JP2002259824A - Game advertisement billing system and program and method of billing game advertisement - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To bill advertisements rationally. SOLUTION: This game advertisement billing system includes a game terminal and an advertisement management server connected together through a communication network. The game terminal includes a means for displaying advertisements on a game screen, a means for calculating advertisement points for the advertisements displayed on the game screen, on the basis of the center of the game screen and the displayed positions of the advertisements, and a means for transmitting the calculated advertisement points to the advertisement management server. The advertisement management server includes a means for calculating the bill amount for the display of the advertisements on the game screen, on the basis of the advertisement points transmitted from the game terminal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a game device, a game device control method, and a program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A game machine system for displaying a commercial advertisement on a game screen is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-10440. This system uses commercial advertising during the game (
This is called "game advertising." ) Can be replaced as appropriate, so that it can be more effective as a commercial advertisement. According to this system,
An advertisement fee is collected for displaying a game advertisement, whereby the selling price of the game software can be reduced or made free. A similar system is disclosed in International Publication WO98 / 29974 and
It is also disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 0-29712.

[0003]

However, each of the above publications does not disclose any technique for directing a player's interest to a game advertisement. The player may be so enthusiastic about the game that he does not pay attention to the advertisement output. Therefore, in order to spread the advertising system,
There is a need for a technique for directing the player's interest to a game advertisement.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a game device, a control method of the game device, and a program which can direct a player's interest to a game advertisement. .

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a game device according to the present invention executes means for acquiring a game program or game data, and executes a game process based on the acquired game program or game data. Means for obtaining a program or data for displaying an advertisement, and when obtaining the game program or game data, obtaining the program or data for displaying the advertisement, Means for acquiring the game program or game data while displaying an advertisement based on the program or data for displaying the advertisement.

In the present invention, for example, a CD-ROM or a DVD
Before acquiring a game program or game data from an information storage medium or a network such as, obtain a program or data for displaying an advertisement from the same or a different information storage medium or a network before the program or data for the advertisement display. A game program or game data is acquired while displaying an advertisement based on the data. That is, an advertisement is displayed when a game program or game data is acquired. For this reason, when the game processing has not been started yet, the advertisement can be displayed when the player's attention is relatively easy to pay attention to, and the player's interest can be directed to the game advertisement.

[0007] In one aspect of the present invention, means for storing identification information for identifying at least one of displayed advertisements, and when acquiring a program or data for displaying the advertisement, based on the identification information, Means for selecting a program or data for displaying the advertisement to be obtained. In this aspect, for example, the advertisement displayed when the game program or the game data is acquired is changed every time (every time the game program or the game data is acquired), or is replaced by another one with a predetermined number of displays. You can use a certain number of ads in order.

[0008] A method of controlling a game device according to the present invention is directed to a game device comprising: means for acquiring a game program or game data; and means for executing a game process based on the acquired game program or game data. In the control method, when the game program or the game data is acquired, a program or data for an advertisement output is acquired, and while the advertisement is output based on the program or the data for the advertisement output, the game program or the game program or the data is acquired. Acquiring game data.

According to the present invention, it is possible to output an advertisement when the player's attention is relatively easy to pay attention to, and the player's interest can be directed to a game advertisement.

A program according to the present invention includes a code for acquiring a game program or game data, a code for executing a game process based on the acquired game program or game data, and a code for displaying an advertisement. Code for acquiring a program or data, and when acquiring the game program or game data, acquire the program or data for displaying the advertisement, and display the advertisement based on the program or data for displaying the advertisement. And a code for acquiring the game program or game data.

Here, the code is a group of instructions to a program processing means such as a CPU, and forms a part of the program (hereinafter the same). ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, an advertisement can be output when the player's attention is relatively easy to turn to, and the player's interest can be directed to a game advertisement.

[0012] The advertisement is output by, for example, image display (still image or moving image), sound, or the like.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a game advertisement charging system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The game advertisement billing system 35 shown in FIG. 3 includes a game device 36 functioning as a game terminal, a personal computer (PC) 40, a personal digital assistant (PDA) 42,
The mobile phone 44 is included. These game terminals are communicatively connected to the advertisement management server 50 via a communication network 46 such as the Internet. Advertising management server 5
0 is connected to an advertisement management database (DB) 48 so that the advertisement management server 50 can write or read various data necessary for advertisement management at any time.

The game device 36 can be constituted mainly by a home game machine, for example, as described later. In addition, an arcade game device (a so-called arcade machine) can be used as the game device 36. Also, a personal computer 40, a PDA 42, a mobile phone 44
Have a known configuration, respectively, via a communication network 46 or a CD-ROM (trademark),
By installing the game software via an information storage medium such as a DVD (trademark) or a memory card,
It can be used as a game terminal. In addition, various broadcast receiving systems using cable communication or wireless communication, such as a cable television receiving terminal and a satellite broadcast receiver, may be used as the game terminal.

