At some point last week, my neighbor walked past my room to see me extremely concentrated on my television. He stopped and told me “It’s so funny to walk past guys’ rooms and see them so focused playing GTA V.”

Truer words have probably never been spoken. Ever since I bought Grand Theft Auto V last Tuesday, I have been spending so much of my free time playing the game that it’s gotten to a point where I could barely find the time to write this article.

Then another empire struck back, as Apple dropped a bombshell of their own when they made the new iOS7 update available for iPhone users. Unfortunately I’m not an iPhone owner, I prefer my Android. However, an insane number of people I know received the update and have fallen in love with it.

With all that said, it makes one wonder: Are technology pandemics such as GTA V or the iOS7 update really necessary, or are we all becoming obsessive consumers? Has the line between wants and needs become blurred?

It is a hard topic to make heads or tails of. I’m partially biased because I absolutely love Grand Theft Auto V, but am against iPhones at the same time.

This day and age, a majority of us put the spotlight on certain things that aren’t important at all. It is not just GTA V or the iOS7 update either. Just last month, the media was so focused on cramming the royal baby’s birth down our throats, that barely anyone remembers the tragic train crash in Spain. Or even more recently when events in Syria were spiraling out of control, everyone was too busy judging Miley Cyrus’ performance at the VMAs. You mean to tell me that Hannah Montana is just as important as our national security‘s status? I mean sure, it’s not like Syria will end up attacking America, but we were on the brink of yet another war in the Middle East and most of America is too busy talking about Cyrus’ questionable and risqué performance.

It’s time to redefine what we declare important. GTA V, iOS7, Miley Cyrus, Twitter’ stock investments? Are those really that important? Granted, GTA V is an amazing game, but isn’t it a little ridiculous that people are forming lines three days before a video game’s release to buy it? Isn’t it ridiculous that we’ve put importance on downloading software for a phone, when a phone’s singular purpose is to be used as a means of communication? Because it seems to me we’ve taken a step back as a society when it comes to understanding what we want in life, and what you need in life. GTA V, iOS7- those are wants, luxuries, things you can live without. Food, water, clothing, and shelter; those are what you need in life in order to survive.

So before you drop sixty bucks on that game, or even $200 on that phone, double check whether or not you have your priorities in life straightened out.