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Clamshell Pause

January 3, 2007 By Glenn Turner

DS - Non-Clamshell Pause

A while ago I remarked to Mr. LeFeuvre that my favorite aspect of the DS was the 'clamshell pause' – the ability to instantly pause your current game by just closing the handheld. He then quipped back that his favorite part of the DS was the fact that it played games. Smartass.

It's true though - I love the DS's pause feature and, if anything, it's probably the leading factor towards my increasingly short & demanding gaming attention span.

Right now I'm going through the Link to the Past GBA port on my DS and, while it has a sleep mode, it feels horribly cumbersome and is completely unaccessible during cut-scenes. What, you mean I actually have to 'pause' the game, then read a message reminding me that I have to press three awkwardly placed buttons at once to 'wake the game up', then press another button just to really pause the game? What's that compared to the DS's standard simplicity of simply opening the portable up?

Don't get me wrong – I remember what my life was like prior to the DS, and I loved the sleep function when I was about to jump off the bus while playing Golden Sun on my original GBA, but now it just feels clunky and out-dated, especially when I get frustrated with Link to the Past (which somehow feels a lot more difficult than it did when I last tried to play it about two years ago). Whenever I was playing a DS game, it used to feel so final & complete to slam my DS shut, say after having Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan spurn my final-level attempt yet again. It simply doesn't feel the same to have to rationally press the start button, select 'Sleep' and follow the 'sleep' instructions. That's no way to pause a game out of anger! Damn this back-compatibility, preventing me from slamming my portable shut in a burst of frustration and making me look like a fool!

So what's your take on it? Do you prefer the 'thinking-pause' of the standard console (or PC), or the 'innate-pause' of the DS (or laptop)?

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8 comments for ‘Clamshell Pause’

#1 Metal Monkey Jan 3, 2007 10:14pm

The PSP has something like that too. You just flick the switch up without holding it, and the system goes into sleep. Flick it again and it comes back on like it was never off. I use it whenever I finish playing a game for a sitting. Great feature.

#2 quazz4life Jan 3, 2007 10:14pm

I also adore the "close to pause" feature of the DS. simple, easy to use, and as quick as lighting.
I have also had the same instance of wishing my GBA games had that featuer. Sleep mode is great, but sometimes just closing the console up would be a whole lot better.

#3 Soup Jan 3, 2007 10:30pm

clamshell pause is by far superior. It's only a couple seconds difference, but being able to instantly pause feels more empowering. Don't get me wrong, the fact that GBA games started incorporating a sleep mode was a welcome addition, but this evolution of the same idea is better in every way. It's a bit like using bookmark and then starting up where you left off, rather then having to spend a few moments memorizing the page number.

And I love that it works for every single (DS) game.

#4 HektiK Jan 4, 2007 01:30am

I had no idea there was such a feature built into it. Definitly a great idea for those who game outside of their natural habitat.

#5 hobbie Jan 4, 2007 02:40am

The DS save feature is very handy. I can close it when things get busy at work and then just open it back up to keep playing once things are quite. Not having to load a checkpoint or worry about losing any progress since the last save, those things make me happy.

And I just checked, the GBA SP doesn't have a power save when it's closed. That thing just keeps on going as long as it's got battery life.

#6 w3a2 Jan 4, 2007 03:19am

it's great.

except when you think it's off and you pull one cart out and put another in.

#7 Sanctuary Jan 9, 2007 02:44pm

w3a2 wrote:
it's great.

except when you think it's off and you pull one cart out and put another in.

My only problems are that, and when I forget about my game (Say a match on Advance Wars DS) and come back a few days later to realise that I have left my DS running this long.

However, there's always battery left in it and my game can go long enough after opening it to be able to save. I don't know what I'd do without the shut-to-pause feature

#8 w3a2 Jan 15, 2007 09:26pm

also it's good for disciplining of children. for instance, once the allocated Video Game Time is up, it's closed and put away, that's that.

no more of this "i have to finish this level so i can save"