Further, the advertisement management server 50 is a known server computer system, and accesses the advertisement management database 48 constituted by a well-known data readable and writable storage device such as a hard disk storage device as needed, while the game device 36 and the like are connected. The content of the game advertisement output from the game terminal is updated, and the charge amount (advertisement fee) for the advertisement output during the game is calculated.

Here, an example will be described in which the game apparatus 36 is mainly configured with a home game machine. FIG.
Game device 36 mainly composed of a home game machine
FIG. The game device 36 shown in the figure is a home game machine 11 connected to the monitor 18 and the speaker 22.
And a DVD 25 as an information storage medium. Here, in order to supply a game program and game data to the
However, any other information storage medium such as a CD-ROM and a ROM card can be used. In addition, game programs and game data can be transferred from a remote location through various communication networks such as the Internet.
Can also be supplied.

In the home-use game machine 11, a microprocessor 14, an image processing unit 16, a main memory 26, and an input / output processing unit 30 are connected by a bus 12 so as to be able to communicate with each other.
Further, a controller 32, an auxiliary storage device 34, an audio processing unit 20, and a DVD playback unit 24 are connected to the input / output processing unit 30. Each component of the consumer game machine 11 other than the controller 32 is housed in a housing. For the monitor 18, for example, a home television receiver is used, and for the speaker 22, for example, its built-in speaker is used.

The microprocessor 14 has an R (not shown).
Operating system and DVD2 stored in OM
Based on the game program read from the control unit 5, each unit of the consumer game machine 11 is controlled. The bus 12 is used for exchanging addresses and data between the units of the consumer game machine 11. The main memory 26 has a DVD 25
The game program and the game data read from are written as necessary. The image processing unit 16 is a VRAM
Receives image data sent from the microprocessor 14, draws a game screen on the VRAM, converts the content into a video signal, and outputs it to the monitor 18 at a predetermined timing. That is, the image processing unit 16 sends the vertex coordinates (X, Y, Z), vertex color information (R, G, B), texture coordinates (VX, VY), and alpha value of each polygon in the viewpoint coordinate system from the microprocessor 14. (Α: translucent composition ratio) and the like. Then, the color information, the Z value (depth information), the alpha value, and the like of each pixel constituting the display image are converted into VR using the information.
Draw on AM. This display image is output to the monitor 18 at a predetermined timing.

The input / output processing unit 30 includes a controller 32, an auxiliary storage device 34, an audio processing unit 20, and a DVD reproducing unit 24.
And an interface for relaying data communication between the microprocessor 14 and the microprocessor 14. The controller 32 is input means for the player to perform a game operation. The input / output processing unit 30 scans the operation states of various buttons of the controller 32 at regular intervals (for example, every 1/60 second),
An operation signal representing the scan result is passed to the microprocessor 14 via the bus 12. Microprocessor 1
4 determines the game operation of the player based on the operation signal. The audio processing unit 20 includes a sound buffer, reproduces data such as music and game sound effects read from the DVD 25 and stored in the sound buffer, and outputs the data from the speaker 22. DVD playback unit 24
Is a DVD according to an instruction from the microprocessor 14.
The game program and the game data recorded in 25 are read. The auxiliary storage device 34 is a known storage device such as a hard disk storage device, a memory card reader, a magneto-optical storage device, and the like. And stored in the auxiliary storage device 34.

In the present embodiment, while a game is being executed on a game terminal, an advertisement (game advertisement)
Is output. The game advertisement is provided from various advertisers in the form of, for example, a still image, a moving image, sound, character data (text data), and the like, and is stored in the advertisement management database 48 by the advertisement management server 50. . The various advertisement data stored in the advertisement management database 48 is transmitted to a game terminal such as the game device 36 via the communication network 46 at an appropriate timing. A game terminal such as the game device 36 outputs an advertisement (display output or audio output) during execution of the game based on the received advertisement data. According to this configuration, the latest game advertisement can be output from the game terminal, and the advertisement effect can be improved.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a game screen displayed and output on a display device (such as the monitor 18) of the game apparatus 36. As shown in the figure, in the present embodiment, an advertisement image representing a commercial advertisement is embedded in a game screen. The game device 36 has a memory (main memory 2).
6), a virtual three-dimensional space, which is a game space, is constructed, and a state seen from a viewpoint installed in the space is displayed on a display device. That is, game software and game data for executing a three-dimensional game are installed in the game device 36. The figure shows a game screen of a three-dimensional drive game as an example. In this game, signboard objects 52, 54, and 56 are installed on the side of a road laid in a game space (virtual three-dimensional space), and an advertisement image is attached (texture mapping) to each of them.
Then, a state viewed from the viewpoint is shown on the game screen. Here, the advertisement image pasted on the signboard objects 52, 54, 56 is downloaded from the advertisement management server 50. In addition, instead of downloading the advertisement image itself from the advertisement management server 50, character data (text data) representing an advertisement phrase or the like is downloaded.
It may be imaged using font data stored in the game terminal in advance and used as an advertisement image. The objects to which the advertisement image is pasted are not limited to the signboard objects 52, 54, and 56, but may be building objects such as buildings, game character objects (for example, pasted as part or all of clothes patterns), and mobile objects such as automobiles. The advertisement image can be attached to any object such as an object.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a part of the virtual three-dimensional space 74, and corresponds to the game image of FIG. As shown in the drawing, when the viewpoint 72 is set at one point of the virtual three-dimensional space 74, a quadrangular pyramid view range 76 is set ahead (in the direction of the line of sight). Here, the signboard objects 52 and 56 are installed at positions relatively close to the viewpoint, and the advertisement image attached to the signboard objects 52 and 56 is displayed relatively large on the game screen (FIG. 3). On the other hand, the signboard object 54 is installed at a position far from the viewpoint, and the advertisement image attached to the signboard object 54 is relatively small on the game screen (FIG. 3). Further, the signboard objects 52 and 56 are installed obliquely with respect to the line of sight, and the advertisement image attached thereto is distorted on the game screen (FIG. 3). On the other hand, the sign object 54 is installed so as to face the viewpoint position, and the advertisement image attached thereto is represented by a small distortion on the game screen (FIG. 3). Further, while the signboard objects 52 and 54 are entirely within the visual field range, the signboard object 56 partially protrudes from the visual field range, and is clipped when a game screen is generated. . For this reason, while the entirety of the advertisement image pasted on the signboards 52 and 54 is shown on the game screen, the advertisement image pasted on the signboard 56 is partially missing and the remaining part is shown. It is just that. The sign object 54 is arranged at a position close to the line of sight and is displayed at the center of the game screen, whereas the sign objects 52 and 56 are displayed off the center of the game screen.

