Marvel's Loki and the strange video game myth behind that Polybius machine in episode 5
0Warning. Below you'll find slight spoilers from Episode 5 of Marvel's Loki. Keep reading only at your own risk.
The latest episode of Marvel's Loki featured one of video game's best urban legends,the Polybiusarcade machine. And today we are here to immerse ourselves in the history behind this legend.
In the fifth episode of Loki, we are taken to the hiding place of a set of Loki variants. While there are a lot of fun things to keep in mind in this place, one arcade machine in particular, Polybius, has caught the attention of the internet.
The infamous Polybius arcade cabinet, seen behind Classic Loki (Loki, Episode 5 - 13:33) The Polybius arcade machine appears in the background in episode 5 of Loki - 13:33
Internet reacts: Is that it.... Polybius?
After the premiere of the fifth episode of Loki, one of the most talked about parts (which wasn't, you know, the plot) was this Polybius arcade machine.
To sum it up perfectly, we can take a look at Mike Drucker'sTwitter, where he said "Loki has a Polybius arcade machine and I'm losing my damn head." .
The No Swear Gamer on Twitter justifies Polybius' appearance, saying, "this explains it all. Polybius is an arcade game variant of another timeline,and playing it in our timeline causes catastrophic events...".
Jason Torchinsky noted on Twitter that this could be the "ideal bridge between the Marvel and Simpson universes." .
Caleb J Van Nice on Twitter believes Loki could be his "marvel favorite thing from Guardians Vol. 2". Polybius' arcade seemed to cement that for him, as it feels like it's made specifically for him. It's the little things that go that far.
Tuti on Twitter loves how Polybius is just another example besides D.B. Cooper and the USS Eldridge, of Loki playing with "real-world history and conspiracy." .
All these fans were very happy to see Polybius in Loki. If you're not familiar with the urban legend, or just need a refresher,we're here to explain why it's so important.
The strange myth behind Polybius
While there is no concrete evidence to prove that it ever existed,Polybius was supposedly an arcade machine that appeared in Portland, Oregon in 1981. Many were intrigued by this new puzzle shooting game that featured a lot of awesome visual effects, but those who played, would complain of some nasty side effects including hallucinations, amnesia, night terrors, insomnia and more.
In addition, there were supposedly "men in black" who many said were from the CIA,and who visited these game rooms to collect data on who played and how they responded to the psychoactive effects of the game.
This "Polybius Experiment," so to speak, only lasted about a month before they were completely removed from these arcades. Since then, the arcade machine in the arcade has never been seen again.
Coinop.org,a website that catalogs most coin-operated arcade games, created an entry for Polybius in 1998, and lists the company behind the game as Sinneslöschen,as supposedly shown in text in the game. If you use Google Translate, the German word Sinneslöschen translates to Deletion of Mind in English. That is, Suppression of the mind in Spanish.
Polybius was also the name of a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period who, among other things, argued that historians should only chronicle events if they had spoken to those who were actually part of that event..
Polybius in Popular Culture
This urban legend has endured over the years, and developers and, recently, arcade builders Rogue Synapse created a kind of replica for PC. The company's owner even founded a company called Sinnesloschen to help "further recreate the Polybius game as it could have existed in 1981.".
Polybius was also released on PS4 and PS VR in 2017,and appeared in the Nine Inch Nails music video for the song "Less Than",as well as in The Simpsons episode "Please Homer, Don't Nail",and even in The Goldberg's episode "The Age of Darkness".
This Polybius arcade machine that appears in Loki, would not be coincidental either. It is a program in which TVA tries to keep a sacred timeline intact and keep away the things that do not belong to it, which makes a lot of sense. Was this arcade machine real? Is it just a myth? Well, that's up to you.
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Polybius Statistics For BadGameNews
There are 69 views in 2 videos for Polybius. His channel published less than an hour of Polybius content, making up less than 0.19% of the total overall content on BadGameNews's YouTube channel.