I wasn't completely joking about not doing the flat bench press, I'm not a great fan of it, and not just because I think it's an ego exercise more than anything else ("ooh, ooh, how much can you bench?").
For a powerlifter it's essential but for a bodybuilder there are better options, the reason being that (for me and a great many other people I know) the shoulders and triceps will give out before the chest will. Such is not the case with inclines and declines (bar or dumbbells), flat dumbbell press (no exercise built my chest like this one), chest dips or even chest press machines (hammer strength etc). I can do a balls-out db press set and feel it in my pecs for days afterwards, but I don't get the same feeling from the flat barbell bench.
If you want to do flat bench, do it the DC way and keep the reps higher than you would for a normal chest exercise to make sure your chest gets enough work and for safety reasons. You CAN make progress with the flat bench press but when your weights start getting up there the chances of injury are great (hence the higher reps), but have you ever heard of someone tearing a pec from an incline press?
That's my opinion and I don't think my chest development has been negatively affected in any way by sticking to db and incline/decline presses, and I've never had a chest injury either (touch wood!).