Slashdot Mirror
Origen 360 Revealed in Less Than 12 Hours
MJXG writes "Gamespot has posted an article related to the adver-teasement Microsoft has set up at Origenxbox360.com. It seems that the counter will be hitting zero in less than 12 hours. It is speculated that once the zero-hour is reached, the site will open up with puzzles and riddles which may give away information or even prizes pertaining to the 360. Also from an article on xbox.ign.com, "In a somewhat shocking discovery, there is a Latin message written into one of the tree's lower branches. To view the message, zoom in a few times on the furthest left root near the bottom of the tree. The message reads 'in hoc spatio arbor noster floruit, fecundus pomis Elysii ignoti, quo in loco ludent electi, ab Originis angelis circumdati'. We consulted the IGN annals of ultimate intelligence and wisdom and came up with the following rough translation: 'In this place may our fertile tree bloom with fruits in strange elysium, where in the place of the chosen, angels surround the origin'." Something big is about to happen."
I found this online which claims to be a better translation than IGN's.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/edg/520709.html
It's still pretty verbose and awkward. Maybe if I were on pins and needles waiting for this thing I'd be trying to hack the website like all of you.
Retailers must have already known if the release date was in 12 hours. Was it kept a big secret? I can't believe that.
Jesus saved me from my past. He can save you as well.
I sat there and watched it count down to zero, then it jumped back to a five minute countdown. Waited for that to end, then it jumped up to five and a half hours. They could have at least synced the time at startup, not rely on the system clock and time zones. They can't even write decent Flash code :(
Something big is about to happen. Yeah, a publicity campaign. Don't get caugth in the hype!
I thought this site was straight rip off of Eden until I say the various translations of the message. It seems more like a refernce to Greek mythology or paganism Here's Wikipedia's definition of eysium:
...
In Greek mythology, Elysium was a section of the Underworld (the spelling Elysium is a Latinization of the Greek word Elysion). "Elysium is an obscure and mysterious name that evolved from a designation of a place or person struck by lightning, enelysion, enelysios.
Elysium in Neopaganism
Many Neopagans today, particularly Hellenistic neopagans in the United States, have what most would consider a new-age view of Elysium. Elysium is seen as a multi-layered paradise, or Heaven, to many modern neopagans. Some believe that the outer layer of Elysium is composed of great and beautiful fields, often envisioned in imaginative descriptions as having green glowing blades of grass and bubbling springs of glowing water and wine, often made from the nectar of Ambrosia. Beyond the fields of Elysium, reserved only for the most righteous and virtuous, is the Golden City where spirits exist in a state of constant euphoria. Whether or not such beliefs are based in actual mythology often seems rather unimportant to many neopagans. Most claim that old myths are simply mortal accounts and interpretations of the divine, but the same could be argued about any current beliefs regarding Elysium. Much of what many modern neopagans believe today regarding Elysium seems to be borrowed from popular Christian imagery of Heaven.
You say things that offend me and I can deal with it. Can you?
For those of you wondering about the hidden message, that was only on one of the earlier versions.
P.S. The website just changed again...
A countdown to September 27th, 2005, noon?
Well, I suppose it's worthwhile enough to have a countdown to the 100th anniversary of the publication date of "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?"
Before you guys go hammering the site with entries, note that the contest is only open to European residents.
Looks like the sort of generic boiler plate text that many web developers use when they want text appearing to demonstrate content but want to ensure that the text has no real content which might annoy the client or seem flippant. Why on earth /.'s editors have decided that has some sort of significance is beyond imagining.
Well, it's live, and it turns out to be nothing but a very simple, very silly, overhyped contest. I'll spare everyone the wasted time with a summary:
1) Watch two rabbits exchange some trite, self-promoting dialogue about what a magical and wonderful thing this 'Origen' is.
2) Watch one of the rabbits eat some glowing fruit and trip out (not nearly as interesting as it sounds).
3) Answer 3 true/false questions about the xbox360.
4) Enter your info so they can send you lots of xbox spam.
5) Find out this is being run by Microsoft UK and that you have to live in Europe to enter the contest anyway (sucks for us non-Europeans).
Hardly the intriguing puzzle that people were hoping for - sorry to disappoint.