re: All is not lost.

My son (6) and I play games together a lot. We also play separately a lot because his mother and I are no longer together. It is a great connection between us, allowing for competition and cooperative play.
I find video games to be a tool (supposing you're not playing Doom and Resident Evil with a 6 yr old) to teach lots of lessons. In fact many of the games we have played have helped him find a desire to read. He partially learned to read playing Mario and other Nintendo games, his first books he chose were Pokémon or Mario related.

Basically I see gaming as a past time, and at times a mindless one (nothing wrong with that) but other times a way to connect with a child and help them grow.