In the game advertisement billing system 35 according to the present embodiment, when an advertisement image is displayed large (wide) on the game screen, a corresponding high advertisement fee is imposed, and the advertisement image is displayed small (narrow). If so, a lower advertising fee will be charged accordingly.
Further, when the direction of the line of sight and the display direction of the advertisement (the direction of the signboard installation) are greatly deviated and the advertisement image is displayed distorted on the game screen, a correspondingly low advertising fee is charged. small deviation between the display direction of the advertisement to the direction, when the game screen is represented by the strain advertisement image is small, a higher advertising rates correspondingly adapted to be imposed. When the entire advertisement image is displayed on the game screen, the advertisement output is charged. On the other hand, when only a part of the advertisement image is displayed on the game screen due to clipping, the advertisement output is charged. There is no charge for it. In addition, the area ratio of the portion actually displayed on the game screen in the entire advertisement image may be reflected in the billing amount. Furthermore, the higher the advertisement image is displayed at a position near the center of the game screen, the higher the advertisement fee is charged.

Hereinafter, data processing for realizing such a charging method will be described in detail.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the contents stored in the advertisement management database 48. As shown in the figure, the advertisement management database 48 stores “advertisement ID” and “image path”.
, "Game ID", "Ad Placement Data",
“Advertising period”, “advertiser ID”, “cumulative charging points”, “advertising target data”, and “advertising place rank” are stored in association with each other. “Advertisement ID” is information for identifying advertisements provided by various advertisers. “Image path” indicates the location where the advertisement image is stored and the image file name. “Game ID” is information for identifying a game to which the advertisement is to be output. “Advertisement place data” indicates which position of the texture image should be fitted with the advertisement image in the game identified by the game ID, and “texture image ID” (identifies the texture image used in the game Information) and "replacement position" (information indicating the position (X coordinate and Y coordinate) where the advertisement image should be inserted in each texture image)
And "Advertising period" represents a period in which the advertisement is to be displayed. "Advertiser ID" represents the client of the advertisement,
Used to specify the billing destination of the advertising fee. “Cumulative billing points” are information on which the billing amount is calculated.
The higher the point, the higher the advertising fee. “Advertisement target data” is information for specifying a player layer (range of attributes of the player) targeted by the advertisement, and is specified by age, gender, occupation, etc., for example, “male in forties” or “women's college student”. Is done. “Advertising place rank” indicates which level of advertising effect the advertisement place specified by the game ID and the advertisement place data has. For example, ranks A to D are assigned, and the advertisement fee varies according to the rank.

