There's a great quote down at the bottom of today's Penny Arcade post:

D&D in my opinion is not a game about rules, it’s a game about decisions.

This is something I'm coming to realize more and more, especially at this year's GenCon. The games that I enjoyed most (Call of Cthulhu, Unknown Armies, Spirit of the Century) have been very different from those that were less interesting or seemed to drag (Shadowrun, Alpha Omega, to a lesser extent CthulhuTech. Godlike is a bit of an outlier, a game that was fairly crunchy, but still was a ton of fun. I attribute it to the GM's (Allan Goodall I think) detailed knowledge of the era and his ability to combine interesting, actual events with a gritty super-hero theme.) I do love RPG systems, and seeing how the various mechanics facilitate or hinder different aspects of the game (combat, social interaction, skills, etc.), but there's something to be said for boiling it down to the simplest aspects possible.

As far as I can tell, looking through some of the books I've purchased, the former games were run with a much lighter set of rules than is actually published. The core ideas of each system were pulled out, usually into one or two mechanics, and the rest of the focus was on playing your character, interaction with the other PCs, and story building. This (and last year's GenCon) is a much different gaming experience than I was used to, and it's amazing when it works out. I think GenCon attendees are not the usual gamers -- simply by being there they've show more commitment, and maybe a little less sanity :P -- so I don't know how well it would translate to any specific group, but if you have a group of people who are willing to buy in to the story and the characters, and aren't necessarily in love with detailed rules and positioning and movement, it's a big reward.

Anyway, going back to the Penny Arcade quote, the focus should always be the characters and their decisions, not the systems that should really only be in the background to help you.