[300bps]

As someone who made games throughout my childhood, I'm looking forward to trying out the new built-in 2D functionality with my 9 year old. We've used Scratch, RPG Maker and a few other things but it would be nice to use a framework that has such wide publishing capabilities so he can show his friends his creations more easily. I didn't think he was ready to tackle 3D game creation so we haven't tried Unity yet but I was really waiting for 4.3 to come out - thanks for the heads up!

[yeppers8]

Unity seems a bit tricky for a 9 year old even with this update, you might want to check out something a bit simpler like Construct 2 to start with. Just an idea

[300bps]

Checked it out - looks awesome and will be downloading the free version to try it out first. Anyone else have other suggestions?

[pajaroide]

I prefer Gamemaker Studio (http://yoyogames.com/) it's more code oriented but very easy to use. There's a free version too. Look up Hotline Miami if you want to see a commercial game made with it.

[orvado]

For younger developers, you might try out the Intel XDK - it has a really simple interface and emulator for Android, iOS and web browsers (for building HTML5 apps). It includes publishing features and its totally free.