Q: Can I program games with VB?
Yes, but if you are looking to create the next [Insert Your Favorite Killer 3D Game Name Here] you'll need help. It is perfectly possible to create simple games with VB but C/C++ remains the choice of the majority of game developers working on cutting edge games. It's likely that it will remain the dominant game development platform for a while but I expect that the huge gap between the two languages will begin to narrow.
One of the reasons for this optimism is the upcoming DirectX 7.0 language support for Visual Basic. You can read about it on the offical Microsoft DirectX site. DirectX is a group of technologies that provides support for cutting edge multimedia and game development.
If you can't wait for the release of DirectX 7.0 to try it out you'll be glad to hear that several developers with both VB and C knowledge have provided access to DirectX through custom controls and type libraries. You'll want to check out Patrice Scribe's Visual Basic Area 51 site for information and a free type library that provides DirectX support for VB. Other notable free controls are provided by Andy Beaulieu of Andy's Rad Repository and Søren Christensen's EasyX and EasySound controls available on the Visual Basic Explorer ToolBox page.
There are also a few good commercial game development products you'll want to look at. Ted Gruber's FastGraph Graphics Library is popular and worth checking out. A shareware version is available for evaluation. Another component that has developed a following is available at Eldermage Entertainment.
Lest I leave you with the impression that DirectX is the only way to go, you can check out the Multimedia & Graphics section of our Tutorials page for some basic material using the GDI (The GDI system is part of the Win32 API and contains the functions that draw and manipulate the Window's visual interface).
Related Resources
There are several simple games available that were submitted as part of our monthly contests available on the Contest Downloads page. You may also be interested in;