JP2007111436A - Music performance game apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a music performance game apparatus which enables a player to enjoy a new savor in a music performance game especially relating to the music performance game apparatus to play by performing an operation at a specified timing matched with music. <P>SOLUTION: When rhythm game execution processing (S7) is started, a timing marker 45 is displayed in one of a first marker moving lane 42A to a third marker moving lane 42C respectively in an elliptic shape on the basis of timing marker data on a first liquid crystal display 3. The timing marker 45 is moved in circulation to a timing line 43 stipulated by judgement reference data on the basis of moving direction data included in the timing marker data. Together with the arrival of an operation timing relating to the timing marker 45, the timing marker 45 moved in circulation reaches the timing line 43, and an input button 70 to be operated and its operation timing are reported to a player. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a music effect game device that plays by performing an operation at a timing specified in accordance with music, and more particularly to a music effect game device that can provide a new interest in a music effect game.

  Currently, music production games are gaining popularity as games played at game centers and home game machines. In these music performance games, a player selects a song and inputs it with an input means at a timing designated by a symbol mark or the like displayed on a display means such as a display as the music is played back. Is configured to progress.

As such a music effect game, there are games described in Patent Documents 1 to 3. For example, in the music effect game device described in Patent Document 1, the player operates the input means simulating a keyboard and a turntable based on the display of icons and the like displayed on the screen, and the timing of the operation By adjusting to the music being played, you can enjoy the production of music like a DJ (disc jockey).
Similarly, in the game system described in Patent Document 2 and the music amusement system described in Patent Document 3, icons displayed on the screen (for example, timing marks in Patent Document 2 and apples in Patent Document 3) ) Is perceived based on the operation timing, and a specified operation is performed based on the operation timing, so that a game for enjoying the production of music is performed.
Japanese Patent No. 2922509 Japanese Patent No. 3031676 Japanese Patent No. 3672178

However, in the music effect games described in Patent Documents 1 to 3, the timing mark moves in one direction such as the vertical direction or the horizontal direction, and the effect operation position and the timing mark are displayed in an overlapping manner. Thus, the operation timing is notified. And in the said patent documents 1 thru | or 3, the production | presentation operation position which alert | reports operation timing by overlapping with a timing mark is formed in only one place of the movement direction end of the said timing mark.
That is, in the music effect game described in Patent Documents 1 to 3, each timing mark corresponding to each of the plurality of operation members is formed at a certain position in a certain direction such as a vertical direction or a horizontal direction. This is a mode of moving to the production operation position. Since such an aspect is a general aspect in a music performance game at present, the appeal to the player of the music performance game has been reduced.

In this regard, in Patent Documents 1 to 3, various music modes such as a random mode in which the timing marks are displayed at random are added to prevent the player from getting bored and the music performance game. However, it does not change the above-described configuration, and any device is based on the above-described configuration. Therefore, although the above-described device can extend the period in which the player can play without getting bored, it has not yet improved the appealing power of the music performance game itself.
That is, in the music performance games described in Patent Documents 1 to 3, since the currently common configuration is used, the player gets bored. As a result, the music performance game itself The attractiveness is reduced, and the player who has been bored once has become less attractive enough to provoke a desire to play the music production game again.

  In view of the above-described problems, the present invention relates to a music effect game device that plays by performing an operation at a timing specified in accordance with music, and in particular, a music effect game device that can provide a new interest in a music effect game. It is about.

  In order to solve this problem, the invention according to claim 1 is directed to a plurality of operation members (for example, input buttons 70) operated by a player, music data, and each operation on music indicated by the music data. Storage means (for example, HDD 55) for storing operation reference data indicating the operation timing of the member, performance means (for example, speaker 8, sound control circuit 61) for playing the music based on the music data, and the operation reference data Based on the display means (for example, the first liquid crystal display 3) in which a timing marker (for example, the timing marker 45) for notifying the operation timing of each operation member is displayed as the musical performance progresses, and the timing marker is An input determination means (for example, CPU 51) for determining whether the operation is good or not based on the operation timing shown and the operation of the operation member by the player; Control means (for example, a CPU 51, a display control circuit 60, and a light emission control circuit 62) for performing control related to a music effect game that is progressed by operating an operation member at a predetermined operation time as the music is played by the performance means. The display means (for example, the first liquid crystal display 3) corresponds to each of the plurality of operation members, and can be moved and displayed with a timing marker (for example, the rhythm game apparatus 1). For example, the marker movement display region (for example, the marker movement lane 42) having a plurality of marker movement lanes (for example, the first marker movement lane 42A to the third marker movement lane 42C) in which the timing marker is circularly moved. ) And the movement-displayed timing marker arrives, the corresponding operation of the timing marker A plurality of timing notification areas (for example, the timing line 43) for notifying the operation timing of the member are displayed, and the control means (for example, the CPU 51, the display control circuit 60, the light emission control circuit 62) displays the timing marker, In the marker movement lane, a circular movement is displayed toward the timing notification area, and the predetermined timing notification area is reached with the arrival of the operation time indicated by the determination reference data.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the music performance game device (for example, rhythm game device 1) according to claim 1, wherein the operation member (for example, the input button 70) is a light emitting means (for example, full color). Each of the control means (for example, the CPU 51, the display control circuit 60, and the light emission control circuit 62) includes the display means (for example, the first liquid crystal) when the timing marker reaches the timing notification area. In the display 3), a notification effect (for example, S78) indicating the arrival of the operation time is performed, and a light emission notification effect (for example, a full color LED 155) of the operation member is interlocked with the notification effect (for example, a full color LED 155). S63) is performed.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the music performance game apparatus (for example, rhythm game apparatus 1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the storage means (for example, HDD 55) is a timing in each marker moving lane. A plurality of movement speed data in which a movement speed related to the circular movement of the marker is defined is stored, and the movement speed data used for the movement display of the timing marker is changed based on the determination result of the input determination means (for example, the CPU 51). It has a speed change means (for example, S73).

  The invention according to claim 4 is the music performance game apparatus (for example, rhythm game apparatus 1) according to claims 1 to 3, wherein the input determination means (for example, CPU 51) is based on the determination result. It has lane number changing means (for example, S39, S84) for changing the number of marker moving lanes (for example, the first marker moving lane 42A to the third marker moving lane 42C) formed in the marker moving region. To do.

  Furthermore, the invention according to claim 5 is the music performance game apparatus (for example, rhythm game apparatus 1) according to claims 1 to 4, wherein the input determination means (for example, the CPU 51) is based on the determination result. It has a display period change means (for example, S38) which changes the display period of the timing marker in a marker movement area.

In the music effect game device according to claim 1, the music is played based on the music data stored in the storage unit, and specified according to the operation time and the operation member indicated by the timing marker displayed on the display unit. By performing the operation on the operated operation member, the input determining means determines the quality of the operation, and the music effect game proceeds.
At this time, on the display means, a timing marker that corresponds to each of the plurality of operation members and can be moved and displayed, a marker movement display area that has a plurality of marker movement lanes around which the timing marker is moved around, and moved and displayed. When the timing marker arrives, a plurality of timing notification areas for notifying the operation timing of the operation member corresponding to the timing marker are displayed.
Then, the control means causes the timing marker to move and display toward the timing notification area within the marker movement lane, and arrives at a predetermined timing notification area together with the operation time indicated by the determination reference data. The player is notified of the operation time and the operation member to be operated.
As a result, the timing marker circulates on one marker movement lane, and the timing marker circulates in each of the marker movement lanes. Therefore, the movement display of the timing marker displayed on the display means is a mode that is full of variations, so it is greatly different from the conventional mode in which the operation timing is notified by moving and displaying in one direction from one place to one place. It can provide different new interests.

In the music effect game device according to the second aspect, the timing marker is displayed on the display means so as to reach the timing notification area as the operation time comes. At this time, in the display means, a notification effect is performed in order to notify the player of the arrival of the operation time. Further, simultaneously with the notification effect on the display means, the light emission notification effect indicating that the operation time of the operation member has arrived is performed using the light emission means disposed on the operation member.
As a result, the player is notified of the arrival of the operation time at the two positions of the display means and the operation member, so that the player can be surely grasped the correct operation time. That is, when the notification effect or the light emission notification effect is visually recognized after the operation, the operation is performed earlier than the operation time. Conversely, when the operation is performed after the notification effect or the light emission notification effect is visually recognized, the operation time is determined. You can see that it is late. Therefore, the player can clearly grasp the points to be corrected with respect to his / her operation, and the skill can be improved by these notification effects or light emission notification effects.
Further, since the light emission notification effect is performed by the light emitting means respectively disposed on the operation member, it is possible to notify the correct operation time even to a beginner player who often looks at the hand. As a result, it is possible to improve the skill level of the beginner player in the music effect game device, so that the interest related to the music effect game device can be provided to a wide range of players.

In the music effect game device according to claim 3, a plurality of moving speed data in which the moving speed related to the circular movement of the timing marker in each marker moving lane is defined is stored in the storage means, and based on the determination result of the input determination means. Thus, the moving speed data used for the movement display of the timing marker is changed by the moving speed changing means.
Therefore, since the moving speed at which the timing marker is moved and displayed is changed according to the determination result by the input determining means, it is easy to obtain information indicated by the timing marker (operation timing and information on the operation member to be operated) Can be adjusted, and the difficulty level of the music performance game can be adjusted. As a result, it is possible to provide a music production game device that can be enjoyed by a wide range of users from beginners to advanced players.

  In the music effect game device according to the fourth aspect, the number of marker movement lanes formed in the marker movement area can be changed by the lane number changing means based on the determination result of the input determination means. As a result, the timing marker is moved and displayed, the number of places that the player must visually recognize can be increased or decreased, and the ease of obtaining the information indicated by the timing marker (operation timing and information related to the operation member to be operated) is adjusted. can do. As a result, the difficulty level of the music performance game can be adjusted, and a music performance game device that can be enjoyed by a wide range of users from beginners to advanced players can be provided.

  In the music effect game device according to the fifth aspect, the display period of the timing marker in the marker movement region can be changed by the display period changing means based on the determination result by the input determining means. Thereby, it is possible to adjust the ease of obtaining information indicated by the timing marker (operation timing and information related to the operation member to be operated), and the timing marker is displayed in a display period corresponding to the skill of the player. Therefore, a wide range of players can enjoy the interest related to the music performance game.

Hereinafter, a music performance game device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings based on an embodiment embodied in a case-type rhythm game device installed in a game center or the like.
Here, in the rhythm game device according to the present embodiment, a music marker is reproduced from a speaker, and a timing marker that instructs an input in accordance with the rhythm of the flowing music is displayed on the display. Then, based on the timing marker displayed on the display, a rhythm game in which the player performs an input operation on the operation unit is executed.
The rhythm game executed in the rhythm game device according to the present embodiment is composed of a plurality of stages in accordance with the number of music numbers of the music to be played back. When the number of times is less than the predetermined number of times, the stage proceeds to the stage corresponding to the music of the next music number, and the rhythm game can be continuously played.

  First, a schematic configuration of the rhythm game apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rhythm game apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the rhythm game apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a housing 2 that forms the outer shape of the rhythm game apparatus 1 and a main game screen (FIGS. 4, 5B, and 7B). , FIG. 8, FIG. 23, FIG. 24, and FIG. 25 (A)) are displayed, and an image related to effects such as a promotion video, which is located above the first liquid crystal display 3 (FIG. 5 (A), FIG. 7 (A)) is displayed, a center panel 5 provided below the first liquid crystal display 3 and provided with a coin or card slot, and the player An operation unit 6 for performing an operation related to a rhythm game, a pair of lighting devices 7 provided at both ends on the front side of the housing 2, a pair of speakers 8 disposed on the left and right sides of the second liquid crystal display 4, Arranged above the second liquid crystal display 4 It is basically formed from such five spotlights 11. Each component will be described below.

The first liquid crystal display 3 is a liquid crystal display that is disposed at a predetermined angle at the center of the front side of the housing 2, and is inclined rearward at a predetermined angle.
Then, on the first liquid crystal display 3, the rhythm game device 1 progresses in the rhythm game apparatus 1 such as the lyrics of the music played through the speaker 8 at the time of the rhythm game execution, the timing marker 45, the input result of the player, and the score accompanying it. Such game information (information required by the player for the progress of the game) is displayed (FIGS. 4, 5B, 7B, 8, 23, 24 and 25 (A). )reference).

On the other hand, the second liquid crystal display 4 separately disposed above the first liquid crystal display 3 is a liquid crystal display similar to the first liquid crystal display 3, but the second liquid crystal display 4 relates to the effect of the game when the rhythm game is executed. An effect image is displayed.
Here, the effect image displayed on the second liquid crystal display 4 is different from the display content mainly displayed on the first liquid crystal display 3 described above, and is not directly required for the progress of the rhythm game by the player. It has an auxiliary role to excite the rhythm game.
In the rhythm game apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, a song of an artist is reproduced as a song, and the player makes an input based on the timing marker 45 through the operation unit 6 to advance the rhythm game. At this time, a promotion video (hereinafter abbreviated as PV) related to the music is displayed on the second liquid crystal display 4 (see FIGS. 5B and 7B). Therefore, the rhythm game can be executed in a realistic situation where the artist singing is displayed along with the performance of the music, and the player is not bored.
The specific display contents displayed on the first liquid crystal display 3 and the second liquid crystal display 4 will be described in detail later.

  The center panel 5 is provided with a coin insertion slot 9 and a card insertion slot 10. The coin insertion slot 9 is an insertion slot into which a coin such as a 100 yen coin is inserted. A coin sensor 63 is disposed at the coin slot 9, and when a coin is inserted into the coin slot 9, a coin detection signal is output to the CPU 51 via the coin sensor 63 (see FIG. 9).

The card insertion slot 10 is an insertion slot into which an IC card (not shown) containing an IC tag in which a game result in the rhythm game apparatus 1 is recorded is inserted. A card sensor 64 and a card reader / writer 65, which will be described later, are disposed inside the card insertion slot 10 (see FIG. 9).
Here, the IC card used in the rhythm game apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment incorporates the game results (the score (score) acquired, the overall results of the input results, etc.) in the game up to the previous time of the owned player. It is stored in the IC tag.
The card sensor 64 detects that when an IC card is inserted into the card insertion slot 10. The card reader / writer 65 can read out the game result stored from the IC tag built in the IC card and write the game result executed by the player to the IC tag.

