Ephemerid
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Joystiq Weekly: EA Access, Divinity: Original Sin review, The Last Of Us revisited and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. EA announced EA Access this week, a monthly or yearly service that gives subscribers a digital library of games from the publisher's catalog. PlayStation Plus and Games With Gold are comfortable ideas at this point, but for such a substantial publisher to start their own service on a console without making any hardware themselves? That's pretty interesting. Hopefully we won't see a flood or other publishers launching competitors for PlayStation and Xbox's services, though. Paying one monthly fee for Netflix and maybe two monthly fees for video games is manageable, but if the console space starts feeling crowded with subscription services, we can imagine the sense of value will be continually reduced with each additional arrival. Then again, we could probably stomach one more if Nintendo cooked up something for the Virtual Console... There's way more to this week than pondering our breaking point for monthly subscription fees though. Capcom, Sony and Nintendo had earnings reports, Homefront: The Revolution got adopted by Deep Silver's parent company, and PlayStation Now entered its open beta. It's all waiting for you after the break!
You mayfly around in musical adventure Ephemerid for $1
Ephemerid is a beautiful game about an unlikely beast, the mayfly, and it's now available at a reduced price of $1 on the App Store. This is a limited-time sale, so jump on it like a mayfly on corn (we don't know much about mayflies). We do know that Ephemerid is a musical adventure game and it's "just plain gorgeous." The graphics are composed of paper, glass and paint, and the music elevates the gameplay and story with rocking guitar riffs. Ephemerid follows the entire life of a mayfly – just one day – and asks players to make every moment count for this fluttering insect's sake. [Image: SuperChop Games]
On my iPad: Ephemerid
My iPad is rapidly becoming one of my favorite gaming platforms. It's lightweight, has a nice big screen, and there's a wonderful variety of gaming experiences available for it. The app store, on the other hand, is a nightmare, and finding quality games in there just by poking around is nearly impossible. I find most of my favorite stuff via word of mouth or just plain dumb luck, which is a less than ideal methodology. With "On my iPad," I'll point you to some games that I've found to be worth checking out. They may be new or just new to you, but hopefully you'll discover something that you'll enjoy. Ephemerid is a "musical adventure" starring an unlikely hero: a mayfly. Part rhythm game, part musical storybook, Ephemerid takes you through the charming little bug's life as he flutters through the trees, rescues bees, is trapped by a spider, and meets the night amongst the stars. Real mayflies aren't nearly as adorable as the star of Ephemerid, but they share one sad trait: an extremely short life span. Adult mayflies typically live for just one day, an odd quirk of nature that suits the brief format of the game extremely well. Plus, it makes our little winged hero quite the underdog; the poor guy only has from sunup 'til sundown to make the most of things, so naturally you want to help.
