Like everyone else here I am an aspiring game programmer. I was hoping that some of the people here could recommend a starting place for me. My programming knowledge basically consists of AP Computer science with elementary C++. Pretty much everything in that teach yourself C++ in 21 days excepting the pointer stuff (I understand it but havent used it much). Where should I begin? 2D or 3D? Open GL or Direct 3D? If anyone can recommend some books they started with that would be great.

Start playing with OpenGL a bit, through GLUT. Also spend some time learning data structures, such as linked lists. They''ll give you more experience with pointers, which you''re going to need.

How appropriate. You fight like a cow.

Start off making the simplest game possible. Like Tic Tac Toe, or Connect 4, or maybe even Tetris. You might think that those games are too easy for you, but trust me, you will learn a lot by finishing one of them.