In addition, a pair of lighting devices 7 are disposed at both front side ends of the housing 2. Each illuminating device 7 includes a cylindrical transparent member, 24 full-color LEDs that can be lit in full color, and a light blocking member.
The cylindrical transparent member is formed by forming a lenticular lens into a cylindrical shape, and is fixed to the housing 2 with the longitudinal direction of the cylinder up and down, and the light blocking member is spaced at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction. One full color LED is fixed. A light blocking member having a full color LED fixed thereto is inserted into the transparent member. Therefore, when one full-color LED emits light, a ring-shaped light emission mode (hereinafter referred to as “light-emitting ring”) that is laid down in the left-right direction is expressed from the outside due to the effect of the transparent lenticular lens. It is possible to perform various lighting effects according to the music reproduced by the rhythm game apparatus 1.

  Speakers 8 are disposed on the left and right sides of the second liquid crystal display 4. The speaker 8 is an output device that outputs music, sound effects, and the like reproduced by the rhythm game apparatus 1. Specifically, when the rhythm game is executed, music and voice are output at a designated tempo based on the voice data and performance data of the music stored in the HDD 55 (see FIG. 9).

The operation unit 6 is provided on the front surface of the housing 2 so as to protrude toward the front side. The operation unit 6 includes an input button 70 used for an input operation related to the rhythm game when the rhythm game is executed, and the rhythm. A determination button 71 used when performing various settings related to the game (for example, difficulty level and music used) is provided.
The input button 70 is a button for the player to perform an input operation in accordance with the rhythm of the music. As shown in FIG. 3, the input button 70 is arranged in a hexagonal shape at the central portion of the operation unit 6. In the present embodiment, the input button 70 positioned at the upper left corner of the hexagonal front view is referred to as a “first input button 70A”, and the input button 70 positioned at the upper right corner is referred to as a “second input button 70B”. . Similarly, the input button 70 positioned at the left middle corner is the “third input button 70C”, the input button 70 positioned at the right middle corner is the “fourth input button 70D”, and is positioned at the lower left corner. The input button 70 is referred to as a “fifth input button 70E”, and the input button 70 located in the lower right corner is referred to as a “sixth input button 70F”.

  Here, the internal structure of the input button 70 disposed in the operation unit 6 will be described with reference to FIG. The input button 70 has the same internal structure in all of the first input button 70A to the sixth input button 70F. Accordingly, the internal structure of one input button 70 will be described as an example, and description of the internal structure of each of the first input button 70A to the sixth input button 70F will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 2, the input button 70 basically includes a base plate 150, a switch circuit board 151, a light emitting circuit board 152, a button cover member 153, an urging mechanism 154, a full color LED 155, and the like.
In this regard, the switch circuit board 151 laid on the base plate 150 is provided with a pair of electrodes 156 disposed immediately below the center of the button cover member 153. A light emitting circuit board 152 is laid on the switch circuit board 151, and the light emitting circuit board 152 is provided with an opening 157 for exposing the pair of electrodes 156. Further, a full color LED 155 that can be lit in full color is provided around the opening 157.

A biasing mechanism 154 is provided between the light emitting circuit board 152 and the button cover member 153, and the button cover member 153 is biased to the opposite side of the switch circuit board 151 by the biasing mechanism 154. Further, an electrode 158 protrudes near the center of the button cover member 153 toward the switch circuit board 151.
Therefore, if the button cover member 153 is pressed, the electrodes 158 protruding from the button cover member 153 can be brought into contact with the pair of electrodes 156 provided on the switch circuit board 151. As a result, it is possible to convey that the button cover member 153 has been pressed down as an electrical signal flowing through the switch circuit board 151. That is, the button switch 159 is constituted by the electrode 156 and the electrode 158.

The button cover member 153 is made of a translucent material (for example, transparent acrylic, transparent plastic, etc.), and a portion operated by the player is formed in a hemispherical shape. The top surface of the light emitting circuit board 152 (the surface on the button cover member 153 side) is printed in black.
Therefore, when the full color LED 155 is turned off, the translucent button cover member 153 appears in black, which is the color of the surface of the light emitting circuit board 152. On the other hand, when the full color LED 155 is lit, the translucent button cover member 153 appears in the lighting color of the full color LED 155. In this respect, in the present embodiment, the full color LED 155 is lit in six colors of “red”, “yellow”, “blue”, “green”, “orange”, and “purple”. 6 colors.

  And in the operation part 6, the button switch 159 inside each input button 70 is connected to the transmission circuit not shown. The transmission circuit is connected to the CPU 51 of the rhythm game apparatus 1 via an interface unit 52 (hereinafter referred to as I / O). Accordingly, an electric signal can be transmitted to the CPU 51 from the button switch 159 of the input button 70 that has been pressed down via this transmission circuit, and the input button 70 that has been pressed down (the first input button 70A to the sixth input). Any of the buttons 70F) can be specified. The transmission circuit is mounted on the switch circuit board 151.

In the operation unit 6, the full color LED 155 inside the input button 70 is connected to the light emission control circuit 62. Further, the light emission control circuit 62 is connected to the CPU 51 via the I / O 52 (see FIG. 9). Therefore, the light emission control circuit 62 performs light emission control of the full color LED 155 inside the input button 70, and can control lighting by the light emission color specified by the CPU 51 and other light emission modes. The light emission control of the full color LED 155 will be described in detail later.
In the rhythm game apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, during execution of the rhythm game, the first input button 70A to the sixth input button 70F are “red”, “yellow”, “blue”, and “green”, respectively. , “Orange”, and “purple” are emitted without overlapping in any of the six emission colors.
For example, as shown in FIG. 3, in the initial setting at the beginning of the rhythm game (button pattern (1) described later), the first input button 70A is “red”, the second input button 70B is “orange”, the first The third input button 70C emits “yellow”, the fourth input button 70D “blue”, the fifth input button 70E “green”, and the sixth input button 70F “purple”, which emit light.

  Next, each display content displayed on the 1st liquid crystal display 3 and the 2nd liquid crystal display 4 is demonstrated in detail using FIG. 4 thru | or FIG. The display contents displayed on the first liquid crystal display 3 and the second liquid crystal display 4 are basically composed of three patterns before the game starts, during the game execution, and after the game ends.

First, display contents before the start of the game will be described with reference to FIG. 4 (A) and 4 (B) are schematic views showing display contents displayed on the first liquid crystal display 3 before the game is started.
Here, in the rhythm game device 1 according to the present embodiment, in the difficulty level selection process (S5), by selecting a desired difficulty level setting from a plurality of difficulty level settings, the difficulty level that the player matches with his / her skill level. Can play rhythm games. That is, when a predetermined amount of coins is inserted into the coin insertion slot 9, a difficulty level selection screen 12 for selecting the difficulty level of the rhythm game to be executed is displayed on the first liquid crystal display 3 before the game is started (FIG. 4 ( A)).

The difficulty level selection screen 12 can select either the difficulty level display unit 13 that displays the level of difficulty in the rhythm game with the difficulty level settings “LEVEL 1”, “LEVEL 2”, or “LEVEL 3”, and the difficulty level display unit 13 It consists of a difficulty level selection cursor 14.
Here, in the rhythm game in the present embodiment, the more difficult rhythm game is executed in the order of the difficulty level settings “LEVEL 1”, “LEVEL 2”, and “LEVEL 3”. The contents of the rhythm game in each difficulty level setting will be briefly described below.
In the difficulty level setting “LEVEL 1”, the timing marker 45 is displayed on the first liquid crystal display 3 during a predetermined display period, and the input button 70 indicated by the timing marker 45 and the input button 70 are set based on the operation timing. A rhythm game in which the game is advanced by performing an input operation is performed. In this difficulty level setting “LEVEL 1”, it is possible to play a game with a reduced difficulty level by satisfying a predetermined condition so that even a novice player can enjoy a rhythm game. .
In the difficulty level setting “LEVEL2”, a rhythm game similar to “LEVEL1” is basically performed, but the timing marker 45 is in the above-described “LEVEL1” state based on the results of the player in one stage. Is displayed at a later timing, and a state in which the moving speed is high occurs. As a result, since the time for visually recognizing the timing marker 45 is shortened, it is possible to play a rhythm game having a higher degree of difficulty than the “LEVEL 1”.
Further, in the difficulty level setting “LEVEL3”, the display period of the timing marker 45 is shortened similarly to the “LEVEL2” based on the result of the player in one stage, and the input button to be input indicated by the timing marker 45 The case where the position of 70 is changed occurs. In this regard, when “LEVEL 3” is set, the player is required to have a quick operation and adaptability to the change of the input button 70 to be operated. Can do.

The difficulty level display part 13 shows the difficulty level of the rhythm game performed this time. As shown in FIG. 4A, on the difficulty level selection screen 12, difficulty level display sections 13 indicating the difficulty level settings “LEVEL 1”, “LEVEL 2”, and “LEVEL 3” are displayed.
The difficulty level selection cursor 14 can be moved up and down on each difficulty level display unit 13 by operating the input button 70 (see FIG. 3) of the operation unit 6. In this regard, when the first input button 70A or the second input button 70B located on the upper stage of the operation unit 6 is operated, the difficulty level selection cursor 14 moves upward, and the fifth input button 70E located on the lower stage or When the sixth input button 70F is operated, the difficulty level selection cursor 14 moves downward.
When the determination button 71 (see FIG. 3) is operated with the difficulty level selection cursor 14 positioned on the desired difficulty level display unit 13, difficulty level setting data indicating the difficulty level setting of the current rhythm game is stored in the RAM 54. Stored in

Next, when the difficulty level setting is selected on the difficulty level selection screen 12, the process proceeds to the music selection process (S <b> 6), and the music selection screen 15 is displayed on the first liquid crystal display 3. Here, the music selection screen 15 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
The song selection screen 15 is selected by a playable song name display unit 16 that displays the names of songs that can be played, a song selection cursor 17 that can select any of the gameable song name display units 16, and the song selection cursor 17. The selected song name display unit 18 displays the song name of the selected song and the selected artist name display unit 19 displays the artist name of the song selected by the selection cursor.

  The game-possible song name display unit 16 indicates the titles of songs that can be played in the current rhythm game apparatus 1. Here, the gameable music displayed by the gameable music name display unit 16 is music stored in the HDD 55 described later (see FIGS. 9 and 10). Further, the stored music data is managed by the server 80 (see FIG. 13) and is sequentially updated. Therefore, the player can select and play from a plurality of music pieces including the latest music piece updated by the server 80.

  The song selection cursor 17 can be moved up and down and left and right on the playable song name display portion 16 by operating the input button 70. In addition, the selected song name display unit 18 and the selected artist name display unit 19 display the song name and artist name of the playable song name display unit 16 where the song selection cursor 17 is currently located. In this regard, the vertical movement of the music selection cursor 17 is performed by the same operation as that on the difficulty level selection screen 12 described above. Then, the movement of the music selection cursor 17 in the left-right direction is performed by operating the third input button 70C for the left movement and the fourth input button 70D for the right movement. Then, by operating the input button 70 and pressing the decision button 71 in a state where the song selection cursor 17 is positioned on the playable song name display unit 16 on which the song name of the desired song is displayed, the song to be played is decided. The

  Next, display contents during execution of the rhythm game will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 5A and 7A are schematic diagrams showing display contents displayed on the second liquid crystal display 4 during execution of the rhythm game. FIGS. 5B and 7B are It is the schematic diagram which showed the display content displayed on the 1st liquid crystal display 3 during a rhythm game execution.

  First, display contents during execution of a rhythm game will be described with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B show the first liquid crystal display 3 and the second liquid crystal display 4 when a rhythm game is started by selecting a song (a) sung by a male artist on the song selection screen 15. It is explanatory drawing which shows each display content. On the other hand, FIGS. 7A and 7B show the first liquid crystal display 3 and the second liquid crystal display 2 when the rhythm game is started by selecting a song (b) sung by a female artist on the song selection screen 15. It is explanatory drawing which shows each display content of the liquid crystal display.

As shown in FIG. 5A, when the game is started by selecting the music (a), the second liquid crystal display 4 displays the music of the male artist who sings the music (a) played through the speaker 8. A PV image 20 is displayed. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7A, when the game is started by selecting the music (b), the second liquid crystal display 4 sings the music (b) played through the speaker 8. The artist's PV video 20 is displayed.
As shown in FIGS. 5B and 7B, the first liquid crystal display 3 has a main game related to the progress of the rhythm game in parallel with the display of the PV video 20 on the second liquid crystal display 4. A screen 21 is displayed.

The main game screen 21 has an operation timing notifying unit 40 for notifying the player of an input button 70 to be operated and a timing for performing the operation to the player at the center thereof. The operation timing notification unit 40 notifies the player of the operation timing by performing a moving display of the timing marker 45 corresponding to each input button 70.
The operation timing notification unit 40 will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

On the other hand, various display units for providing game information to the player are formed around the operation timing notification unit 40 formed at the center of the main game screen 21.
That is, in addition to the operation timing notification unit 40, the main game screen 21 is associated with the lyrics display unit 22 that displays the lyrics of the phrase that is currently being played, and the lyrics that are displayed on the lyrics display unit 22, According to the marker identification display unit 23 that displays the input button 70 to be operated in accordance with the performance of the lyrics portion, the song number (stage number), and the number of phrases from the beginning of the song number, the performance of the song A music status display unit 25 that indicates the progress status, an input result display unit 26 that displays the correctness / incorrectness determination result of the player's operation, a score display unit 27 that displays the score (score) acquired by the player so far, and a current performance A music information display section 28 and the like for displaying the name and the music title of the artist who is playing are formed.

