Starting Games development

This question is kind of non-specific.

You can start the game development by starting to learn about automata theory, compilers, and start from writing a compiler for your own language. On the other hand you can start by taking completed game engine and create your game on it. And anything in between these two.

As for my point of view, I strongly recommend learning some programming language (be it C, C++, C#, or even things like Haskell, etc. ... basically any programming language will do fine), any of these can be used to creation of game. Even if you will decide to use F.e. Unity (which is very popular these days), you'll still need to know C#. Also understanding the basic concepts behind programming will generally help you understanding how-to work with some specific game engine language (and some do have specific language - UnrealScript for example).

Asset creation is different part of the story. There is a ton of asset creation tool (and toolsets). For 2D there are photoshop, gimp, inkscape, etc. etc.; for 3D there are a lot of modellers like 3ds max, maya, blender,... and also sculpting software like zbrush, mudbox, ...

Of course learning that much of things will eat damn lot of time.

If you don't know how to program yet, then you should start with a "game engine" or a game development environment like Unity to get started. Make sure you go through the tutorials to learn how the software works before trying to write "code".

Getting started, there seems to be some very advanced thinking, game engines and writing your own compiles. If you have little to no experience picking a simple, common language is a great place to start. Java, C#, VB, Python are good languages for beginners. You have some basic PHP experience so that gives you the basic understanding on using data types, program flow and so on.

There are plenty of sites that can offer you the very basics, pick one that really breakdown how it is structures, the game loop, updating the assets, rendering the assets, using XNA (C#) or Flixel (ActionScript) enables a good understanding of game development by taking care of the more complex issues.

It might seem daunting but starting in a simple place, bounce a ball around on the screen, draw a circle 2D graphic, import the content into your editor (if using XNA), assign that a variable, move it around the screen, when it reaches the top or bottom reverse the direction same with the left and right, reverse the direction. This simple use can show you how objects are animated and then rendered. Then extend it, change the ball colour when it hits the wall, speed it up if you change it red (red is faster) and slow it down when it goes blue. Or something along those lines, get creative.

This might not get your closer a great deal to the game development but it shows the basics and seeing something simple on the screen working when you are a novice can do wonders for your confidence.