Man, I really need to get out more. The irony, of course, being so that I can stay in more.
There certainly is a psychological factor, especially among the population that are 'excessive gamers' versus those that are 'casual gamers'. The thing that needs to be discovered is what causes people to change from 'casual' to 'excessive' and how that affects the rest of their social wellbeing 'irl'
I was definitely addicted to WoW. I'd get up in the morning, play a few minutes or get it ready for when I got home, go to work, come home, make a quick dinner for hubby (bf at the time) and I, and sit down and play till late at night. My husband could never really get into it. He said it was too cartoon-y. Took me realizing it was ruining his and my relationship for me to stop and when we found out we were pregnant I deleted my account that very night. I never regretted that decision.