The lyrics display section 22 is a display section that displays the lyrics for one phrase of the currently played music. Therefore, since the player can visually recognize the lyrics displayed on the lyrics display section 22, the player can grasp what kind of content the artist who sings the song being played sings.
And the marker identification display part 23 is a display part on which the identification marker 23A corresponding to the timing marker 45 which shows the operation timing of each input button 70 is displayed. That is, in the marker identification display unit 23, the identification marker 23 </ b> A corresponding to the timing marker 45 at which the one character is the operation timing is directly below one certain character in one phrase displayed on the lyrics display unit 22. Is displayed. That is, while the lyrics for one phrase are sung, the identification marker 23 </ b> A for one phrase indicating the input button 70 to be operated is displayed on the marker identification display unit 23. Thereby, the player can grasp the operation order of each input button 70 in one phrase displayed on the lyrics display unit 22 by visually recognizing the marker identification display unit 23. Furthermore, it is possible to roughly understand that the sound generation timing of the character immediately above the identification marker 23A is the timing marker 45 indicated by the identification marker 23A, that is, the operation timing of the input button 70 associated with the timing marker 45.

In addition, the music status display unit 25 displays the number of the lyric phrase currently displayed on the lyrics display unit 22 and the number of the phrase counted from the beginning of the tune number. . For example, FIG. 5B shows that the 15th phrase of the first stage is currently displayed. FIG. 7B shows that the fifth phrase in the second stage is currently displayed.
Each time the input of one phrase is completed by the player, a phrase value 25A indicating the number of phrases is incremented by one. Every time one stage of input is completed, a stage value 25B indicating the number of stages (song number) is 1. It is added one by one. Thereby, it is possible to notify the player of the progress of the music being played.

The input result display unit 26 is a display unit that displays the result of the correctness determination of the input operation of the player. Based on the determination result of the input determination process (S28) described later, “PERFECT”, “GOOD”, and “MISS” Either one is displayed.
The score display unit 27 is a display unit that displays the score (score) acquired by the player so far. Here, the score (score) is added according to the determination results of “PERFECT”, “GOOD”, and “MISS”.
The song information display unit 28 displays the title of the song currently selected and the name of the artist that the player has selected at the start of the game.

  Here, the operation timing notification unit 40 that is formed in the center of the main game screen 21 and notifies the operation timing of the input button 70 to the player will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is an enlarged explanatory diagram of the operation timing notification unit 40 in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the operation timing notification unit 40 moves and displays the timing marker 45 as the music performance progresses, and moves and displays the timing marker 45 to a predetermined position as the operation timing arrives. The input button 70 to be operated and the operation timing thereof are notified to the player.
Here, the timing marker 45 is displayed in any one of six colors of “red”, “yellow”, “blue”, “green”, “orange”, and “purple” which are the emission colors of the input button 70. In the circle, a character display unit 46 for displaying lyrics that are pronounced at the operation timing of the timing marker 45 is formed (see FIG. 6). Therefore, the player can grasp the input button 70 to be operated from the display color of each timing marker 45, and can roughly grasp the operation timing of the input button 70 from one character displayed on the character display unit 46. .
In the present embodiment, the timing marker 45 displayed in “red” is the first timing marker 45R, and the first timing marker 45R indicates the operation timing of the input button 70 that emits light in “red”. Show. Similarly, the second timing marker 45G displayed in “green” indicates the operation timing of the input button 70 emitting light in “green”, and the third timing marker 45B displayed in “blue” is “blue”. The operation timing of the input button 70 emitting light is indicated. The fourth timing marker 45Y displayed in “yellow” is an input button 70 that emits light in “yellow”, and the fifth timing marker 45O that is displayed in “orange” is an input button that emits light in “orange”. 70, the sixth timing marker 45P displayed in “purple” indicates the operation timing of the input button 70 emitting light in “purple”.

The operation timing notification unit 40 is provided with an elliptical marker movement lane 42 indicating the movement path of the timing marker 45. The marker movement lane 42 has three lanes formed along the circumference of the ellipse, and the first marker movement lane 42A, the second marker movement lane 42B, They are arranged in the order of the third marker movement lane 42C. During the execution of the rhythm game, the timing marker 45 described above is displayed in any one of the first marker moving lane 42A to the third marker moving lane 42C, and runs on the marker moving lane 42 along the circumference of the ellipse. Displayed.
In the present embodiment, when a predetermined condition is satisfied and the number of marker moving lanes 42 is changed by a lane number changing process (S39) described later, the presence / absence of the first marker moving lane 42A is switched. This point will be described in detail later.

A button symbol 44 is displayed outside the third marker movement lane 42 </ b> C corresponding to the arrangement of the input buttons 70 arranged on the operation unit 6. That is, the operation timing notification unit 40 is arranged so as to form a hexagon by the six button symbols 44, similarly to the hexagonal arrangement of the input buttons 70 in the operation unit 6.
In the present embodiment, these six button symbols 44 are respectively the first button symbol 44A and the second button symbol 44B from the upper left side, the third button symbol 44C, the fourth button symbol 44D and the lower left side from the middle left side. To 5th button symbol 44E and 6th button symbol 44F.
Each button symbol 44 corresponds to the input button 70, and the display color is determined in conjunction with the emission color of the input button 70. That is, the first button symbol 44A is associated with the first input button 70A, and the second button symbol 44B is associated with the second input button 70B. Similarly, the third button symbol 44C and the third input button 70C, the fourth button symbol 44D and the fourth input button 70D, the fifth button symbol 44E and the fifth input button 70E, the sixth button symbol 44F and the sixth input button 70F. Are associated with each other.

  From each button symbol 44, a timing line 43 crossing each marker moving lane 42 extends toward the center of the ellipse of the marker moving lane 42. As shown in FIG. 6, the first timing line 43A to the sixth timing line 43F are associated with the first button symbol 44A to the sixth button symbol 44F, respectively. For example, a third timing line 43C extending from the third button symbol 44C toward the center of the ellipse of the marker movement lane 42 and crossing each marker movement lane 42 is associated with the third button symbol 44C. Then, the timing marker 45 on the marker movement lane 42 is moved and displayed on the timing line 43 extending from the button symbol 44 displayed in the same color as the display color, whereby the input button 70 emitting light in the same color. The operation timing is notified.

Next, the display mode of the operation timing notification unit 40 when the rhythm game is executed will be specifically described with reference to FIG. In this regard, in FIG. 6, since the operation timing notification unit 40 of the main game screen 21 shown in FIG. 5B is enlarged, the operation timing notification unit 40 has one phrase of the lyrics “I ’m not lost”. Such timing markers 45 are moved and displayed.
For example, the timing marker 45 associated with “M” of “I am no longer confused” is the second timing marker 45G in which “M” is displayed on the character display unit 46 and displayed in “Green”. Therefore, when the second timing marker 45G is displayed at a display start position defined in timing marker data described later, the second timing marker 45G is clockwise (hereinafter referred to as a positive direction) according to the movement direction data included in the timing marker data. The display is moved and displayed on the three-marker moving lane 42C at a predetermined moving speed. Then, at the timing when the male artist sings “mo”, the second timing marker 45G is displayed on the fifth timing line 43E extending from the fifth button symbol 44E displayed in “green”. Thus, it can be understood that the player only has to operate the fifth input button 70E that emits light of “green” at the timing when “mo” is sung.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, all of the timing markers 45 are not only those that move in the forward direction but also those that are moved and displayed counterclockwise (hereinafter referred to as the reverse direction).

When the second timing marker 45G related to “MO” is displayed on the timing line 43 extending from the fifth button symbol 44E, that is, the operation timing of the fifth input button 70E emitting “green” has arrived. At this point, the fifth button symbol 44E is displayed blinking.
As described above, the operation timing notification unit 40 displays the movement of the timing marker 45 and displays the timing marker 45 on the timing line 43 extending from the button symbol 44 associated with each input button 70, thereby enabling the player. The input button 70 to be operated and the operation timing of the input button 70 can be notified. In addition, since the corresponding button symbol 44 is blinked together with the timing marker 45 displayed on the timing line 43, the input button 70 to be operated from the button symbol 44 and the operation timing thereof are clearly notified to the player. be able to.

Next, the display content after the game ends will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing display contents displayed on the first liquid crystal display 3 after the game is over.
As shown in FIG. 8, when the rhythm game is ended, a game result screen 30 showing the game result of the rhythm game executed this time is displayed on the first liquid crystal display 3.
The game result screen 30 includes a score display section 31 that displays the total number of times for each input result (“PERFECT”, “GOOD”, “MISS”) in the current game, and an acquired score display section that displays the acquired score (score) 32 and a name input display unit 33 that prompts the player to input the name of the player who has played.
Then, by referring to the game result screen 30, the player can recognize the number of times of each input result in the current game and the acquired score (score). Moreover, the acquired score can be registered in the ranking by inputting an arbitrary name to the name input display unit 33 using the operation unit 6.

As shown in FIG. 13, the rhythm game apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is connected to a server 80 via a network N capable of bidirectional communication such as the Internet. Based on the data transmitted from the server 80, the music data stored in the HDD 55 (see FIG. 9) of the rhythm game apparatus 1 can be updated.
Therefore, it is possible to change the types of music that can be played by the rhythm game device 1 by updating the music data, and by managing the rhythm game devices installed in each game store in a lump. The data update work is also easy.

Next, the structure which concerns on the control system of the rhythm game apparatus 1 is demonstrated based on FIG. FIG. 9 is a block diagram schematically showing a control system of the rhythm game apparatus according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 9, the control system of the rhythm game apparatus 1 is electrically connected to the CPU 51 that controls various controls such as game processing operations in the rhythm game apparatus 1, the ROM 53 and the RAM 54 connected to the CPU 51, and the CPU 51. Peripheral device (actuator).

The CPU 51 is a central processing unit that performs arithmetic processing according to various commands. The I / O 52 is a connection unit that directly and indirectly electrically connects the first liquid crystal display 3, the second liquid crystal display 4, the operation unit 6, the lighting device 7, the speaker 8, the spotlight 11, and the like to the CPU 51. .
The ROM 53 is a nonvolatile read-only memory that stores a calculation program for operating a flowchart described later and various data tables (for example, a moving speed table described later). The RAM 54 is a memory that temporarily stores various data calculated by the CPU 51, and stores the total number of times of each player input result in the rhythm game, the score (score) acquired, the difficulty level setting, and the like. The
Also, in the RAM 54, data (for example, song lyrics data and identification marker data) used in the current game among a plurality of song data stored in the HDD 55 to be described later is divided in units of phrases and temporarily stored. Memorized.

The HDD 55 is a storage device that stores music data used when the rhythm game apparatus 1 executes a game. Here, the music data is composed of video data, performance data, audio data, lyrics data, identification marker data, determination reference data, timing marker data, button pattern data, lighting device emission pattern data, and expiration date data, and HDD 55. It is stored for each storage area of the music data storage area 56 formed inside (see FIG. 10).
Also, a plurality of pieces of music data are stored in the music data storage area 56 (a maximum of eight in this embodiment), and each piece of data stored based on the data transmitted from the server 80 as described above is stored. The music data is updated as needed. Then, the type of the song name displayed on the song selection screen 15 (see FIG. 4B) is changed based on the type of the song data stored in the song data storage area 56 and is selected on the song selection screen 15. A rhythm game is played based on music data corresponding to the music.

Here, the music data storage area 56 formed in the HDD 55 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a music data storage area.
As shown in FIG. 10, the music data storage area 56 of the rhythm game apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of storage areas (in the present embodiment, corresponding to the number of music data that can be stored (8 music in the present embodiment)). 1st storage area to 8th storage area), and for each storage area, video data storage area 56A, performance data storage area 56B, audio data storage area 56C, lyrics data storage area 56D, identification marker data storage area 56E, determination A reference data storage area 56F, a timing marker data storage area 56G, a button pattern data storage area 56H, a lighting device emission pattern data storage area 56I, and a time limit data storage area 56J are provided.

Here, each data storage area constituting the music data storage area 56 will be described. The video data storage area 56A is a storage area for storing video data related to the PV video 20 (see FIGS. 5A and 7A) among the music data. Accordingly, when the rhythm game is executed, the video data related to the PV video 20 is read from the video data storage area 56A and displayed on the second liquid crystal display 4.
The performance data storage area 56B is a storage area for storing performance data related to accompaniment by a musical instrument or the like output from the speaker 8 among the music data.
The sound data storage area 56 </ b> C is a storage area in which sound data related to the singing voice sung by the artist output from the speaker 8 is stored.
The lyric data storage area 56D is a storage area in which lyric data, which is document data of lyric of the music, is stored. As described above, at the time of executing the rhythm game, the lyrics data of the music is divided for each phrase and stored in the RAM 54. Then, along with the progress of the music, it is sequentially read from the RAM 54 in units of one phrase and displayed on the lyrics display unit 22 (FIGS. 5B, 7B, 23, 24, and 25 (A). )reference).

The identification marker data storage area 56E is a storage area in which identification marker data referred to when displaying the identification marker 23A on the marker identification display unit 23 is stored.
In the identification marker data, a single character of a lyric that is pronounced at a timing defined by the timing reference data is associated with a timing marker 45 indicating an input button 70 to be operated at the timing. Accordingly, the identification marker 23A indicating the associated timing marker 45 is displayed immediately below the one character corresponding to one character of the lyrics.
When the rhythm game is executed, the identification marker data is also divided for each phrase and stored in the RAM 54 in the same manner as the lyrics data. Then, along with the progress of the music, it is sequentially read from the RAM 54 in units of one phrase and displayed on the marker identification display unit 23 (FIG. 5B, FIG. 7B, FIG. 23, FIG. 24, FIG. 25). A)).

The determination reference data storage area 56F stores the determination reference data that is read out as a reference for correctness determination of the input button 70 and the correctness determination of the operation timing input by the player when the rhythm game is executed. It is an area.
The determination reference data defines the timing at which the input button 70 is to be operated, the timing reference data that is referred to when determining whether the operation timing is correct, and the timing marker 45 (first timing marker 45R displayed at each operation timing). To any one of the sixth timing marker 45P), and is composed of input reference data indicating the input button 70 to be operated (see FIG. 11).

