I partly disagree. In order for gameplay to express an emotion you must have an artistic point beneath. Without it there is no emotion to what you do. A good example is Hotline Miami. Re-imagine it as a stick figure flash game for a moment (maybe its called "Ringtone Utah"). Rather than being grounded in the cocaine fueled violence of the 80s- its childish and doesn't hit with the same punch. The slow exit from the carnage would be stripped away quickly if we were to think of only gameplay being of importance (as downtime would prevent us from experiencing more gameplay).