Holy cow, I had no idea this software was still around.

I used it back at around versions 4, 5, and 6. Version 4 was released in 2004... so, basically a decade ago. Which means I would have been 12/13 at the time.

Probably a major factor in my life's path, as it got me coding at a very young age. Nowadays I've got so many programming job offers before my graduation, I'm batting them away.

As for those just peeking into this thread out of interest - Game Maker is a very real piece of kit (the thread seems like a spambot, sorry TPG), and if you're wanting to try out game development with limited or zero programming skills, this could be the solution for you.

Apparently, Hotline Miami was made in Game Maker, it's come along way since version 4.

Thanks for the heads up! Something for me to have a look at this summer! :D I'm dabbling with music composition at the moment so I need to stick at that a bit longer first. Might be able to make a game to go with a soundtrack :D

interesting, im an animator (i use maya) and very interested in Game Development, would you recommend i start with this? 

Well, like I said, I used it over a decade ago, I have no idea how the sofware has progressed. That said, back in the day, GM was extremely focused on 2D software... by version 6, it had 3D support creeping in (well, sprite-based 3D, like the early Doom-like FPS)... and in order to use those features, you needed to extremely knowledgable of Game Maker.

I have no idea about its 3D support nowadays. However, you might be interested in the Unity engine. Actually, if you do some Googling around, you'd be surprised at the sheer number of programs out there that try to make game development easier. Most of them have free versions so give them a download, follow the beginner tutorials, and see which one suits you best.

with the free standard, no

you need the professional version and the ios plugin for it.