I still consider the "first four" to be play-in games, regardless of what the NCAA has officially branded them as. These games are what they are: A small group of teams that are trying to join the field of 64. Once you have the field of 64, that's when the tournament really kicks off in earnest. Play-in games are exactly what these games feel like to me.
This whole discussion tells me that we all just really need some actual basketball to talk about again... Tomorrow night can't get here soon enough.