Also obsessed with 'games as art pieces or commentary' and not for fun and entertainment. Two examples: Cow Clicker, a commentary on human's instinctual responses to Skinner Box design, and A Slow Year, a game about 'observing' where one of the mini-games has you drink coffee while staring at a window, which how that won awards is beyond me.
It's working great for him, I wish I had half the success he's had, and I do read his work from time to time, but we definitely don't have the same approach to games. He spends most of his time thinking about academia and politics, while I prefer to spend my time thinking about interesting mechanics and making things fun.
I'd say both are important, and before he came around his side wasn't really out there at all, so I'm glad he's around, but it's not surprising we have different opinions on the matter.
I certainly don't always (often?) agree with him, either, but I do expect he's at least familiar with what's going on, especially in regard to game narratives.
And my backlog of games I actively want to play is at least 20 games long at this point, and then I've got 50 more that own but have barely played, but not actively wanting to play (maybe eventually, when/if I play the others).
I mainly made that comment without realizing who the author was. I'm sure he's at least heard of games like Phoenix Wright and Life is Strange, even if he hasn't been able to play them.
The author is Ian Bogost, a veteran game designer, developer, and and critic. Check out his biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Bogost#Bibliography