That's not what I use it for (nor what the article actually says, if you ignore your knee-jerk reaction to the title and really read it).
I don't think this article should be used to smack people in the face who want to write an engine and I don't think it should be put on any kind of game development pedestal.
I'm merely pointing out a trap a lot of newcomers fall into, and sure, if the OP is purely looking for a learning exercise, then no one will stop him, but it never hurts to inform. If the OP had asked about "a primitive, but functional 3d game, something on par with say, the original QUAKE or Half-Life 1" I wouldn't have mentioned it at all...
I have to agree with you on this one swift coder. People need to be made aware of complications and heart aches of what they are getting in to and they need to weigh those equally or even more so critically than the idea that things are easy. I seem to have been on a rampage of "Game Development is hard!" today (probably just gripes coming up from a difficult week) but it's still something VERY valid to say.
Engines power games yes, games can get very complex and time consuming yes. This is my big argument when it comes to building games and engines together. Simply put engines are extremely complicated maybe even the most complicated things that are ever coded. Games can also be complicated and in some cases just as complicated as building the engine they are powered by. This is why to me it's NEVER a good idea to do both. If you want to make an engine just to learn things and your making a game using it just to see how it all ties together, great! If you want to make an engine that other people may actually use is another story all together. You will need to invest LOT's of time on making it high performance, easy and providing a wide range of tools.
Game content, development, coding and logic are also complicated and at times can take quite a large time investment. Same as with the engine if your just doing the game to learn how things work and your coupling it with the development of a simple engine GREAT! However if you want to get other people to actually play your game (not just test it for you but actually play it) you need to put in some effort and make it worth playing (keep in mind there is a lot of competition out there and tons of really good games).
So here's where I jump in on the argument between making engines and making games. Both are required and both have nearly equal importance to each other. That is to say without better engines we don't get better games. Without better games we don't advance the engines to power them. However when we get into the world where everyone builds their own engine and their own game at the same time we completely negate the first statement of this paragraph. You build the engine to power your game and you build your game to run well on your engine and neither receive the proper attention that they deserve! So my opinion on this whole thing is the more people try to do everything the more nothing gets advanced. To me the argument isn't saying you can't build an engine it's that it requires just as much if not more dedication than the game itself. As independent and or a small game studios we simply can't afford to take a year and a half to make a half way decent engine followed by another year and a half to complete the game itself and by the time we hit the shelves we're 2 - 3 years behind all the competition in performance and quality! Even the larger studios that do build their own in house engines to go with their games have two different departments. One focused entirely on the engine itself and another focused entirely on the game itself.
So if it's just for hobby then writing an engine is perfectly fine. If there's any concern for profit you need to compete with the big boys who are dumping money into the development of their engines by the truck load. Your one or two people working in your spare time you'r not likely to ever get on par with them. However making a game with two or three people can be profitable... Make a few games and get some money coming in first then take your experience and knowledge from making games and apply it to making the engine that powers them. When you do make that leap into making the engines make sure that those involved are dedicated to just that and not the both at the same time (otherwise you will end up cutting corners and sacrificing performance and tools that will lead to loss of money and less chance or sales).
