I spend countless hours reading about game development and programming, but not actually doing any game development and programming. This is a big issue of mine. I started programming a year and a half ago, and I developed this habit of reading and getting pointlessly excited instead of doing.

I'm determined to break this habit. I think I lack specific, measurable, attainable goals, and I want to take my game development abilities seriously. To this end, I made a ripoff of a 2D platformer level in Flixel by simply changing the sprites and background color. Nothing amazing, and I learned nothing from the experience.

Members of gamedev.net, I would like some advice. I want to make and finish games, and I understand I will have to start as small as necessary and work my way into more complex projects. I understand that C++ is the industry standard, but that choice of language is irrelevant; besides, I have taken a liking to C# and XNA. With my ultimate goal of being able to implement my own game ideas, what are some classic game designs to implement in order to get my skills up to par? I include a list below, and I would be grateful for any advice!

1. Pong
   
2. Arkanoid
   
3. Tetris
   
4. 1942
   
5. Mario-type platformer
   
6. Pacman
   
7. Roguelike
   
8. Wolfenstein 3D
   
9. 3D games
   

The idea would be for me to implement these games and post them here for feedback.

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With my ultimate goal of being able to implement my

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game ideas"

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Why does that stop you from using C++?

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