Simple FPGA project with USB interface

Hey all, this is my first time using an FPGA. I'm making an arcade-style controller for a computer game, and have come to think that this would be the best implementation. I need it to take input signals from joystick directions and buttons and encode each as a particular ASCII character, then send that via USB. Essentially this makes it a USB keyboard.

Since all I'm doing is assigning one particular output (ASCII char) to each input (button/dir), I can't imagine it takes too much delving into Verilog or VHDL. In fact, I suppose there might already be an IP core available that does this already. But since this is all very new to me, I would appreciate some advice from some more experienced.

How is this going to work? Will my FPGA have a bunch of pins I can solder the button/dir connections to? Then will there be some software interface through which I'll program it in Verilog or VHDL to do what I need it to do?

Lastly, I'm wondering which component I'll actually need. I keep hearing about the Cypress FX-2, and then there's all these: Dontronics :: FTDI USB I.C.'s