Okay, first, pop-culture and art are inseperable, they define each other. So to hear the argument 'are games art?' is to question what art itself is. As an artist I can't even begin to answer this question, the line between design, functionality, artisan-ship and integration into popular culture is completely blurred for everything from a pencil to a skyscraper. For example is a pencil art? Is the same pencil representative of an idea or ideas? Does that pencil (or the image of the pencil) convey a cultural meaning across languages?

Second, the plot lines will never be open until you have a sentient computer that makes up stuff on-the-fly. As a game developer, multiple plot threads are a nightmare to develop satisfactorily. You can't have the player leave the games setting because you a) can't define the rest of the world b) sell a game where it's possible to get into a situation where the player never completes the game.

In conclusion, I think that studying games and gamers will produce nothing more than useful marketing info. Whether Gaming has a cultural longevity is up to the people who make and market games (What you thought TV Ads didn't change your behaviour?).

Sorry if this is post seems aggressive or obvious.

Thankyou.