JP2001340656A - Game system and its game server and game terminal unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game system wherein a play feeling with a high reality can be obtained, which does not quickly become hackneyed, and of which the life is long, its game server and a game terminal unit. SOLUTION: This game terminal unit G is connected to this game server 1 which performs a game program through a communication network NT. Then, a game player joins to the game by accessing the game server 1 from the game terminal unit G for this game system. Such a game system includes a means which displays a purchasing screen for items used in the game on the screen of the game terminal unit, a means which sums up purchase requirements of items being input from the item purchasing screen, a means which permits the usage of the purchased items in the game, and a means which charges the amounts of money for the purchased items to respective players.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a game system using a computer, and a game server and a game terminal thereof.
The present invention relates to a game system in which a player can obtain and use various items such as consumables or characters by purchasing the game, and a game server and a game terminal thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a game system in which a game terminal is connected to a game server that executes a game program via a communication network, and the game terminal accesses the game server and participates in a game.
In such a game system, the game host manages the progress of the game, receives and processes a control signal sent from the game terminal, converts the result into a control signal, and sends it back to each game terminal.

In the conventional network game described above,
Items used in the game space have been provided free of charge by the game host according to the progress of the game. For example, in the case of a racing car game, the items themselves and auxiliary items for acquiring items are displayed at the timing of each race stage in the game space before the game starts, one corner on the circuit course, entering the pit inroad, etc. Displayed above, urging the player to get the item.

[0004] Items in the racing car game include equipment such as the vehicle itself and the engine, consumables such as tires and fuel, and tools for repairing the vehicle body after an accident. The game host manages these items on the memory of the game server.

[0005]

In actual car racing, it is costly to obtain replacement tires, fuel, and repair tools in case of failure, so possession and equipment are limited. On the other hand, in the conventional game, there is no cost to obtain items, so the reality of the game has been lost by obtaining inexhaustible items or wearing excessive items that are impossible in reality . Therefore, the obsolescence of the game has been accelerated and the life of the game has been shortened.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and to provide a game system and a game server and a game terminal thereof, which can provide a highly realistic feeling of playing.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a game terminal is connected to a game server executing a game program via a communication network, and the game terminal accesses the game server from the game terminal. In a game system that participates in games by selling items used in the game space from game terminals to players,
The use of the item in a game space is permitted.

[0010] According to the above-mentioned feature, since the items used in the game space can be used for the first time when the player purchases them with their own funds, the reality of the game is improved, and the obsolescence of the game is suppressed. The life of the game.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a game system to which the present invention is applied. A plurality (three in this embodiment) of game terminals G (G1 to G3) communicate with a game host H. They are mutually connected via a network NT. From the start to the end of the game (hereinafter,
Information such as sound and images and various control signals in a game session are sometimes transmitted and received via the communication network NT.

The game host H executes a game program to open a game session.
And an item management server 2 that manages various items sold in the game space, and a charging management server 3 that performs authentication and charging of players when purchasing the items. Each of the servers 1, 2, and 3 has a communication function for exchanging information with each other, and manages progress of a game session and personal information of a player who operates each game terminal G as a whole.

A player participates in a game session from each game terminal G. The game screen is displayed on the display of each game terminal G operated by the player, and the game sound is output from the speaker of each game terminal G. The player advances each game by operating each game terminal while referring to the game screen. Although only one game host H is shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of game hosts can be connected to the communication network NT, and each game host independently holds different game sessions in parallel. be able to.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the game server 1. The game server 1 communicates with each game terminal to advance a game. In addition, in response to a request from the player or automatically according to the progress of the game, an item menu for allowing the player to select and purchase various items used in the game space is displayed on the display of each game terminal. . Furthermore, the game server 1 enables the use of the items purchased by the player in the game space.

In FIG. 2, a communication control unit 101 in the host is provided.
Controls communication between the game server 1 and the item management server 2 and the charging management server 3. Communication function unit 10
6 controls connection between the game server 1 and the communication network NT.

The game execution section 102 executes a game program. The game situation monitoring unit 103 monitors the progress of the game, and requests the item data acquisition unit 104 to acquire item data when the item menu display timing comes. The item data acquisition unit 104
It requests item data from the item management server 2 and acquires data for displaying an item menu. The item menu generating unit 105 generates image data of an item menu based on the data obtained by the item data obtaining unit 104 from the item management server 2, and distributes the image data to each game terminal.

