Ok, I have some questions. How much would it cost for all the programs just to start making a game and what would I need? Second, I took some classes in college for game programming and found out that I'm really good at game play mechanics but, I'm not so good at programming however. So here's my question. Is there any way I could design a game with this stuff and find someone to do the programming? Lately, I have been playing around with Halo 3's Forge mode and I've made some really cool stuff that I've never seen in a game before just using Bungie's stuff they put in the game.

Looks like you have the following options:

1. Document your ideas. Post them and see if anyone wants to participate for free.
2. Document your ideas. Then pay someone lots of cash to do the programming.
3. Document your ideas. Sell them to the highest bidder.
4. Document your ideas. Spend a few hundred hours learning to program.  Take a few more classes.  Read a few more books.  Then program the game yourself.

I did option 4.  It was a huge amount of fun!  Then I started a software company - which has been great.  Now I do game programming as a fun hobby evenings.

I hope you get to see your ideas come true.

Regards,
-db

Hobby site: Terra-Infinitum

I've found the following things to be generally true about making games for XNA:

1. Making a 360 game is more expensive than a PC game.
2. Making a 3D game is more expensive than a 2D game.
3. Making a game look and sound good is more expensive than making a game that's "fun to play".

As far as the programs are concerned? You can get what you need for free...

XNA and Visual Studio Express are free.

For 2D graphics assets (textures for 3D or sprites for 2D) a good 2D graphics app is a must. The GIMP is free. It also feels free.

For 3D modeling, Blender is free. It also feels free.

The tools I have found, are not the most expensive thing in the world. The expertise is what costs. Some of that expertise demands expensive software, some of them don't.

I made my first game (noncommerical) with a digital camera, and MS paint. It was called sh*tcan. You played a can of soda that marched across a photograph of my desk (over some bricks and stuff) and jumped to avoid pits.

OMFG was it lame. But I didn't need "fancy commercial software" to make it ;)

Happy Ninja:

Ok, I have some questions. How much would it cost for all the programs just to start making a game and what would I need?

Free,
You can use the following products,
GIMP -> Graphics
Visual [C#, VB.NET] Express -> Programming
Blender -> 3D Modelling

Happy Ninja:

Second, I took some classes in college for game programming and found out that I'm really good at game play mechanics but, I'm not so good at programming however. So here's my question. Is there any way I could design a game with this stuff and find someone to do the programming?

Yes, definitely, just jot down your ideas and really make sure you have clearly defined objectives/goals and present them to someone who you feel would make a good contributor to your team.