You can win at Wii boxing by flailing around like a drunken hobo. I'd say it's a solid candidate.

One game I remember my 3 year old enjoyed watching and playing around in, was Mario Sunshine. He couldnt actually do much other than be silly. His hands were still a bit small for the controller. Mario Sunshine let me do all kinds of slapstick comedy type things as we ran about the levels. The sound effects were both happy and silly, perfect for someone so small... whether it was kicking those pineapples/star fruit, spectacular jumps, falling in the water, being shot from cannons or landing on an enemy etc. I would just ham it up and we laughed a lot together. He always liked the moment where we'd get the star.

With a 3 year old, it has to be a simple control scheme. He liked Pac Man on one of those plug in arcade controllers. We also played some TMNT on the SNES and Gamecube. It was just a button masher and he really loved the turtles back then. Lego Star Wars was great fun together, but I don't think he played that till he was 4 or 5. The jumps were tricky.

On the PC, he was very interested in Thomas the Tank Engine or Arthur games, so we would play some of those games for simple shape/color/word recognition, etc. Even the mini-games on the website where he could call out the train's names was fun for him.

He is almost seven now, and his little brother, who is almost 5, is on an accelerated gamer path from watching his older brother and I in action. It's totally different with my younger son, who enjoys Lego Star Wars (basically a button masher), Wii sports golf, Super Smash Brothers Melee, and Halo multiplayer with his brother and I already.

(Actually my sons are just about done with the Halo 3 campaign, I think they only have 3 levels left in it. I remember they started on Friday and I only give them fixed windows to hammer out one or two levels at a time before taking a break.... so I guess that says something about normal difficulty.)

For a 3 year old, I'd just recommend simple controls, innocent gameplay, and something you can play together or take quick turns at.

If you have GameTap, there are a lot of educational kid games that all 3 of my kids (3,6 & 9) have played.

Can't they just play with a big box?

Some of my fondest childhood memories were the games I played with objects that didn't need a power source, instructions or assembly.

Mario Kart on the 'Cube is great.

Just give them some syringes and needles and let them make their own fun, kids are creative.

Toys outside. Wrestling with dad in the living room floor. Running around in the front yard screaming like a banshee.

FWIW, I don't think 3 is necessarily too young. A 3 year old can easily be the "shooter" in MK Double Dash, which is what makes the game so great.

When my nephew was about 3, he really enjoyed playing the Sly cooper games. He and my brother-in-law (his father) would play them together. He always had a good time running in circles while my brother-in-law would advance the story and attempt to convey it to him. This could be a good way to bond with your little one.

Just let him play BioShock for a while, he'll learn a few life lessons

But seriously, get the Sonic Collection. When my older boy was 3 he got pretty good at racing Sonic around in Sonic 1 and 2. When they're a little older and starting to read and count, the Zelda games are pretty useful.

Today we were playing a new character on Oblivion and he (age 4 & 1/2 now) told me that an axe that dropped in a dungeon would be better against the skeletons than my short sword. Kid was right.

My wife and I played through Wind Waker while our daughter was four. She picked up many reading lessons while we played, as she loved the story. To this day (she's 10 now) she is still a fanatical Zelda fan. She has spent time trying to wrtie a Zelda movie script and comic book. It was a great source of creativity for her, and she is a voracious reader now.

I *try* to find a balance. I think that games are, to a small degree, beneficial at 3yo. Hand-eye coordination, observation, lateral thinking, memory, timing and all that. Together with more imaginative play (like 1D's box) and the usual ball games, naturally. The same things can be found elsewhere too, of course.

My 3 year old likes to play the party games on Super Monkey Ball (Wii) and Lego Star Wars 2 (360). We've had to ration them quite a lot though, he tends to want to play them all the time. He reminds me of me.

PLANT!!!!

Sure enough, but as a parent to a 4 and a 5 year old, there are times when they - and you - need to just sit for a while and veg out. Look at how we spent our day this Saturday:

9:00 AM Soccer Game & playtime for the younger guy
10:00AM Farmer's Market
11:00AM Air Museum (basically this awesome tarmac full of retired fighter jets)
12:00PM Lunch at the playground
1:00PM Draw in the driveway with sidewalk chalk
2:00PM Dress up in crazy outfits and wrestle with Dad in the yard
3:00PM Worn Out. Snacks and Lego Star Wars 2 on the couch
4:00PM Soccer out back

You get my drift. I think it's fair to say that maybe games - used sparingly and with supervision - can provide a sort of down-time. I don't think anyone is talking about plugging kids in, but until you understand what your kids' rhythms are with play, exercise, and rest, I don't think it's fair to condemn a parent for considering letting their younger kids play age-appropriate games.

And by box, he means vagina.

Oops, wrong thread.