There are some basic things I dislike about these arguments, because the way people go about making games 'useful' is just fucking backwards. Useful games don't have to be educational games, or somehow instructive.
Video games are an art, they're a different media like novels, film, television, stage. The reason these arguments come about is because people automatically think that video games are exclusively a benign or malignant force. That thinking is broken. Truth: If video games are useless, so are books.
The reality is that the novel is in decline. Fewer and fewer people want to read books. I say this like a Lit major, but I mean/feel it as a writer.
Writers need to rethink books if they want an audience/dinner. Or move to different media. Personally I think video games are the most promising. GTA isn't going to strictly make you a better person, but it will make you think differently. Just like any good book. The next step is for more serious writers to get into games. Right now it's not writers who write most games. A programmer gets an idea and runs with it, if he pitches it right to his superiors. The biggest titles like Metal Gear Solid are already on par with major movie production, in terms of man-hours and infrastructure.
Video games are just another level. Non-linear, interactive, marketable. And it's not like strong stories tank. The strong point of any good RPG is the story; gameplay is important but doesn't sink a title like bad writing.
Hang up with writers is that the general attitude is condescending to games (a lot like the state of anime). But that's just fortunate for me, they can laugh themselves all the way to the bank extinction.