The item purchase management unit 108 executes an item purchase process in response to a request for purchase of each item by the player. The authentication execution unit 107 authenticates the player, for example, by comparing the age restriction of the game with the age of the player, and allowing only players who satisfy the age restriction conditions to participate in the game. The charge management unit 109
Manage billing for item purchases.

The purchase result management unit 110 manages the results of items purchased by the player. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the storage contents of the purchase record management unit 110, in which purchased items are managed for each player name unique to each player, for each game name, game session, and number of purchases.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the item management server 2, which provides the game server 1 with information on various items to be sold and used in the game space in response to a request from the game server 1.

In FIG. 3, an inquiry about an item from the game server 1 is sent to the communication control unit 202 in the host.
And the item management unit 201 via the request reception unit 203
To be notified. The item management unit 201 inquires of the item data holding unit 205 about the details of the item.

FIG. 12 shows the item data holding unit 20.
5 is a diagram schematically showing the storage contents of No. 5, where for each item, a game name in which it is sold and used, item sales conditions, amount, and menu display type are registered.

The request from the game server 1 is responded from the item data notification unit 204. Further, the item management server 2 of the present embodiment includes an item data editing unit 20 for changing / updating data on an item and its price as needed.
6 is provided.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the charging management server 3. In response to a request from the game host 1,
The authentication of the player, the inquiry of the balance of the electronic money and the settlement processing thereof are executed.

The play charge accounting unit 304 holds a game service charge when the player participates in the game,
Automatically process payments. The communication charge accounting unit 305 holds communication charge data when the player accesses the game server, and automatically processes the payment. Item charge accounting unit 30
Numeral 6 holds the price of each item and automatically processes the settlement of the item purchased by each player.

The billing management unit 302 includes billing units 304 and 3
05 and 306, collectively entrusting the collection of the game usage fee including the item purchase fee and the communication fee for accessing the game server 1 to the provider of the communication network NT or the manager of the game host. . The billing management unit 302 performs settlement using various types of electronic money such as millicent, electronic check, bit cash, cyber coin, credit card, and prepaid card. In some cases, a process of managing a history of points acquired in a game space by a player and assigning the points to item purchase may be performed. Further, a part of the purchase price of the item can be returned to the player, and a process of discounting a communication fee or a game play fee can be executed.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

In FIG. 5, in the game terminal G, the player who wants to participate in the game transmits the unique information (player data) including his / her name, date of birth, address, account number, balance and the like in step S101. A request is sent to the host H to participate in the game. If the player data is already registered in the game host H, it is also possible to transmit identification information assigned to each player in advance to specify the player data.

In the game host H, when the game server 1 receives the player data in step S201, in step S202, the authentication executing unit 107 executes an authentication process of the player data, and executes an age limit set for each game session. Confirmation and the like are performed, and the balance inquiry of the electronic money is requested to the charge management server 3.

In the charging management server 3, the player authentication unit 3
03 compares the electronic money balance of the player with the play charge of the game based on the player data. Step S20
In step 3, the authentication result is referred to, the age restriction is satisfied, and if the balance of the electronic money is sufficient for the play fee, the process proceeds to step S204. In step S204, the game execution unit 102 of the game server 1 starts a game program. In step S205, game control data for causing the game to proceed is transmitted to each game terminal G via the communication function unit 106.

When the game terminal G receives the game control data in step S102, the game terminal G starts the game using the game control data and returns the operation contents of the player to the game host H. Thereafter, the game terminal G and the game server 1 send and receive game control data to progress the game.

In step S103, it is determined whether or not an operation for requesting display of an item menu has been performed by the player at the game terminal. When the operation of the display request is performed by the player, the display of the item menu is notified to the game host H from each game terminal in step S104.

The game host H sends the item menu display request to the item purchase management unit 10 of the game server 1.
8 is detected in step S206, step S207
Then, the item data acquisition unit 104 requests the item data from the item management server 2. When the item data is transferred from the item management server 2 in response to this request, the item menu generation unit 105 generates an item menu, and transmits the display data to the game terminal via the communication function unit 106. In step S208,
An “item sale process” described later is executed.

When the game terminal receives the item menu display data in step S105, the game terminal proceeds to step S105.
Proceeding to 107, "item purchase processing" is executed.

