OK suppose that you have had an inspired idea for a videogame storyline. What do you do? You are not a coder (indeed, you have not idea what language videogames are written in), not really an artist either.
But the idea is so stinking cool that it would be a shame to not share it with the world (it would also not suck to make some cabbage on the deal). What do you do?
What sort of video game is it? There are fairly simple point and click programs for making RPGs and the like. I’m not a coder, but I’ve used RPG Maker 2000 to make some pretty cool little games.
Write up a design document for it (templates can be found on the web or in books about game design). Once you do that, send it in to various game companies, along with your resume. They may hire you as a game designer. However, they probably won’t want to do your game right away, unless it’s really, really good. You’ll have to work on other projects until you have a few shipped titles under your belt; then you might have enough experience to design an original game from the ground up.
Your other option might be to find some programmers and artists who are interested in making a shareware game. Obviously in this case you’d have pretty limited resources. If you succeed in creating a working version, you might be able to shop it around to some established developers.
What I envision would have somewhat of a third person perspective (a la Fallout or Diablo), although it does have a strong RPG element. I would tell you more, but then I would have to kill you. 
I’ve been in the game industry for over eight years now, and I’ve never heard of someone outside the industry getting in that way… Typically, we’re all in the game biz because we believe that we, alone, know how to make the best game possible- you’d have to convince the people you send your proposal to that YOUR game is better than the ideas that THEY’VE been trying to make happen.
I think you’d also have to worry about someone stealing some of your good ideas and incorporating it into their game, unless you had 'em sign some sort of NDA- and I doubt you’d find anyone willing to sign that in the first place… after all, you’re the one who approached THEM, not the other way around.
Your best bet would likely be to get into the field the way the rest of us did- either through nepotism or luck- and work your way up from the bottom. Eventually you’ll be in the position to try to make your own game a reality… if you’re lucky. It seems everyone wants to be a designer- and there are some very bad designers out there.
Trust me when I say that trying to get someone to give you money to make a game isn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world- the company I work for is going through that situation right now.
Good luck.
I’ll second taking a look at DIY video game makers. Are you going to require gameplay features not supported by these?
Getting into the industry is a bitch and a half. I’d say look at the DIY makers or, alternately, learn some programming. If you want to put together a team of amateur types, GameDev.net is a place to look, as is GarageGames.com. Though if you want to put a team together and need a body, email me, I’ve been on a few teams.
I hate when I hit the wrong button. To continue:
The language most games are written in is C/C++ with a smidge of Assembler. Java is a popular language too, especially for web games and such. Visual Basic is a good place to start if you really want to get into it. I really like a language called DarkBASIC for my little futzing around projects.
Some books you may want to look at: Swords and Circuitry and Game Design: Theories and Practice by Rouse are two of my favorites. I’d work on developing a good design document first and see where you want to go from there. Story, mechanics, critters, NPCs, everything that could possibly be involved in your game should be in there. It’ll probably be huge. Check Swords and Circuitry (or online) for some design doc examples.
Unfortunately, video games are not like publishing (you get a great idea, write a story, they publish it and hand you a check), you’ll probably have to either go it on your own or be one of the lucky few to get hired on full-time at a company. Even then, you’ll probably be doing minor stuff and won’t get to make “your own game” for some years.
Sorry, promise I’ll go away after this…
And a list of “game makers” might be useful…
You may also want to look into doing a “mod”. Quite a few game companies release the tools they used to make the game to the community at large. NeverWinter Nights, for example, shipped with an amazing toolset that you can use to build your own adventures. Dungeon Siege is another one to look at.
Get with the times man, RPG Maker 2003 is out now ;). You can do quite a bit more now. There are also some modifications that people have made for the program that allow for non turn based games.