The same can be said about drugs or any kind of addiction...At the end of the day you have to wonder if the "fix" helps you or puts you in a worse situation. Usually is the latter.

I don't know if it's helpful to think of people playing video games as trying to fix anything besides boredom.

It is about as innocent of an addiction as you can have and is likely better than tv or alcohol, which are the other go-to options for making the time go by. Remember, when USA tried a prohibition on alcohol, it did not go over well. People have a strong need to make the time go by and unwind - video games are likely the least destructive form of doing so.

I use to have friends hooked up to the screen (16 hours per day 365 days per year) I tell them that alcoholics have conversations and social lives and they get out of the house.