Serious Games by Abt (again)

Being reminded of this book just now, I feel I should say that in my original post, I didn't further Abt's idea much. At the heart of the issue is using games as a method of exploring possibilities and situations, which I believe Abt was well aware of. That was his revolutionary assumption.
What truly confounds and frustrates me is that no one else seems to realize the profundity of this idea. In reviews, summaries, citations, etc., the assumption seems to be the old one, and these imply that games in education are Getting There, if not perfect yet. I disagree. I would argue that the basis of games currently in the classroom, for the most part is fundamentally wrong.
Authors go on about how games are motivating to learners, as though that is what needs to be solved: motivation. It may be prominent and apparent, and apparently approachable with enough difficulty to make it dignified. But it's the symptom, not the problem. Why aren't students motivated?