Ironically, it Gives Pause

February 12th, 2008 · 1 Comment

So EA’s going to remove the pause button in Dead Space.

I find this to be probably the most exciting game news I’ve read all week. Okay so what if it’s only Tuesday.

The typical controller layout really hasn’t evolved over the years. A is jump. B is block. B used to be attack way back in the 8 bit era, but then we got more buttons with the spoils of the Cold War. But let’s face it, controllers haven’t really changed much, at least the successful ones, since the PSX Dual Shock. That was over ten years ago.

So if the controller isn’t going to change*, and we want to give people new input experiences, you’ve got to change how people use it, or in this case not use it. And I mean, just how will they “not” use it? I’m sitting here wondering how do I get to the main menu to change the options? Will it pull up a PDA in game that has my audio/video/save options on it? That would be kinda cool, especially if you can’t pause the game when you do it. How do you start the damn game? Does it just dump you into the experience? Is there even a title screen? Super immersive. Or will they just cop out and throw a menu screen UI up and just not pause the game? Shit, is not using pause even TRC/TCR compliant?

Now I’m wondering if they’ll have roving monsters/creatures/whatever drives their horror fiction. I’m kinda hoping they do, because otherwise, there’s no terror of “oh god I’ve got to use the bathroom should I risk it and sprint? I don’t hear any bad doods near me…maybe I should hold it ’till the next save…no, gotta go now.” And even better, now that you’re doing your quick errand, if you hear something happen in game, they’ve sort of brought the horror of the game out of the living room and into whatever it is you’re currently trying to do.

I thought I was over the whole “survival horror” genre, but now my interest is piqued. I’m dying to see how this plays out.

*The first guy who mentions the Wii controller gets a swift kick to da nuts.

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Tags: control · design

1 response so far ↓

1 Nathan Smart // Feb 12, 2008 at 5:07 am

The problem with this is that while it may seem immersive to not be able to pause the game, it’s actually taking you out of the game because you are thinking of whether or not you should answer the phone or go to the bathroom - in real life, not the game. So, instead of focusing on solving a problem or overcoming a challenge, you are worried about whether or not you should let your food get cold.

Eternal Darkness did similar things in messing with you, making you feel like things are going wrong with yourself, as opposed to the character. I loved it, of course, but it completely took me out of the game and I never got to see that stuff if I played good.