Laptop for game development, help

Well, you could get a modeling program (expensive) like 3D Max or Maya which you can use to animate, Adobe Photoshop, depending on what type of game you'll want Flash would be a good thing to pick up.  Some of the artists use Wacom tablets to do their modeling.  it just depends how deep you get into it.  I would suggest not picking stuff up until you feel you need it otherwise you can rack up a bill pretty quickly.  Going back to Flash, another way to make games is by using C++ for your code. You can also pick up the Unreal Tournaments Engine and make games based off of that which may be a good starting point.  Just do your research before you buy anything and make sure you know what you're getting.  Game development isn't as easy as one would think so don't get frustrated when you find you can't start cranking things out in a matter of a few hours or days.