On the other hand, in the game server 1 of the game host H, the game status monitor 103 monitors the progress of the game. Even if there is no item menu display request from the game terminal, the game situation monitoring unit 103 proceeds with the game and reaches the item menu display timing. If this is detected in step S209, the item management server 2 From the communication function unit 1 in step S207.
06 to the game terminal.

If the operation of the item menu display request by the player is not detected in step S103, the game terminal determines in step S106 whether or not there is item menu display data transmitted by the game host H in a predetermined game scene. When the item menu display data is detected, the process proceeds to step S107 to execute “item purchase processing”.

Next, the item purchase processing in step S107 and the item sale processing in step S208 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

In the item purchase processing of the game terminal, in step S1071, an item menu is displayed on the display based on the received item menu display data.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are views showing display examples of an item menu in a racing game, in which racing tires and engine oil are displayed as purchaseable items, and the total purchase amount and the balance are also displayed.

In FIG. 7A, an item menu is displayed on the entire screen. Such a display example is suitable when an item is sold before the start of the game or during each race stage in which the game is interrupted.
On the other hand, FIGS. 8B, 8C and 8D show a display method during the execution of the game.

In FIG. 7B, the game screen is divided into upper and lower parts, the game screen is continuously displayed on the upper main screen 51, and the item menu is displayed on the lower small screen 52. FIG.
In (c), the game screen is divided into left and right, the game screen is continuously displayed on the right main screen 51, and the item menu is displayed on the small screen 52 on the left. In FIG. 8D, an item menu is superimposed and displayed below the game screen.

When the player wants to purchase an item, he or she selects the desired item from the displayed item menu. In step S1072 of FIG. 6, it is determined whether or not the player has performed an operation for purchasing an item. When an operation for purchasing an item is performed, in step S1073, an item purchase request is notified to the game server 1 together with the identification information of the purchase desired item.

When the item purchase management unit 108 of the game server 1 receives the purchase request and the identification information of the purchase desired item in step S2081, the authentication execution unit 107 determines in step S2082 the price of the purchase desired item And the balance of electronic money are compared in the same manner as described above. If the balance of the electronic money is sufficient for the price of the item desired to be purchased, the authentication execution unit 107 notifies the game terminal of the purchase permission if the balance of the electronic money is insufficient, and notifies the game terminal that the purchase is not permitted if the balance is insufficient, in step S2083.

The game terminal receives the authentication result notification in step S1074, and when the purchase is approved, displays a final confirmation screen on whether or not to purchase the item on the display in step S1075. In response to this display, the player proceeds to step S1076.
In step S1077, the game terminal notifies the game host H of charging permission, and if not, in step S1079, notification of charging rejection is notified. After the notification of the charging permission is made, step S10
At 78, use of the purchased item is authorized.

In the game host H, when the charge management unit 109 of the game server 1 receives the charge permission notification in step S2084, in step S2085,
The charge management server 3 is notified that the purchase price of the item is to be withdrawn from the electronic money account of the player.
The charge management server 3 debits the purchase price of the item from the electronic money account of the player together with the game charge and the communication charge.

When the item purchase and sale processes are completed as described above, in the game host H, in step S209 of FIG. 5, the game execution unit 102 of the game server 1 determines whether or not the game is over. If the game has not ended, the process returns to step S205 to repeat the above-described processes. When the game is over, step S2
At 10, predetermined end processing is executed, and the game terminal is notified of the end of the game.

The game terminal determines whether there is a game end notification in S108, and returns to step S102 to repeat the above-described processes until the game host H notifies the end of the game. When the end of the game is notified, the process ends.

In the above-described embodiment, tires and oil are shown as items in the racing car game, but other than that, equipment such as the vehicle itself and the engine, fuel, and tools for repairing the vehicle body after the accident are also provided. Etc. can be registered as items. At this time, it is desirable to display the item together with its image as shown in FIG. 9 so that the player can intuitively recognize the content of the item.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the present invention has been described as applied to a racing car game, but the present invention can be applied to other games as well. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of an item menu in a baseball game, in which items are available for purchase by a player.
Each player is selected according to his / her ability, and the higher the ability, the higher the price.

