Just go out and buy VB6. There are some great deals on eBay and Amazon and even if you find a cracked version of VB6 cracked things usually have viruses and have you heard about Microsoft watching things you play on WMP 8+? They are so if they do that... Possibilities are that they monitor what you do too.
I really like gamemaker. it's easy to use, free, great interface, free, did i say it's free? Of course there is a registered version that costs $15 which allows you to play cds, make fireworks and make 3D games. Very easy to use and i highly recommend it. VB is better though.
i like Visual Basic 6 but thats just me. If you want a easy to use interface where you can code and drag and drop things to make it code for you i'd try game maker(gamemaker.nu). RPGMaker2003 is a pretty good program also. Easy to use interface no coding knowledge needed and its free.P.S. gamemaker costs $15 to register but for the un-registered version theres no time limit you just get less functions(registered allows you to play cds and call particles to the screen).