FIG. 6 shows the contents of the advertisement database stored in the game terminal. When the game device 36 has the configuration shown in FIG. 2, the advertisement database is held, for example, by the auxiliary storage device 34. As shown in the figure, this advertising database
“Advertisement ID”, “Image path”, “Advertisement place data”, “Advertisement period”, “Advertisement point”, “Display count”, and “Display time” are stored in association with each other. It has become. Each record is generated when a new advertisement image is downloaded from the advertisement management server 50, and a record whose advertisement period has passed is deleted.
In the advertisement database, the “advertisement ID” is information for identifying the downloaded advertisement image, and the content of the “advertisement ID” of the downloaded advertisement image stored in the advertisement management database 48 is included in the same column (advertisement ID). Stored as is. “Image path” indicates the location and file name where the downloaded advertisement image is stored. When the configuration shown in FIG. 2 is adopted as the game device 36, the downloaded advertisement image is stored in the auxiliary storage device 34, and the path at that time is stored in the same column (image path). The “advertisement place data” indicates which position of the texture image should be fitted with the advertisement image, and is stored in the advertisement management database 48 and is related to the downloaded advertisement image. Is stored as is in the same column (advertising placement data). The “advertisement period” indicates a period during which the advertisement should be displayed, and the contents of the “advertisement period” of the downloaded advertisement image stored in the advertisement management database 48 are stored in the same column (advertisement period) as it is. Is done. "Advertising points"
Is numerical information that is added each time an advertisement image is displayed on the game screen, and is information that is transmitted to the advertisement management server 50 and serves as a basis for calculating the accumulated charging points and the charging amount. The “display count” indicates the number of times the advertisement image has been displayed on the game screen. "Display time" represents the total time during which the advertisement image has been displayed on the game screen. In the present game advertisement charging system 35, in order to increase the effectiveness of the advertisement, the information stored in the “display count” and “display time” is monitored at each game terminal, and when the advertisement image is displayed a predetermined number of times, or When the time is displayed, the display of the advertisement on the game screen is terminated. In this case, a default advertisement image (for example, an advertisement image of a game software production company (own company) or the like) may be displayed, or another advertisement image may be displayed instead of the advertisement image whose publication has been discontinued. Good.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a method of displaying an advertisement image on a game screen. As described above, the game terminal executes a three-dimensional game. Then, an object represented by a combination of polygons is arranged in a virtual three-dimensional space that is a game space. Further, a texture representing the appearance of the object is attached to the polygon. For example, an advertisement image is pasted as a texture on the polygons constituting the signboard objects 52, 54, 56. As shown in FIG. 7, a texture image 60 including a plurality of images used as textures is stored in the game terminal as game data in the DVD2.
5 (not shown except for the default advertisement image 59), from which an image portion specified by a set of texture vertex coordinates (VX, VY) is pasted to the polygon as a texture. You. At this time, a texture image 60 including a default advertisement image 59 is prepared. The default advertisement image 59 is
For example, the advertisement image is an advertisement image of a game software production company (own company), and is attached to a predetermined object (a signboard object or the like) as a texture unless a substitute advertisement image is downloaded from the advertisement management server 50. Then, a new advertisement image 5 is sent from the advertisement management server 50.
When the game terminal 8 is downloaded, the game terminal adds a new record to the advertisement database (FIG. 6) and stores the advertisement image 58 in a storage device (for example, the auxiliary storage device 34). Then, the texture image 6 identified by the “texture image ID” included in the “advertisement place data”
When the timing for generating the game image using the “0” comes, the “replacement position” (the image position indicated by “X” in FIG. 7) included in the “advertisement place data” is designated by the “image path”. The advertisement image 58 read from the place to be read is inserted and supplied to the image processing unit 16. In this case, the advertisement management server 5
The advertisement image 58 downloaded from 0 can be used as a texture to appear in a game advertisement. When there is no advertisement image to be downloaded from the advertisement management server 50, the game screen can be generated by using the default advertisement image 59 as a texture instead.

Next, the process of displaying an advertisement on a game screen using the advertisement management database 48 and the advertisement database described above will be described in more detail with reference to a flowchart.

First, the processing executed by the game terminal will be described.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an advertisement process executed at the time of startup on the game terminal. As shown in the figure, when the game terminal is started, the game terminal first reads the advertisement database and checks whether there is any record whose current date and time has fallen out of the “advertisement period” (S
101). If there is no such record, the process proceeds to S104. On the other hand, if there is such a record, the “advertisement point” included in the record is uploaded to the advertisement management server 50 (S102). At this time, the user information such as the “advertisement ID” included in the record and the ID of the player using the game terminal is also uploaded to the advertisement management server 50. These pieces of information are used in the advertisement charging process (FIG. 12) in the advertisement management server 50. Thereafter, the game terminal deletes the record related to the advertisement image whose advertisement period has passed (S103).
Next, the game terminal downloads new advertisement data (advertisement image, advertisement ID, advertisement insertion place data, advertisement period) from the advertisement management server 50 (S104). That is,
A game ID for identifying a game to be executed on the game terminal is transmitted from the game terminal to the advertisement management server 50, and corresponding new (not yet downloaded) advertisement data is received. Then, the advertisement image included in the advertisement data is stored in the storage device (the auxiliary storage device 34 or the like), and a new record is added to the advertisement database, and “Advertisement ID”, “Image path”, “Advertisement place” is added to the record. "Data" and "advertising period" are recorded (S105). With the above startup advertisement processing, the latest advertisement data is always maintained in the game terminal.

Next, FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a game screen generation process executed by the game terminal. This processing is performed at predetermined time intervals (for example, 1
/ 60 seconds). Here, a description is given assuming that the game terminal is the game device 36 having the configuration shown in FIG. As shown in FIG.
First, the microprocessor 14 performs a game environment process based on the game program and the game data read from the DVD 25 (S201). In the game environment processing, the positions and orientations of all static and dynamic objects in the virtual three-dimensional space are calculated. The static objects, such as the road object, the mountain object, the grassland object, and the signboard objects 52, 54, and 56, do not change their positions even when the game progresses. On the other hand, the dynamic object changes its position and orientation as the game progresses, like an automobile object (not shown). The position and orientation of the dynamic object change according to a game program or an operation signal input from the controller 32. In the game environment processing, the viewpoint 72, the line-of-sight direction, the position of the visual field range 76, and the light source information are also calculated.

