[HELP] Beginner c++ programmer, what's next?

[Igor Vartanov]

I started programming because I want to create games. What's the first step in getting out of the console box? I want to start simple with games like breakout, pong,and tic tac toe, etc. But i'm not 100% sure where to start. I search the web and I see people talk about game engines, which i'm not 100% sure what's the difference between that and Visual Studios c++. I see things like OpenGL, Direct X, Ogre3D, panda3D, Dark GDK, and many more. What are these? And which is the best to start with?

Why would anyone use these "game engines" over say Unreal or far cry? Or Hero Engine? Or any commercial grade engine?

All those questions better be asked in game programming forums. This forum is definitely not one. People here talk about general Windows programming in Visual C++, which I'm even not sure that you, being persistent enough, will find yourself with in a year or two.