Ernest Adams has written a provocative article just published by Gamasutra, entitled Where's Our Merchant Ivory?. Adams's premise is simple: games need an elite form, like Merchant Ivory is to film or ballet is to dance, that legitimates other, "lower" forms of the medium and rallies high-society support around it. Lipsmacking tidbits from the article include this one:

Adams also points out that the Serious Games movement will help, but not enough. Serious Games don't change the overall perception of the medium, even if they encourage incrementally positive attitudes.

As for what such a game would look like, Adams has in mind something "visually opulent" with "flawless execution" and "connections to the wider world."