episode >>> kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3q1hWmuh7aenJo And another edit: Okies now I remember the game play better , I think. Sort of a Tron thing , before tron. You maneuvered your light cycle type piece out and back to create a square which then changed color and you owned it. But in the rest of the screen there is a bouncing ball , which if it intersected the line of your square before you completed it , you die. So it becomes more and more dangerous because the ball has less space to bounce in. Also making small squares/rectangles were safer than making big squares.

[@DownTwisted]

@@Mk101T I believe this is what you're looking for: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qix

[@Mk101T]

@@DownTwisted Ahh ya ... Qix. Thanks for solving that mystery :)

[@PeeperSnail]

I saw a Tumblr post not too long ago that talked about why this urban legend caught so much traction. To paraphrase, every individual element of Polybius is true to some extent: 1) The symptoms described (headaches, nausea, nightmares, mild memory loss and trauma) fit what someone going through an epileptic seizure might experience. Back in the early 80's, epilepsy awareness was near to non-existent, and for a lot of epileptic people, their first seizures were probably triggered by arcade games. 2) Men in black frequenting arcades were a common sight in some places. This isn't due to them gathering info from a creepy game, but rather, because they suspected an arcade was a front for an illegal gambling ring. It wasn't an unfounded fear, as many early arcades did indeed turn out to be just that. 3) A poor neighborhood like that described as the origin of Polybius would absolutely set up bootleg arcade machines. These would be frankensteined from various cabinets, and the games would suffer from visual glitches due to the poor construction.

[@yanstein8464]

the first two points are mentioned in the video already

[@r7calvin]

Except those aren't symptoms of an epileptic seizure. Those are extremely common ailments with a ton of potential causes. Epileptic seizures are characterized by temporary confusion, muscle stiffness, uncontrollable jerking of the limbs, loss of consciousness/awareness, staring spells & sudden sense of fear, anxiety or deja vu.

[@Whispitt]

There is also the fact that some companies did do some sort of beta testing with certain games. I think frogger did something like that. I wouldn't be surprised if Polybius was created, started causing seizures, and was scrapped.

[@TAURELLIAN]

this post is glowing

[@duanemcclure8324]

I do remember all of that now. You are absolutely right..

[@pericles9629]

Not only was Polybius born in Arcadia and his name literally means "many lives" one of his most famous quotes is " historians should never report what they cannot verify through eyewitnesses". Whoever came up with all the details for this story is a straight-up thematic genius. Hope they found their true calling as a writer or director.

[@Phoebe5448]

As an amateur writer myself, this is the sort of thing I love about urban legends like these. The amount of little references and details is so cool! Imo, I would say Polybius existed at some point, but it most likely was an experimental prototype. Some kids probably experienced headaches after playing it for a while, and the men in black were probably just maintenance men taking it away because it was faulty. But I still like the MIB conspiracy angle, too!!

[@Bass_Goat53]

​@@Phoebe5448Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if the Polybius myth was at least somewhat based on a weird game Kurt played as a kid that got removed soon after it arrived.

[@KitaBFawkes]

@@Phoebe5448 The game was called Cube Quest. It was well known for breaking down, came out only two years later, and the early 3D graphics caused many to experience motion sickness and get headaches from the sharp contrast of bright, neon colours that accompanied screen flashing occasionally during gameplay. Cube Quest cabinets were notorious for disappearing or being carted off, because the laserdisc tech was incredibly finicky and difficult to repair, even among arcade enthusiasts who sometimes undersell the unreliable nature of arcade cabinets as a whole. Being *literally* the first real-time 3D game ever made, and constantly requiring maintenance make it a perfect nexus, with the name being a call out. What is that call out? "If you had done your research and talked to actual arcade people at the time, not only would you have known this was bullshit, you wouldn't have been tricked into looking for/writing about this game that does not, and can not, exist in the manner it was described." Its a call out to journalists and historians who do not properly research things.

[@meowcow21]

It's pretty on the nose

[@dittomaster2141]

⁠@@KitaBFawkes this i the first time I’ve heard of someone even mentioning this game in general sounds like it and polyplay influenced this legend the most.

[@austinsavage5962]

Games being addictive was truly a horror story back when you needed to put 25 cents in each time just to play

[@nicorios6056]

I live in Japan ad its minimum a dollar or more to play

[@The_hot_blue_fire_guy]

And nowadays you need to put hundreds of dollars in the games to play them. And that is if you are lucky! Because if you don’t do that you will have more fun doing a actual job then playing the actual games!

[@austinsavage5962]

@@The_hot_blue_fire_guy for you maybe, I play fun games

[@The_hot_blue_fire_guy]

@@austinsavage5962 that is the point! I also want to play games for fun. But that is really hard because In order to actually have fun in most modern AAA games you need to spend hundreds of dollars because if you don’t it’s literally designed to be a slow boring Grind to even get close to seeing the full game! I almost never play AAA games anymore because of that exact reason. I prefer smaller games that actually have value and don’t use there players like walking ATMs! I’m not saying people can’t enjoy AAA games but it’s a literal fact that they have gotten a lot worse over the last 10 to 20 years because of all the forced monetizing that doesn’t really have to be there. There used to be a point when you could just buy a game and get that game. It would be complete and functional from the start. Today you are lucky if your AAA live service you payed 120$ for Will function properly a year after release. And that is if you are lucky. Most of the time it will never get fixed it will forever stay broken.

[@austinsavage5962]

@@The_hot_blue_fire_guy i dont play AAA games

[@Didymus-vz6uy]

26:45 "I had the prankster's full name, and an approximate location; so I drove there and personally beat him to death with a crowbar."

[@Blank-ft1nj]

O-o wth-

[@comicstrider4851]

"The crowbar, violent, versatile and beats up a fabricator like hell" Roll Ahoy end credits

[@centurionzen1005]

A good lesson in how you not as anonymous as you think you are on the internet.

[@alkebulanawah4242]

My God 😐😑😐

[@sEngineer-il8im]

Wait what...

[@InfernoPlus]

Fantastic video, the background music and delivery really sets an eerie mood.

[@ethanieldude1]

InfernoPlus Where's Wrong Souls

[@popeheely480]

InfernoPlus i like your background

[@FreemanGordon98]

wild InfernoPlus appeared

[@Reconbombful]

go back too making dark souls 2 meme's please

[@Iago_Dezdel]

InfernoPlus oh hey infernoplus, fancy seeing you here

[@Gurmannen]

It's funny, I've watched this probably 4 times now, over 5 years, fully knowing the conclusion of the video. Still, it is so well made and so perfectly narrated, I keep coming back.

[@MarcRitzMD]

You might wanna check out Dimension 404 then. It's an anthology show, similar to Twilight Zone or Black Mirror. They got one episode titled Polybius with just that plot

[@LunarJetwoman]

I know exactly what you mean 🙌

[@LunarJetwoman]

@@MarcRitzMDI’ll check that out .. and what’s best black mirror episode? Shut up and dance absolutely ruined my mind for weeks after watching it 😂. Honourable mentions to White bear , san junipero , alligator, metalhead,

[@jpcjoinery6345]

the soundtrack used is also top quality, great video

[@DAVINACANIS]

me too! :) i agree

[@d.aurora688]

The amount of research you've done for this video game is astonishing which video game journalists these days don't even bother doing. Mad respect to you sir.

[@TheUKNutter]

Daniel Apolinario I wonder if he knew people in person about it? Kim Justice is another guy who does long, yet edited videos with tons of research - these two are very similar.

[@imnotojimog5595]

500th like

[@duffman18]

He's a video games journalist who puts in this amount of research though, so clearly video games journalists _do_ do this. There's many other channels on KZbin that do similar amounts of research. There's a reason KZbin channels are winning emmy's these days. This channel definitely needs a few emmy's though.

[@TTOTheTrueOne]

TheUKNutter Kim „Wambo“ Justice.

[@furiousgeorge024]

Nor did the writers at GamePro in 2003, apparently.

[@gamerfreak5665]

Polybius may never have existed in 1981... but it does now with all the fan-made games. An urban legend came to life.

[@natanielfelipe]

I hope nobody dies in real life, as happened with Slenderman.

[@spingleboygle]

@@seatonluck5268 for real?

