Origen Xbox 360 More Than Meets the Eye

Earlier today the mystery surrounding Origen Xbox 360 was finally revealed, or was it? After some tinkering around TeamXbox has uncovered what Microsoft really has in store for Europe, and it's much more than 2 spots at Origen. The game has just begun, round one anyway.




Over the course of the weeks to come in October gamers in Europe will have at least four more chances at a trip to Origen, as the game plays out through rounds two and three. Furthermore, it seems as though there will be one lucky grand prize winner taking home the gaming rig of all gaming rigs, worth 10 grand! The 10 grand could be dollars, euros or franks for all we know, but a gaming rig worth 10 thousand anything sounds like a nice deal. At the least we expect an Xbox 360, an HDTV, and a 5.1 surround system.


After looking through http requests made by the flash that makes up the Origen Xbox 360 website, it became clear that all the dialog between the rabbits is stored in an xml file. The xml is very long, and some of it consists of error messages, link titles, and a lot of other very useless text. Instead of making you sift through all of it, we've summarized all the good stuff:

Round 1 - Places 1 & 2 at origen

The Title: Fact or Fiction

The Details: Answer three true or false questions and fill in a creative answer to the tie-breaker question, "Xbox 360 is the best thing since...". The site will provide some suggestions for the tie-breaker, such as "peanut butter sandwiches", "non-crease clothing", or "vibrating chairs".

The Outcome: After correctly answering the three true or false questions and submitting your answer for the tie-breaker you are entered into a drawing for one of two spots at origen to be among the first to play the Xbox 360 in America to celebrate the launch. In addition, you can obtain nine more entries into the drawing for places 1 & 2, by simply submitting nine of your friends' email addresses. After each one of your friends partakes in the game, you'll have another shot at the three questions and tie-breaker.




Round 2 - Places 3 & 4 at origen

The Title: Lie your way to origin

The Details: It's all about the rumors. This time instead of a quiz, you get to submit your best guess as to what all this origen stuff is about. You'll be asked to submit a rumor title, the gory details, and even upload an image for clarification.

The Outcome: If your rumor is good enough and is chosen for place 3 or 4, then you'll be headed to origen to be among the first to play the Xbox 360 in America to celebrate the launch.




Round 3 - Places 5 & 6 at origen

The Title: Blast your way to Origen

The Details: This time Halo 2 is the way to Origen as a tournament plays out between Oct. 11 - Oct 24. This is no ordinary Halo 2 tournament. Instead of a bracket or some sort of elimination, they'll be using the Halo 2 Double Team playlist to determine the winners of places 5 & 6 at Origen.

The Outcome: Simply put (from the xml), "There are two Origen places available for this competition, so what better way of finding our winners than by using the Double Team leader board. If you're the top eligible player of the Double Team leader board on 24 October then you and your usual double team partner will be going to Origen." Note (Also from the xml), "Live in Portugal or Greece? Unfortunately, you won't be able to enter this Xbox Live tournament."




In addition to a trip to Origen there's one more shiny detail, a chance at the Origen Treasure. What is the Origen Treasure? It's a dream gaming setup worth 10 big ones! Here are some quotes from the xml about Origen and the Origen treasure:

"WHAT IS ORIGEN?"

"Imagine a place totally dedicated to your gaming pleasure."

"OK. Now imagine being the first to play Xbox 360. Imagine being crowned Origen champion. Imagine walking away with the Origen treasure."

"The lucky winner will get the Gaming Rig of their dreams. Under this sheet lie 10 big ones worth of kit so gorgeous, it makes me weep."

These quotes make up more dialog between the rabbits, and they go on to "reveal" the gaming rig, but don't spell it out in text. Rather, it seems an image of the dream gaming rig will be shown.

Much has been explained, but still one question remains, what about the last pair of fruit unaccounted for? Places 1 - 6 have been revealed, but there are 8 fruits hanging on the Origen tree ...