Here, the determination reference data will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 11, taking the determination reference data in the case shown in FIG. 7B as an example.
The timing reference data is defined by the elapsed time from the start of the performance of the music, and is defined according to the pronunciation timing of one character constituting the lyrics of the artist who sings the music. Then, input reference data indicating the input button 70 to be operated is specified corresponding to the operation timing specified by the timing reference data.
For example, as shown in FIG. 11, timing markers 45 corresponding to “A”, “RI”, and “TO”, whose operation timings are defined by the timing reference data, are associated as input reference data. The second timing marker 45G is associated with the operation timing “A”, the fifth timing marker 45O is associated with the operation timing “RI”, and the third timing marker 45B is associated with the operation timing “TO”.
As described above, in the timing reference data, the timing marker 45 indicating the input button 70 to be operated is associated with each character for which the operation timing is defined. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether the operated input button 70 is correct based on the input reference data, and it is possible to determine the operation timing of the input button 70 based on the timing reference data.

The timing marker data storage area 56G is a storage area for storing timing marker data in which the display mode of the timing marker 45 moved and displayed on the operation timing notification unit 40 is defined. The timing marker data includes movement direction data indicating the movement direction of the timing marker 45 moved and displayed on the operation timing notification unit 40, and a display indicating a position where the display of the timing marker 45 on the operation timing notification unit 40 is started. It is composed of start position data and display start timing data indicating the timing at which the display of the timing marker 45 is started.
The moving direction data is data defining the moving direction (forward direction, reverse direction) of the timing marker 45 defined by the above-described input reference data, and as shown in FIG. 11, the timing marker 45 indicating each operation timing. For each of them, either “forward direction” or “reverse direction” is defined. Therefore, when the rhythm game is executed, the timing marker 45 is moved and displayed on the marker movement lane 42 in the forward direction or the reverse direction based on the movement direction data.

Then, the display start position data is a timing marker based on the lane data indicating “the marker moving lane 42 on which the timing marker 45 is moved and displayed” and the line data indicating “the timing line 43 on which the timing marker 45 is displayed”. 45 display start positions are defined.
The aforementioned lane data includes the first lane data indicating the position of the timing marker 45 when the first marker moving lane 42A to the third marker moving lane 42C are used, the second marker moving lane 42B, and the third marker moving lane 42C. There are two types of second lane data indicating the position of the timing marker 45 when only two of these are used.

  Here, in the rhythm game device 1 according to the present embodiment, when the difficulty level setting is “LEVEL 1” and a predetermined condition is satisfied, a lane number changing process (S39) described later is executed, and the timing marker 45 is The number of marker moving lanes 42 that are moved and displayed is changed to two or three. That is, in the lane number changing process (S39), whether or not to use the first marker moving lane 42A is determined on the condition that a predetermined condition is satisfied.

In this regard, as shown in FIG. 11, in the first lane data, one of the marker moving lanes 42A to 42C of the first marker moving lane 42A to the third marker moving lane 42C is defined for each of the timing markers 45. In the case of the second lane data, either the second marker moving lane 42B or the third marker moving lane 42C is defined for the timing marker 45.
That is, the timing marker 45 in which the first marker moving lane 42A is defined in the first lane data is defined as either the second marker moving lane 42B or the third marker moving lane 42C in the second lane data. For example, in the third timing marker 45B according to “to” in FIG. 11, “first marker moving lane 42A” is defined in the first lane data, but “third marker moving” is defined in the second lane data. Lane 42C "is defined.

When the number of marker moving lanes 42 is three by the lane number changing process (S39), the display start position of the timing marker 45 is determined based on the line data and the first lane data, and the timing marker 45 is displayed on the timing line 43 indicated by the line data in the marker moving lane indicated by the first lane data.
On the other hand, when the number of marker movement lanes 42 is two, the display start position of the timing marker 45 is determined based on the line data and the second lane data. At this time, the timing marker 45 in which the “first marker moving lane 42A” is defined in the first lane data is on the same timing line 43 and the marker moving lane 42 (first Any one of the two marker moving lanes 42B and the third marker moving lane 42C).
As a result, even if the number of marker moving lanes 42 is changed by the lane number changing process (S39), a similar rhythm game can be performed.

The display start timing data is data defining the timing at which the timing marker 45 is displayed on the operation timing notification unit 40. In the present embodiment, the first display start timing data and the second display start timing data are used. It is comprised from these two types. The display start timing data is defined by the elapsed time from the start of the music performance as in the above-described timing reference data. As shown in FIG. 11, the second display start timing data is the first display start timing. It is defined by the time when the music performance has progressed rather than the time indicated by the data.
Note that the timing marker 45 reaches the specified timing line 43 with the arrival of the operation timing specified in the timing reference data, and is erased from the operation timing notification unit 40.

Accordingly, a certain timing marker is displayed on the operation timing notification unit 40 during the period from the time specified in the display start timing data to the operation timing specified in the timing reference data. That is, when the second display start timing data in which the time at which the music performance has progressed is defined as the display start timing is used as compared with the first display start timing data, the time from the display start to the operation timing is shortened. The period during which the timing marker 45 is displayed on the operation timing notification unit 40 is shortened.
As a result, by properly using the first display start timing data and the second display start timing data as the display start timing data, the display period in which the timing marker 45 is displayed on the operation timing notification unit 40 can be changed. Become.

The button pattern data storage area 56H is a storage area for storing button pattern data referred to when the rhythm game is executed.
The button pattern data includes a color arrangement pattern of the emission color of each input button 70 (first input button 70A to sixth input button 70F) and the display color of each button symbol 44 (first button symbol 44A to sixth button symbol 44F). It is data that prescribes.

The button pattern data will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of button pattern data relating to a song (b) sung by a female artist. In this respect, each music data has a button pattern indicating a plurality of color schemes as button pattern data. If the rhythm game is executed with the difficulty level setting “LEVEL 3” and a predetermined condition is satisfied, the setting is made. The button pattern is changed, and the rhythm game can be executed in a different manner.
As shown in FIG. 12, the button pattern data relating to the music (b) includes a button pattern whose emission color is defined for each of the first input button 70A to the sixth input button 70F as “button pattern (1)”. ”,“ Button pattern (2) ”,“ button pattern (3) ”, and so on. Since each of these button patterns defines a different color arrangement pattern, the emission color of the input button 70 and the display color of each button symbol 44 can be displayed in different color arrangement patterns by changing the button pattern setting. .
The button pattern data is used when determining whether or not the input operation of the input button 70 defined by the input reference data has been performed or when determining the moving speed of the timing marker 45 when the rhythm game is executed. It is referred to which button pattern is used in the button pattern data.

  It should be noted that the button pattern data of each song includes a button pattern with a color scheme common to each song (for example, the button pattern (1) in FIG. 12). use. Thereby, even if the player is a beginner, even if the rhythm game is executed with different music, the button pattern does not differ at least immediately after the game starts, and the beginner can be prevented from being confused by the operation.

The lighting device light emission pattern data storage area 56I is a storage area in which lighting device light emission pattern data for causing the lighting device 7 to emit light is stored in the music data.
In the rhythm game device 1 according to the present embodiment, the pair of lighting devices 7 is controlled by the light emission control circuit 62 during the game based on the stored lighting device light emission pattern data. ) To control light emission.

  The term data storage area 56J is a storage region in which the term data relating to the term of use of the song data is stored in the music data, and the term data is the date when the song data can be used (use start date). And the date data on which the music data becomes unusable (use end date). This expiration date data is used for managing the expiration date of each piece of music data together with the timer 58 (see FIG. 9), and is controlled by the CPU 51 so that a rhythm game using the song data whose expiration date has passed cannot be played.

Here, returning to FIG. 9, the control system of the rhythm game apparatus 1 will be described.
The game communication means 57 converts the signal sent out by the rhythm game apparatus 1 into a signal in a transmittable format according to the communication format such as a telephone line or a LAN cable, and transmits the signal to the server 80 and transmitted from the server 80. This is a device that receives the received signal and converts it again into a signal in a format that can be read by the rhythm game apparatus 1. The game communication means 57 is connected to the server communication means 81 of the server 80 via a network N capable of bidirectional communication such as the Internet (see FIG. 13).

  Further, a timer 58 is connected to the CPU 51. The information of the timer 58 is transmitted to the CPU 51, and the CPU 51 manages the expiration date of the stored music data from the information of the timer 58 and the expiration date data stored in the expiration date data storage area 56J of the HDD 55.

The display control circuit 60 is connected to the CPU 51 via the I / O 52, and controls the display contents of the first liquid crystal display 3 and the second liquid crystal display 4 in accordance with the calculation processing result of the CPU 51. is there. Here, the display control circuit 60 includes a program ROM, an image ROM, an image control CPU, a work RAM, a VDP (video display processor), a video RAM, and the like.
The program ROM stores an image control program related to display on the first liquid crystal display 3 and the second liquid crystal display 4 and various selection tables. A game screen display control processing program (see FIG. 19), which will be described later, is also stored in this program ROM. Further, the image ROM stores dot data for forming images such as a song selection screen 15 and a main game screen 21 (see FIGS. 4 to 8) displayed on the first liquid crystal display 3, for example. .
Then, based on the parameters set by the CPU 51, the image control CPU follows the image control program stored in advance in the program ROM, and selects the first liquid crystal display 3 and the second liquid crystal from among the dot data stored in advance in the image ROM. The image displayed on the liquid crystal display 4 is determined. The VDP forms an image corresponding to the display content determined by the image control CPU and outputs the image to the first liquid crystal display 3 and the second liquid crystal display 4.

Thereby, for example, in the standby state, a demonstration screen including PV, advertisements, ranking list, etc. of an arbitrary song is displayed, and after a coin is inserted into the coin insertion slot 9, a song is displayed on the first liquid crystal display 3. The selection screen 15 is displayed.
When the rhythm game device 1 executes the rhythm game, the lyric data and the identification marker data constituting the music data are displayed on the first liquid crystal display 3 for each phrase, and on the operation timing notification unit 40. The timing marker 45 is moved and displayed. The second liquid crystal display 4 displays PV, which is video data constituting the music data.
In this regard, image control related to the first liquid crystal display 3 when the rhythm game is executed will be described in detail later.

  The sound control circuit 61 is connected to the CPU 51 via the I / O 52 and is also connected to the speaker 8. Then, when the game is executed and the music data stored in the music data storage area 56 of the HDD 55 is read, the performance data and audio data constituting the music data are converted into a sound signal by the sound control circuit 61, and the speaker. 8 is output.

The light emission control circuit 62 is connected to the CPU 51 via the I / O 52 and is also connected to the lighting device 7 and the full-color LED 155 (see FIG. 9) disposed inside each input button 70. Therefore, when the music data stored in the music data storage area 56 of the HDD 55 is read by the CPU 51, the light emission control circuit 62 changes the light emission mode of the lighting device 7 based on the lighting device light emission pattern data constituting the music data. Control.
In addition, when the rhythm game is executed, the light emission control circuit 62 controls the light emission color of the full color LED 155 of each input button 70 based on the button pattern data constituting the music data, and is further defined in the criterion data. Based on the arrival of the operation timing, control related to the lighting mode such as blinking lighting of the full color LED 155 of each input button 70 is performed.

The operation unit 6 is connected to the CPU 51. A button switch 159 provided inside each input button 70 provided in the operation unit 6 transmits that the button cover member 153 has been pressed as an electrical signal flowing through the switch circuit board 151. The CPU 51 detects a switch signal output from each button switch 159 when each input button 70 is pressed, and performs control related to various operations corresponding to each input button 70.
In this regard, the determination button 71 similarly outputs a switch signal based on the pressing operation of the determination button 71, and the CPU 51 performs control related to the corresponding operation based on the switch signal.

  The coin sensor 63 is a sensor that detects a coin (for example, a 100 yen coin) that is used as a price for executing the rhythm game in the rhythm game apparatus 1. The coin sensor 63 is disposed inside the coin insertion slot 9 and is connected to the CPU 51 via the I / O 52. Accordingly, the coin sensor 63 transmits a coin insertion signal to the CPU 51 based on the insertion of the coin from the coin insertion slot 9. Then, the CPU 51 can execute the game by detecting a coin insertion signal corresponding to a predetermined amount (for example, 200 yen).

  The card sensor 64 is a sensor that detects whether or not an IC card is inserted into the card insertion slot 10, and the card reader / writer 65 reads / reads data from / to an IC tag disposed on the IC card. It is a device that performs writing. The card sensor 64 and the card reader / writer 65 are both disposed inside the card insertion slot 10 and connected to the CPU 51 via the I / O 52.

  The spotlight control circuit 66 is connected to the CPU 51 and the spotlight 11 via the I / O 52. And the spotlight control circuit 66 controls the light emission mode of the spotlight 11 based on the command of the CPU 51.

  Further, the CPU 51 is connected with a control timer 59 capable of timing in units of 1/10 second. The control timer 59 is a time measuring device used when executing various control programs described later. In the present embodiment, in particular, timing is started when the execution of the rhythm game is started, and it is referred to when determining whether the operation timing in the rhythm game is correct or not and when the timing marker 45 is displayed.

Next, the main control program of the rhythm game apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 14 is a flowchart of the main control program of the rhythm game apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment.
14 to 17 are stored in the ROM 53 and RAM 54 provided in the rhythm game apparatus 1 and executed by the CPU 51.

As shown in FIG. 14, first, in S <b> 1, the CPU 51 determines whether an IC card is inserted into the card insertion slot 10 based on a detection signal from the card sensor 64.
If it is determined that an IC card is inserted (S1: YES), it is determined in S2 whether or not a data content confirmation request has been received from the player. On the other hand, if it is determined that the IC card is not inserted (S1: NO), the process proceeds to S4.

Here, in the rhythm game device 1 according to the present embodiment, a predetermined operation (for example, the fourth input button 70D and the determination button) is performed in a state where the IC card is inserted into the card insertion slot 10 before the coin is inserted. 71), a list of game results recorded on the IC card is displayed on the first liquid crystal display 3. As a result, the player can check the history of his game results.
Therefore, in the determination of S2, it is determined whether or not a predetermined operation has been performed based on the operation signal from the operation unit 6. If it is determined that a predetermined operation has been performed (S2: YES), the data of the IC tag built in the IC card is read by the card reader / writer 65, and the first liquid crystal display 3 is read based on the read data. A list of game results is displayed (S3).