[@2189fallenangel]

@@seatonluck5268 don’t you play me like that bro

[@twitchyeyess]

Ah, the beauty of the internet

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

@@natanielfelipe You mean Berzerk.

[@DaemonNoctis]

The most important thing I've learned from this video is that somehow there is still records of the most hidden conversations and information from the earliest stages of the internet which to me is just fascinating.

[@cthulhus]

"This game makes people vomit, get sick, and it hurts their eyes a lot." 3DS on 3D mode: *allow my to introduce myself*

[@jenanning8867]

1 FPS with bad loading: *mlg plays in background* oooooooooooo yeah

[@cthulhus]

@@jenanning8867 ??? no i think it plays at like 30-60 fps and the only thing that makes it take long to load is it starting up

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

Do you get that from computers? Had this from.Obey the Walrus. Even turned way down, the pre feedback frequency (you have to have extremely good hearing to notice it) have me a headache in my eyes.

[@sacalius_papalagius]

Actually the 3DS games with 3D turned off made me seasick cause I could not tell depth perception whatsoever

[@gh0stm0nst3r6]

Which 3ds? They "fixed" it by adding eye tracking cameras and Kid Icarus was all of a sudden rad. I wish the circle pad pro and the new 3ds were an experience I could have in that gaaaaaaame

[@squog2681]

It isn't even funny how good this documentary is.

[@eldetpacko7401]

@@MultiCheeseLouise The word 'blatant' has negative connotations that I know you aren't intending but exist nevertheless

[@eldetpacko7401]

z Expected better

[@Shit2223]

@@MultiCheeseLouise z just be quiet.

[@spoton6010]

@@MultiCheeseLouise are you 12

[@eldetpacko7401]

@@MultiCheeseLouise Jack never said that. I did

[@kabukijr3675]

POLYBIUS: *doesn’t exist* Petscop: _Are you challenging me?_

[@messymaker4554]

Lol

[@mysteriouscharacter2766]

Actually a good twist on this format, nice

[@dearil8007]

You watch pyrocynical.

[@vivvivivvi8080]

i was sitting on the toilet when I read this and almost died whilst doing so

[@Qwaizor]

Both start with P So you can say the Creepy story of the two PP games

[@knightbrolaire526]

As a Czech citizen, the story of the alleged Welsh developer who moved to Czechoslovakia because of his parents' business affairs really cracked me up. As a communist country, there were no private businesses, they were all owned by the government. There was little to no trade with the west. Getting hired by a South American company to make a game for the US market is a darn wild fantasy. Also, the eastern bloc (or most of it) was pretty much behind in computer technologies - I suspect scientists backed by the government would be lucky to work with such computers here around 1980. People fabricating these grand stories set in foreign countries should really do some research of those countries beforehand :D

[@wolliveryoutube]

When it comes to these kinds of hoaxes, simpler is better. "Obscure CIA MKULTRA experiment" is an easier sell than "schizophrenic Czechoslovakian-Welsh-South American joint venture to release less than a dozen arcade cabinets for a random arcade in Portland that also is a brainwashing device." I also thought the "haunted game cabinet" angle that some of the creepypastas took was very silly, as well. At least the CIA theory has some minor basis in reality, as there are plenty of times when the United States government conducted some kind of secret experiments to the detriment of its own population, such as the Downwinders.

[@egggge4752]

Its like the redditor who fueled a subreddit into believing his dad bought a cuban island where they could all go... the problem is that you cant buy land in communist cuba. Lmao.

[@tomislavbosnjak7435]

Same here in Croatia a former state member of Comunist Jugoslavia,but after 1990-1995 durung a War for independance there was a Arcade game centers,one is owned by BIM-BAM enterprize from Vinkovci that still exist and they have a huge Funn Park Biggest in Croatia,the ovner is Ivica Jukic i might ask hem did he ever heard about Polibius,becose i played Final Fight with Hagar and other arcade games back in 1992 durin war in citty Vinkovci and POLIBIUS is familiar to me i remember some squares,and geometric shapes,but that game was no so much popular aroun players so we play mostly Final fight,space shooters and so.... P.s. sorry for misspeling,afterall we are boath in Country-s that was in Comunist-Socialist dark ages and about the same time we exit you from U.S.S.R. in 1990 and Croatia from Jugoslavia short after a fall off U.S.S,R, but we haved a War of 5 Years in order to exit from that brutal regime.Peace and greatings to Czech Republic from Croatia.

[@braydenbro9247]

​@@tomislavbosnjak7435 It's been a month, have you asked him?

[@Critical_Hit]

What do you mean there were no private businesses? There were small businesses allowed

[@angwa_]

Geez this dude could probably track down a killer if he wanted to

[@thornstrikesback]

You're damn right there.

[@therhythmictale5574]

He should

[@andyn46]

Sick this man on zodiac

[@ExplosionsCentral]

They talked about Petscop, and if you've watched Game Theory's videos on Petscop, that's actually what Petscop was trying to accomplish

[@HaganConnell]

Hell this dude could probably _become_ a killer if he wanted to

[@muskodine]

"History isn't necessarily what happened... it's what people say happened"

[@eliegbert8121]

* conspiracists start typing furiously *

[@DrewPicklesTheDark]

@@eliegbert8121 People have conspired all throughout history, I see nothing wrong with people being skeptical about it, it's not like someone who conspired to murder a world leader is going to write their plot down in a history book.

[@fluttershystayshigh4202]

exactly, history is written by the victors, something everybody seems to forget.

[@kaiserfoxi266]

@@fluttershystayshigh4202 "History is written by the victor... History is filled with liars!"

[@LunarCollapse]

This is very true, going along with the saying "the winners write the history books"

[@Ghostly_Leo]

This isn't a KZbin video, it's a goddamn documentary.

[@kakashii9000]

It's both sir.

[@AtemiRaven]

We live in a beautiful period of time in which true creators have a free to use platform that all can see, and allows them to gain an audience and make money. This truly is a documentary, that has a lot of work into it, that just so happens to be on KZbin. Gotta love modern technology. This shit would be science fiction 30 years ago. Now we have kt.

[@doom5895]

youtube videos back then used to be much better than most crap trending on youtube today a damn shame its harder to find good content on youtube now we should all thank Ahoy for not selling out at this point like what a lot of youtubers did when youtube's algorithm changed

[@gimmeyourkeysplease9230]

@@doom5895 watch gamegrumps, there's some good quality for ya. i recommend the sonic adventure playthrough. you wont be sorry

[@afrog2666]

Quite a few youtube videos are documentaries. Being on youtube doesn`t mean it`s not a documentary lol

[@Scudboy17]

I grew up in the 70's and 80's and the arcade explosion at the start of the 80's was unreal. Your average arcade had dim or even black lighting, all the games had their volume set to maximum and most arcades had jukeboxes as well, blaring heavy metal and rock at almost concert decibels. It was an assault on the senses that's hard to describe unless you were there. New games were coming out almost daily sometimes, and you never knew what would show up next. Every movie theater had an arcade too, and half the fun of going to the movies was hitting up the arcade while you waited for the movie to start. It was a crazy time. The idea that a game could pop up somewhere as an experiment in mind control is entirely plausible. New machines were so common and they generated such a huge buzz when the showed up you could have to wait hours to play a popular game, lining your quarters/tokens up on the machine to save your place in line. Every new game had some new gimmick or twist to set it apart, and the fight over floor space in an arcade was brutal, with distributors bribing and threatening arcade owners to get their machines installed. There was intense competition behind the scenes and at video game conventions- originally not for the fans, but for the distributors and developers, with a sales driven convention floor that wouldn't have been out of place at a 60's car dealership convention. I had a good friend who worked at an arcade and would tell stories of distributors shoving competitor's machine out of the way to install theirs or even outright stealing machines to get floor space for their own. Most arcades did not own the machines they had- they leased them. When a machine was old or unpopular, they'd have the distributor come pick it up, but other companies would offer to remove the machines for them. You can guess that a lot of these machines did NOT end up where they were supposed to go. There was a really Wild West lawlessness about early arcades that made them that much more fun to go to.

[@drachenzahne9262]

Holy shit, that's really wild and interesting to hear about! It sucks that when I was born (early 2000's) arcades were becoming increasingly scarce, aside from the Chuck E. Cheese's or the Cici's Pizza in the neighboring town.

[@SuperKlondike64]

Shame that arcades nowadays are just kiddie casinos.

