Personally, I think the best way to learn to code for someone who has talent for it is project Euler (projecteuler.net). No dependencies, no IDEs, no graphics and no gimmicks. Very short, clear, discrete problems that can be solved using any language. If you really need shooting, explosions and fancy graphics to keep you motivated then I don't think programming as a career is for you. Most programming jobs aren't goi…
Except the Project Euler problems are mostly pretty boring, if you're not excited by math. I've worked through it a little bit, and it reminds me a lot of Math Team competitions in high school: the problems are a cinch if you know the formula or the rule that applies, otherwise it's a tedious slog.