In S4, a start acceptance process is performed. Specifically, in the start acceptance process, it is determined whether or not a coin (100 yen coin or the like) has been inserted into the coin insertion slot 9 by a predetermined amount (200 yen in this embodiment). Until a predetermined amount of coins is inserted, the apparatus stands by in a standby state in which a demo play game screen, a PV of an arbitrary music, a promotion screen, a demo screen including a list of score rankings, and the like are displayed on the display.
When a predetermined amount of coins is inserted and the start acceptance process (S4) ends, the process proceeds to a difficulty level selection process (S5).

In the difficulty level selection process (S5), a process of selecting and setting the difficulty level of the rhythm game to be executed this time is performed. That is, the difficulty level selection screen 12 is displayed on the first liquid crystal display 3, and the player selects an arbitrary setting from the difficulty level settings “LEVEL 1” to “LEVEL 3” described above. Accordingly, the player can select an arbitrary difficulty level from the three levels of difficulty. That is, the range of game selection is widened, and various rhythm games can be played, so that the player does not get bored with the game.
The difficulty level selection process is already known and will not be described in detail.

  Subsequently, in S6, a music selection process for selecting music to be used for the current rhythm game is performed. In the music selection process, the music selection screen 15 (see FIG. 4B) is displayed on the first liquid crystal display 3 based on the type of music data stored in the music data storage area 56 of the HDD 55 as will be described later. Set the music to be used in this game. The music selection process (S6) is also a well-known process and will not be described in detail.

And if the music used by this rhythm game is determined by music selection processing (S6), CPU51 will perform rhythm game execution processing (S7). In the rhythm game execution process (S7), the music selected in the music selection process (S6) is played, and the input result of each input button 70 is displayed with the difficulty level setting selected in the difficulty level selection process (S5). Based on this, a rhythm game in which points are added is performed. The rhythm game is continuously executed until a predetermined end condition is satisfied. When the predetermined end condition is satisfied, the rhythm game execution process (S7) is ended, and the process proceeds to S8.
Since the rhythm game execution process (S7) will be described in detail later with reference to the drawings, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  In S8, a game result display process for displaying the game result screen 30 (see FIG. 8) on the first liquid crystal display 3 is performed based on the game result executed in the rhythm game execution process (S7). After completing the game result display process (S8), the process proceeds to S9.

In S <b> 9, the CPU 51 determines whether or not an IC card is inserted into the card insertion slot 10 based on a detection signal from the card sensor 64. If it is determined that the IC card is inserted (S9: YES), the results (total number of times of each input result, score obtained (score)) in the current rhythm game stored in the RAM 54 are The data is written into the IC tags built in the IC cards by the card reader / writer 65 (S10). After writing the data relating to the results to the IC tag, the main control program is terminated.
On the other hand, if it is determined that the IC card is not inserted (S9: NO), the main control program is terminated as it is.
The data written in S10 can be referred to by the data content display process (S3) at the next game.

Next, each process constituting the main control program will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
First, the rhythm game execution processing program executed in the rhythm game execution processing (S7) in the main control program will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 15 and 16 are flowcharts of the rhythm game execution processing program according to the present embodiment.

When the difficulty level selection process (S5) and the music selection process (S6) determine the difficulty level for the rhythm game and the music to be used, the process proceeds to the rhythm game execution process (S7), and the selected music is used for selection. A rhythm game based on the set difficulty level is executed.
When the process proceeds to the rhythm game execution process (S7), first, in S21, the CPU 51 executes the initial setting of the rhythm game and selects music from each storage area (see FIG. 10) of the music data storage area 56 of the HDD 55. Music data corresponding to the selection result of the process (S6) is read. Here, the initial setting includes the setting of “button pattern (1)” which is the initial setting of the button pattern, the display start timing of the timing marker 45 as “first display start timing data”, and the lane data as “first lane”. Setting to “Data” is included.
At this time, the lyrics data stored in the lyrics data storage area 56D and the identification marker data stored in the identification marker data storage area 56E are divided into phrases and temporarily stored in the RAM 54. Then, the difficulty level setting (any one of “LEVEL 1”, “LEVEL 2”, and “LEVEL 3”) stored in the RAM 54 is read, and the difficulty level in the current rhythm game is set.
In the rhythm game apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the first stage of music is assumed to be started in the state of “LEVEL 1” regardless of the difficulty level setting. That is, in any of the music pieces, in the first stage, the three marker movement lanes 42 of the first marker movement lane 42A to the third marker movement lane 42C are displayed by the initial setting. Then, the timing marker 45 is displayed at the display start timing based on the first display start timing data at the display start position based on the first lane data, and the button pattern is also a button pattern common to each musical piece (for example, the button pattern in FIG. 12). (1)).

  Next, in S <b> 22, the CPU 51 transmits a display command to the display control circuit 60 in order to display the main game screen 21 (see FIG. 5B and FIG. 7B) on the first liquid crystal display 3. At this time, the lyrics and the identification marker 23A are not displayed on the lyrics display unit 22 and the marker identification display unit 23, and the score and score display of the score display unit 27 are also "0". Furthermore, although the operation timing notification unit 40 is displayed on the main game screen 21, the timing marker 45 is not yet displayed.

Subsequently, in S23, the CPU 51 reads the video data stored in the video data storage area 56A, and starts displaying the PV video 20 on the second liquid crystal display 4 (see FIGS. 5A and 7A). ). Also, accompaniment music and sound are output via the speaker 8 based on the performance data stored in the performance data storage area 56B and the sound data stored in the sound data storage area 56C. As a result, the music is played and the PV video 20 is reproduced accordingly.
At this time, the timing of the control timer 59 is started together with the start of the performance, and the display of the timing marker 45 is started on the operation timing notification unit 40 based on the determination reference data and the timing marker data. The display control related to the main game screen 21 during execution of the rhythm game will be described in detail later with reference to the drawings.

  Next, in S24, the CPU 51 acquires one phrase each of the lyrics data and the identification marker data stored in the RAM 54. Then, in accordance with the tempo at which the music is played, the lyric display unit 22 displays the corresponding one-phrase lyric data, and displays the corresponding one-phrase identification marker 23A on the marker identification display unit 23. A display command is transmitted to the control circuit 60.

Thereafter, the CPU 51 calculates the number of identification markers 23A constituting the acquired identification marker data for one phrase, that is, the number y of timing markers 45 existing within a period during which one phrase of the lyrics data is sung (S25). ), 0 is substituted into an arbitrary variable x stored in the RAM 54 (S26).
Here, an arbitrary variable x is a variable used for input determination at the operation unit 6 with respect to the timing marker 45 within a period in which the music for one phrase is reproduced, and the input determination for one timing marker 45 is completed. Each time it is added, 1 is added (S32). Therefore, in each input determination process repeatedly performed in the following S27 to S33, when x = t (0 ≦ t ≦ y−1), the input determination of the timing marker 45 located at the t + 1th position from the beginning of one phrase is performed. Will be done.

  In S <b> 27, the CPU 51 determines whether or not an input operation of the input button 70 has been performed based on an operation signal from the input button 70. When it is determined that the input button 70 has been input (S27: YES), the control timer 59 is referred to, and input timing data indicating the operation timing of the input button 70 is stored in the RAM 54. Thereafter, the type of the input button 70 that is pressed (any one of the first input button 70A to the sixth input button 70F) and the input reference data stored in the determination reference data storage area 56F with the input timing data as the determination target Based on the current button pattern, an input determination process for the input of the input button 70 is performed (S28).

Here, the input determination processing program executed in the input determination processing (S28) will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 17 is a flowchart of the input determination processing program.
In the rhythm game execution process (S7), when the process proceeds to the input determination process (S28), the CPU 51 first executes an input button determination process (S51) for determining the emission color of the input button 70 that has been input.
In the input button determination process (S51), first, the CPU 51 selects one of the first input button 70A to the sixth input button 70F based on a switch signal transmitted from the button switch 159 of the input button 70 operated by the player. Which input button 70 is operated is specified.
When the input button 70 that has been input is specified, the CPU 51 acquires the currently used button pattern (for example, “button pattern (1)”) based on the button pattern data (see FIG. 12). Which of the six colors of “red”, “yellow”, “blue”, “green”, “orange”, and “purple” the input button 70 inputted from the button pattern emits light. Identify.

After identifying the light emission color of the operated input button 70 by the input button determination process (S51), the CPU 51 defines the input light emission color of the input button 70 as the input reference data constituting the determination reference data in S52. It is determined whether or not the displayed color of the timing marker 45 matches. This makes it possible to determine whether or not a correct input button has been input. That is, the CPU 51 determines that the correct input button 70 has been operated when the light emission color of the operated input button 70 and the display color of the timing marker 45 defined in the determination reference data are the same color, and the different colors If it is, it is determined that an incorrect input button 70 has been input.
When the correct input button 70 is input (S52: YES), the process proceeds to S53. On the other hand, if an incorrect input button 70 is input (S52: NO), the process proceeds to S54, the number of misses stored in the RAM 54 is read, "1" is added, and then stored again. After adding 1 to the number of misses (S54), the input determination process (S28) is terminated, and the process returns to the rhythm game execution process (S7).

In S53, the CPU 51 determines whether the operation timing of the input button 70 is correct based on the timing reference data. Specifically, the CPU 51 reads the input timing data stored in the RAM 54 and the operation timing specified by the timing reference data, and makes a determination based on whether the input timing data and the operation timing match. Do.
When the input operation of the input button 70 is performed at the correct timing (S53: YES), “input result: PERFECT” is stored in the RAM 54 as an input determination result, and the total number of input results is “1”. "Is added (S56). After the input result is stored in the RAM 54, the input determination process (S28) is terminated, and the process returns to the rhythm game execution process (S7). On the other hand, when the input timing data and the operation timing do not match and it is determined that the input operation of the input button 70 is not performed at the correct timing (S53: NO), “input result: GOOD” is input determination result. Is stored in the RAM 54, and "1" is added to the total number of the input results (S55). After the input result is stored in the RAM 54, the input determination process (S28) is terminated, and the process returns to the rhythm game execution process (S7).
Thus, after performing the input determination process (S28) with respect to the input of the input button 70, it transfers to S31.

Here, returning to FIG. 15 again, the rhythm game execution processing program will be described. If it is determined in S27 that the input button 70 has not been input (S27: NO), whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed is determined based on the information of the control timer 59 (S29).
The predetermined time is a time determined based on the timing reference data that constitutes the determination reference data stored in the determination reference data storage area 56F, and is the time from the immediately preceding operation timing to the operation timing. Become. For example, in the case of FIG. 11, the predetermined time related to “RI” of “thank you” that is one phrase of the lyrics is from the operation timing (185.5 (s)) related to “A” that is the operation timing immediately before that. , The time until the operation timing (186.5 (s)) related to the “ri”.
And when it determines with predetermined time not having passed (S29: NO), it returns to the determination process of S27. On the other hand, if it is determined that the predetermined time has passed (S29: YES), the operation timing related to the lyrics has passed, and during that time, the player has not input the input button 70. As having missed the timing, 1 is added to the number of misses in the current game stored in the RAM 54 (S30).

  In S31, a score calculation process is performed based on the determination result of the input determination process (S28). In the score calculation process (S31), the score (score) of the player in the current game stored in the RAM 54 is added.

In S32, the variable x stored in the RAM 54 is read, "+1" is added, and the variable x is stored again. Subsequently, in S33, it is determined whether or not the value of the variable x has reached y-1, that is, whether or not the input determination for all the timing markers 45 within the period during which one phrase is reproduced has been completed.
When it is determined that the value of the variable x has not reached y−1 (S33: NO), the process returns to S27 again, and the timing positioned in the next order among the timing markers 45 constituting one phrase. Input determination of the marker 45 is performed. On the other hand, when it is determined that the value of the variable x has reached y−1 (S33: YES), input of all the timing markers 45 existing within the period during which one phrase is reproduced is completed. Therefore, the process proceeds to S34.

Then, as shown in FIG. 16, in S34, the CPU 51 sets the stage corresponding to any one of the plurality of song numbers (usually one song is composed of No. 1 to 3) constituting the song. It is determined whether or not the input determination for the timing marker 45 has been completed. If it is determined that the input determination of all the timing markers 45 for one stage has not been completed (S34: NO), the process returns to S24, and the lyrics data and identification marker data of the next phrase are read from the RAM 54. The display command related to the phrase is acquired and transmitted to the display control circuit 60. Thereby, the character string corresponding to the lyrics of the next phrase is displayed on the lyrics display unit 22, and the identification marker 23 </ b> A corresponding to the next phrase is displayed on the marker identification display unit 23.
On the other hand, if it is determined that the input determination for all phrases for one stage has been completed (S34: YES), whether or not the input determination for the timing markers 45 for all stages (all songs in the music) has been completed. Is determined (S35).

If it is determined that all stages have been completed (S35: YES), the rhythm game execution process (S7) is terminated and the process returns to the main control program. On the other hand, if it is determined that all the stages have not been completed (S35: NO), whether or not the number of mistakes of the player up to the present added in the input determination process (S28) or S30 is less than a predetermined number. Is determined (S36). If it is determined that the number of player mistakes stored in the RAM 54 is less than the predetermined number (S36: YES), the process proceeds to S37. On the other hand, if it is determined that the number of mistakes by the player is equal to or greater than the predetermined number (S36: NO), the rhythm game execution process (S7) is terminated and the process returns to the main control program.
As described above, the rhythm game apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of stages according to the number of music numbers of the music to be played back, and relates to the next music number when one stage is completed. In order to continue the stage, it is a condition that the number of misses from the start of the game is less than a predetermined number (for example, to continue the second after playing the portion corresponding to the first) The number of misses is less than 20 times, and after playing the part corresponding to No. 2, the number of mistakes is less than 35 in order to continue No. 3).

  In S <b> 37, the CPU 51 reads the difficulty level setting data from the RAM 54 and determines whether the difficulty level setting is “LEVEL 1”. If the difficulty level setting is “LEVEL1” (S37: YES), the process proceeds to the lane number changing process (S39). On the other hand, when the difficulty level setting is “LEVEL2” or “LEVEL3” (S37: NO), the process proceeds to S38, and the display period changing process is performed.

