Well I was playing my mom's Atari 2600 when I was three. But I still enjoyed my toys and hanging out with friends. I think its a balance your going to have to set. For me my mom let us play video games an hour a day, unless it was a special occasion. When school started we'd get our hour only after homework and going outside.It worked well because me and my sister would play the two hours after dinner 6ish till 8ish when we'd have to go to bed. Good way to wind down.
I think its important to force or allow the child to experiance the outside world and use his or her imagination. I'm not sure how I would have turned out without the limits on how much I played games. Though I have a friend who's dad worked at a Video Game store so he played all the time, today he's a nerd just like me and loves to play games. I can't say he turned out that bad.
But I would be a tad worried if your kid doesn't like any toys you buy him. But he's three he'll probably grow into the toys. Get him off the games every once and a while and I'm sure he'll turn out great.
Just don't be like some dumb ass parents letting their five year olds play Halo on Live or Grand Theft Auto. I met a twelve year old who was obsessed with Left4Dead. He was having night mares and running around pretending we were all zombies. He really scared some of the other kids (At the Camp I work at). He'd talk about cutting zombies heads off and describe all the blood while swearing. The other kids didn't know what to do.
But I'm guessing your not an idiot and probably got parenting down pretty good. In short my answer to your question is your never too young to play games, just play in moderation and your good!
-JC7
"In God We Trust - In Games We Play " - Joel Reimer
