Ive been interested in programming and game development ever since i got my first msx. Back then I was a young 8 year old kid, who didnt had the confidence he could ever make games. When I got older I started having more hobbies besides the (at the time slowly dying) MSX, so I lost interest. But now I am back interested in game development and I want to try make my own games.
I know this is not easy. It will be a long time before I make anything playable and I will need to take small steps at a time (something like this looks like a nice path). Nevertheless feel its a great time to start learning, because there is a big library of information out there called the internet. (back in my msx days i only had a msx-basic guide writter for kids (iirc it described FOR - NEXT loop as a prince and princess, i remember as a kid typing the example from that book and being disapointed no prince or princess appeared on screen)
Ultimately I want to make action-platformers like castlevania, metroid, valis or shooters like aleste/laydock. Or maybe a 2d fighting game like streetfighter/king of fighters but that would be a LOT of work on other platforms, and maybe not possible at all on MSX.
Step 1 of learning to program/develop games is ofcourse choosing a platform and language. Ofcourse in this current PC/Console era the most logical step is C++ /windows, but I am more interested in programming on older consoles. Why? Because I love old graphics more (sometimes I boot up neo geo/psx emulator and drool at the paralax scrolling). To me, sprites and bitmaps are so much more beautiful than models and textures. Chip/fm synthesis sound better then cd recording of some rock group. Also making graphics at 256x212 sounds a bit less time consuming than 1920*1080.
So this leaves me with 3 platform choices
1) MSX:
why? Because it was my first love :D Mainly because I like the sound and feel of the old msx games. Making a game for the msx would be like fullfilling a childhood dream, or at least toy around with the hardware (especially one with near maxed out specs: msx 2+ with fmpac/music module/scc and maybe v9990 and 7mhz upgrade even). Releasing a game would feel like giving something back to the msx for giving me so much fun when i was younger.
2) Neo Geo:
why? Imho the best popular 16bit console out there. Able to display and animate big sprites on screen (I read somewhere that everything on screen is made out of sprites.. no bitmap/patterns..amazing). The neo geo collector scene is cool too. Also the Neo Geo is flooded with great 2d fighters and has a number of great shooters but don't seem to have a lot of decent platform games, a gap I hope to fill someday. Problem may be that afaik there arent any megaromflash cartridges on it (but ill be developing in emulator at first anyway since I dont have a neo)
3) Dreamcast:
why? I think the most underrated console of all time. Great 2d capabilities.. maybe best of the 480p generation consoles (more videoram then the ps2, and i have no interest in developing for gamecube/xbox original)? Also c++ compiler available so maybe easier to start with? Making a game for DC is nice because this console still has a decent fanbase and releasing games will prove the sony/nintendo fanboys that it isnt dead yet :D
Since this is msx forum, my question is, would you advice a beginner to start on MSX (assembly)? I have some programming experience in MSX Basic as a kid, and at school I have had tiny bits of QBasic (I made a chatprogram using com port with 2 pc's linked..) , Cobol (made some small assignment I cant remember what it was.. some database ish thingy), and some scripting stuff.
So would you say MSX (assembly) is good choice to start? Or is it way above my league?

). So yeah I think i would want to learn assembly, but at the same time C or C++ sound good as well (for future job/resume etc also for when i decide to make something for windows)
I suggest you ask yourself: why? Then take those answers, and for each of those answers, ask again: why? And so forth. Then think about how important each of those reasons are (=motivation). When you've mapped that out (on paper or in your head), it'll be much clearer what you're hoping to get out of it, and -following from that- what you need. For whatever platform you pick, make sure it's:
I have just very (msx-)BASIC knowledge