Nobody needs to game on a PlayStation (or play GTA on PC/PlayStation), we need water, food, shelter not GTA6

At face value this seems true, but I'm not so sure it's that simple. I know, it sounds crazy, but let me explain.

In life, we obviously need water, food, and shelter. However, we can't spend our entire lives only drinking, eating, and sleeping. There has to be more to life than that, otherwise it will result in increased suffering.

Without hobbies (yes, gaming is of course a hobby), life would be a lot more dull, and many people would feel it's less worth living. Decreased leisure time/recreational activities time (like time spent gaming) has been linked to increased rates of depression and increased levels of stress. Both of these things can have a profound negative impact on your health and can even result in death.

So while it seems true, I can't help but think it's also a little bit reductionist. It does seem to downplay the essential nature of having hobbies, of having something you actually enjoy doing in life.

Then again, you could argue that you don't need a PlayStation or GTA on PC/PlayStation to accomplish this since there's so many other games to play, which is fair. I understand that companies like Sony and Rockstar need to be held accountable for the awful things that they do. I just thought I should point out that leisure, and yes hobbies like gaming, are actually pretty essential in a way, and shouldn't be downplayed in importance.

I get that this is probably an unpopular take, but I don't think that makes it untrue either.