[stepvhen]

All research has to start somewhere. And the space for video games is much larger than the one you describe. In 2003 Steel Battalion was released for Xbox, the controller for which had around 40 separate inputs. Or consider older Point and Click adventures; though the only physical interface was a mouse with a few buttons, it is required of the player to synthesize all the information given to them (conversations, items, recognition of clickable things), and act on all available stimuli in a (usually) logical manner, something that requires much more than ~5 inputs. For a modern game, you should look into Dwarf Fortress[1]. This game has no end state, no defined goal (other than survive), and you are given little real information about the dwarves themselves, other than what is gained through observation and inspection. The inputs for that game span the entire keyboard, and are in general more akin to old text-adventure games in terms of complexity. And it is a serious game. If I was better at it I would play much more often. But my FPS is dead by the time I reach 80 dwarves and the seiges begin.

My point is, video games are far more complex than what you propose, and are not always as well defined. There is ample room for experiment and research.

[1]:http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/