I used to just fly around the outside of the castle and in the first level in Mario 64.

On San Andreas I spent over 30 hours just mucking around

Best feature of the internet: walk throughs. So when I get so off track I can't even remember what it was I was supposed to be doing...I can figure out where I am. I often fail to finish games because I wander off and can't remember what to do next.

I have a chrono-trigger saved game in my PSP that is two years old. I have no idea where to go next, but I can totally kick butt in those carnival games.

Oh don't get me starter on Goldeneye64. I would put on the paintball cheat and write stuff on the walls. Also, I would go into multiplayer and shoot Bond until all the white on his tuxedo had turned red. Shooting Natalya in the head just for fun was a favorite past-time as well. Oh yeah Mario Kart 64 as well. I would spend hours going off the ramp in the DK level and I loved trying out all the glitches/shortcuts.

I RE4 i love to get killed to see the different ways Leo can die... nice....

Only always...

I used to do this a lot in perfect dark...

honestly i'm still waiting for a game like that... which has become much less likely since 9/11 in america. Where you have no real established goal, except to create chaos.

For example give it that old "USSR won the cold war" setting game designers used to love. Place in in an English city... since i'm sick of US cities, and be "Freedom fighters" causing chaos attacking random places and stealing stuff... basically try to get them to allocate as much resoruces as you can to your problem so that your army wins the surrounding war since they also have to focus on you.

Make it different in that you make the story by scouting out things for your missions, assassanation targets etc.