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[baconman]

Just picked up PICO-8 about a week ago, and started playing with some of it's internal tools. Seems quite fun, and it reminds me a lot of Petit Computer, which I got for my 2DS awhile back. Although they both got me to noticing that there is a HUGE difference between developing games for these virtual consoles, and say, using VB.NET/XNA or GML for PC game creation, even though they share a lot of common ground in programming syntax.

What are the most significant differences between these methods, and how do I make a smoother transition between them? It feels like some things should translate simpler than they actually do, or I'm just not getting it yet.

[Blockers]

I think one of the primary things that differentiate the two would be the overwhelming amount of freedom you get when developing on/for PC.
PICO-8 and family are made to emulate the restrictions and limitations of the older console development, when things weren't quite as far along as they are now.
That lets, or rather; forces users to get creative and think outside of the box- which you can still do in modern development, but its harder (if you ask me).

[Richard Kain]

This is true. It is not unusual for limitations to spur creativity. Some of the best creative efforts happen within certain constraints. Necessity is the mother of invention.

That is not to say that having a huge amount of processing power is a bad thing. It's just that these days, it falls on most developers to create and enforce their own limitations. I would point to Shovel Knight as a modern example of this concept in practice. The developers of that game didn't hamstring their own efforts by slavishly adhering to the technical limitations of the past. At the same time, they set very clearly defined limits on their game in order to emulate an older style, and they stuck to those guidelines. The end result did a fine job of taking a little of the best of both worlds. The final product shines all the better for it.

Clearly defining the scope and limitations for your project early on, and remaining consistent to those limitations within reason, is a good way to start.

[gemudezaina]

I think there are two things you should learn: 1) the high level concepts and constructs involved in programming a video game, and 2) becoming proficient at a programming language.

The most important thing being the conceptual stuff, as that will carry over to whatever programming language, platform or game engine you might be leveraging.

You can learn the conceptual stuff pretty much anywhere, just pick something that's easy for you to start with.  In other words, just make games.