[@PhilipCarroll64]

I know what you are talking about somewhat. I was a kid in the early 90's when NBA Jam, Mortal Kombat & Street Fighter 2 came out. Those games, among others we're HUGE!! Even in a small town in Utah where I grew up. I can't imagine what it was like in big cities.

[@skeletonbuyingpealts7134]

They always were ​@@SuperKlondike64

[@SuperKlondike64]

@@skeletonbuyingpealts7134 Old arcade games actually relied on skill. Stuff nowadays is just a glorified slot machine.

[@blatherskite3009]

1:04:12 That's very much how some of these legends begin. I recall seeing an arcade cabinet around 1983 which seemed "impossible". I was a kid, on a family holiday. The arcade would've been in Swanage, UK, by the sea-front. Amongst all of the regular coin-ops you'd expect to see in that time and place (Battlezone, etc.) was one that blew me away: the visuals and audio were like nothing I'd ever seen. If you'd told me it had dropped out of the future, I would've believed you. It was a futuristic racer, with amazing full-colour 3D environments. My memory of it was incredibly clear, because it made such an impression on me. I recall a part where the track suddenly went vertical, straight up, like something out of F-Zero. I also recall the amazing sound when you passed through the start/finish stadium building, and could hear the crowd. It was jaw-dropping. For literally decades I wondered what the heck I'd seen that day. I never saw the game again anywhere else, not in arcades, not in magazines, nowhere. Eventually I began to doubt my own memory of it, reasoning that the game I recalled seeing had surely been impossible in that era. Then, poking around the internet one day, I found it: "Star Rider", by Williams. Turns out it was a Laserdisc game, which explains the audio-visual experience apparently being on another level. I was aware of Laserdisc games at the time (Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, etc.) but it didn't occur to me that this might also be a Laserdisc game because it seemed too interactive, with your racer moving around the track, not just some pre-rendered cartoon. Looking back, of course it was just a vehicle graphic slapped on top of pre-rendered track visuals that were being streamed from Laserdisc. Anyway, showing that other Laserdisc game in your video reminded me of that "impossible" game I saw one time as a kid, back in 1983, and how easy it would've been to believe that something like that, glimpsed once and seemingly remembered by no-one else, had to come from some mysterious source :)

[@5ynthesizerpatel]

I doubt your memory of it too - I grew up in Swanage from the late 70s and through the 80s and practically lived in the arcades as a kid - we definitely never got Star Rider. I remember the game because I played it when I went to London for a day in about 84 and being absolutely blown away by it - but it definitely never came to Swanage. It's possible that you saw it in one of the big arcades in one of the nearby towns like Weymouth or Bournemouth - not Swanage

[@blatherskite3009]

@@5ynthesizerpatel Interesting. As a family, we used to stay at a camp-site in a place called Langton Matravers (IIRC) so it would've been - at most - a short drive from there. I recall there being a large cinema near the sea-front, if that pins it down at all?

[@5ynthesizerpatel]

@@blatherskite3009 - yes - that arcade is still there, although these days it's just filled with coin pushers, claw machines and machines to win tickets which you exchange for stuff you can buy in poundland. The only things I can think of are that arcade was (maybe still is) owned by the same company that owned the biggest arcade in Bournemouth and another in Weymouth (I think), and Star Rider just did a brief turn in Swanage before being shipped to another arcade - and I missed it as I was away on holiday - it's not impossible. Alternatively the travelling funfair that came every summer used to have a decent little arcade section as well - maybe you saw it there and are just misremembering. Like I said, I pretty much grew up in that arcade for around 15 years and never saw Star Rider there - but do remember it elsewhere

[@MattMcIrvin]

Ha! I remember seeing that game in an arcade in Fort Worth, Texas in 1986 (when it was actually already a few years old, but I wasn't following these things closely) and being blown away by the look of it. I correctly guessed that it was a laserdisc game, though.

[@Erick-no5uv]

ok

[@unstablemathematician8192]

German is my first language. "Sinneslöschen" is not a commonly used word (and I'd definitely do a double take if someone used it in conversation), but it's a perfectly valid and grammatically correct compound noun. Quick rundown: "der Sinn" means "sense" in this context (though it could also mean "mind", which I think is a more interesting interpretation). "löschen" is a verb that means "to erase". However, pretty much any verb can also be used as a noun. "das Löschen" is the noun counterpart of "löschen" and it means exactly what you think, "the act of erasing". So, "das Löschen" can be used to form a compound noun just fine. To form a compound noun, you sometimes have to change the ending of one of the words. "Sinn" is one of those. Essentially, the long version of the word "Sinneslöschen" would be "das Löschen des Sinnes", which translates to "the erasing of the sense/mind". "Sinn" is in the genitive case here, so when you shorten it, you keep the genitive ending. Therefore, you get "das Sinneslöschen". So, yeah. Weird, but grammatically correct, and given that German is such a finicky language and the person made all the right decisions when forming this compound word, I believe that they're a native speaker or have been living in Germany for a while. A non-native speaker would have probably called it "Sinnlöschen".

[@Bellllllz]

Omg thank you why doesn't this have more likes!!!!

[@HalIucinations]

As someone with german heritage that doesn't speak any german I found this very interesting!

[@Brawler_1337]

Interesting perspective. However, I disagree that it’s evidence that the creator of the myth was a native or otherwise highly fluent German speaker. Like you said, Sinneslöschen is correct, but weird. Coming from the perspective of someone looking to create a hoax, you don’t care so much about the details being 100% accurate so long as they’re believable. You don’t want people doing a double take or otherwise scrutinizing your work; you want people to look at it and go, “Yeah, that looks right. I’ll buy that.” As such, I think a native German speaker would use a more commonly-used form for the phrase even if he or she intended for the company’s name to mean “the erasing of the senses/mind.” Something less-fluent German speakers would more readily identify as grammatically correct. Something that wouldn’t draw attention to the possibility that the story could be a hoax. (Don’t know German myself, so I can’t give any examples.) Personally, I think it’s more likely that whoever created the myth was familiar enough with German to know certain rules and patterns, but not enough to know which rules to use in which case, and he just got lucky and stumbled upon the correct form of “the erasing of the senses/mind.” That, or the creator used machine translation to translate “to erase the senses” and got back a mistranslation that happened to be correct for a different phrase.

[@MorbidMindedManiac]

Kinda fits with the context of polybius, it’s been reported to cause mental issues and sickness and it was made by “The erasing of the mind”

[@cringer8107]

but sinnlöschen is also a legit german word :D

[@MattMcIrvin]

In the comments of another KZbin video I saw someone insisting that he'd seen Polybius (replete with the usual Men in Black fiddling with it, etc.) in an arcade at the Mall at Rockingham Park in Salem, NH in the early 1980s. Mentioned it to a friend, and he immediately pointed out that the mall didn't exist until 1991.

[@LuizAlexPhoenix]

MAJOR SCOOP! Polybius travels through time taking the whole place with it!

[@eukyre]

BAAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[@Novasky2007]

I used to play it here in the UK 84 - 85 i remember getting a spectrum tape sent to me for getting the highscore.

[@chich-ai]

Mandela effect. That's all I have to say Now goodbye

[@shitnotagain9492]

EnderGamer 1236 or by hypnotizing

[@redshiftthefox]

Mojang use to play into the myth, where in the update notes of each new version of the game they'd include "- Removed Herobrine." They haven't done this for years. Maybe it's simply because patch notes and changes are no longer put at the forefront of the launcher anymore, perhaps it could be that more people don't know what Herobrine is compared to those who do. In any plugin or mods' patch notes I've written I always include "- Removed Herobrine," because Mojang won't anymore. Granted, the Minecraft community who still remembers, may not care much anymore, too.

[@DAVINACANIS]

If you like Herobrine, I recommend From The Fog.

[@XylitoI]

Besides an amusing gag, it's also an incredibly efficiently told horror story. It's just two words, but effective for what it is. What is being referred to, what is Herobrine? Why does it need to be removed in every patch? Does it come back somehow every time? You just don't know, and the mind races to consider the possibilities.

