Before I begin I want to thank Slackur for always providing insightful and though-provoking comments to my blog articles. His comment about friends playing F-Zero in a way that defies the conventional approach to the game got me thinking about how I consume and experience my video games. I came to the conclusion that a person can either actively or passively receive their gaming content. My goal here is to start a discussion about how we as gamers and collectors absorb the content of our favourite medium.


This is not so much an analysis of RPGs themselves, but the way in which I consume them. I would describe myself as a passive gamer in that I stay within the confines of the world and conventions of the games I play. I allow myself to be sucked into the mythology the game presents and let the game reveal its secrets to me. I would compare this to be told an intriguing campfire story that has the audience eagerly waiting to learn the conclusion of the plot. I play games the same way many people watch movies. I search out the narrative techniques utilized by the story, and take the hint when an event is foreshadowed. I still explore all the nooks and crannies of the game environments and think outside the box when it's required of me, but that is where my immersion ends because I play the game the way it was meant to be played.


The other camp of gamers, those actively consuming their games, seem to take a completely different approach to the content of video games. Simply put, these people play games the way they weren't meant to. They might try to cause the game to glitch or create their own little game. Returning to Slackur's comment, he recalled friends who would align their vehicles perpendicular to the direction of the track in front of a ramp and wait for another racer to collide into them pushing them up and off the ramp. They would then accelerate off the screen. What a perfect way to play a game in a completely new and inventive way. Active gamers take the game and turn it into something totally their own.


For further reading have a look at these articles that I found interesting.

Are games becoming more like TV entertainment?
Passive/active gameplay as design mechanics

I want to know how the RF Generation community receive their gaming content. Do you play the game in the manner you're told to, or do you break the rules and reinvent the game?

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