Defining addiction? Practicality

My boyfriend plays a lot of ps3, mostly fps and RPG's, and I was beginning to wonder if he is addicted to it? I know during class we discussed the issues of such a loaded term but the 'problematic use' seems a bit PC to me. If I said to him he is a 'problematic user' he would probably laugh at me. The theoretical conclusions made by such a term are plausible, but in a practical sense I see no merit in applying academic terms to reality. I mean i understand that it is a way in which we can define people who play a lot of games but what good is that. Why define a situation when it doesn’t help solve it. Maybe we just didn't have time to discuss solutions but I just wonder why so many academic disciplines tend to define a lot of what we see but normally keep away from establishing solutions.

If i told him he was addicted he would take it more seriously and maybe throw his ps3 controller at me. He would say that he isn't addicted and I would beg to differ but I guess my point is this. He really likes playing games, but how much is to much and when will it stop. I mean staying up until 5am playing some fps zombie game to me seems absurd. But to him it is a form of escapism, to have fun laymen terms, to leave behind the constraints of our social boundaries and enter a world where the impossible is possible. So to everyone out there with a partner who plays a lot of video games think about his or hers own reasons for playing games. They don’t play it to be annoying. I mean yeah, too much is too much if they start to lose focus on life, but be easy on them. But if it doesn’t take them away from other responsibilities thanlet them play.