So is 'pausing' a game uncool or something?

[For.I.Am.Mad]

I got DQIX and I noticed it doesn't have a real pause feature. If you bring up the menus or maps or logs the monsters still spawn and sometimes even run at you. I've noticed this a lot in Japaneses games. Metal Gear Peace Walker, Monster Hunter, apparently Demon's Souls. I don't get it, why take out such a simple function that's been in games since games started? If I want to say pause to change the channel or go the bathroom or answer the door I should be able to.

I don't see it being a big hurdle on the game development side of things. If I'm in single player I should be able to pause if I'm in multiplayer then a psuedo pause like DQIX.

Of all the things that need to be worked on in games, you take out the basic pause function. Really, why that of all things?

 

[Liberaliter]

I haven't noticed it too much, but it would get annoying if more games started to do this - lets hope not.

 

[no oneder]

Unfortunately I haven't played the games you mention. But it sounds like a retarded thing to do. Why take the pause off from a game?

 

[Tallim]

Demon's Souls is mainly because of how the online works which is how it is supposed to be played. Not having a pause offline doesn't really affect you much, you just know if you're in a safe place that you can walk away and come back later without having been jumped by an invading black phantom.

 

[migo]

I can understand no pause in an online game, but there's no excuse for taking it out of an offline game.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

Well for games like Demon's Souls, you can't pause online because it would pause everyone else and the only online game I've seen that does that is Gears 2 if you're the host and I hate it.

But in games like Resident Evil 5 where opening the menu doesn't pause the game, it works well because you're always supposed to be with your partner so you have to cover each other and it keeps pressure on you. Since it's not really survival horror anymore, they've got to at least try and make it so it feels intense. And again, it's online.

 

[ThePerfectionist]

The only game I've had to deal with this is Demon's Souls, and while admittedly it's a little bit irritating when the phone rings or the doorbell goes off and I'm sitting there in the middle of boss fight #4 (attempt #27), it just ultimately WORKS in that game.

Pausing breaks immersion, giving the player control over something that the characters in the game can do nothing about. If you can't pause, you can't be safe, and in a game that wants to make you feel like you're about to be fucked constantly, that just adds to the experience. Demon's Souls is that kind of game. The lack of pausing is critical to the atmosphere.

That being said, because we have not yet descended into a society where we can devote entire days at a stretch to playing video games (at least most of us can't), developers are probably going to have to stick with the pause menu, at least for a little while.

To answer the original question though, I can't tell you why the other games did it, but making me run off to a corner, or get my brother to watch the screen for me, just so I could go to the bathroom, definitely sold me on the atmosphere in Demon's Souls.

(Give you three guesses as to what my Game of the Year was)

 

[Burningsok]

it's a lazy, retarded way to add difficulty.

 

[WorkerMurphey]

The games the OP mentions are for hardcore people. Hardcore people have already armed their doors with booby traps and hooked up a catheter and IV full of mountain dew.

On the immersion issue I see things a little differently. If I'm immersed in a game, those are the times I will ignore bodily functions and maybe text that person back when I get to a save point or cutscene. For me, pausing doesn't break immersion, it's just a sign that it already happened. I suppose it's something of a chicken/egg relationship though.

 

[Flying Dagger]

The only game I've had to deal with this is Demon's Souls, and while admittedly it's a little bit irritating when the phone rings or the doorbell goes off and I'm sitting there in the middle of boss fight #4 (attempt #27), it just ultimately WORKS in that game.

Just pretend your out.
Works every time.

 

[Nimbus]

Did you try closing the DS?

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

It's "supposed" to add to the difficulty.

It doesn't, It's just extremely annoying.

exactly, they didnt think that idea through all the way,there are way too many con's to it

 

[sephiroth1991]

I hate when games lack the simple pause function.

 

[ShadowKatt]

Starcraft is an online game that lets you pause. Even in online, each player gets, like, three pauses, and after that they can't do it anymore.

 

[Zing]

No. It's fucking retarded. Die in a very hot fire Demon's Souls.

 

[GhostKnifeFish]

Tsk, tsk you casual gamer you

Also: Demon's Souls is awesome.

 

[Jark212]

I can understand no pause in an online game, but there's no excuse for taking it out of an offline game.

Exactly, what happens if I need to use the bathroom? or grab a snack???