Sony Computer Entertainment America has filed a patent for a system that pauses games forcibly in order to display advertisements.
The system was invented by Gary M. Zalewski and filed last July. Simply put, the system pauses the game (after a brief warning), plays an ad then resumes the game again.
The patent text describes the system as "a method for use in advertising includes initiating playing of interactive content [game], suspending playing go the interactive content, displaying an advertisement, and resuming playing of the interactive content."
Adding insult to injury, the system is not confined to single player games only. A small print in the patent filing states that a central server can synchronize ad-display during multiplayer matches so that all players would have their doses of forced-ads at the same moment.