The display period changing process (S38) is a process for changing the display period of the timing marker 45 displayed by the operation timing notification unit 40 by changing the setting of the display start timing data when the rhythm game is executed. . That is, when the input determination result in one stage is good (for example, the ratio of “Perfect” in one stage is 50% or more), the state of the difficulty level setting “LEVEL 1” (that is, the first display start timing data) The rhythm game at the display start timing based on this is changed to a setting using the second display start timing data with a short display period. After completing the display period changing process (S38), the CPU 51 proceeds to S40.
As a result, the period during which one timing marker 45 is displayed is shortened, so that the player is required to react immediately to the display of the timing marker 45 and input the input button 70.

On the other hand, in S39, which shifts to the difficulty level setting “LEVEL1” (S37: YES), a lane number changing process for changing the number of marker moving lanes 42 is performed based on whether or not a predetermined condition is satisfied. . Here, the predetermined condition is a condition based on the quality of the input determination result in one stage as in the above-described display period changing process (S38), and when the result is good (eg, “Perfect” in one stage) Is 50% or more), the three marker movement lanes 42 of the first marker movement lane 42A to the third marker movement lane 42C are used. On the other hand, when the favorable results cannot be achieved (for example, the ratio of “Perfect” in one stage is less than 50%), the first marker moving lane 42A is not used, the second marker moving lane 42B, Two marker moving lanes 42 of the three marker moving lanes 42C are used.
When the number of marker movement lanes 42 in the next one stage is determined based on the quality of the input determination result, the CPU 51 determines lane data (first lane data, second lane data) corresponding to the determined number of lanes. ) Is set. At this time, the CPU 51 transmits a signal related to the determined number of lanes to the display control circuit 60.
Thereby, the display mode of the operation timing notification unit 40 is changed to a mode corresponding to the result of the lane number change process, and a rhythm game in which the number of marker moving lanes 42 is different can be performed.

The number of marker moving lanes 42 that the player must visually recognize is changed by executing the lane number changing process (S39) and changing the number of marker moving lanes 42 on which the timing marker 45 is moved and displayed. To do. That is, the difficulty level of the rhythm game can be adjusted. That is, by executing the lane number changing process (S39), the marker moving lane 42 that the player must visually recognize in the rhythm game with the difficulty level setting “LEVEL1” cannot perform well. Reduce the number of. Thereby, the player can acquire information necessary for the progress of the rhythm game by visually recognizing the two of the second marker moving lane 42B and the third marker moving lane 42C, and the place that needs to be visually recognized. Therefore, even a so-called beginner can enjoy a rhythm game.
When the lane number changing process (S39) ends, the process returns to S24 as it is, and the lyric data and identification marker data corresponding to the first phrase of the next song number are acquired from the RAM 54. Then, a character string corresponding to the acquired lyrics is displayed on the lyrics display unit 22, and a display command is transmitted to the display control circuit 60 in order to display the identification marker 23 </ b> A corresponding to the lyrics on the marker identification display unit 23. After that, the input determination process for the next music number is performed in the same manner as described above.

  In S <b> 40, the CPU 51 determines whether or not the currently executed rhythm game has the difficulty level setting “LEVEL 3”. At this time, the CPU 51 reads the difficulty level setting data stored in the RAM 54 and determines whether or not the difficulty level setting is “LEVEL 3”. If it is not the difficulty level setting “LEVEL3” (S40: NO), the process returns to S24 as it is. On the other hand, when the difficulty level setting is “LEVEL3” (S40: YES), the process proceeds to S41, and button position change processing is performed.

  In the button position changing process (S41), a process of changing the color arrangement pattern of the emission color of each input button 70 (first input button 70A to sixth input button 70F) and the display color of the button symbol 44 is performed. As described above, since a plurality of button patterns are defined in the button pattern data storage area 56H (see FIG. 12), a button pattern is randomly selected from the plurality of patterns. As a result, the color arrangement pattern of the light emission color of each input button 70 and the display color of the button symbol 44 is changed (see FIGS. 25A and 25B).

  After the button pattern is changed by the button position changing process (S41), the process returns to S24 as it is, and the lyric data and the identification marker data corresponding to the first phrase of the next song number are obtained from the RAM 54, and the character string corresponding to the lyrics. Is displayed on the lyric display unit 22, and an identification marker 23A corresponding to the lyric is displayed on the marker identification display unit 23. Then, input determination processing is performed in the same manner.

Next, an LED light emission control program that starts when the rhythm game execution process (S7) is started and performs light emission control of the full color LED 155 provided in each of the first input button 70A to the sixth input button 70F is illustrated in the drawing. Details will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 18 is a flowchart of the LED light emission control program.
When the rhythm game execution process (S7) is started in the CPU 51, the light emission control circuit 62 executes the LED light emission control program.

First, when the rhythm game execution process (S7) is started, the CPU 51 reads the “button pattern (1)” which is the initial setting from the button pattern data storage area 56H, and controls the emission of the “button pattern (1)”. Transmit to circuit 62.
Accordingly, in S61, the light emission control circuit 62 causes the full color LEDs 155 of the input buttons 70 to emit light with a color scheme based on the “button pattern (1)”. That is, at this time, the first input button 70A is “red”, the second input button 70B is “orange”, the third input button 70C is “yellow”, the fourth input button 70D is “blue”, and the fifth input button 70E. Is “green” and the sixth input button 70F is “purple” to cause the full color LED 155 to emit light (see FIG. 3).

Subsequently, in S62, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed in correspondence with the process of S29 in the rhythm game execution process (S7). That is, it is determined whether or not the operation timing specified in the timing reference data has elapsed.
If the CPU 51 determines in S29 of the rhythm game execution process (S7) that the predetermined time has elapsed (S29: YES), the CPU 51 continues the rhythm game execution process program and also sends the light emission control circuit 62 to the light emission control circuit 62. Then, a signal indicating that “the predetermined time has elapsed” is transmitted. Thereby, in S62, the light emission control circuit 62 determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed based on whether or not the signal is received.
If the predetermined time has elapsed and the operation timing has been reached (S62: YES), the light emission control circuit 62 is disposed on the input button 70 corresponding to the input reference data, that is, the input button 70 to be operated by the player. The full-color LED 155 that has been turned on flashes (S63). Then, after the full color LED 155 of the input button 70 is caused to blink, the process proceeds to S64. On the other hand, if the predetermined time has not elapsed and the operation timing has not been reached (S62: NO), the process returns to S62, and the full-color LED 155 disposed on each input button 70 is currently displayed until the operation timing comes. The light emission color based on the button pattern is continuously emitted.
By performing the process of S62, when the operation timing comes during execution of the rhythm game, the full color LED 155 of the input button 70 to be operated at the operation timing is flashed. As a result, the player can visually grasp the input button 70 to be operated and the operation timing thereof with the operation unit 6. And since the correct input button and its operation timing can be notified to a novice player who often sees the hand, the skill of the novice player can be improved.

In S64, the light emission control circuit 62 determines whether or not the button pattern has been changed. Here, the CPU 51 executes a button position change process (S41), and when the button pattern is changed, transmits a button pattern change signal indicating the changed button pattern to the light emission control circuit 62. Therefore, the light emission control circuit 62 makes a determination in S64 based on whether or not this button pattern change signal has been received.
When the button pattern is changed (S64: YES), the light emission color of the full color LED 155 disposed in each input button 70 is changed based on the changed button pattern indicated by the button pattern change signal (S65). ). Thereby, as shown in FIG. 25B, the emission color of each input button 70 is changed.
Based on the result of the button position change process (S40) in the rhythm game execution process (S7), after changing the emission color of the full color LED 155, the process proceeds to S66.
On the other hand, if the button pattern has not been changed (S64: NO), the process proceeds to S66 as it is.

  In S66, a determination is made as to whether or not one game of the rhythm game (that is, one piece of music) has been completed. That is, the light emission control circuit 62 makes a determination relating to S66 based on whether the CPU 51 ends the rhythm game execution process (S7) and shifts to the game result display process (S8). When the rhythm game execution process (S7) is finished (S66: YES), the execution of the LED light emission control program is finished. On the other hand, when the rhythm game execution process (S7) is continuously executed (S66: NO), the process returns to S62 again.

  As described above, when the operation timing comes by executing the LED light emission control program in the light emission control circuit 62 during the execution of the rhythm game execution process (S7), the input button 70 to be operated at the operation timing. Since the full color LED 155 blinks, the input button 70 to be operated and the operation timing thereof can be notified from the input button 70 as well. Further, when the button pattern is changed in the button position change process (S41), the emission color of the full color LED 155 is changed based on the changed button pattern. It can also be recognized from the emission color.

Subsequently, a game screen display control processing program that starts when the rhythm game execution process (S7) starts and controls the display mode of the main game screen 21 on the first liquid crystal display 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. The details will be described. 19 and 20 are flowcharts of the game screen display control program.
When the rhythm game execution process (S7) is started in the CPU 51, the display control circuit 60 executes a game screen display control program accordingly.
Then, when a display command for the main game screen 21 excluding the timing marker 45 is transmitted from the CPU 51 in S22 during the rhythm game execution process, the display control circuit 60 applies to the first liquid crystal display 3 based on the display command. As described above, the main game screen 21 excluding the timing marker 45 is displayed (S71). At this time, each button symbol 44 is displayed in a color scheme according to the “button pattern (1)” which is the initial setting, and the marker moving lane 42 includes the first marker moving lane 42A to the third marker moving lane 42C. Are displayed.
In S72, corresponding to the process of S24 during the rhythm game execution process, the lyrics data and the identification marker data for one phrase acquired in S24 are displayed on the lyrics display unit 22 and the marker identification display unit 23, respectively. To do.

Subsequently, in S73, a marker moving speed determination process for determining the moving speed of the timing marker 45 included in one stage of the music is performed.
As described above, the timing marker 45 is moved and displayed from the display start position defined by the display start position data on the operation timing notification unit 40 toward the corresponding timing line 43 in a predetermined movement direction, and the operation timing is displayed. Upon arrival, the timing line 43 is reached.

Here, since the timing marker 45 moves in any one of the first marker moving lane 42A to the third marker moving lane 42C along the ellipse, the moving distance differs depending on which marker moving lane 42 is moved.
In addition, the operation timing notification unit 40 includes six timing lines 43 corresponding to the input buttons 70. As a result of the button position changing process (S41) being performed, the timing line 43 is reached at a predetermined operation timing. Is changed. Therefore, since the timing marker 45 needs to reach any one of the six timing lines 43 within a certain display period from a certain predetermined display start position, 1/6. There are six patterns of movement modes from the lap to the 6/6 lap.
In this embodiment, a moving speed table in which the moving speeds of the six patterns of timing markers 45 are set is formed for each marker moving lane 42, and a predetermined operation is performed in any case by referring to this table. The timing marker 45 can be displayed on the corresponding timing line 43 as the timing comes.

Here, the moving speed table will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram of the moving speed table.
As shown in FIG. 21, in one moving speed table, six patterns of moving speeds, that is, 18 kinds of moving speeds are defined for each of the first marker moving lane 42A to the third marker moving lane 42C. Yes. Each moving speed is defined as a moving speed within a predetermined display period (from the display start timing to the operation timing) by a moving distance determined by the moving marker moving lane 42 and the timing line 43 to be reached. Has been.
Note that the distance between the display start position of the timing marker 45 and the timing line 43 to be reached is expressed using the concept of “area”. Explaining the concept of “area”, one “area” is defined based on a timing line 43 that divides each elliptical marker moving lane 42 into six equal parts, and exists between two adjacent timing lines 43. One marker movement lane 42 is shown. That is, a certain marker movement lane 42 is composed of six “areas”. When the timing marker 45 moves in “3 area”, it indicates that the timing marker 45 moves half a circle on a certain marker moving lane 42. When moving in “6 area”, the timing marker 45 is present. It moves around the marker movement lane 42 once.

Therefore, in the marker moving speed determination process (S73), the moving speed table is referred to based on the marker moving lane in which the timing marker 45 is displayed and the number of “areas” that are moved and displayed within a predetermined display period. Thus, the moving speed of the timing marker 45 is determined. Thereby, even if it is a case where the timing line 43 which should be reached | attained by button position change process (S41) is changed, a predetermined | prescribed display period can be ensured.
In this embodiment, there are two types of movement speed tables, “movement speed table (A)” and “movement speed table (B)”, as movement speed tables. In this respect, “movement speed table (A)” is a movement speed table used when “first display start timing” is set, and “movement speed table (B)” is “second display start”. It is a moving speed table used when "timing" is set. Accordingly, the “moving speed table (A)” and the “moving speed table (B)” are used under the condition that the display period of the timing marker 45 is different, and therefore, the “moving speed” defined in each moving speed table. Are different.

  These movement speed tables will be specifically described with reference to FIG. FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram showing a movement mode of a certain timing marker 45 in one phrase “thank you” in the music (b) sung by the female artist. FIG. 22A shows a movement mode in “button pattern (1)”, and FIG. 22B shows a movement mode in “button pattern (2)”.

As shown in FIG. 11, the second timing marker 45G is associated with the character “A” in “Thank you”, and the second timing marker 45G is the time specified in the display start timing data. Is displayed on the second timing line 43B of the third marker movement lane 42C.
The displayed second timing marker 45G is moved and displayed in the forward direction on the third marker moving lane 42C, and a timing line 43 extending from the button symbol 44 displayed in “green” with the arrival of a predetermined operation timing. To reach.
At this time, as shown in FIG. 22 (A), when the rhythm game is being executed with the “button pattern (1)”, the first to be reached from the predetermined display start position (second timing line 43B). There are “3 areas” between the 5 timing lines 43E.
On the other hand, when it is changed to “button pattern (2)” by the button position changing process (S41) (see FIG. 22B), the timing line 43 to be reached when the second timing marker 45G reaches the operation timing. Is changed from the fifth timing line 43E to the first timing line 43A. Then, between the “second timing line 43B” that is the display start position of the second timing marker 45G that moves in the “forward direction” and the first timing line 43A that should reach a predetermined operation timing, There will be “5 areas”.

