If you want to be a 3D artist, cant stress enough to start drawing from Life, and picking up some books about Anatomy. You don't have to learn the names of all the muscles but you should know which ones will stand out if flexed, and where they all are, as well as understanding how they move the human form. When i started Game Design school they made me take a 2D Art and Animation course before i could go into Game Design, and i never picked up a pencil in my life before hand..... I was just like you and knew that games were a huge part of my life and that I wanted to try and give back to it some how. I hated 2D back when i was starting, and when i Graduated I knew i wasn't good enough to attempt to get a job in the industry so i buckled down and i Focused on my 2D skills. It was a long road, and still is but looking back I absolutely agree 2D is an important part of becoming any type of artist. That being said I also know people who are very good at 3D without being able to draw a stick man, so take it as you will, I just believe 2D art, or at the very least an understanding of the principals can never hurt when pushing towards a 3D artist.
As well as which software to learn, because I myself looked at a lot of them, and I would always google to see which ones people thought were the best for 3D. You definitely need Photoshop, that's a given, but as for Maya, 3D Studio Max, Blender. It's all very much personal Preference. I have spent a lot of time in Maya and 3D Studio Max, and i'm currently learning Blender as I can't afford to pay for a license for the first two, but I personally love 3D Studio Max. I know a lot of people hate the interface for that program, but i find it better than the others, as well as the modelling tools are so intuitive, I feel like they almost thought of everything to make modelling easier with that program. For animation most people will pick Maya, and while this may be true, I really love the use of a Biped in 3DS Max which is essentially a one click shop to get an entire human skeleton made so you can start Rigging your characters. It's just funny when i was doing Game Design back in 2004, the big 3D program for games was 3D Studio Max, and as the years go by i'm seeing a ton of game designers moving towards Maya. Long story short pick one, and if you like the way it feels stick with it, if you don't try another.. You can attain the same end result with all the programs, it just comes down to skill. But i will say this if you don't have a license for Maya or 3D Studio Max, you can use them for learning, but be aware that you can't use anything you make in the Educational version of those programs in your game. This is why i'm learning Blender. Also if you are looking to work for a AAA Studio the industry standard is for 3D Software is Maya or 3D Studio Max, so this may help when deciding which one to learn.
Kind of a long post, but I hope this helped some.