[@FinnishArsonist]

ULTRAKILL has a secret fishing level, and all the fish you can catch are labeled as 'size 1', and every patch since, the dev has included - removed size 2 fish

[@sophdog2564]

Or maybe they finally succeeded in removing Herobrine

[@gl1mse]

@@sophdog2564or maybe they gave up

[@TheSFMCreators]

Ahoy: Polybius doesn't exist KZbin Gaming: Polybius - Browse Game

[@ikcikor3670]

Current date: 25 Mar 2020 Original comment timestamp: "2 weeks ago" KZbin Gaming shutdown date: 30 May 2019 🤔

[@TheSFMCreators]

@@ikcikor3670 are you questioning my integrity

[@bimgus]

That PS4 game was quite trippy

[@Len1977gt]

@@TheSFMCreators Yes

[@JimTheKid]

For some reason I remember playing this on the mame emulator I never had the rom it always just showed up I never questioned it it was like a space shooter mixed with a maze when you die spinning black and white colors fill the background if you pass very colorful geometry would spin around in the background sometimes there would be very quite voices in the background saying wired things like spin listen fall and it would fade out also when you would shoot you would have to be strategic because the bullet would come out at random times after pressing the button

[@timurtheterrible4062]

Fun fact: This video is mentioned on the Polybius Wikipedia page.

[@centurionzen1005]

This is Stewart browns best-known work.

[@pritsie]

so much fun

[@NightOrion86]

Neat

[@fahruzifarid2198]

50% maybe?

[@peterg6889]

Fun fact: This comment is part of this video, which is mentioned in the Polybius Wikipedia page

[@dittoford]

You put modern journalism to shame

[@Pyriscent]

I was thinking the same thing. This was extremely interesting! Even when he would show the dead ends it was still like AWWWW! haha You knew it wasn't real the whole time yet he made it compelling.

[@AtomicSuperMe]

That's because modern journalism doesn't exist anymore...

[@Theindiegamer2000]

Ahoy and the Internet Historian are both great at investigative journalism, I clap my hands to those guys, they do a wonderful job.

[@kaziislam2785]

Uriel ProQ what's your opinion on the KZbinr Leminno? He's done a video on the Eight Spider myth and a few other mysteries.

[@keekle1892]

That's not really a compliment considering modern journalism xD

[@bobbarob]

"There's also a user named polybius who was quite active in alt.mag.playboy between 1997 and 1998." Local man incidentally kinkshsmed by digital archaeologist from twenty years into the future

[@CasaiAgicap]

this man is the real hero of the story

[@IamTheSasquatch]

R/ihadastroke

[@deepspacenibby]

💀💀💀

[@sourgreendolly7685]

He didn’t shame him, just mentioned it 😂

[@sourgreendolly7685]

TDC THE DIAMOND CREEPER I’d hope he had several ‘strokes’ over 2 years of avid playboy forum usage 🤔

[@altofmoleperson]

Fun fact: I live in a town that could be considered a small suburb of Portland. This video is making me really tempted to ask around at old arcades and see if anyone remembers seeing a video game like this!

[@doublemeddl7505]

Please do and write under the comment what they told you

[@TheCustomFHD]

So did you?

[@KuchiKopi179]

​@@TheCustomFHD he's gone

[@danielbailey2937]

@@KuchiKopi179 he found out too much

[@moleperson]

Report: No one really knows much. It seems like one of those things where everyone claims that the local arcade a town over definitely had a machine, and a few people almost remembered playing it, but also said that it could have been a different game that looked really similar. Or a case where they learned about it later and got a fake memory of playing it. Also, for y’all saying that I disappeared, don’t worry. There were only 1 or 2 mysterious black vans around while I was asking people. Besides; someone like me would never get black-bagged by government offici

[@B33FY2011]

How is this not an officially recognised Polybuis documentary? This was unbelievable from the narration to the sound effects, giving it that spooky yet trance like feel and the research putting in must of took years. This is up there with some of the very best video game documentaries. Although it's all just urban myth and legend and there really is no proof that this mysterious game had ever existed other than hear say and 2nd and 3rd party accounts, I found it really interesting how you mentioned the US government program MK Ultra. This is something could've happened as they experimented with drugs such as LSD and what effect it had on the mind to then enable them to program Manchurian candidates. So with all the flashing strobe light effects and colours along with their history of subliminal messages around the time it is possible although unlikely as it may seem.

[@peterobinson3678]

Yeah - a while back, I wasted 90 minutes on a far more boring documentary on Atari's ET, and the landfill excavation... Maybe if you convinced some tinfoil hatters to excavate a landfill in Portland, Or, you could sell this to the history channel. You may need to tone down the skepticism a bit, tho.... :)

[@ColourRedCalls]

Because it didn't exist

[@needlessnoise]

Officially recognized by whom? The official documentary association? This video is as official as any documentary.

[@Bittergamer1886]

+B33FY2015 Hey man if the U.S. government was perfectly willing to use LSD to induce mind control, then honestly making a video game to induce mind control is honestly far more believable.

[@NowBearInMind]

I think he's talking about the fact that a "comedy" video and a "theory" about Polybius is more popular than this video.

[@jeffreynolds8830]

Someone played this over their mic on a X10 tf2 higher tower server, and we all were hooked. Half the time all of our team went friendly to just listen. So very nice video

[@Myce_Mycologic]

@John Cavanaugh for real lmao

[@DagazsYT]

Tf2 moment

[@tylerparsons2564]

Lol tf2 is in my reccomended even when it’s not a tf2 vid

[@matthewrs6678]

@r33mote tf2 is one of the most popular games on steam to this day. Sadly the game has been overrun by 'bots'. Which are essentially accounts controlled by A.Is that use aimbot and votekick non-A.I players

[@govaic]

@@matthewrs6678 eh, the bot problem isnt as bad as it was a few months ago. It's actually possible to find games now xdd

[@robertsides3626]

That's the bravest pronunciation of Galaga I have ever heard.

[@lukelaputka5442]

Robert Sides GuhLogguh

[@exonax4188]

Galga

[@andrewpereira888]

I think I gagged when he said that

[@fordprefect80]

Nothing at all wrong with his pronunciation.

[@robertsides3626]

@@fordprefect80 357 people disagree.

[@Anonymous-yb1ho]

5 years later, what a freaking golden video. Truly a remarkable Gem, from the pacing of the story telling, the slow unveiling of more information to the mountains of word play.

[@MiloMurphysLaw]

One of the biggest missed opportunities ever is the fact that Polybius didn’t show up in the background of a Gravity Falls episode.

[@karalyna2004]

Yeah

[@karalyna2004]

We could pretend it is hidden in the mystery shack

[@BarnabyTheEpicDoggo]

Oh hey, there is the arcade cabinet. Unleash multiple power? *amnesia*

[@theminingboyalpha]

it did pop up in loki though

[@jacquelinemartinez3903]

It was in the background for Loki at least I gasped when I saw it lol

[@agranero6]

The most comprehensive research about Polybius ever made. Congratulations. The obsessive (take as a that as a compliment) Internet detective work is very good. And the narrative describing the research process is what makes it so damn interesting.

[@whatever-wb4vu]

Angry video game nerd from cinemassacre done a pretty good job

[@gabrielloren9157]

Eat shit yeah but some of it was just a skit but it is one of my favorite videos from AVGN

[@rosewood_uwu8865]

Armada by Ernst Cline also has some go stuff on it. Its also a great book

[@Tom_Brennan]

Excellent documentary, this should be on Netflix. Expertly researched, and some first-rate investigative journalism here.

[@bootygrabber4000]

Tom Brennan also everything looks good with the visuals

[@comiccatgamer8113]

Tom Brennan i

[@10N1Z3D]

Tom Brennan I’d happily donate any amount to see this become a legit documentary

[@jaydeoconnor3907]

Tom Brennan are you crazy trying to creature it out

[@mandoapple9906]

Tom Brennan I disagree

[@MrSaywutnow]

It just dawned on me that Stuart's origin point of this myth (April 2000) was barely 6 months after the theatrical release of The Blair Witch Project, a film that owed its (frankly undeserved) success to what would now be called viral marketing. Kurt Koller, enterprising individual that he is, attempted to duplicate that success and crafted something that is the Blair Witch game in all but name. Gotta give him credit for sticking to his guns two decades later.

[@johnathandoe6034]

Hey don't go dissing that movie, it was revolutionary for the time... Nowadays it's a little dated, but it really pulled off a shit ton of special moments.