  Further, in the case of the fifth timing marker 45O related to “Thank you” “Ri”, the fifth timing marker 45O is displayed on the third timing line 43C of the second marker movement lane 42B at a predetermined display start timing. It is moved and displayed in the “reverse direction” toward the timing line 43 extending from the button symbol 44 displayed in “orange”. Therefore, in the case of “button pattern (1)”, when the predetermined operation timing arrives, it is displayed on the second timing line 43B. In the case of “button pattern (2)”, the second marker movement lane 42B is reversed. It moves once in the direction and is displayed on the third timing line 43C. That is, within a predetermined display period defined by the period from the display start timing to the operation timing, “4 areas” for “button pattern (1)” and “6” for “button pattern (2)”. Will move "Area".

  As described above, the number of areas to be moved within a predetermined display period is changed by performing the button position changing process (S41). In this regard, regardless of which of the first timing line 43A to the sixth timing line 43F is set as the timing line 43 displayed with the arrival of the operation timing, the optimal timing marker 45 is determined based on the moving speed table described above. By setting the moving speed, the timing marker 45 can be displayed so as to reach the corresponding timing line 43 as the operation timing comes.

That is, in the marker moving speed determination process (S73), the moving speed optimal for the moving mode of the timing marker 45 is determined by referring to the moving speed table based on the timing marker data, the determination reference data, and the button pattern data. The process of specifying and setting the moving speed is performed.
Specifically, the second timing marker 45G related to “A” will be described as an example. As shown in FIG. 11, the display start position data of the second timing marker 45G includes “third marker movement lane 42C”. Is stipulated. Then, referring to the currently set “button pattern”, the button symbol 44 displayed in “orange” is specified based on the input reference data. By specifying the button symbol 44, the timing line 43 where the timing marker 45 should be displayed when the operation timing comes can be specified.
For example, in the case of “button pattern (1)”, the button symbol 44 corresponding to “green” that is the display color of the second timing marker 45G is referred to by referring to “button pattern (1)”. 44E. Thereby, the timing line 43 that the second timing marker 45G should reach when the operation timing arrives is identified as the fifth timing line 43E.
Accordingly, the second timing marker 45G is moved and displayed from the “second timing line 43B” defined in the display start position data to the “fifth timing line 43E” in the “forward direction” indicated by the movement direction data. Therefore, the number of areas passing from the “second timing line 43B” to the “fifth timing line 43E” is “3 areas”.
In this way, the marker moving lane 42 to which the timing marker 45 moves and the number of areas that pass through the movement are specified, and the moving speed table is referred to, so that it is displayed on the “third marker moving lane 42C”. The optimum moving speed can be set for causing the timing marker 45 to be moved and displayed in “three areas” within a predetermined display period. At this time, when the first display start timing is used as the display start timing, “movement speed (15)” is set by referring to the “movement speed table (A)”, and the second display start is started. When the timing is used, “movement speed (O)” is set with reference to “movement speed table (B)”.

  On the other hand, in the case of “button pattern (2)”, the button symbol 44 related to the “green” display color corresponding to the second timing marker 45G is changed to the first button symbol 44A. 43 is changed to the first timing line 43A. Then, when moving from the “second timing line 43B” that is the display start position in the “forward direction” to the “first timing line 43A”, the “5 area” is passed. Therefore, in the case of this “button pattern (2)”, the timing marker 45 displayed on the “third marker movement lane 42C” is optimal for moving and displaying “5 areas” within a predetermined display period. The moving speed can be set. That is, when the first display start timing is used as the display start timing, “movement speed (17)” is set by referring to the “movement speed table (A)”, and the second display start timing is set. Is used, “movement speed (Q)” is set with reference to “movement speed table (B)”.

In the fifth timing marker 45O related to “RI”, in the case of the color arrangement pattern based on “button pattern (1)”, “second marker moving lane 42B” and “4 areas” are specified as described above. . In this case, if “first display timing”, “movement speed (11)” is set with reference to “movement speed table (A)”, and if “second display timing”, “movement speed table ( B) ”is set based on“ Movement speed (K) ”.
When the button pattern is changed to “button pattern (2)”, “second marker moving lane 42B” and “6 area” are specified as described above. “Movement speed (12)” is set, and if it is “second display timing”, “movement speed (L)” is set.
Not only the above two examples, but also a case where the button pattern is changed by the button position changing process (S41) by performing the marker moving speed determining process (S73) for all the timing markers 45. can do.
And after performing the process mentioned above with respect to all the timing markers 45 which comprise 1 stage of a music, the set moving speed is linked | related with each timing marker 45, and it stores in RAM54. After setting the moving speed for all the timing markers 45 for one stage, the process proceeds to S74.

  In S74, the display control circuit 60 determines whether or not the display start timing has arrived based on the value of the control timer 59 and the set display start timing data. When the display start timing has arrived (S74: YES), the timing marker 45 is displayed at the display start position based on the display start position data for the timing marker 45 (S75). After the timing marker 45 having reached the display start timing is displayed at the display start position, the process proceeds to S76. On the other hand, when the display start timing has not arrived (S74: NO), the process proceeds to S76 as it is.

  In S <b> 76, the display control circuit 60 performs movement display based on the movement speed set for each of all the timing markers 45 currently displayed on the operation timing notification unit 40. Accordingly, in S76, the movement of the timing marker 45 already displayed on the operation timing notification unit 40 is displayed. In S75, the timing marker 45 whose display has been started is also moved based on the set moving speed. Display.

Next, in S77, a determination is made as to whether or not the operation timing specified in the timing reference data has arrived. That is, a determination is made as to whether or not there is any timing marker 45 displayed on the operation timing notification unit 40 that has reached the operation timing specified in the timing reference data.
At this time, the display control circuit 60 makes the above determination based on whether or not a signal indicating that “the predetermined time has elapsed” is transmitted from the CPU 51 in S29 of the rhythm game execution process (S7). When the operation timing has arrived (S77: YES), the process proceeds to a timing notification display process (S78). On the other hand, when the operation timing has not arrived (S77: NO), the process returns to S74 as it is and the process is repeated.

  In the timing notification display process (S78) that shifts to the case where the operation timing has arrived (S77: YES), the display control circuit 60 operates the timing marker 45 that has reached the specified timing line 43 with the operation timing. While deleting from the alerting | reporting part 40, the blinking display of the button symbol 44 linked | related with the said timing marker 45 is performed. Thereby, it is possible to notify the player of the input button 70 to be operated and the correct operation timing of the input button 70 with respect to the timing marker 45. That is, the correct input button 70 and its operation timing can be notified not only from the light emission mode of the input button 70 but also from the main game screen 21. When the timing notification display process (S78) ends, the process proceeds to S79.

In S79, the display control circuit 60 determines whether or not one phrase of the music has ended in conjunction with the process of S33 in the rhythm game execution process (S7). When the performance of the music for one phrase has been completed (S79: YES), the lyrics display section 22, the marker identification display section based on the lyrics data and identification marker data for the next one phrase stored in the RAM 54. 23, the lyrics related to the next phrase and the identification marker 23A are displayed (S80).
On the other hand, when the performance of the music for one phrase is not completed (S79: NO), the process returns to S74 as it is and the process is repeated.

After displaying the lyrics relating to the next one phrase and the identification marker 23A on the lyrics display unit 22 and the marker identification display unit 23, the display control circuit 60 determines whether or not the performance of the music for one stage is finished in S81. The determination is made in conjunction with the process of S34 during the rhythm game execution process.
When the performance of the music for one stage has been completed (S81: YES), the process proceeds to S82. On the other hand, when the music for one stage is still being played (S81: NO), the process returns to S74 and the above-described processing is repeated.

In S82, it is determined whether or not the rhythm game is over in conjunction with the determination results in S35 and S36 during the rhythm game execution process (S7). In other words, the determination is made based on whether or not all the songs in the music have been completed (S35: YES) or the number of mistakes at the end of the stage is equal to or greater than a predetermined number (S36: NO). Is called.
When the rhythm game is to be ended (S82: YES), the game screen display control process is ended. Since the game result display process (S8) is performed thereafter, the display control circuit 60 performs display control to display the game result screen 30 (see FIG. 8). Is omitted.

When the rhythm game is continued (S82: NO), the display control circuit 60 determines whether or not the number of marker moving lanes 42 has been changed by the lane number changing process (S39) (S83). . When the lane number changing process is performed (S83: YES), the display control circuit 60 changes the display mode of the first marker moving lane 42A according to the changed lane number. That is, when the number of lanes becomes 3, the operation timing notification unit 40 is displayed as shown in FIG. 5B, and when the number of lanes is changed to 2, as shown in FIG. The operation timing notification unit 40 is displayed in a manner in which the one marker movement lane 42A is displayed in black. After changing the display mode of the first marker movement lane 42A, the process returns to S73. Then, a marker moving speed determination process for determining a moving speed for the timing marker 45 for the next one stage is performed, and the above-described process is repeated.
Thus, by changing the display mode of the operation timing notification unit 40 in response to the lane number changing process (S39), it is possible to notify the player of the change in the lane number.
On the other hand, when the number of lanes is not changed (S83: NO), the display control circuit 60 proceeds to S85.

In S85, the display control circuit 60 determines whether or not the button pattern has been changed in conjunction with the process of S41 during the rhythm game execution process (S85). If the button pattern has not been changed (S85: NO), the process returns to S73 and performs marker movement speed determination processing for determining the movement speed for the timing marker 45 for the next one stage. repeat.
When the button pattern is changed (S85: YES), the display control circuit 60 changes the display color of each button symbol 44 based on the changed button pattern (S86). For example, when the button pattern is changed, for example, the display mode shown in FIG. 7B is changed to the display mode shown in FIG. By performing this process, it is possible to notify the player that the button pattern has been changed on the main game screen 21, and even after the change, the rhythm game can be executed as before the change.
Then, after changing the display color of each button symbol 44 on the main game screen 21 (S86), the display control circuit 60 returns to the marker moving speed determination process (S73) again. At this time, in the marker moving speed determination process (S73), the moving speed related to the timing marker 45 for one stage is determined based on the changed button pattern. As described above, even when the button pattern is changed, the display period does not fluctuate before and after the button pattern, and it is possible to provide the player with a rhythm game in which only the position of the input button 70 to be input is different. It becomes.

As described above, by performing the LED light emission control process and the game screen display control process together with the rhythm game execution process (S7), the display mode of the main game screen 21 and the light emission mode of each input button 70 are controlled.
Here, the display mode of the main game screen 21 and the light emission mode of each input button 70 when the display period change process (S38), the lane number change process (S39), and the button position change process (S41) are executed are illustrated. Will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

First, the main game screen 21 when the lane number changing process (S39) is executed and the number of marker moving lanes 42 is changed will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 23 shows a display mode of the first liquid crystal display 3 when the rhythm game is executed using the music (b) sung by the female artist and the lane number is changed to 2 by the lane number changing process (S39). It is explanatory drawing shown.
As can be seen by comparing FIG. 7B described above with FIG. 23, when the number of lanes is changed to 2 by the lane number changing process, the first marker moving lane 42A is displayed in black. Thereby, it can be notified that the timing marker 45 is no longer moved and displayed on the first marker moving lane 42A.
When the lane number changing process (S39) is executed, the lane data in the display start position data is changed between “first lane data” and “second lane data”. Thereby, when the number of lanes is “3”, the timing marker 45 displayed on the first marker moving lane 42A is displayed on either the second marker moving lane 42B or the third marker moving lane 42C. For example, in FIG. 7B, the third timing marker 45B related to “TO” is displayed on the first marker moving lane 42A, but in FIG. The timing marker 45B is displayed on the second marker movement lane 42B. Thereby, even if the number of lanes is changed, the number of times the player operates the input button does not change, so that even if the lane number changing process is performed, the rhythm game can be fully enjoyed. Can do.

Next, the main game screen 21 in the display state changing process (S38) and in the initial state will be compared with reference to the drawings.
Here, in FIG. 7 described above, the music (b) sung by the female artist is displayed on the first liquid crystal display 3 and the second liquid crystal display 4 when the rhythm game is performed using the first display start timing data. It is the figure which showed the display mode. On the other hand, FIG. 24 shows the main game screen 21 when the rhythm game is performed in the same state as in FIG. 7 except that the second display start timing data is used. 7 and 24, the degree of progression of the music is exactly the same.

As can be seen from a comparison between FIG. 7B and FIG. 24, it can be seen that the display mode of the operation timing notification unit 40 is different although the degree of progress of the music is exactly the same. In the game screen display control process, the display start of the timing marker 45 is performed based on the set display start timing data, and therefore, the first display start timing data with the earlier display start timing is used (FIG. 7B). In this case, many timing markers 45 are displayed in the operation timing notification unit 40. On the other hand, when the second display start timing in which a later display start timing is defined (see FIG. 24), the number of timing markers 45 displayed on the operation timing notification unit 40 is reduced. Specifically, out of the lyrics “thank you”, in the case of FIG. 7B, the fifth timing marker 45O related to “to” is displayed, but the second display start timing data is used. In this case, the fifth timing marker 45O related to “TO” is not displayed yet.
As described above, when the second display period data is used, the input button 70 to be operated indicated by the timing marker 45 and the operation timing thereof are grasped in a shorter period and must be operated at an appropriate operation timing. Therefore, a more advanced rhythm game can be provided. As a result, even a player accustomed to the rhythm game on the rhythm game apparatus 1 can play with a fresh taste.

