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Bits and Bytes » Xi: Yo Dawg, I heard you like games so we put a game in your game so you can play while you play
Xi: Yo Dawg, I heard you like games so we put a game in your game so you can play while you play
I had pent up fanboy-like optimism for Playstation's Home since it was announced in March 2007 and I lapped up the beta client in December last year. But apart from a bit of playing around with the in-home Chess, the novel arcade games and decorating my personal space with the free robot and arranging the couches into a fort, there hasn't been anything that has made me return on a regular basis.
Recently, there's been some activity on the 'spaces' front including the introduction of the Red Bull Air Race and game-specific Resident Evil and Far Cry 2. But the most intriuging development is in the form of 'Xi', the world's first console-based Alternate Reality Game. This for me is two birds with one stone – something interesting to keep me coming back to home and being able to participate in an ARG as it unfolds (they are never as interesting once all is revealed).
The teleport is found in the form of the grafitti 'Xi' located in the Home Square (Central Plaza for some of you) and takes the player to The Hub, a space that provides the clues to searching for Jess, a member of AlphaAFK, that has disappeared. In a smart move, the designers have made the 'online terminal' information accessible outside of the game as they are simply standard pages including a blogspot-hosted blog (http://cafeconmiguel.blogspot.com) and even Jess' 'desktop' (http://www.jess247.com) which helps solving one or two of the puzzles.
Right now, apart for gleaning more understanding of the story, the treasure to secure come in the form of butterflies and torn pieces of paper. Both of which are the result of successfully decoding the daily puzzles. Their current meaning is shrouded but undoubtedly at least the piece of paper will grant some more insight.
For a lot of people, this won't be their cup of tea but I hope this is the first of many interesting ways of expanding the Home idea.
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