[@jacuul6735]

Which, The Blair Witch was trying to replicate the “viral marketing” of Cannibal Holocaust from 1980. Creating an urban legend to sell Something has a long and storied history

[@314rft]

April 2000? That's the month I was born. Am I Polybius!?!?!?!?!11111one

[@cococaramel3757]

-Brilliant script -Engaging music -Excellent research -Great narrating you sir, deserve a box of cookies.

[@ghostgirl7089]

Coco Caramel he deserves a mansion full of cookies!

[@magic9788]

Or two!

[@VanessaMagick]

He pronounces 'Galaga' both ways in the video. Ga-lar-ga is an in-joke he snuck in

[@_zealos_8213]

Dialect?

[@jaydeoconnor3907]

Coco Caramel no I cannot imagine.

[@goldenrodprime226]

“If they really wanted to make kids feel sick all they’d need to do is wait ten years for Nintendo to invent the Virtual Boy!” Smooth.

[@Logmao.]

Yep

[@daimiondark1458]

I loved that thing

[@TheDavidish]

@@daimiondark1458 You’re fucked up

[@ufkrec]

@@daimiondark1458 me too I spent hours playing with it. You lost track of time it was so addictive.

[@HeidenLam]

@@TheDavidish You were just trying to help right

[@hashafasha]

An hour long video and it still had less ads than a morgz video

[@apimpnamedslickback7115]

Who

[@apimpnamedslickback7115]

@@Joinord1e who?

[@somedude8346]

@@apimpnamedslickback7115 a clickbait youtuber who copies mr beast

[@screamsinrussian5773]

@@somedude8346 who

[@ElizabethMidfordHatesCops]

A while ago he used to make videos about trying candy/soda/foods from other countries.

[@fish42]

This is so incredibly well produced. The sound, the visuals, the research, the writing. I know it’s years later, but well done. You knocked it out of the park.

[@nickm.3671]

We all want to believe the Polybius legend but Ahoy broke it down so surgical and beautifully that it's impossible to say he's wrong. The research is impeccable and the entire documentary is extremely well-made for a game that doesn't exist and has no evidence of existing.

[@Crackedcripple]

But there’s still one minuscule chance.. I WANT TO BELIEVE

[@hazza1054]

Ahhh what? Im half way through the clip waiting for the evidence proving that it did exist. Sigh. I'll continue watching it anyway. I guess I really wanted it to be real... oops

[@-mv]

Then next time don't read the comments you stupid bitch

[@Justsomefreeloader]

James C. There’s no reason to be insulting.

[@Apastorfield]

@@Justsomefreeloader it's just some 10 year old

[@metfan4l]

The amount of research that went into making this is incredible, very well made and entertaining video, good job!

[@MM-vs2et]

You can see he did the research ever since April, That is 5 months of hard work right there

[@aadi.p4159]

ikr

[@coffeecrona1099]

metfan4l heyyyy, love your videos

[@eternalbeast4816]

It's not only that he managed to make it interesting and managed to formulate a decisive conclusion.

[@Czeckie]

on the other hand, youtube recommended videos are spot on. I've never heard of Avoy, I don't watch much gaming content, yet I'm somehow here. This is professional level journalism/documentary/filmmaking.

[@BalouCarps]

SOMEONE GIVE THIS GUY A *GODDAMN EMMY*

[@vasudhiman2996]

Yup

[@memeweirdguyn.0019]

666...ure welcome

[@Ihop_manager]

That's what makes it awesome, he cites his sources.

[@agranero6]

@Lawofimprobability That what makes the video intersting and make you see to the end.

[@agranero6]

More a Pulitzer.

[@coolsk8r]

i love rewatching this video once in a while. the ending just feels so satisfying and the fact that this guy straight up found the source of the urban legend is impressive

[@jacobhaft9714]

I've watched this video a few times over the years, but I've just now realized the quality of the pixel art in the beginning. Even the Papers Please styled newspaper clippings at 1:58 are done, and done well, in pixel art.

[@therealskull4786]

I love those

[@BlueGreenGlobe]

Seriously, the pixel art is so nice!

[@sn4ke16]

When it first released I was scared to watch it I thought this game would kill me

[@rhizoidx]

I loved the Fox Mulder wallet pixel art. That one hit close to home. (I own the X Files series Box set on DVD)

[@jannmikoingelrabagogamingc6012]

Wow! I did not notice it at first but honestly...the pixel art is great, really!

[@AllenQuid]

One hour? I'm not going to watch a video that long. *one hour later* Dude you gotta watch this.

[@markusTegelane]

Quid Yossarian it is drama that kept you watching

[@ezekielbenavides2740]

ikr

[@dinnertimemishap]

I put it off for a little while and finally caved in. worth it

[@Apav]

Quid Yossarian I said the same thing to myself xD

[@AadstaPinwheel]

yup

[@TheMrSark]

This was dope dude, GJ.

[@TomRyckeboer]

Well look who it is :P

[@hotdogeswag261]

Mr Sark An hour long animation!? Incredible.

[@derpizzaman1050]

OMG! It's Mister Shrek!

[@techni1766]

More Verdun please

[@ThatWeirdGuyYouKnow]

Hey Mr. Sark! Just saw you in the new Funhaus comments video. You really DO look like a shark.

[@alice20001]

Me at the start of the video: No way I’m watching an hour long video on an urban legend. Me half way through: omg this guy is actually diligent and great at what he is doing. Subscribed! These channels are what the KZbin Join function was created for.

[@marco_evertus]

the quality of the videos are...highly professional to say the least...It never ceases to amaze me what one guy and time can do.

[@TheG_Boy]

Rounak Dutta They all feel all high quality documentaries

[@marco_evertus]

no doubt they are, this one however is on a whole different level.

[@richardoneill4306]

Rounak Dutta omfg this is one guy?!?!??!?!? It's more appealing than TV documentaries

[@marco_evertus]

I might be mistaken but I think in one of his Q&A he said that he does most of it by himself.

[@EdKelly1978]

You beat me to it. I was gonna say I would be pretty satisfied watching this on Netflix. All his videos are good but this is definitely his best. Really well structured and the info is fed at just the right pace. Making a murderer for video games.

[@FaumauNZ]

The real Polybius was the friends we made along the way

[@joelcrafter43]

That Playstation VR version though... It's a pretty good game if you have a PSVR you definitely should try it out.

[@cv5870]

what does this have to do with his comment

[@joelcrafter43]

@@cv5870 It's an actual game called polybius and I'm recommending it. Although I don't recommend the playstation vr.

[@chonkydog6262]

400th like

[@spacescribs5838]

Bullshit, i want the governemt to give me seizures and insomnia.

[@Prauwlet213]

the most famous quote of the greek philosipher polybius is ' do not write in the history books what is not confirmed as real '. The rumour of polybius literally tells you not to believe it.

[@CUTIE_POXX]

That's an interesting way of seeing it.

[@Thor-Orion]

Do you know what he was referring to when he said that?

[@Prauwlet213]

@@Thor-Orion basically 'dont believe something unless you have proof'.

[@sergiorubens8475]

Oh my god! It all makes sense now

[@prezentoappr1171]

@@Prauwlet213 this is a meme between herodotus vs theucydides in some yt community history

[@MrCed122]

Each year when October comes, I MUST watch this video again, it just fits so well with the Halloween theme and is such an excellent example of good journalism, even if it's a subject that doesn't actually matter in the grand scheme of things.

[@Valius_]

Me too! This has become my yearly Halloween tradition 😅

[@GlNGER1]

Me and the boys pulling out of area 51 with the original polybius ROM

[@MausOfTheHouse]

Nice

[@smgeezus7186]

@@vorzky1164 nice porfile pic

[@Roseymazin]

That's what I was gonna say

[@aturchomicz821]

soon...

[@Feever1999]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[@ZicoTops]

Your content is some of the best on this platform.

[@maynx2743]

Zico Tops How much were you paid to write this comment?

[@trtatlas2247]

thevengefulspartan what do you mean? Ahoy spends time and great effort into making his videos and animations but he gets less appreciation and views than a lot of fortnite gamers.

