Xi infiltrates Home - and it's kind of neat

by Jem Alexander { Mar 23rd 2009 at 7:20PM }

What is Xi? It's hard to tell from the "trailer" that was released only a few days ago. Now that it's live, it's much easier to decipher what's going on. This is PlayStation Home's first ARG (Alternate Reality Game), created by nDreams.

Xi is now live in both Europe and North America. Simply seek out the graffiti on the right in the Home Plaza and you'll be transported to the game Hub. It's at this point that you realize this isn't just another Home space, as the first thing you'll encounter when you enter the Xi Hub is an honest-to-goodness cutscene.

The cutscene introduces you to Xi itself, the Hub and one of the game's characters, Thom. You're immediately tasked with finding three pieces of paper littered around the Hub in order to continue with the story. There are a couple of missions to complete within the Hub right now, but from the looks of things there are plenty more to come.

There's a large screen at the end of the room which shows a "weekly recap," along with a robot called Stapler who will give you optional missions to carry out once you're fully registered. A newsfeed on one wall shows any Hub updates, as does a ticker feed above the teleporters. Speaking of which, they've yet to be activated but will no doubt lead to other game areas in the future, as will a pair of large metal doors.

It looks like the main story hasn't started properly yet. We're hoping for some collaborative tasks that will require teamwork but, even if not, Xi has already altered our perceptions of Home, showing us things we didn't think were possible in the service. Like a lot of ARGs, Xi makes use of the internet by posting clues and puzzles on external websites. You can access these from within Home by using one of the Hub's many Online Gateway screens.

So, if you've been looking for something to actually do within Home, this might keep you busy for an hour or so today. It's intrigued us enough to go back and see what changes after a week or so, but mostly it has us asking why other Home spaces aren't nearly as cool. We had no idea cutscenes, the HoloPAD interface, item collecting and story-driven voice overs were even possible within Home. More, please.

Tags: home, playstation-home, Xi

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

~Snipes~ (PSN slycooper_rocker) @ Mar 23rd 2009 7:26PM

"a robot called Stapler who will give you optional missions to carry out once you're fully registered"

i'm in!

tmacairjordan87 @ Mar 23rd 2009 7:28PM

I did part 1 today, but it looks like it's going to take a while cause there's at least 20. I'm not sure if it's a daily or weekly thing, but whatever this is it got me intrigued by it and whatever it's hiding.

Here's hoping whatever that is doesn't turn out to be a colossal letdown

tmacairjordan87 @ Mar 23rd 2009 7:30PM

Also, if anyone's too lazy to work out today's mystery on their own then here is a guide posted on the playstation forums

http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=homexi&thread.id=2621&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

That freezing bug that is listed on there did happen to me, so if you get to that point and nothing happens then you know why now.

CantFlame (PSN MariusElijah) @ Mar 23rd 2009 7:34PM

ahh thanks,

bookmarked

j.howlett @ Mar 23rd 2009 7:44PM

i thought it might have froze on me but i just waited and everything started moving. i got a server busy message the first time

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Mar 23rd 2009 7:59PM

thanx Tmac...not trying to rack my brain on this shit so close to Heroes and 24

CantFlame (PSN MariusElijah) @ Mar 23rd 2009 7:32PM

I did two puzzles today

Havent touched Home since it launch and it sux having to download everything again
Keep it up, I might just visit more often

Roto13 @ Mar 23rd 2009 7:32PM

Yeah, this is the first thing to happen in Home that doesn't seem like a colossal waste of time. :P I played around with it a bit this morning and it certainly wasn't a bad experience. In fact, I think I'll finish off whatever I have left to do later on tonight.

It got me to reinstall Home without deleting it immediately after. That's a huge feat. (There are a lot more ninjas than I remember.)

j.howlett @ Mar 23rd 2009 7:41PM

they've been giving clues for weeks now. those messages are starting to make sense and jess doesn't look bad at all

skyzbig @ Mar 23rd 2009 7:54PM

Something neat in Home?

That's a mistake surely :P

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Mar 23rd 2009 8:02PM

this is rather interesting. Need more stiff like this

Cant wait for the EA room in the next few weeks!!

Jared @ Mar 24th 2009 8:49PM

PLEASE CHANGE AVATAR!!!!

Gambit07 @ Mar 23rd 2009 8:53PM

Hmm... an alternate reality within an alternate reality? what's next an alternate reality within the alternate reality of the alternate reality??

devilsei @ Mar 23rd 2009 9:48PM

Yo dawg! I heard you like alternate realities! So I put an alternate reality in your alternate reality, so you can alternate your reality while in an alternate reality yo!

wayneulmer @ Mar 25th 2009 11:14PM

LOL devilsei, Pure Class!

quadraphonic @ Mar 23rd 2009 9:07PM

Looks to be off to a good start. I found the challenges a decent introduction. Kinda of like EA's Majestic, which I thought to be fairly interesting. I can't wait to see what else they've got coming.

FED315 @ Mar 23rd 2009 9:22PM

the whole point of this is to find jess she been missing and she left some clues around and thom a dog

michael @ Mar 23rd 2009 10:53PM

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

Daniel @ Mar 23rd 2009 11:12PM

Discovered by the Germans in 1904, they named it San Diego, which of course in German means a whale's vagina

crazypenguin @ Mar 23rd 2009 11:42PM

it was a nice way to get me to check out home. if they do this more often, then i might visit quite a bit. sadly, for some of the stuff at the end, i just cheated and checked a thing online. but had i taken the time, as i did later to figuire out where that answer came from, it gave me really interesting clues. just a tip for anyone who wants to follow Xi though, its better to use a labtop next to you then use the ps3 browser, you get the same content, just faster speed (and a ctrl F function)

PN04 @ Mar 24th 2009 2:02AM

The thing about home is that the content they provide you has to maintain itself or be easy enough to update quickly and more importantly cheaply. Home and the PSN in general being a free service means the content has to be as easy to throw at us as a shockwave flash game otherwise they have to start charging to create and maintain more complex content.

Most social networking sites provide all sorts of free games and content that keep people entertained for months without needing an update so the problem for Home is to create content that fits without it needing to be as complex as an MMORPG. If all they have to do is write a blog 3 times a week or month and record a voice once a month and a couple of videos to play while you're in the hub then it becomes incredibly cost effective to just cobble up a few tiny quests and a few rewards.

STEVEPAYNE @ Mar 24th 2009 1:08PM

It's just a shame the place is full of idiots asking for the answers and people happy enough to just blurt them out to everyone within earshot. Seriously, what's the point of that? Work it out for yourself, it's not rocket science. Hopefully the tasks will get a little more challenging over time.