Hi there,

I want to make a video game. I have an idea that I think is pretty cool but I have no programming experience. I think the smartphone platform would suit this game best.. I am currently learning C++ through teach yourself books and just figured that would be a good language to begin with. If it goes well I will likely tackle Java next.

I was just wondering if anyone could offers advice, tips, links or anything else that might be of use to someone who wants to dabble in making video games.

http://create.msdn.com/en-US/

Download the Windows Phone SDK. With it, you get XNA and you can target 360, Windows Phone, and Windows with it. Visual Studio + XNA + C# is like an orgasm for beginners in game development. Forget Java, and all the crap that comes with it (I'm being biased with Java here, no need to take me to heart, but really, C# does everything better).

From my limited experience in creating games so far (mainly crappy ones to test my 'awesome' coding skills), you really don't need to start with something as 'hard' as C++. Go with XNA, you'll start loving it really soon.

Start small, then get bigger. ;)

As said above, start small.

A small simple COMPLETED game is a more valuable esperience than a huge epic halfdone and abandoned project (at least for a learning beginner).

When I say start small I mean start with clones of classics like Pong, Tetris, PacMan, Mario... each time sligthly raising the bar.

Have a look at these forums:
GameDev
TIGSource

XNA is nice, but the game engines I've used in XNA have left something to be desired (usually in the late stages). The Magicka team discovered late in the development cycle some of the problems with XNA - they didn't mention which ones they were, so I can't say. One thing you DO NOT want to undertake is creating your own engine at the same time you're trying to make your game. It is nice to do the XNA tutorials, though. A lot of those concepts will still apply to any platform you end up working on.

Another free engine that happens to be cross-platform C# (Mono) is Unity 3d.
http://unity3d.com/unity/

And I will add my voice to the "start small" crowd. Making a complete game is a pretty big undertaking, especially since most developers can't do art worth a darn. (There's a reason it's called "Developer Art".) There are resources to contract artists to make models, skins, and other assets for you, but use your developer art until you get to the point of needing to replace it all with a more professional look.

I will also suggest you try your hand at applications before you write any code for your game. It's pretty bad if you make your learning project the project that you're going to be working on and maintaining long-term, and debugging an application is a lot easier than debugging a game.

This is very good advice.

This is quite useful - http://www.pixelprospector.com/indie-resources/