[@ppepa572]

you're totally right! It's how he can totally pass by saying, "low effort listicles" at the end, which I died laughing at - love Ahoy;s stuff

[@MM-vs2et]

You serious. I would pay just to say that. His content is one of the best quality in YT

[@kevinsandoval9567]

Hola, un español pasando casualmente por aqui :v

[@napalmhardcore]

I must admit, I clicked because I was curious how someone could draw out a video about Polybius for an hour. I'm very impressed at the depth you went into and how engaging you made this video. Well done.

[@DDSmols]

I still come back to this video every so often just because of how damn good it is.

[@TheLvkrijger]

Same

[@MadHatter42]

I just discovered it for myself, but I know for damn sure I’ll be coming back to re-watch this video again and again for a long time.

[@zinflexy]

the level of competance and research poured into this video is simply mindblowing. could you imagine if modern media spent half the time and effort you do, when they are looking into cases?

[@finesseandstyle]

They would go out of business because people watch more clickbait and sensationalized content. The truth is, the truth behind hoaxes and conspiracy theories are usually pretty boring in reality.

[@ChaossX77]

If I ever go missing, I want you in charge of the search. Impressive.

[@supercamborg4218]

Same here

[@xmlthegreat]

This is such a superbly crafted video. The music especially gives me chills.

[@Azrael42016]

Akshay Anand you nerds are something else

[@Andrew-xc7kb]

louie galindo Nerds = smart. So you're saying he's smarter than you? Wow.

[@Andrew-xc7kb]

louie galindo Nerds =/= cringy?

[@Andrew-xc7kb]

Also, you don't have to lash out at everyone on the internet.

[@xmlthegreat]

louie galindo I may be "something else", but I'm not the moron who felt the need to bash someone in a KZbin comments section for no apparent reason. If that's your hobby, I gotta tell you, it's pathetic.

[@omideixis]

this is one of the best video essays out there. great music, incredible amounts of research, cool animations, this has it all. not to mention that ahoy's voice is so soothing that i regularly put this on to go to sleep 12/10, would learn about an urban legend from an era i didnt live through again

[@eddiethehead4791]

You: polybius doesn't exist Me: sounds like something polybius would say...

[@highjumpstudios2384]

This is very true.

[@paradoxxikal7327]

🧐

[@aninditapaul9291]

Can't ruin the 666 likes sorry. Here's a different like for you: 👍

[@MirekFe]

*_MiB Open Up!_*

[@OneBrokenEgg]

That's sus

[@bruh_original]

I like this dude because he doesn't play any annoying scary music lol.

[@fl3m1n9o4]

well actually he did

[@lvbboi9]

I see Youre a Man Of culture as well

[@refthegeneric]

*he did doe*

[@mateusmundstock8225]

*Stares at Nexpo and Down the Rabbit Hole* NGL those channels are good but the creepy music is unnecessary

[@krpajda]

@@refthegeneric at least it's his own music instead of some tired stock piece

[@maxinefinnfoxen]

I love how the internet is like a living timeline. everything on the internet leaves a trace, like fossils of an infinite world.

[@ItsKagiVids]

Thank you way back machine lol.

[@TomWonderful]

After being on the internet for almost 25 years, I've had the opposite experience. There is so much that's now almost impossible to find. I started saving anything I especially liked, because I've found it's unlikely to still be around in 10 years. Still, you're right - there are a lot of fossils still there, and it's fun to come across them.

[@eamonia]

Infinite!? Just because it was being used before you were born doesn't make it infinite, man. You're making me feel old over here. You probably have no idea what the Dewey decimal system is, do you?

[@eamonia]

So I guess we're fossils then, huh? Hey kid, just because the internet was around before you were born doesn't make it infinite. I'm gonna go to the library and check out a book of 60s electronics and try to find out if they still make this fuse I need for my uncle's record player.

[@dumbasses_R_us]

Dog poop on your shoe leaves a trace too. Just saying 😁

[@shadowstar554]

"I know you won't believe me, but I need to tell my story anyways." Is the most cliche creepypasta intro ever

[@p3hwn1e]

No one could hide from Ahoy and Lemmino

[@StarPointy]

Lemmino is awesome, he makes super interesting stuff.

[@lukeblackburn9952]

Been a lemmino sub since the top10meme days haha

[@yanceq2690]

And Inside A Mind

[@DoomooDguy]

Aaaand Nexpo as well.

[@rileylarkin1254]

Imagine a collab..

[@dyslexicstoner2408]

The fact that this guy made the music for this video too just blows me away

[@zgrb]

He w h a t

[@perkuu6937]

@@zgrb yeah i had the same reaction

[@ArcticArmy]

He makes everything himself as far as I know.

[@sweethysteria8737]

He’s a man of focus, commitment, sheer, fucking will!

[@Emmet-sd8og]

@@sweethysteria8737 soy Reddit moment

[@dabackupplan3148]

People can’t go on the internet and LIE. That’s ILLEGAL.

[@SquidsAgainstChickens]

That’s perjury and it’s a felony so I guess Kurt is going to prison.

[@adorablebros4026]

No it’s not

[@milesbyt]

There are those who wish it was.

[@Izandaia]

It should be.

[@uhoh7545]

@big crunch people can't do on the internet and JOKE. that's ILLEGAL.

[@CorruptFox92]

At first, I thought this was something adding onto the original legend, but it was actually a really good and serious deep dive into it's history instead. Wow! I'm honestly impressed.

[@twistedgwazi5727]

Something I've not seen ONE comment about is the spritework in the beginning. It's ridiculously hard to make highlights and shadows the way they were made in this video. It still amazes me how it was done.

[@bubs_devark]

I was noticing that, too. Beautiful pixelwork, must have taken ages.

[@bubs_devark]

@tom smith the entire introduction sequence, all the pixelated images?

[@aname8212]

@@bubs_devark They're in 4k on his Twitter if you want some hi-res photos.

[@pindebraende]

I took notice too, especially the grading on the carpet is impressive!!

[@typhoon5384]

Sal posted an unpopular comment on a youtube video, making him tonight's biggest loser.

[@anzack2551]

If this video isn't the physical representation of dedication and hard work then I don't know what is. This is one of the most well crafted and researched videos I've seen and I applaud Ahoy for taking so much time to make this

[@ChessQuestionMark]

i like ur scarf

[@niboe1312]

It's not the physical representation of dedication and hard work. It's the digital representation.

[@lightlytoastedrye]

No videos here It is actually a visual representation.

[@dandanthedandan7558]

Anonymous How does One Shot = weeaboo? A weeaboo means a person who admits they're Japanese even if they're not, and this is incredibly insulting to actual Japanese, at least that's what The Anime Man says. Look things up before you say something.

[@lightlytoastedrye]

Anonymous How is someone telling you that they think you're wrong mean they can't take criticism? They were literally just presenting their argument. Weeaboo's are awful, don't get me wrong, but maybe you should worry about fixing your flawed logic before you start calling people weebs.

[@Omnywrench]

The funny thing about Polybius is that while its existence is false, the various rumors associated with it (government spying, seizures, etc) do have some grounding in reality: prototype game cabinets would frequently come and go from arcades for market testing, government agents did hang around arcades sometimes (though it was actually because some arcades were suspected fronts for organized crime), and kids did experience seizures, headaches, and other health problems from arcade games. But there was no sinister MK-ULTRA type experiment behind them: it’s just something that happens when you get a bunch of kids together in a big dark room full of flashing lights and loud noises while feeding them loads of pizza, candy, and caffeine. That kind of sensory overload wasn’t exactly common before arcades were a thing.

[@punishedbarca761]

Yes that's exactly what he said in the video

[@oz_jones]

Ok glowie

[@antiskyze]

ur so glowing rn

[@Ignonym]

The idea of a mysterious unidentified cabinet suddenly appearing in an arcade then disappearing just as suddenly also has a basis in fact. Many games were first distributed as test cabinets with generic titles and art before the design was finalized (often to gather usage/marketing data that would have to be collected from the machine by a technician); there were also a lot of bootleg cabinets floating around with generic exteriors and terrible quality control. Cabinets got recalled or sent back to the manufacturer all the time, often without (public) explanation.

[@EQUAL2]

​@@Ignonym this was also mentioned in the video

[@jumpcutfilms1958]

Polybius was an urban legend that became real

[@ramihannachi9336]

Or a teal event that became an urban legend

[@Subscriberswithnovideos-mq8pn]

FBI: Winners dont use drugs! CIA: *allow us to introduce ourselves*

[@kirby2002]

and that's why they're not winners

[@BrewReview]

Enter the FDA..

