The annual birthday party planning process usually looks a little something like this:

1. Try to pull the kiddo away from playing Wii long enough to solicit an “I dunno” answer to the “What kind of birthday party do you want this year?” question.

2. You decide on a theme. Spend two weeks Googling for cool ideas for cake, games, favors.

3. Realize that cool activities can go one of two ways: the expensive version where you pay approximately $731,088.57 for 20 kids to go rock climbing or to a theme park… or the messy version where you turn your whole house and backyard into some sort of play zone, complete with Cheetos ground into the yard and Silly String in your ceiling fan.

Or… just skip all that, and let someone else bring the party to you and park it in your driveway… with the activities your kiddo wants to be doing in the first place.

Game trucks are a hot new way to entertain a pile of kids with the latest technology, for a party that’s effortless, and mess-less. These are mobile video game theaters packed into a massive trailer, featuring games like Guitar Hero, Madden Football, Halo, Wii Sports, even laser tag. The rigs can hold 12-20 people, and specialize in multi-player games so the kids are all having fun together.

Imagine the look on the faces of your kid and his friends when this rig pulls up in front of your house, loaded with all the latest video games, plus other fun stuff like Human Hamster Ball or Booger Wars.

And there are loads of applications for this video game truck… consider a Scout event, bat mitzvah, prom after-party, church picnic, end-of-year sports banquet… anywhere that you’ll have a bunch of kids, you can entertain them with this. A game truck party would make a great activity for a school, church or charity fundraiser. Or even a “dad’s night out” for all those adult-sized Call of Duty players you know…

The trucks arrive with a dedicated game manager, who helps get the kids and games all set up. Parents or adults get to select the titles, to make sure they are appropriate for the age group.

And then parents can sit back and chill while the kids go play… and when it’s all over, the mess drives away.

Two of the game truck companies that service the North Texas area are Games2U and GameTruck. Rates will depend on what services you want (there are lots of cool add-on features, natch), but expect to pay about $150 an hour for the truck, which arrives at your location.

Check out the different game truck websites, and see what previous partygoers have said on Yelp about their experiences.

And then the next birthday party planning process goes a lot faster, and your kiddo doesn’t even have to put down the Wiimote.