It's no different then any other mental addiction, so it's not really new. People with the disorder that leads to this just get addicted to things they enjoy, it's not new at all.
Which is why I separated the concept of addiction from the phenomenon of GAMING addiction.
I was arguably borderline in the years I was playing MMO's. But I never let it interfere with work or other stuff. It did take over my leisure time. Since quitting those kind of games, I don't really even play games that often anymore.