Next, the microprocessor 14 performs a geometry process (S202). In the geometry processing, coordinate conversion is performed from the world coordinate system to a viewpoint coordinate system (a coordinate system in which the viewpoint 72 is the origin, the front (viewing direction) is the Z direction, the horizontal direction is the X direction, and the vertical method is the Y direction). Further, the color information of the vertices of each polygon constituting the object is corrected based on the light source information (color and position of the light source). Further, a clipping process is performed.

Next, the game device 36 executes an advertisement charging process (S203). In the advertisement charging process, first, it is checked whether or not there is an object in which the advertisement image is pasted as a texture in the visual field range 76. Further, among the polygons constituting the object, a polygon to which the advertisement image is to be pasted is not clipped. Then, for each polygon to which the non-clipped advertisement image is to be pasted, an advertisement point P is calculated by the following equation (1).

[0035]

P = f (θ) × g (S) × h (r) (1)

Here, θ represents a shift angle (or a value corresponding thereto) between the viewing direction and the advertisement posting direction. The viewing direction is a direction from the viewpoint 72 to the center of the viewing range 76. On the other hand, the advertisement posting direction is a direction from the back surface to the front surface of the polygon on which the advertisement image is pasted. θ can be calculated by, for example, an inner product of a normal vector of a polygon to which an advertisement image is pasted as a texture and a viewing direction vector. S represents a display area (or a value corresponding thereto) of a polygon to which an advertisement image is pasted as a texture. For example, for simplicity of data processing, let σ be the area of the polygon itself in the virtual three-dimensional space,
The distance from 2 to the same polygon, that is, the value obtained by dividing by the Z value can be used as the display area S. r is the distance between the display position of the advertisement image and the center of the game screen. For example, a distance between a straight line passing through the viewpoint 72 and extending in the line of sight and the polyton on which the advertisement image is to be pasted may be used as the distance r. f is a function of the shift angle θ, and increases as the shift angle θ decreases, and decreases as the shift angle θ increases (ie, a decreasing function). g is a function of the display area S, and increases as the display area S increases, and decreases as the display area S decreases (that is, an increasing function). h is a function of the distance r, as the distance r is large becomes small, as the distance r is small increase (i.e. decreasing function). The functions f, g and h may be continuous functions or discontinuous functions.

As described above, when the advertisement point P is calculated by the equation (1) for the polygons to be pasted as polygons, which are arranged in the visual field range 76 without clipping, the value is calculated as follows. Is added to the column of “advertisement point” in the advertisement database (FIG. 6). That is, the “advertisement point” included in the record corresponding to each advertisement image is read, the advertisement point P calculated by equation (1) is added thereto, and the result is stored again in the “advertisement point” column of the record. Further, the “display count” and “display time” included in the record corresponding to each advertisement image are incremented by one.

Thereafter, the microprocessor 14 sends the vertex coordinates, vertex color information, texture coordinates, and alpha value of each polygon belonging to the visual field range 76 to the image processing unit 16, and the image processing unit 16 uses the VRA based on the information.
A display image is formed in a buffer provided on M (S2
04). The display image is formed by projecting an object on a screen. The game image thus formed in the buffer is read out at a predetermined timing, and
Indicated by 8.

A game screen is generated by the above-described game screen generation processing. At this time, if an advertisement image is included in the game screen, an advertisement point is calculated and added to the “advertisement point” in the advertisement database. Also, the “display count” and “display time” of the advertisement database are updated. In addition, the advertisement point is calculated based on the angle θ between the advertisement posting direction and the line-of-sight direction and the display area S of the advertisement image. Reasonable billing becomes possible.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the advertisement processing at the game terminal when the game is over. At the end of the game, the game terminal reads “advertisement points” included in each record from the advertisement database, and
Uploaded to the advertisement management server 50 in association with D (S301). At this time, information (user information) about the user who enjoys the game at the game terminal is also uploaded. If the upload is successful, the “advertisement point” included in each record of the advertisement database is reset to zero (S302). Thus, the advertisement points and user information accumulated from the start to the end of the game are uploaded to the advertisement management server 50. The uploaded advertisement points and user information are used in the advertisement management server 50 to calculate the billing amount.

Next, the processing of the advertisement management server 50 will be described.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the advertisement distribution processing in the advertisement management server 50. As shown in the figure, when the advertisement management server 50 distributes advertisement data,
First, an advertisement data distribution request including a game ID is received from a game terminal (S401). Then, all the records corresponding to the received game ID are read out from the advertisement management database 48, and "Advertisement I
D "," image path "," advertisement place data ", and" advertisement period ". Further, each advertisement image is read from the location indicated by the “image path”. Then, the “advertisement ID”, “advertisement place data”, “advertisement period”, and the advertisement image are returned to the game terminal as advertisement data (S402). Thus, the advertisement management server 50
Can distribute the advertisement data to the game terminal.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining the advertisement charging process in the advertisement management server 50. As shown in the figure, in the advertisement charging process, first, the advertisement management server 50 receives an advertisement ID, an advertisement point, and user information from the game terminal (S501). These pieces of information are uploaded to the advertisement management server 50 at the game terminal when the game is over. The user information is information indicating attributes of a user who enjoys the game at the game terminal, such as age, gender, and occupation.