[@hotlinerevachol5436]

FBI: Winners don’t do drugs CIA: Winners do drugs ATF: Winners can’t do drugs if we shot you before hand in a raid claiming you had illegal weapons.

[@squirlmy]

@P L well, since you bring up the subject, the FBI only has authority to work domestically, within the US, and is, at least theoretically, always subject to US law. The CIA, with permission and resources to work on "foreign soil," can, theoretically, be granted immunity by the US government for operations overseas. Basically, (as long as they're not caught by foreign law enforcement), the CIA, working abroad, can return "home" and foreign governments can only, at best, have to formally request extradition from the US for crimes committed in their own territory. So theoretically, the CIA is far more powerful than the FBI. I have no citations and only a minimal legal background, but I'm not totally making this up either. ;P Yours, Snowden

[@thenoseflap521]

The CIA doesn't win tho tbh

[@Karemaker]

This video honestly rivals any professional documentary you see on mainstream television. Ahoy, you must have formal training in this field, yes?

[@KookoCraft]

Right? It's very well done, the budget must be good then.

[@darkfire2937]

doctorspice There is no budget and only one person worked on it.

[@Colddirector]

Darkfire293 It's virtually impossible to have "no budget", at bare minimum, you use a computer that you bought and an internet connection that you've subscribed for to edit and upload the video. And I'm sure he didn't draw all that pixel art himself, not to mention the retro media ie the cassette players and the voice actors he had on, as well as a presumably high quality microphone, not to mention the human capital he's invested through hours, if not accumulated weeks of research.

[@The_Sunset_King]

Someone do a doc on Ahoy lol

[@toffe32]

Karemaker Ååå

[@zinith4524]

31:29 "You can launch missiles with a Playstation 2" *INCONCLUSIVE*

[@AitoJaOikeaNippeliFaktaa]

Well well well lets find out then

[@RailfoxStudios]

Well, I know what I’m going to do this weekend.

[@ozzni1]

Prepare for *conclusion*

[@BengtRosini13]

You can "launch" a missile with a simple toggle switch. Supposedly the CPU of the PS2 was capable of controlling the guided missile to a target.

[@melody_florum]

Theoretically any basic computer could trigger the launch or even guide a missile, including the PS2, though it’s unlikely due to the difficulty of running arbitrary code and it’d just be easier to use a conventional computer

[@PlayJAK82]

Couple of years later, still my favorite Ahoy Video. Great Job. I keep coming back to watch this one again, Usually around my B-Day.

[@elyssafox4637]

This is still one of my favourite KZbin videos of all time. Sometimes I'll come back and rewatch this just because the editing and effort put into it is just incredible. The music is amazing as well!!

[@doomslayer1793]

I do that with a lot of shots videos

[@cringer8107]

m2

[@Cinicraft00]

“Why would the FBI want to test a machine that makes people nauseous!?” - *Alex Jones Has Entered The Chat*

[@neutralkushhotel5010]

MKultra baby

[@radioactivian]

I'd like but I dont want to mess up the 69 likes

[@miracledrip9568]

Le Tuskegee syphilis experiments has entered the chat

[@Cinicraft00]

MrBLADE R6 P No worries, felt the same way about a comment with 420 likes.

[@PlayerN101]

@@miracledrip9568 Return

[@Auretico]

Everyone: "Where is Polybius?" " Who is Polybius?" Ahoy(StuBro): "Why is Polybius?"

[@felwinterslie8223]

But nobody asks how is polybius

[@GriffinPilgrim]

@@felwinterslie8223 Well, he's been dead for over two thousand years so the answer is...not great.

[@adityashiv2323]

Drax lol

[@ver146]

How is polybius?

[@guyonearth]

I think I've watched this video 20 times, it's definitely one of my all time favorites. I think Koller is the culprit...not the least because Polybius is listed as the most popular game ever on coinop, and is actually the most popular this week. If driving traffic to the site was the goal, it's definitely worked.

[@Haedox]

Been following your content for years and this was by far your most impressive work. It was well researched and edited, not to mention very very entertaining. So much attention to detail and super inspiring as a content creator.

[@porkchop9747]

Haedox oh hey headox! Wasn't expecting you here!

[@Multi006]

Oh hey

[@sandrozimmermann1547]

how is this well researched?

[@AFKAwesome]

Sandro Zimmermann 0:00 - 1:08:33

[@LiteAdventure]

Sandro Zimmermann You must be sarcastic. No way do you think this was just said on the fly.

[@TOSkwar22]

Never seen anything from you, about Polybius, or anything related to this channel in general as far as I can remember. That being said, you made a damn good first impression. The level of detail and depth you went to in searching for any imaginable trace of information is fantastic.

[@qallincha]

Try others videos, he's great!

[@Zathren]

Hope you've looked at more of his work here. He's always poured his heart into all of it. And it shows.

[@Grimalkind]

Personally, I think Polybius started as a small urban legend spread between kids that frequented the same seedy arcades in some middle of nowhere town, and it eventually reached the ears of someone who could spread it. If there's any truth to it's existence, it was probably some kind of bootleg shooter with visually offensive graphics that hurt the eyes to look at, causing headaches and nausea. When people are uncomfortable, not-so-surprisingly they can be more irritable or aggressive. All it takes is one kid throwing a punch after an eye-burning game gave him a headache for a crazy rumor to spread amongst his classmates about how the government tried to 'brainwash' him. I remember in school, when I was a kid, there was a rumor about a face that would appear in the highest window of the school. I talked to some old friends from that school recently and one of them mentioned the rumor started because that window broke, and from the right angle it looked like a face. After it got fixed, that rumor melted from 'the creepy broken window looked like a face' to 'the creepy window has a ghost face in it'. Kids make up wild stories, lying (and even believing their own lies) to get a reaction out of their friends, who will believe it and spread the same rumor. A headache-inducing game that put people in bad moods after playing would easily turn into government conspiracies and brainwashing, especially when kids are the ones spreading the rumors. As for the whole 'men in black' part of the myth, well, arcades are a business. If a machine is giving kids headaches and bouts of nausea, it's not going to be good for business, since a kid would probably go home and stop spending money if they started to feel ill. It probably wasn't CIA agents (shocking, right?) but instead the manager coming in and taking the machine away to return it to the manufacturer, or just throw it out. Once the machine is gone, there's nothing stopping kids from making the tales even wilder and grander. What was once a janitor in everyday clothes taking the game away becomes a cluster of secret agents, and so on and so forth. It's gotta be true, right? Johnny's best friend's cousin's sister's lab partner swears he saw it! Anyways, this got long, but my theory is that the reason the online trail goes cold around the 2000s is because that's when the rumor hit the online scene. Before then, it was a small community myth, an urban legend from a small town that doesn't have much else better to do than swap wild stories, fueled by kids with out-there imaginations and a social hierarchy based on who can tell the most shocking stories. It hit the internet simply because someone from that community put it out there. It may be based in truth, but it also might just be a dumb rumor told around campfires and late-night sleepovers. Kids are great like that. Good job on this video, by the way. The level of research here is truly incredible.

[@Bergmann69]

No its real bro..i played it

[@williamgray9553]

Thanks for the novel

[@marilufalcon8550]

Luke Filewalker sure

[@quentingilanian8045]

...well that was epic

[@gabrielegenota1480]

That's exactly what a CIA agent would say!

[@CrashPK77]

I've watched this video probably half a dozen times or more, and I just don't get tired of it. One of my favorite urban myths, handled by a master content creator.

[@thatjokerperson7062]

Theory: *"polybius is just geometry dash"*

[@brewHamm]

Ahoy: "...with puzzle elements..."

[@bobtheghost1358]

Oh fuck we cracked the code.

[@audriacrawford8022]

Well, the 1st time I had heard of polybius was from a video by you tuber jessii vee and she said something about being eternally happy after playing polybius, but of course this person didn't talk about what the myth was in depth so what Im saying is that geometry dash is a rage game, not the urban legend mess that polybius is ( also i know this is a joke, right? )

[@rayankhor8972]

thatjokerperson that would literally solve the reasons for the deaths

[@niikoashl3yyy467]

XD

[@TrueTempleDog]

Stuart, you are a scholar AND a gentleman. Always a treat seeing one of your docs. Keep 'em comin!