Next, the display mode of the main game screen 21 before and after the button position change process (S41) and the light emission mode of each input button 70 will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Here, when the rhythm game is executed using the music (b), the button setting change process (S41) has changed the initial setting “button pattern (1)” to “button pattern (2)”. As an example, the button position changing process (S41) will be specifically described.
When the rhythm game is executed with the “button pattern (1)” (see FIG. 12) which is the initial setting, the first input button 70A to the sixth input button 70F are respectively displayed in S51 of the LED light emission control process. Light is emitted in one of six colors of “red”, “yellow”, “blue”, “green”, “orange”, and “purple” (see FIG. 3). Specifically, the first input button 70A is “red”, the second input button 70B is “orange”, the third input button 70C is “yellow”, the fourth input button 70D is “blue”, and the fifth input button 70E. Is “green” and the sixth input button 70F is “purple”, and each emits light.
At this time, by the game screen display control process, the button symbols 44 constituting the operation timing notification unit 40 are displayed in the same display color as the emission color in conjunction with the emission color of the corresponding input button 70. In this case, the first button symbol 44A to the sixth button symbol 44F are displayed in order of “red”, “orange”, “yellow”, “blue”, “green”, and “purple”, respectively (FIG. 25 ( A)).

Under such circumstances, when the rhythm game is executed and changed to “button pattern (2)” (see FIG. 12) by the button position changing process (S41), each input button 70 is changed by S65 of the LED light emission control process. Is changed based on “button pattern (2)”. That is, the first input button 70A is “red” to “green”, the second input button 70B is “orange” to “purple”, the third input button 70C is “yellow” to “orange”, and the fourth input button 70D is The emission color is changed from “blue” to “yellow”, the fifth input button 70E is changed from “green” to “blue”, and the sixth input button 70F is changed from “purple” to “red” (see FIG. 25B). ).
In conjunction with this, the display color of each button symbol 44 is also changed by S86 of the game screen display control process, and the first button symbol 44A to the sixth button symbol 44F are “green”, “purple”, “orange” in order. ”,“ Yellow ”,“ blue ”,“ red ”, respectively.

In this way, the position of the input button 70 to be operated with respect to the timing marker 45 is changed by changing the emission color of each input button. For example, in the case of the above-described example, before the button position changing process (S41), the input button 70 to be operated with respect to the third timing marker 45B displayed in “blue” is the fourth input button 70D. When the button pattern is changed in the button position changing process (S41), the input button 70 indicated by the third timing marker 45B displayed in “blue” becomes the fifth input button 70E.
Accordingly, the timing line 43 at which the third timing marker 45B, which is moved and displayed from a predetermined display start position, arrives based on the arrival of the operation timing is changed from the fourth timing line 43D to the fifth timing line 43E. Will be.
As described above, since the positions of the timing marker 45 and the input button 70 to be input are changed, the rhythm game can be played in a new manner for each stage. That is, even a player who is accustomed to the rhythm game to a certain extent is required to adapt to the change of the button pattern immediately, so that it is possible to provide a more sophisticated and fresh rhythm game. it can.

  In this way, even when the button pattern is changed and the timing line 43 to which the timing marker 45 arrives is changed with the arrival of the operation timing, the operation timing is always the same operation timing.

As described above, in the rhythm game apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the operation timing notification unit 40 is displayed on the main game screen 21 when the rhythm game is executed. Based on the movement display of the timing marker 45 (first timing marker 45R to sixth timing marker 45P) in the operation timing notification section 40, the input button 70 (first input button 70A to sixth input corresponding to each timing marker 45). The rhythm game is advanced by performing an operation in accordance with the operation timing of the button 70F).
At this time, the timing marker 45 displayed on the operation timing notification unit 40 is displayed on any one of the first marker moving lane 42A to the third marker moving lane 42C formed in an elliptical shape, and the marker moving lane having an elliptical shape is displayed. 42 orbit around. The circular movement of the timing marker 45 is a movement speed determined based on the marker movement lane 42 to be displayed and the number of areas in which the timing marker 45 is moved and displayed. Direction, reverse direction) toward the timing line 43 corresponding to the timing marker 45. Then, it is displayed so as to reach the corresponding timing line 43 with the arrival of the operation timing defined in the timing reference data.
Thereby, on the operation timing alerting | reporting part 40, the timing marker 45 which orbits on the some marker movement lane 42 will be mixed, and it will become a display mode overflowing in the variation. In other words, the input button 70 to be input and the notification mode of the operation timing of the input button 70 are moved and displayed in one direction from one place to one place by the timing marker 45 and the timing line 43, thereby operating time. Therefore, it is possible to provide a rhythm game that can enjoy a new interest.

When the rhythm game is executed, the timing marker 45 is displayed so as to reach the corresponding timing line 43 as the operation timing arrives. At this time, the button symbol 44 positioned at one end of the timing line 43 is blinked. Thus, the input button to be operated and the arrival of the operation timing are notified to the player. At the same time, the input button 70 corresponding to the button symbol 44 (the input button 70 to be operated based on the timing marker 45) should be operated by blinking the full color LED 155 disposed therein. The player is notified of the input button and the arrival of the operation timing.
Thereby, since the input button 70 to be operated and the operation timing thereof are notified to the player at two places of the first liquid crystal display 3 and the operation unit 6, the player can be surely grasped the correct operation.

Further, the button pattern is changed according to the result in one stage, and accordingly, the moving speed of the timing marker 45 is changed. Accordingly, the speed at which the timing marker 45 moves is changed by changing the button pattern, so that even a player who is used to the rhythm game can play the rhythm game in a new mode.
And the period when the timing marker 45 is displayed on the operation timing alerting | reporting part 40 can be changed by changing display start timing data according to the result in 1 stage. Thereby, the period which can acquire the information which concerns on the input button 70 which a player should operate from the timing marker 45, and its operation timing can be changed, and the difficulty level of a rhythm game can be changed. For example, if the display period is long, even beginners can enjoy the interest related to the rhythm game, and if the display period is short, even advanced users can enjoy the interest related to the rhythm game. it can. That is, a wide range of players can enjoy the interest related to the rhythm game.

  When the rhythm game is executed with “LEVEL 1” according to the results for each stage, the number of marker movement lanes 42 on which the timing marker 45 is moved and displayed is increased or decreased based on the results for one stage. Can do. By increasing or decreasing the number of marker movement lanes 42, the number of places to be visually recognized by the player can be increased or decreased, so that the difficulty level of the rhythm game can be changed. In this regard, for a beginner who cannot achieve good results in one stage, the difficulty level can be more easily enjoyed by setting the number of marker moving lanes to two. As a result, it is possible to provide a rhythm game that even beginners can fully enjoy.

Further, the operation timing of the input button 70 is defined in accordance with the pronunciation time of the lyrics, and the timing marker 45 is displayed according to the operation timing. Thereby, the operation of the input button 70 can be performed at a very easy operation timing of lyric pronunciation. That is, since it is easy to grasp the operation timing, even a beginner can fully enjoy the rhythm game.
In this regard, the lyrics display unit 22 and the marker identification display unit 23 also display the lyrics for one phrase and the corresponding identification marker 23A. Further, the character display unit 46 of the timing marker 45 associates it with the timing marker 45. The displayed lyrics are displayed. That is, information indicating which timing marker 45 is associated with which lyrics and the correspondence between timing markers and lyrics in one phrase being played are displayed. The operation procedure can be grasped. Therefore, even a beginner can fully enjoy the rhythm game.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the meaning.
For example, in the present embodiment, execution of the display period changing process (S38), the lane number changing process (S39), and the button position changing process (S41) is determined based on the input result for each stage. The present invention is not limited to the timing, and it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the above processing is executed as appropriate according to the input result. Further, although the input result in one stage is used as a condition for executing the display period changing process (S38), the lane number changing process (S39), and the button position changing process (S41), the present invention is not limited to this. . For example, the presence or absence of items given during the game may be used as a condition, or a history recorded on an IC card (for example, the number of times a rhythm game has been played) may be used.
In the present embodiment, the input button 70 has been described as the first input button 70 </ b> A to the sixth input button 70 </ b> F. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It doesn't matter. For example, eight input buttons may be provided, or three input buttons may be provided.
In this case, it goes without saying that the button symbols 44, the number of timing lines 43, the types of timing markers 45, and the like are appropriately changed to the corresponding numbers.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the lyrics display unit 22 and the marker identification display unit 23 are provided separately, and the position of the identification marker 23A corresponding to the position of the character of the lyrics is matched in the left-right direction so that these relevances are obtained. Although notified to a player, it is good also as a structure which alert | reports these relevance with the aspect of the character displayed on a lyrics display part. For example, the character colors displayed on the lyrics display section 22 are the six emission colors of the corresponding input button 70 (“red”, “yellow”, “blue”, “green”, “orange”, “purple”). ), It is possible to notify the relevance.

  In the present embodiment, the timing marker 45 is circular, the input button 70 to be operated by the display job inside the circle is shown, and the timing marker 45 is associated with the character displayed on the character display unit 46 inside the circle. Although one lyric character is notified, the timing marker 45 itself may be expressed by a character to notify the associated lyric character and to notify the input button 70 to be input by the character color.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, each input button 70 only emits light in the six colors of “red”, “yellow”, “blue”, “green”, “orange”, and “purple”. Based on the timing marker 45 associated with the input button 70, one character of the associated lyrics may be specified and notified by the input button 70.
For example, by providing a small liquid crystal display inside the button cover member 153 and displaying the corresponding character, it is possible to inform the player that the sounding timing of the character is the operation timing of the input button 70. . In this case, a character can be displayed on the small liquid crystal display without providing the full color LED 155 in the input button 70, and the six colors can be displayed based on the background color of the character. .

It is a perspective view of the rhythm game device concerning this embodiment. It is a sectional side view which shows the internal structure of an input button. It is explanatory drawing of the operation part arrange | positioned at the rhythm game apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is the schematic diagram which showed the display content displayed on a 1st liquid crystal display before a rhythm game start. (A) is the schematic diagram which showed the 1st liquid crystal display which displayed the difficulty level selection screen, (B) is the schematic diagram which showed the 1st liquid crystal display which displayed the music selection screen. (A) is a schematic diagram showing display contents displayed on the second liquid crystal display during execution of the rhythm game based on the music (a), and (B) is display contents displayed on the first liquid crystal display during execution of the rhythm game. It is the schematic diagram which showed. It is explanatory drawing of the operation timing alerting | reporting part displayed on a 1st liquid crystal display during rhythm game execution. (A) is a schematic diagram showing display contents displayed on the second liquid crystal display during execution of the rhythm game based on the music (b), and (B) is display contents displayed on the first liquid crystal display during execution of the rhythm game. It is the schematic diagram which showed. It is the schematic diagram which showed the display content displayed on a 1st liquid crystal display after completion | finish of a rhythm game. It is a block diagram which shows the control system of the rhythm game device which concerns on this embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the music data storage area of HDD of the rhythm game apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing regarding the lyric data of the rhythm game device which concerns on this embodiment, determination reference data, and timing marker data. It is explanatory drawing regarding the button pattern data memorize | stored in a button pattern data storage area. It is a system block diagram showing a system consisting of a rhythm game device and a server according to the present embodiment. It is a flowchart of the main control program of the rhythm game device concerning this embodiment. It is a flowchart (1) of a rhythm game execution processing program. It is a flowchart (2) of a rhythm game execution processing program. It is a flowchart of an input determination processing program. It is a flowchart of a LED light emission control processing program. It is a flowchart (1) of a game screen display control processing program. It is a flowchart (2) of a game screen display control processing program. It is explanatory drawing which shows the moving speed table in which the moving speed of the timing marker was prescribed | regulated. (A) shows the moving speed table used when the first display start timing data is used, and (B) shows the moving speed table used when the second display start timing data is used. It is explanatory drawing regarding the movement of the timing marker in an operation timing alerting | reporting part. (A) shows the case of “button pattern (1)”, and (B) shows the case of “button pattern (2)”. It is explanatory drawing which shows the display mode of the main game screen when the lane number change process is performed in the rhythm game device according to the present embodiment. In a rhythm game device concerning this embodiment, it is an explanatory view showing a display mode of a main game screen when display period change processing is performed. It is explanatory drawing regarding the case where a rhythm game is performed by difficulty level setting "LEVEL3" and a button position change process is performed. (A) shows the display mode of the main game screen, and (B) shows the status of the operation unit.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rhythm game apparatus 3 1st liquid crystal display 8 Speaker 42 Marker movement lane 42A 1st marker movement lane 42B 2nd marker movement lane 42C 3rd marker movement lane 43 Timing line 45 Timing marker 51 CPU
55 HDD
60 Display control circuit 61 Sound control circuit 62 Light emission control circuit 70 Input button 155 Full color LED

Claims (5)

A plurality of operation members that the player operates;
Storage means for storing music data and operation reference data indicating the operation timing of each operation member for the music indicated by the music data;
Performance means for playing the music based on the music data;
Based on the operation reference data, a display means for displaying a timing marker for notifying the operation timing of each operation member as the music plays,
Input determination means for determining whether the operation is good or not based on the operation time indicated by the timing marker and the operation of the operation member by the player;
Control means for performing control related to a music effect game that progresses by operating an operation member at a predetermined operation timing in accordance with the performance of the music by the performance means,
The display means includes
A timing marker corresponding to each of the plurality of operation members and capable of moving display;
Marker movement display area having a plurality of marker movement lanes in which the timing marker is moved around,
A plurality of timing notification areas for notifying the operation timing of the operation member corresponding to the timing marker when the moved and displayed timing marker arrives; and
The control means includes
The music effect game device characterized in that the timing marker is moved and displayed toward the timing notification area in the marker movement lane, and reaches the predetermined timing notification area when the operation time indicated by the determination reference data arrives. . The music effect game device according to claim 1,
Each of the operation members has a light emitting means,
The control means includes
When the timing marker reaches the timing notification area,
In the display means, while performing a notification effect indicating the arrival of the operation time,
A music effect game device that performs a light emission notification effect by the light emitting means of the operation member in conjunction with the notification effect. The music effect game device according to claim 1 or 2,
The storage means stores a plurality of movement speed data in which movement speeds related to the circular movement of the timing marker in each marker movement lane are defined,
Based on the determination result of the input determination means,
A music effect game device comprising a moving speed changing means for changing moving speed data used for moving display of a timing marker. It is a music production game device of Claims 1 thru / or 3,
Based on the determination result of the input determination means,
A music effect game device comprising lane number changing means for changing the number of marker moving lanes formed in the marker moving region. It is a music production game device of Claims 1 thru / or 4,
A music effect game device comprising display period changing means for changing a display period of a timing marker in the marker movement area based on a determination result by the input determination means.

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