Reddit mentions of Java Programming for the Absolute Beginner

It's hard to tell what level you are as a programmer, so I will offer the following two books, for two completely different skill levels. Most introductory game programming books these days are quite dated and aged, but thankfully the general concepts have remained about the same (you just have to turn a blind eye to outdated facts). These older books cover introductory game programming so well that most of the newer books only cover the more abstract concepts (boring stuff like flock AI, geometry shaders, and inverse kinematics).

Note: I am only a year older than you, but I got started at a very, very young age (programming 2D Javascript games at 7). Don't think this stuff is beyond you, you just have to put in the work.

The first book I recommend is Java Programming for the Absolute Beginner, by Joseph Russell. The "-for the Absolute Beginner" series does a fantastic job at explaining basic computer science. I used the various books in the series to learn Javascript, C++, and Java when I was younger. The book starts you off at a very basic level, writing text on the screen, but by the end of the book, you create cool 2D games with a fairly in-depth knowledge regarding object oriented programming, encapsulation, data structures and management, and graphics/sound management. Obviously, the first few chapters you probably already understand, but read it well and start to memorize the terminology. By understanding the language, you can better search for answers later on. Google is an amazing resource.

Between this book and the next book, I recommend learning trigonometry well. Trigonometry is one of the most important sections of mathematics when it comes to introductory game programming (algebra being another). Also learn as much as you can about vectors. Understand (not just skim over) concepts like the dot and cross product. I also highly recommend creating a few of your own projects. Experience is the best learning tool. If you're able to create your own, say, platformer, without using a tutorial to aid you (don't be afraid to look at other people's code as a reference though), then you're ready for the following book.

The next book is titled Developing Games in Java, by David Brackeen. I will start off and tell you that this is not an easy book for a beginner. The book makes a lot of assumptions on your knowledge of programming and will give you very little code to work with. I asked on lots and lots of IRC channels and web forums for help on understanding some of these concepts. Don't be afraid to seek out and ask for help, just be nice and humble as if you are asking for a favor. Give as much information as possible when initially asking for help, even if you think it may be useless.

However, this second book is amazing, once you begin to understand its particular style. By only giving you key ideas and terms, the book forces you to research and self-learn how to code more advanced games. The book starts off with threads, and if you don't have the foggiest idea what they are, I would recommend learning more before tackling the book.

By the end of that book, you make a 3D first person shooter with binary space partitioning, AI states, object management, game scripting, medium-level collision detection, and various other features. From scratch. Yes, you make your own 3D engine. No, it's not OpenGL.

However, if you want to do 3D programming at any point, you should learn the concepts that are discussed within the book (some people will disagree with me here). It explains the significance of the right-hand rule and why polygons need their coordinates in a specific order. It explains scanlines and BSP trees. It explains what a z-buffer is and how to manage AI states. After reading this book, my skill with other 3D libraries and bindings, like OpenGL, JOGL, and LWJGL increased dramatically.

Either way, there's quite a lot of work and learning when it comes to game programming. It's not all fun and games, but in the end, that's exactly what it is.

Edit: This ended up way longer than I thought it would.

I would suggest learning the basics with Python, cause it's really straight forward. In just a few days you'll have a program running and you'll likely be more motivated to continue.

Java is another good option, because once you learn Java and get the hang of OOP (Object Oriented Programming), the rest of the programming languages will come naturally (also it is cross-platform so you can make games for Mac, Linux, Windows, internet applets, Android, etc.).

Finally, I found C# (with the XNA Library) to be quite similar to Java so it's also an option. (and you can program for the xbox with it)

My little brother started out with the "[watever language] for the absolute beginner" series. Example: http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Absolute-Beginner-Joseph-Russell/dp/0761535225

Also as Shmag said, check out the O'Reilley books.

Godspeed.