Next, the advertisement management server 50 calculates a charging point based on the received information (S502). Specifically, first, a record corresponding to each received advertisement ID is read out from the advertisement management database 48, and “Advertiseee data”, “Advertising place rank”, and “Cumulative charging points” included therein are acquired. I do. And
In the user range specified by "Advertiser Data"
It is determined whether the received user information belongs. If it belongs, a predetermined number, for example, 2 is set to the coefficient U,
If they do not belong, a smaller number, for example, 1 is set. The difference between the user range specified by the “advertiseee data” and the received user information is represented by a coefficient U.
May be set. Further, a variable R is set according to the “advertising place rank”. For example, rank A
Is set to 2.5, 2 is set for rank B, 1.5 is set for rank C, and 1 is set for rank D. Then, the coefficient U, the coefficient R, and the received advertisement point (P) are substituted into the following equation (2) to calculate the charging point M.

[0045]

M = P × U × R (2)

Thereafter, the advertisement management server 50 sets the “cumulative charging points” acquired in S501 at the same step (S50).
The charging points M calculated in 1) are added, and the added points are stored in the column of "cumulative charging points" (S503). Thus, the value of the “cumulative charging point” corresponding to each advertisement image can be updated. In the advertisement management server 50,
For example, at the end of each month, the value of the “cumulative charging points” is multiplied by a predetermined unit price to calculate a charging amount for displaying each advertisement image.

As described above, the advertisement management server 50
Can distribute the advertisement data to the game terminal and output the advertisement data during the game at the game terminal. Then, an advertising fee reflecting the quantitative evaluation and the qualitative evaluation on the advertisement output can be imposed on each advertiser.

When displaying an advertisement image on a game screen or outputting an advertisement sound during a game, if the operation is performed while a game program or game data is being loaded, the player pays more attention to those advertisements. Will pay. FIG. 13 shows an example of a game screen displayed when a game program or game data is loaded in a game terminal. As shown in the drawing, when a game program or game data is loaded, a message to that effect is displayed and the advertisement image 70 is also displayed, so that the advertisement image 70 can be more strongly impressed to the player. . At this time, if a different advertisement image 70 is displayed each time a game program or game data is loaded, more advertisements can be shown to the player than when the same advertisement image is continuously displayed. .
In addition, it is possible to provide an advertising opportunity to many advertisers.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining the processing of the game terminal for displaying such a game screen (loading screen). As shown in the figure, when displaying the loading screen, first, an advertisement image (loading advertisement image) to be displayed on the loading screen is obtained (S6).
01). At this time, the game terminal stores an advertisement history of the advertisement image displayed on the loading screen (for example, an advertisement ID of an already displayed advertisement image sequentially recorded), and refers to the history to view the loading advertisement. Get an image. For example, a different loading advertisement image that has not been displayed in a predetermined number of past loadings may be obtained, or the same loading advertisement image may be displayed a predetermined number of times to obtain the next loading advertisement image. Then, information for identifying the acquired loading advertisement image is added to the advertisement history (S60).
2). Then, to display the loading screen using the loading advertisements image acquired (S603). If the game screen and the game data related to the main game process are acquired after the loading screen is displayed in this way, the advertisement image 70 can be more impressively impressed on the player.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above.

For example, in the above description, an example in which a commercial advertisement is displayed in a three-dimensional game has been described. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to a case in which a commercial advertisement is displayed in a two-dimensional game.

In the above description, the billing amount is calculated by applying the present invention to display the game image including the advertisement image, but the advertisement sound is output during the game. Also, the billing amount can be calculated by similarly applying the present invention. That is, a quantitative evaluation or a qualitative evaluation may be added to the advertisement voice, and the result may be reflected in the billing amount. As the quantitative evaluation, the number of times of output of the advertisement voice, the volume, and the like can be adopted as evaluation criteria. As the qualitative evaluation, the presence or absence of other sounds (such as game music and sound effects), the volume thereof, a game scene in which an advertisement sound is output, and the like can be adopted as evaluation criteria.

In the above description, the advertisement image is managed in texture units. However, when one advertisement is represented by a plurality of polygons and a plurality of textures (advertisement images), one of the polygons is clipped. Then, the advertisement point may not be increased for the advertisement display. Alternatively, the advertisement points may be increased according to the area ratio of the display portion to the entire advertisement. Further, the display quality of the advertisement may be evaluated based on the number of polygons for displaying the advertisement, and the advertisement fee may be calculated accordingly.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When acquiring a game program or game data, a program or data for advertisement output such as an advertisement display is acquired before that, and the game program or Since the game data is obtained, an advertisement can be output when the player's attention is relatively easy to pay attention to, and the player's interest can be directed to the game advertisement.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a game advertisement charging system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a game device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a game screen on which a signboard object on which an advertisement image is pasted is displayed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a part of a game space (virtual three-dimensional space).