[@AdamantAlex]

This guy has such a nice voice he can make the word "Bubbles" sound very menacing.

[@infra64]

Bubbles jumpscare

[@superguy5738]

I think he's from New Zealand, idk for sure but others from there (ex. Temuera Morrison) sound like this

[@raeburnoliver6334]

@@superguy5738 that's an English accent, Kiwis pronounce I and E differently to the English. I looked him up and apperently he's located in Manchester. Though he doesn't sound very mancunian to me, he may just have a very subtle accent, or moved to manchester from elsewhere in England

[@yasminx_x8119]

won't ruin your 444 likes so take this comment instead :0

[@AdamantAlex]

​@@yasminx_x8119 by the time i saw this, it was already at 446 lol

[@lupo2000]

For me one of the BEST videos on KZbin ever! I came back to it time and time again. Great visuals, climatic audio, interesting topic. Thank you for creating one of the crown jewels of KZbin. ❤

[@fernandoed1517]

You think people would go to the internet, and LIE??

[@command_blockling_400mc9]

Well yes, because people are stupid and want to watch the world burn

[@HelloRasupuBegasu]

Command_Blockling_400 MC this comment is more stupid lmao

[@strayednine8859]

Any social media has that kind of douchebag

[@YourDemonicEmpress069]

No one lies on the Internet! That's the biggest rule on being on the Internet: Don't lie. You're crazy if you lie on the internet.

[@epiccpotato5902]

@@command_blockling_400mc9 have you heard of *sARcASm*

[@VideoSage]

49:20 - "That's all I'm 'allowed to say.'" HA! Owner of the site, if he says "all I'm allowed to say" - and the idea of a Government game with no paper trail, is laughable. I do hope he has a cool code hidden in it though, as that's fairly interesting.

[@sbh_tx]

Everything related to the government has a papertrail. Black Projects do happen but they are accounted for. But they are classified. Everyone wants paperwork to cover this asses.

[@TheZeroMonkey]

Granted, classified papers, should they be proven to not have an impact on current national security are required to be released to the public after 70 years give or take

[@squirrel_killer-]

@@TheZeroMonkey I'd love to see the releases on any black projects in gaming that was done during the arcade days. Any event that overlapped with the cold war era had some related weird government conspiracy rumoured and often it's part of something real just embellished. I hope we just get a massive declassification of all the stupid failed cold war operations and experiments. Preferably sorted by how stupid the idea sounds today relative to how serious they took it

[@jasongoodrich1]

@Sage Channel and did you know Space Engineers is actually a part of the same project to create super soldiers via virtual reality? check it out the use of the same software hidden in the code as some slot machine cell phone games to see how players are making their choices. And you already know about good AI and the ai code that has been in the game long before goodbot was implimented :) I,m building skynet lately check out my workshop page, i have a one button factory for that droid I will release soon.

[@lonelyscarygirl]

@@jasongoodrich1 Your name sound similar to Steven Roach

[@gustavofring9148]

"the game that doesn't exist" My brain: *Petscop*

[@samblamjam]

Obama. Please stop.

[@zanyab1406]

Me too Obama, me too

[@ney1ney520]

Kinda sounds like a thing my sister used and played with called my little pet shop

[@wildflowerand_barley]

IamAhighApple Truly, it’s very far from it.

[@fumpledink3038]

in all honesty i thought that too even after seeing the title

[@RamtroStudios]

33:57 check the bottom of the page. “we’ve recently received some new information about the game (today’s may 16th 2009) and yes one of us will be flying to the Kyiv, Ukraine area tomorrow and yes the trip is related to this information.” holy shit the reason putin invaded ukraine was to steal the last polybius cabinet

[@marcosbradanovic9100]

Lol

[@carrieq8911]

Me: can't do 10 minute homework Also me: watches 1 hour long video on a fake arcade game

[@NoHomerS]

Me AF

[@marcoperches3078]

.

[@stefanosprokopis6974]

Fuck homework. You're at school all day. Why should you take school home with you. You sleep 8 hours, you go to school for 7--8 hours with travel time. That leaves you with 8 hours. If you spent 5 hours at school learning stuff, shouldn't that be enough? I mean think about that. Spending more than 5 hours learning stuff is unnecessary because how much can you possibly learn in one day? Not only that you're at school for like 12 years, so five hours a day of actually learning for 9 months a year 5 times a week equates to approx 11700 hours of learning stuff over 12 years. If you can't learn a bit of math, h9story language, geography and a few other subjects in 11700 hours than you're probably not gonna ever learn it. I mean if it takes the AVERAGE person an hour to learn a particular task and some guy hasn't worked it out in 10 hours than I don't think that person will ever learn that particular task. So bro when you're at school pay attention and keep the extra 8 n hours for friends, exercise, hobbies, family, entertainment and other nefarious activities. BYE.😉😉😉⌛⌛⌛. Remember friend time Is the most pressious asset you have, spend it wisely cos once it's gone you can't get it back.

[@KennTollens]

So true

[@shenpai3614]

Stefanos Prokopis are you...ok?

[@christiantodor9128]

This was probably my most well spent hour on KZbin ever. You decided to track down evidence to a legend with an inconclusive origin. You must have had much time on your hands, and it was very well spent. If this is a testament to what your channel is, I'm totally subscribing. Good job.

[@Gatchet]

Lucky Tode Most of the content on this channel is absolutely fantastic. Ive never been disappointed by any of his videos his production is just ridiculously good

[@yungsugma]

eyy no i prefer pyros petscop vid

[@JimmyBlack7351]

BOUS cuteboi Sure, the petscop one by Pyro was amazing, however the subject in question is a fairly new story, with his analysis focusing on the symbolism and mind-screwiness of Petscop itself. Here, Ahoy analyses a legend that dates back from the time of the arcades, as well as doing extensive research to find leads and evidence regarding the existence of this mysterious arcade machine. The degree of research in this video is what makes it interesting

[@yungsugma]

TheIznotpossible1 One thing we have in common is there both sort of fake I mean the games not the videos themselves

[@MiekuahProductions]

This is also my most well spent internet quota when it has only 200MBs left

[@ciciplease9909]

People joke about this being about an nonexistent game, but I think its also just a really cool showcase of people's imagination and talent in bringing a nonexistent game to life. It's super cool!

[@InputHandle]

That's a beautiful way to look at it!

[@Anaea]

So basically, Older Petscop

[@gost7821]

@Benjamin Price Do you seriously see no value in the dedication fans had to recreating/making tributes to an urban legend? Yeah, the original Polybius was a “lie,” but it became an actual playable free game simply because some people were charmed by the legend. That takes time and effort, certainly that’s worth something. Creepypastas, video game rumors, ARGs, etc… all speak to the human tendency to tell tales that frighten and entertain. That’s not just for kids, it’s for anyone with an imagination and curiosity.

[@Stp1497]

@@gost7821 quite a speech my friend

[@danimationd8886]

@Benjamin Price ayo, about the ghost stories.. have you ever experienced poltergeist? Because i do, many people does experience it.

[@Ic-gv2eo]

as a portland resident it's cute to see the semi accurate depiction of our skyline at the start of the video. Thanks for taking the time!

[@dontspikemydrink9382]

sigh

[@Ic-gv2eo]

@@dontspikemydrink9382 ?

[@Drumblanket]

This needs to be on Netflix

[@copperboltwire320]

If anything, the quality of this video would put most, if not all, documentaries to shame, which is why i think it's not on Netflix ;)

[@projectkepleren]

if it did we would've to pay to watch

[@Ddarkan]

I would watch the crap outta that.

[@AirMan928]

Biohazard Personal Not necessarily. Kung Fury is free to watch on youtube and that's on Netflix.

[@sergiotapia2100]

Drumblanket it realy should

[@sir.barnaby6328]

The one man army of videomaking. extraordinary quality

[@TheGollddMAN]

Wow, the production value on this video is amazing! First time on your channel and I am hooked by how informative this video is. At no point in the video was I bored for such a lengthy video. Subscribed for more content.

[@maxximalien718]

I've already watched this video twice and I can't resist returning to it. It's just really neat. Good voice, interesting story, pleasing graphics. Every time I wanna put on a long video while I do something, I think about this one. This is just THE video for me.