Oh, there were plenty of things that I allowed my kids to do that other parents wouldn't hear of! One of them had something like 9 different "passions" before he graduated. When he was 12, we had to take him in a snowstorm, to watch the MIT juggling club on a Sunday, because he was obsessed with juggling.
I agree with the over scheduled business. They were allowed to do one activity in addition to Hebrew School, which was mandatory (and my kids actually enjoyed that). That activity changed frequently until each sort of decided what he really was into. For one it was music and luckily for me, for the other it was cycling. The reason I limited the video games was because one of them was extremely overstimulated by them. He just needed a lot more structure in certain areas.
I've said this before, but some parents need to lighten up (my observation from my own friends and years of teaching). They don't really enjoy their children and see them as projects to be completed. My kids grew up to be very good adults, despite the fact that they saw R rated movies, had to do chores, stayed by themselves starting at age 10, had a working mother who put them in various kinds of daycare...