My first "big" program was a space shooter in 2D written with C and SDL. But I've never finished it. Perhaps I'll work on it again, but at the moment I don't like. ;)
Yes, maybe with the new Windows (Codename Longhorn) and the progression of Mono and other .net implementations for other plattforms. Interpreted languages are fast enough for games, Quake 2 for .net shows that.
If you can't afford them ;) :
If you are a pupil, student or teacher you can buy a cheaper version. I think Visual C++ .net you can get for about 65 ?.
But why don't they use the newer Version? You can also program unmanaged with Visual C++ .net (2003).
And why do almost all Game Developers use Visual C++? There are many alternatives.
If you are a pupil or a studen, you can get Visual C++ .net 2003 for about 65 ?.
Does anyone know, if Half-Life 2 is written in Visual C++ 6.0 or .net?