I have gone around the circle when it comes to my understanding of the impact of video games on people. I once believed that video games were unfairly stigmatized and that any amount of video game play was acceptable provided you still met obligations in your life. I later believed the other extreme, that video games were an inherently harmful pattern and should be avoided altogether. I now have a more nuanced take, that video games have a place in the realm of play and have other utilities but that they are means and not an end. Video games are also more dangerous than most gamers are willing to admit.
Play is an important and essential activity in humans as well as other creatures like mammals and birds. Video games can serve a role as a healthy, constructive vehicle for play. However, adequate amounts of play can be achieved in a person's life without video games so this alone is not enough to justify video game use.
First I will cover the general use case for video games. Video games at their best can:
The contemporary man lives in a disconnected world. If messengers are coming along and managing to connect people to other people and more noble pursuits, I don't think we should shoot the messenger because we don't like what they look like. If someone for example, plays a cooking game for 30 mins and then is inspired to spend 2 hrs actually cooking later in the day I think that is an overall positive thing. If someone plays a game with a historical theme and then is inspired to read a book about history that is a good thing. If someone plays a game based on a hobby, and then is inspired to practice that hobby in real life and makes some friends that is a great thing. Obviously, this inspiration argument is not without quantitative analysis. If someone sinks 1000 hours into a video game and then eventually watches a 1 hour historical documentary, that's not a good trade off.
Games can provide legitimate education opportunities because they can let you simulate real life in ways that just wouldn't be possible otherwise. Examples include Kerbal Space Program, Europa Universalis, and War Gaming. On this front games that simulate real life or re-tell history are superior to games that are fantasy or abstract.
Entertainment is the least important justification for video games and the most dangerous. While one could perhaps argue that entertainment should be avoided altogether, it is hard to deny the fact that in a given day or week there is going to be at least some downtime where a person doesn't have the physical capacity to do physical work or have the mental capacity to solve hard problems or comprehend difficult learning. This fact can easily be scapegoated into needlessly spending hours a day or tens of hours week on entertainment which is a real danger.
The second use case for video games is to enter the flow state for cognitive benefit. Not all games can induce the flow state, typically simpler arcade style games. This area is still under research but given how humans have sought out the same effects with different activities throughout history it is probably advantageous to some extent.