I would suggest java. It's widely used (not for gaming) and is basically an easier version of C and C++. I don't think anyone really uses C anymore, C++ is the norm since it has OOP.

My bro and I made a Final Fantasy-esque game in Visual Basic 6. We made 20 classes (as in mage, warrior, not as in OOP classes) instead of just a few. It was a lot of fun.