subdirectory_arrow_right Cube Quest (Game)
▲
3
▼
Video game researcher Patrick Kellogg posited that Cube Quest was likely the inspiration for Polybius, an urban legend in which US government operatives create a Tempest-esque shoot-em-up of the same name that has lasting psychoactive effects on those who play it. In Kellogg's analysis, he notes that Cube Quest features similar Tempest-style gameplay and sports vibrant, surreal backgrounds like the kind described in the urban legend. The backgrounds in Cube Quest were reproduced by running a LaserDisc player installed in the game's cabinet; because LaserDisc technology is much less reliable than solid state media, the cabinet required constant maintenance from technicians, which Kellogg cited as the likely inspiration for the government agents who periodically harvest data from Polybius in the urban legend.
▲
1
▼
The earliest known mention of the mythical video game Polybius was an article on the otherwise legitimate arcade gaming fan site Coinop.org posted on August 3, 1998.
The article was edited on May 16, 2009, after the "game" had achieved viral popularity, to inform readers that the site hosts had received new information about the game and were flying to Kyiv, Ukraine to investigate the title, which they would update the page on when they found out. No news has been recorded on Polybius since, but the website would have new games added to its database up to 2021.
Kurt Koller, the webmaster for coinop.org, would later claim in 2021 that he planned to go to Kyiv in 2009 to see Chernobyl, but his friend from Ukraine refused because he was expecting a child, meaning that the "Polybius update" may have just been an in-joke related to this visit.
The article was edited on May 16, 2009, after the "game" had achieved viral popularity, to inform readers that the site hosts had received new information about the game and were flying to Kyiv, Ukraine to investigate the title, which they would update the page on when they found out. No news has been recorded on Polybius since, but the website would have new games added to its database up to 2021.
Kurt Koller, the webmaster for coinop.org, would later claim in 2021 that he planned to go to Kyiv in 2009 to see Chernobyl, but his friend from Ukraine refused because he was expecting a child, meaning that the "Polybius update" may have just been an in-joke related to this visit.
Coin-Op article on Polybius:
https://www.coinop.org/Game/103223/Polybius
Koller's Ukraine Tweet:
https://twitter.com/InsidiousForce/status/1391675104799510531
https://www.coinop.org/Game/103223/Polybius
Koller's Ukraine Tweet:
https://twitter.com/InsidiousForce/status/1391675104799510531
Related Games
Sound Voltex: Vivid Wave
Lemmings
Samurai Shodown
Mechanized Attack
Tekken 3
Ridge Racer
Beatmania IIDX 27 Heroic Verse
1942
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
Double Dribble
Mortal Kombat
Street Fighter EX
Gouketsuji Ichizoku Matsuri Senzo Kuyou
Pac-Man
Killer Instinct
Blades of Steel
Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
Tekken Tag Tournament
The King of Fighters XII
Street Fighter
DanceDanceRevolution World
Crossbow
BeatStream
Psycho Soldier
The King of Fighters 2000
Final Fight
Tekken 2
Gauntlet Dark Legacy
KiKi KaiKai
DDRMax2: Dance Dance Revolution
The Punisher
Bonanza Bros.
Incredible Crisis
Arctic Thunder
Xenon
Line of Fire
Cops 'N Robbers
Mappy
Head On
NBA Jam Tournament Edition
BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma
Gimmick: Exact Mix
Wild Gunman
Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp
Mario Kart Arcade GP DX
Vs. Ice Climber
The King of Fighters '99: Millennium Battle
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
The King of Fighters XI
Mystic Warriors: Wrath of the Ninjas