[0047]

According to the present invention, the following effects are achieved. (1) Since the items used in the game space can be purchased and obtained by the player, the reality of the game can be improved. (2) Since the game manager can obtain the sale price of the item in addition to the game play fee, this can be used as a resource to reduce the play fee, operate and manage the game server, or develop a new game. (3) By adding item types or changing item specifications and purchase prices without improving the game itself, the game story can be prevented from becoming obsolete, so that the life of the game software can be extended.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a game system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a game server.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of an item management server.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a charging management server.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an item sales / purchase process.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example (1) of an item menu.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example (part 2) of an item menu.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example (part 3) of an item menu.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example (part 4) of an item menu.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing contents stored in a purchase result management unit.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing storage contents of an item data holding unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Game server, 2. Item management server, 3. Billing management server

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (Reference) G06F 17/60 502 G06F 17/60 502 508 508 F Term (Reference) 2C001 AA03 CB08 5B049 AA00 BB61 CC05 CC36 CC38 DD01 EE02 FF03 5B055 KK01 KK07

Claims (26)

[Claims] 1. A game server that distributes a game via a communication network, wherein an item used in the game space is sold in the game space,
A game server characterized in that sold items are allowed to be used in a game space. 2. A means for distributing a menu screen of the item, a means for detecting an item purchase request input via a communication network, and a method of purchasing the item based on a sales amount of the item requested to be purchased. 2. The game server according to claim 1, further comprising: means for charging a player. 3. The game server according to claim 2, further comprising means for authenticating a player who purchases the item, and selling the item only to the authenticated player. 4. The game server according to claim 3, wherein a purchase confirmation is made to the player before charging the purchase price of the item to the player. 5. The game server according to claim 2, wherein the charging is performed for electronic money of a player. 6. The game server according to claim 2, wherein the menu screen is distributed at a predetermined timing before a game is started. 7. The game server according to claim 2, wherein the menu screen is distributed in response to a request from a player. 8. The game server according to claim 2, wherein the menu screen is distributed at a predetermined timing during the progress of the game. 9. The game server according to claim 1, further comprising means for updating a selling price of each item. 10. The game server according to claim 2, wherein the menu screen is displayed separately from a game screen. 11. The game server according to claim 2, wherein the menu screen is displayed so as to be superimposed on a game screen. 12. The game server according to claim 5, wherein the electronic money is any one of a millicent, an electronic check, a bit cash, a cybercoin, a credit card, and a prepaid card. 13. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the purchase price of the item is returned to the player.
3. The game server according to any one of 2. 14. The item according to claim 1, wherein the item is at least one of virtual equipment, consumables, characters, abilities, and opportunities used in a game space.
3. The game server according to any one of 3. 15. A game terminal for advancing a game distributed via a communication network in accordance with an operation of a player, wherein an item used in the game space is purchased in the game space,
A game terminal characterized by playing using purchased items. 16. The game terminal according to claim 15, wherein a menu screen of the item is displayed, and a purchase of the item is requested from the menu screen. 17. The method according to claim 1, wherein the menu screen is displayed at a predetermined timing before a game starts.
7. The game terminal according to 6. 18. The game terminal according to claim 16, wherein the menu screen is displayed in response to a request from a player. 19. The method according to claim 1, wherein the menu screen is displayed at a predetermined timing during the progress of the game.
7. The game terminal according to 6. 20. A game system in which a game terminal is connected to a game server via a communication network, and the game terminal accesses the game server and participates in a game. A game system for selling and allowing each player to use the item in a game space. 21. A means for displaying a menu screen of the item on a screen of a game terminal; a means for detecting purchase of an item requested by a player from the menu screen; 21. A means for charging the player.
The game system according to 1. 22. The game system according to claim 21, further comprising means for authenticating the player who has requested the purchase of the item, and selling the item only to the authenticated player. 23. The method according to claim 21, wherein, before charging the purchase price of the item to the player, the item to be purchased and the purchase price are re-displayed on the screen of the game terminal to confirm the purchase to the player. The described game system. 24. The game system according to claim 21, wherein the charging is performed for electronic money of a player. 25. A game play charge, a communication network use charge, and an item purchase charge are centrally managed for each player, and a game provider or a communication network administrator collectively charges each player. A game system according to any one of claims 20 to 24. 26. The game system according to claim 20, wherein at least a part of the item purchase amount is returned to a player of the game.