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the storage contents of an advertisement management database.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an advertisement database constructed in a game terminal.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing how an advertisement image is embedded in a texture image.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating startup advertisement processing in the game terminal.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a game screen generation process in the game terminal.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a game end advertisement process in a game terminal.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an advertisement distribution process in an advertisement management server.

FIG. 12 is a follow-up diagram illustrating an advertisement charging process in the advertisement management server.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a loading screen.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a loading screen process in the game terminal.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 home game machine, 12 bus, 14 microprocessor, 16 image processing unit, 18 monitor, 20 audio processing unit, 22 speaker, 24 DVD (digital video disk) reproducing unit, 25 DVD, 26 main memory, 30 input / output processing Part, 32 controller, 34
Auxiliary storage device, 36 game device, 40 PC (personal computer), 42 PDA (personal digital assistant), 4
4 mobile phone, 46 communication network, 48 advertisement management DB, 50 advertisement management server, 52, 54, 56
Signboard object, 58, 70 advertisement image, 60 texture image, 72 viewpoints, 76 visual field range.

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ───

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission Date] February 26, 2002 (2002.2.2)
6)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Name of invention

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Title of game advertisement billing system, program
And game advertising billing method

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0003

[Correction method] Deleted

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0004

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the above conventional technique.
It was done in light of the art and its purpose was to advertise
Charge each advertiser an advertising fee that reflects a qualitative assessment of their power
Game advertisement billing system that can be, program
And a game advertisement billing method .

[Procedure amendment 5]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0005

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a game advertisement charging system according to the present invention comprises a communication network.
Game terminal and advertisement management server
A game advertisement billing system including
Means for displaying an advertisement on a game screen;
About the advertisement displayed on the game screen,
Advertising points based on the center and the display position of the advertisement
Means for calculating, and the calculated advertising point
Means for transmitting to the management server, the advertisement management server
Is the advertisement point transmitted from the game terminal.
Charge for displaying an advertisement on the game screen based on the
And means for calculating

[Procedure amendment 6]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0006

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0006] The program according to the present invention includes a communication network.
A computer connected to the advertisement management server via a network
Computer as a game terminal that displays advertisements.
Program to display advertisements on the game screen
Means, for an advertisement displayed on the game screen,
Based on the center of the game screen and the display position of the advertisement,
Means for calculating advertisement points and calculated advertisement points
Means for transmitting an account to the advertisement management server,
It is characterized by causing a computer to function.

[Procedure amendment 7]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0007

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0007] A game advertisement charging method according to the present invention.
Is connected to a game terminal connected via a communication network.
In the game advertisement billing method using the advertisement management server
Display an advertisement on the game screen in the game terminal
And the game terminal,
About the advertisement displayed on the screen, the center of the game screen
Advertisement points are calculated based on the display position of the advertisement
And advertising points calculated are calculated in the game.
Transmitting from the terminal to the advertisement management server;
In the advertisement management server, the
Spread on the game screen based on the advertisement point
Calculating a billing amount for displaying the notification.
It is characterized by the following.

[Procedure amendment 8]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0008

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0008] A game advertisement billing system according to the present invention.
A game means for displaying an advertisement on a game screen;
About the advertisement displayed on the screen, the center of the game screen
Advertisement points are calculated based on the display position of the advertisement
Based on the calculated advertising points.
For calculating the billing amount for displaying the advertisement on the game screen
And characterized in that:

[Procedure amendment 9]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0009

[Correction method] Deleted

[Procedure amendment 10]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0010

[Correction method] Deleted

[Procedure amendment 11]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0011

[Correction method] Deleted

[Procedure amendment 12]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0036

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Here, θ represents a shift angle (or a value corresponding thereto) between the viewing direction and the advertisement posting direction. The viewing direction is a direction from the viewpoint 72 to the center of the viewing range 76. On the other hand, the advertisement posting direction is a direction from the back surface to the front surface of the polygon on which the advertisement image is pasted. θ can be calculated by, for example, an inner product of a normal vector of a polygon to which an advertisement image is pasted as a texture and a viewing direction vector. S represents a display area (or a value corresponding thereto) of a polygon to which an advertisement image is pasted as a texture. For example, for simplicity of data processing, let σ be the area of the polygon itself in the virtual three-dimensional space,
The distance from 2 to the same polygon, that is, the value obtained by dividing by the Z value can be used as the display area S. r is the distance between the display position of the advertisement image and the center of the game screen. For example, it is possible to utilize the distance between poly Gore down pasting the linear and advertisement image extending viewpoint 72 as line-of-sight direction as the distance r. f is a function of the shift angle θ, and increases as the shift angle θ decreases, and decreases as the shift angle θ increases (ie, a decreasing function). g is a function of the display area S, and increases as the display area S increases, and decreases as the display area S decreases (that is, an increasing function). h is a function of the distance r, as the distance r is large becomes small, as the distance r is small increase (i.e. decreasing function). The functions f, g and h may be continuous functions or discontinuous functions.

