If the video game industry worked the way my naive mind believed it did the steps involved in the creation of a new video game would look something like this.

1) Come up with an awesome idea for a new video game.

2) ???

3) Profit!

Step 2 probably involves all kinds of, you know, work.  The kind of thing I generally try to avoid as much as I possibly can.  Fortunately for slackers like me the folks over at Humana Games For Health are having a contest that pretty much fulfills my game design dreams.

If you have an idea that you think would make an absolutely smashing new fitness based video game you can submit it as an entry for the InsertCoin contest.   Announced on June 9th during the annual Games for Health conference in Boston, Humana is using InsertCoin to find “new game concepts that are innovative and entertaining enough to motivate everyone from kids to families to seniors to become more active or encourage them to make healthy decisions.”  The three best entries will receive cash prizes and, even better, the possibility of seeing your idea turned into an actual video game.

There is obviously a bunch of fine print involved in any kind of contest like this, but the most important thing to remember is that winning the contest is no guarantee that you’ll ever see your game actually produced.  Humana Games For Health will evaluate whether or not it’s actually feasible to create the winning game based on market conditions and the costs involved, but if they don’t decide to produce the game within 18 months the rights revert back to the winner.  If they do create it, though, you’ll get a share of the profits!  Considering how hard it seems to be to actually get your foot in the door in the video game industry these days that sounds like a pretty fair trade to me.

The contest runs through September 9th, 2009 and is open to any citizen of the United States (with apologies in advance to our international readers).  Children under the age of 17 must get their parents permission to enter.