Too young for an X-box?

[DiaryofaSleepDeprivedMum]

My 7 year-old has asked for an X-box for Christmas. He is a creative and imaginative child who loves to read and I am a little reluctant to go down this route, because I would like him to have other interests and not become addicted to gaming. He has a Nintendo DSi which he loves and plays on periodically, so no problems there. However, it does seem as though most of his friends have an X-box now and whilst I don't want to bow to peer pressure, I also don't want him to be alienated. Any thoughts/feedback would be appreciated.

We have an xbox - but it very firmly belongs to DP. My 5 year old DS and my 7 year old DD both enjoy playing games but neither will play to the exclusion of all else. There are some sweet and educational games they can play at that age but we keep and eye on it and will switch it off when I think they've had enough (rarely happens though as they tend to wander off after a while)

Would it be an option to buy it for yourself, keep it in the lounge and everyone gets to play?

Agreed Otherworld just to add gaming is for all ages these days, my 2 year daughter is already playing Mario kart and wii sports (well with asistance from dad). As long as there is a balance and they are not spending too much time gaming then i don't see a problem. Also gaming has become a lot more family friendly with multiplayer devices like the kinect and the wii, so you could make it a family activity.
Also one other positive, at least he has aked for an xbox and not the new wii U, which is about double the price!

I don't think it's too young but if you get one I'd have definitive rules with it.

Only x amount of time per day/week.

Take turns etc.

Both my younger brothers and ds1 behaviour goes downhill when on any kind of console. So we've banned it for ds1 for the time being(last 6 months or so).

ds and dd share an xbox - age 6 and 9 and got it 2 Christmasses ago so i dont think 7 is too young.

Otherworld, I agree that it would have to go in the lounge. My son struggles to switch off and go to sleep at night (another reason for my hesitance), so a games console in his bedroom would cause major problems! A lot of people (outside of this discussion) claim to limit the time their kids spend on them, but in reality, I'm not sure if they really do. Isn't it supposed to be one hour a day?