I can't really give effective experience advice, as I was kind of already into software development when I became interested in games.

But if you think that you are interested in programming and software development outside of the realm of games, then by all means jump headfirst into it. I would recommend starting out with C on GNU/Linux, as that system is completely free (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html) so you can see a tool you want to use, use it, and make changes (be they improvements or not). Most (not all) GNU/Linux distributions are also free as in zero cost. I would recommend those (I strongly recommend Linux Mint. It provides the convenience, compatibility, and mainstream-ness of Ubuntu without all of the bullshit.). C will get you far in the Linux world, and you can always just read about classes, templates, and the other new flashy stuff to say you know C++.

If you are not interested in actually interacting with computer instruction and programming, I would recommend finding an engine that roughly fits your game, and going from there. You won't have to reinvent the wheel, but you also won't get to build a sled instead. If you want to make a game, but don't want to spend all of the time making a new game, you can always just mod.

Let me guess. Nice looking 3D games that are cross-platform like that. There isn't a way for you (since you are not an experienced and wealthy media company) to publish on the PS4, but there are several softwares that abstract the software implementation away for you. Here is a VERY SMALL list of the most popular "game engines."

- Unity 3D - Easy and looks okay, a sensible choice

- UDK - Hard to use, looks amazing, you can't take advantage of it without being a great CG artist, variant of Unreal Engine (Dishonored, Bioshock, Gears of War, etc.)

- CryEngine 3 - Same as UDK, but used in Crysis games not games listed

- Irrlicht - Looks pretty great, completely able to be modified

These are all free as in zero cost. Irrlicht is the only one that is free as in freedom, if you care about that.

Well, as is...Unreal Engine 4 is turnign to use C++, instead of using their Unreal Script...so, going have to learn c++, no matter what

well, thanks for the help

You probably can't afford Unreal Engine 4 anyway. UDK is still based on UE3

Also, while UE4 did remove unrealscript it has also significantly improved and expanded kismet (the visual "scripting" system) to the point where you can make full mods without writing any code.