[Procedure amendment 13]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0052

[Correction method] Deleted

[Procedure amendment 14]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0054

[Correction method] Deleted ───────────────────────────────────────────── ────────

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] May 8, 2002 (2002.5.8)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0005

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a game advertisement charging system according to the present invention includes a game advertisement charging system including a game terminal and an advertisement management server connected via a communication network. The game terminal stores an advertisement point in association with an advertisement image.
Means for storing in base and viewpoint in virtual 3D space
Means for calculating the position and the line of sight at predetermined time intervals;
The viewpoint in the virtual three-dimensional space where the object is set
A game screen at predetermined time intervals
Means for displaying the object at predetermined time intervals.
Polygo to which the advertisement image is pasted among the polygons that make up
The straight line extending in the line-of-sight direction and the polygon
Means for calculating an advertisement point based on the distance of the advertisement point, and a calculated advertisement point stored in the database.
Means for adding to the notification points and stored in the database
Transmitting the advertisement point to the advertisement management server, wherein the advertisement management server includes a unit for calculating a billing amount for displaying the advertisement image based on the advertisement point transmitted from the game terminal. It is characterized by.

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0006

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0006] A program according to the present invention is a program for causing a computer connected to an advertisement management server via a communication network to function as a game terminal for displaying advertisements.
Means for storing points in a database, virtual 3D space
The viewpoint position and line-of-sight direction at predetermined intervals
Means, in virtual three-dimensional space where objects are installed
The viewing direction from the viewpoint to the viewing direction at predetermined time intervals.
Means for displaying on the game screen, the object
Paste the advertisement image out of the polygons that make up the project
For the polygon, the straight line extending in the line of sight
Means for calculating the advertisement point based on the distance between the polygons, storing the advertisement point issued calculated in the database
Means for adding to advertisement points to be provided, and the data
The computer is caused to function as means for transmitting the advertisement points stored in the base to the advertisement management server.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0007

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0007] The game advertisement billing method according to the present invention is a game advertisement billing method using a game terminal connected via the communication network and the advertisement management server, said game terminal, in said game terminal, virtual
The viewpoint position and line-of-sight direction in the three-dimensional space are changed at predetermined time
Calculating, in said gaming terminal, of
The viewpoint in the virtual three-dimensional space where the object is set
A game screen at predetermined time intervals
Displaying at the game terminal,
For each time, the polygons
Regarding the polygon to which the advertisement image is to be pasted,
Calculating an advertisement point based on a distance between the extending straight line and the polygon; and in the game terminal, the calculated advertisement point is stored in a database in the advertisement image.
Step of adding to the advertisement points stored in association with each other
Transmitting an advertisement point stored in the database from the game terminal to the advertisement management server; and, in the advertisement management server, a section for displaying the advertisement image based on the advertisement point transmitted from the game terminal. Calculating the amount of money.

[Procedure amendment 5]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0008

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0008] In addition, the game advertisement billing system according to the present invention stores an advertisement point in a database in association with an advertisement image.
And the viewpoint position in the virtual three-dimensional space
Means for calculating the gaze direction at predetermined time intervals;
From the viewpoint in the virtual three-dimensional space where the
The appearance of the line of sight is displayed on the game screen at predetermined time intervals.
Means for indicating and configuring the object at predetermined time intervals
Of the polygons to which the advertisement image is pasted
The distance between the straight line extending in the line-of-sight direction and the polygon.
Means for calculating an advertisement point based on the separation , and an advertisement point stored in the database.
Means for adding to the points and stored in the database
That it is characterized in that it comprises means for calculating a billing amount for the display of the advertisement image on the basis of the advertisement point.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 9/445 G06F 13/00 530A 13/00 530 540P 540 9/06 610Q

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A game device comprising: means for acquiring a game program or game data; and means for executing a game process based on the acquired game program or game data, the program or data for displaying an advertisement. Acquiring the game program or game data, acquiring the program or data for displaying the advertisement, and displaying the advertisement based on the program or data for displaying the advertisement, Or a means for acquiring game data. 2. The game device according to claim 1, wherein: means for storing identification information for identifying at least one of the displayed advertisements; and Means for selecting a program or data for displaying the advertisement to be obtained based on the identification information. 3. A method for controlling a game device, comprising: means for acquiring a game program or game data; and means for executing a game process based on the acquired game program or game data. When acquiring data, acquire a program or data for advertising output,
A method of controlling a game device, comprising: acquiring the game program or game data while outputting an advertisement based on the program or data for outputting the advertisement. 4. A code for acquiring a game program or game data, a code for executing a game process based on the acquired game program or game data, and a program or data for displaying an advertisement. When acquiring the game program or the game data, the program or the data for displaying the advertisement is obtained, and while displaying the advertisement based on the program or the data for displaying the advertisement, the game program or the game is displayed. And a code for acquiring data.