From the web to games
Looking at your tags, web games are mostly client side, and since you aren't going to use flash, i would say JavaScript would work for 2D.  With all the libraries and plug-ins out there, JavaScript can actually handle it.
I'm a basic web developer. I know PHP, a little bit of Python and Ruby. JavaScript as well [some stuff]. I'm not a hardcore developer. I know what it takes do develop most of web cases.
Now, I have this desire to go deeper and start developing games. I know it sounds a huge leap, but that is why I'm asking here. I already have some games ideas. It would be simple 2d plataform games, and I would like to know what is the best way to start.
I don't want to start with Flash. I'm looking for working with other stuff. I already started to look around for the Unity 3D framework and UDK, but I just don't know how to get started.
So, any hints, tips or sugestions to make?