Games are generally designed to have an ongoing system of frequent rewards to keep the player at their appointed task (the game.) I won't deny that that can be addictive, but I think we need to put that into perspective. There are any number of activities that can be addictive and consuming, and there's hardly anything that one should focus on to the point that one's life gets out of balance. Jogging is healthy, but if you jog to excess you can do permanent damage to joints and ligaments. Reading is terrific, but if all you have to talk about with other people is the Twilight series, you're only going to be popular with other Stephanie Meyer fans, and only to a certain narrow limit. Sex can be both physically and emotionally amazing, but putting the act before the relationships it rises out of can do all manner of harm.
It may well be that games are bad for you. And I don't say that depreciatingly; I don't mean, "Well, you just can't handle it, weakling. Leave it to those that can." Some people really shouldn't do certain things, and some people have personalities that incline towards addiction or self-destructive behavior, or at least there are situations that can trigger such tendencies in them. Maybe most people, for the latter.
If you can play games for an hour or two a day and feel good about it, feel it's a break from other responsibilities, that it provides you with satisfaction and a sense of achievement, I don't really think that there's anything wrong with that. Heck, even if you play with friends from late at night to early in the morning on the weekend, I don't think that's a bad thing. But if you really think that gaming is shutting out other aspects of your life that you wish were better- socializing, exercising, learning about things that interest you- then the responsible thing to do for your own well-being is to stop. And if you can't participate in this particular hobby without doing yourself harm, you should just stop, and not look back. It's tempting to try to cut back, and believe that a sufficiently "strong" person ought to be able to do so, but sometimes real strength means turning away from something that's bad for you all together.
For the record, I'm an introvert, and I strongly suspect I would be whether I played computer games or not. If it hadn't been computer games, it would have been books, or art, or some similarly solitary and esoteric activity. It happens that I like computers a lot. I sometimes wish that some of the time I've used on games had been used elsewhere, it's true, but it's through computer games that I've learned about computer hardware, programming, video editing, music composition, 3-D rendering, and the Internet. Because I grew up comfortable with computers, I've had the skills with which I earn my living. Because I was comfortable with e-mail, I was able to remain in contact with the woman who became my wife. I try to live a life in balance with regard to how I spend my time. But I don't regret how I spent the time that got me here. I'm very fortunate to be here.
