Most older people have likely spent even more hours than this.
Yet spending 2 hours watching football, then another hour watching a bunch of talking heads discuss the game, is somehow considered “normal”.
I’m not a gamer, but what about this hobby is any different from any other passive sedentary hobby? Even reading fiction isn’t any particularly different, is it?
They are capable of creating addictive tendencies as any other substance using the same dopamine reward would for certain individuals.
That and video games being a much younger medium and therefore a waste of time / for babies / the devil's siren call as society loves to berate them.
But yeah: video games are nerd stuff that you are allowed to make fun of. Gambling and sports betting is a bro thing and therefore cool, but seriously is as big a waste of time and probably a bigger waste of money.
Agency, is perhaps the better way or reason to describe games being more "addictive", the feedback loop of take action, get result, repeat. You'll be more invested in something you can shape.
I can cheer on my team, revel in the drama unfolding, but i have no say in how it goes.
A book can feed my imagination, lead me to consider new viewpoints or ideas, but i cannot change the fate of the characters.