“Metal Gear Solid is our example of the game we’re not doing. Passive entertainment is on its way out.”
I don't know if he said anything else, so I'll share my thoughts on this quote only.
Metal Gear Solid is a great example of a piece of passive entertainment. Actually, I cannot think of any better in the gaming industry today. The story requires no input from the player whatsoever. All you can do is zoom and move the camera about in the cutscenes. There are no dialog choices. There is no chance to develop snake as a character on your own. Basically, you're fed a story with no chance of interaction.
From what I've seen, read, and heard about the game it's just like playing a movie. Movies are passive entertainment.
Most games today are passive in this aspect. You are handed the experience, the story. You do not have to create it yourself. I would argue that Gears Of War is probably a very passive game too, but I think it relies less on parts without input from the player.
Moving away from this are games like Guitar Hero and Wii sports, that are all about the gaming experience. There's no story, and the experience is created by the player playing the game. Online games are most often also more about interaction and players creating their own experiences than them being fed these by developers.
All of this does not mean that Metal Gear Solid is a bad game. It only refers to the way it plays and the level of interaction between the player and the game. This means, as I understand it, that the quote above in no way should be read as cliffy saying that Metal Gear Solid 4 is a bad. Instead, try to read it as "We want to make a game where the player is always in control".
Moving on to the second part of that quote: "Passive entertainment is on its way out"
*points at the Wii, singstar, the sims, Guitar Hero, World of Warcraft...*
Gaming is changing, there's no denying that. The huge success of the new casual games is largely due to the fact that they are truly interactive. The players input creates the experience. The Singleplayer Adventure is slowly dying, passive gaming is on its way out.
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