It's okay to play games to pass the time. OK for entertainment. Playing games increases intelligence. But the main thing is how long the game is playing. Kids or people of any age have no problem playing it for 30 minutes to 1 hour. If you cross it, you will get addicted. Everything is harmful, whether it is a virtual or artificial game. Everybody is brainwashing us when it comes to virtual games. Be practical, all games are useless except physical games.
Being a hardcore gamer doesn't automatically mean you are addicted. I used to be one several years ago and I still managed to get good grades and have a balanced life. It lasted one and a half a year for me, it was so fun and enjoyable.
And yes, too much of a good thing is a bad thing, so I eventually got bored and I quit my hardcore CS:GO gaming phase.
Just like most things, most people may go through short term addictions to certain things though it will eeb and flow.
But there's always this small group of people who take addiction to the next level and can't control how much they love something. Those are the people who you see on local news at night peeing in buckets and continuing to play while their health degrades and they haven't showered in a week.
Video Games can be addictive, totally. But I think it has much more of a social stigma compared to watching TV, Movies, etc. Video games look worse for some weird reason, when they're a perfectly suitable thing to do in moderation -- just like every other recreational activity people do.