One feature I want to see added into games

T

Tabris

Member
The ability to pause cutscenes.

If you've read like any of my posts, you know I'm a fan of cutscenes. There's one problem though, getting a call or a visit while in the middle of a cutscene. You have to start again (which can be annoying if you didn't save just before or it's after a boss fight or whatever)

Usually this isn't a problem because most games have short cutscenes, but in Metal Gear Solid 3 (especially near the end), I faced this problem quite a bit.

So yeah, that's what I wanted added into games, hopefully as a standard function.
 
Many games do this, but it is far from widespread.

The Bouncer let you bring up a whole menu during a cutscene, pausing it but making skipping it extra hassle.

Also, I was just playing through Vampire: Bloodlines, in which the cutscenes are real time. Hitting the Esc key brings up the main menu, but does not skip the cutscene. In fact, I don't think cutscenes can be skipped in that game, which is its own annoyance.
 
Well the games that need it don't.

Wait, maybe you could pause Xenosaga's cutscenes. Yeah, nevermind, you could.

Just Metal Gear Solid 3 then.
 
Heh, sometimes I'll be watching a cutscene, and I'm not sure if when I press start it'll pause the cutscene, or skip it altogether...so I usually end up doing nothing like a scared fawn.
 
Fifty said:
Heh, sometimes I'll be watching a cutscene, and I'm not sure if when I press start it'll pause the cutscene, or skip it altogether...so I usually end up doing nothing like a scared fawn.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that too!

Next generation, they need to have a standardized cutscene pause button. As cutscenes get longer.
 
Fifty said:
Heh, sometimes I'll be watching a cutscene, and I'm not sure if when I press start it'll pause the cutscene, or skip it altogether...so I usually end up doing nothing like a scared fawn.
Click to expand...
Hahah, I always do that. I even hold my hands far away from the buttons, because once my girlfriend bumped into me and caused my finger to press a random button, which for some reason skipped the entire cutscene.

But yeah, Tabris, I agree -- that would be a convenient feature.
 
especially as we get older, and have kids and families and stuff. Its almost like I check that nobody will interrupt me before I end a level, knowing a cutscene is going to kick in.
 
You can also do that in Final Fantasy X and X-2...

MGS3 needed it though, there were times I had to take a whiz and had to hold it in. :lol
 
Not being able to pause during cutscenes is pretty annoying. I remember being in the middle of FF8's ending and the phone rang.. of course there was no way to stop the ending, so I just let that sucker ring. Thank god that Xenosaga and FFX had pausable cutscenes though, since they went on and on and on..
 
The ability to pause cutscenes.
Click to expand...

This would definitely come in handy when my wife finds something too important to wait to discuss with me (which she inevitably will; it's like some kind of sick sixth-sense). The Oprah Hand does not work on my wife.
 
I'm a little surprised it hasn't been done more, at least on PS2. I always thought that the shape of the start and select buttons kind of made it intuitive for select to be "pause" and start to be "play/skip" since they look like the stop and play buttons on most vcrs/dvd players.
 
Being able pause during a cutscene would be nice. The public execution of developers of games that do no allow you skip a cut scene would be nice as well (especially in games that are difficult and make you watch the same cut scene over and over).
 
Being able to pause and skip a cutscene should be common practice among developers who include cutscenes in their games, if they're few and fairly short I can forgive them though. I heavily disliked having to watch the same cutscenes over and over again in Kingdom Hearts before certain bosses, with no way to skip them.

As mentioned, not being able to pause cutscenes in MGS3 is a problem. Especially when some lenghty cutscene starts and I desperately need to go to the bathroom.

On the other hand, I really like how all of this is gracefully handled in Shadow Hearts: Covenant, which I've recently been playing.
 
Pausing cutscenes. Good idea, son.

I think another feature should be that if your character dies in a game then it should notify an assassin to come round to you crib and chop your head off. And eat you heart.
 
ArcadeStickMonk said:
Also, I was just playing through Vampire: Bloodlines, in which the cutscenes are real time. Hitting the Esc key brings up the main menu, but does not skip the cutscene. In fact, I don't think cutscenes can be skipped in that game, which is its own annoyance.
Click to expand...

I don't know if I've ever been around when you saw a cutscene you liked.. Maybe if it had Konoko in it.. maybe...

As for pausing cutscenes, yeah it's not a bad idea though I'm sure it's likely to remain a hit or miss affair. Can't have people enjoying their games all the time can we now? The easy solution is of course to cut yourself off from the outside world while playing. Phone ringing? Let someone else get it. People visiting? Point them to the fridge or some other room. House burning down? Then you might want to get out, depends on how close the fire department is and whether or not it knocks the power to the TV or console off.
 
I have a short attention span. The dialogue, regardles of game, always comes off as contrived, spirit-less, long and over done. What does impress me is the technical side of the real time cutscenes.

I still end up skipping them a lot.
 
When you die, or want to reset a level in any sort of game. The game should not reload the entire level. (especially irritating with a racing game when your start sucked)


I hate sloppy programming like that! Most of the stuff is in the cache/memory already, why does it need to reload everything?!!?!?
 
Gantz said:
Save anywhere option in all console games.
Click to expand...

I think it depends entirely on how the game is designed. But then, if such a save system becomes standard developers would probably start to develop their games with the "save anywhere" system in mind. And that would kinda suck.
 
Bah!

And there was me thinking of wanking peripherals...
 
- Pause Cut scenes
- Closed Captioning
- Widescreen mode
- Option to select split screen type
- Dolby 5.1/ DTS
- At least Progressive Scan up to 720P/1080i

All games should have these features next gen.

DCX
 
True I was playing KOTOR today and my mobile rang, anyway I am up to a very late part in the game and a cut scene started.

I missed the whole thing while I was on the phone so I reloaded my game and had to play for 10mins to get back to where I was, would have been nice and easy if I could have just paused the cut scene.
 
iawtp! i had to answer the door during one of mgs3's ending cutscenes, and i ended up missing so much that i just had to go back to my last save. :/
 
Cut scenes should all have DVD functions, including pause. It would be cool to be able to fast-foward boring parts, while still being able to watch to make sure you weren't missing more than inane dialogue.

Then again, some games would probably be 3 hours long if that was the case.
 
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