I played a lot of video games as a kid because that's what other kids did. Probably taught me some logic skills, but I would've traded it for a real childhood and social skills. Self-exploring coding was far more educational anyway. Card/board games are a good in-between with a social component and without the mindless or consumerist aspect of some video games.
My wife and I decided our kids won't have video games at home. We'll see how it goes.
Is this such a strong component of the American teenager identity? I know exactly one person here (Southern Europe) who plays videogames and nobody talked about it. Sports, music, fashion, movies, politics: that were the things that could make you or break you in high school.
It can be up to 1/2 of the class who plays them regularly and maybe 1/8 who talks about them a lot. I'm gen Z (married sorta young) and grew up in a city in California. The thing that'd exclude you more is not being on social media, but even then, not really.
I didn't have any until I was 14 or so but mostly because we were too poor for the ones available and the only screens I saw were the minicomputer terminals at the community college but I got to make a few as an adult. YMMV.
My wife and I decided our kids won't have video games at home. We'll see how it goes.