JP6746352B2 - Game device and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a game device and a program, and more particularly to a game device that provides articles related to game play.

There is a game device that can play a game in which the corresponding in-game element appears by ejecting a card in which information corresponding to the in-game element is stored in advance in response to payment of the consideration and reading the card. Reference 1).

Japanese Patent No. 4997970

In the game device described in Patent Document 1, in order to use the in-game element corresponding to the card discharged according to the payment of the consideration in the game play related to the payment of the consideration, the user obtains the discharged card. However, it is complicated because it is necessary to have the card reader read the information of the card within a predetermined period.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a game device and a program that improve the convenience of the user for handling the articles discharged from the game device.

A game device according to one aspect of the present invention is a game device for ejecting an article in response to payment of a consideration, the executing means executing a game, an ejecting means for ejecting an article, and an ejecting means for ejecting the article next. First acquisition means for acquiring information from an article to be ejected, presentation means for presenting in-game elements corresponding to the article to be ejected next, and in-game corresponding to the article to be ejected next after presentation by the presentation means Selection means for selecting whether or not the element appears in the game, and information obtained by the first obtaining means when the in-game element corresponding to the article to be discharged next is selected for the game the basis of, and control means for executing the game to appear the game element to the execution unit, each of the game element, the reference information referred to for determining the progress of the game is predetermined In the case where the in-game element corresponding to the item to be discharged next is selected to appear in the game, the control means changes the reference information on the in-game element to a state in which the progress of the game is advantageous. , Ru to execute the game to the execution means.
A game device according to another aspect of the present invention is a game device that discharges an item in response to payment of a consideration, and has an executing means for executing a game and a plurality of containing parts for containing each item. A discharge means configured to be controllable to discharge an article stored in any one of the plurality of storage parts, and at least a part of the plurality of storage parts, the storage part controls discharge. The in-game element corresponding to the first acquisition means for acquiring information from the article and the candidate for the next article to be ejected as the article to be ejected next by the ejection means First presenting means for presenting a plurality of in-game elements including: and a selecting means for selecting which in-game element of the plurality of in-game elements is to appear in the game after being presented by the presenting means, Control means for causing the executing means to execute the game in which the in-game element selected by the selecting means appears, based on the information acquired by the acquiring means, each of the in-game elements determining the progress of the game. Reference information that is referred to in order to do so is predetermined, and when the selecting means selects the in-game element corresponding to the candidate of the article to be discharged next, the control means selects the selected candidate. The discharging means is controlled so as to discharge the article from the containing portion, the reference information related to the in-game element is changed to a state in which the progress of the game is advantageous, and the executing means is caused to execute the game.

According to the present invention having such a configuration, it is possible to improve the convenience of the user for handling the articles discharged from the game device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the game device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining appearances of the game device 100 and the operation input device 110 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an article usable in the game device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart which illustrated the standby process performed in the game device 100 which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which showed the structural example of the card ejection mechanism of the game device 100 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. Flowchart illustrating a registration process according to an embodiment of the present invention The flowchart which illustrated the standby process performed in the game device 100 which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. The flowchart which illustrated the scenario selection process which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

[Embodiment 1]
Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiment described below outputs one card that can be used in a game for each game play in response to payment of payment, as an example of a game device, and allows a single person to play or a plurality of cards. An example will be described in which the present invention is applied to a game device that executes game processing of game content that can be played simultaneously by people. However, the present invention can be applied to any device capable of discharging the first type of article related to the first game content to be provided, per game play corresponding to payment of consideration.

Further, in the present embodiment, the “game title” refers to game content that is identified in that at least game experiences of different flows are provided and game screens that are displayed in different modes are presented during game play. And Further, in the present embodiment, the “game device” is a so-called amusement device, arcade housing, arcade game device, etc., which outputs a card used for causing a corresponding character or item to appear in the game play of the game device. Device. In addition, it is assumed that one game device can provide a game experience related to one game title.

However, the game device is not limited to this in the implementation of the present invention, and it is possible to provide a game experience related to a plurality of game titles by executing different processes such as a home game console, for example, an external device. It may include a device capable of discharging an article related to the executed game content to a connected printer or the like. At this time, when the game console processes a plurality of game titles, the state in which the processing of each game title is being executed is treated as “a game device which performs a game process of different game contents” in the present invention. .. That is, even the same game console is treated as a game device that performs game processing of different game content depending on the processing to be executed.

<<Structure of game device>>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a game device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The control unit 101 is, for example, a CPU or the like, and controls the operation of each block included in the game device 100. The control unit 101 controls the operation of each block by, for example, reading a game program including the game processing recorded in the recording medium 102 and the operation program of each block, expanding the program in the memory 103, and executing the program. The game title (hereinafter, provided game title) for which processing is executed by the game device 100 of the present embodiment is for providing a game experience that can be operated simultaneously by a single player or by a plurality of players. Can execute the processing for each of the plurality of players simultaneously in parallel.

The recording medium 102 is, for example, a rewritable nonvolatile memory, a HDD, a recording device such as a disk drive in which an optical disk is inserted. The recording medium 102 stores, in addition to the game program and the operation program, parameters necessary for the operation of each block included in the game apparatus 100. The memory 103 is used not only as a development area for each program, but also as a storage area and a work area for temporarily storing the intermediate data output in the operation of each block.

The game information DB 104 is a database that manages various kinds of information about characters and items that appear (can appear) in the game in the provided game title of the present embodiment. Information about each character (hereinafter, character information) is associated with, for example, a character ID for identifying the character, change information indicating a basic parameter of the character in the game, a change mode of the parameter due to various state changes, use time or predetermined time. May manage action information indicating an action to be activated when the input of the character is received, and various graphics data of the character necessary for drawing the game screen. As will be described later, the change information and the action information are used for each usage state such as whether the character is used as a main (main) character or a sub (sub)character, in which role the main character is used, etc. It may store different information.

Similarly, information about each item (hereinafter, item information) is associated with, for example, an item character ID for identifying the item, change information indicating a basic parameter of the item in the game, a change mode of the parameter due to various state changes, It may manage behavior information indicating behavior that is activated during use or when receiving a predetermined input, and various graphics data of the item necessary for drawing the game screen.

The drawing unit 106 is, for example, a GPU or the like, and draws the game screen related to the provided game title of this embodiment. When the drawing unit 106 receives a drawing command from the control unit 101 in the process related to the provided game title, the drawing unit 106 reads out the data necessary for drawing the game screen from the recording medium 102 and expands it in a cache memory (not shown). Then, the drawing unit 106 processes the data in accordance with the drawing command, sequentially draws and stores it in a memory area of the memory 103 secured for display, for example. The completed game screen is displayed (projected) on the display unit 108 which is a screen panel (projection surface) by the rear projection method by the projection unit 107 such as a liquid crystal projector. The display method of the game screen is not limited to this, and may be displayed by outputting as a video signal to a predetermined display device such as an LCD.

The detection unit 109 detects that the payment for starting the provision of the game play has been paid to the payment unit (not shown). In the game device 100 of this embodiment, the player needs to pay a predetermined consideration in order to play the game related to the provided game title. The detection unit 109 inserts a predetermined amount of coins (money) and a medal (a currency in a predetermined environment such as a store, not a game article described later) having a monetary value corresponding thereto into the consideration payment unit. By detecting that the payment has been made, the payment of the consideration may be detected. Of course, the detection unit 109 may detect the completion of the payment by using a predetermined payment system such as electronic money as the consideration payment unit.

The operation input device 110 is a user interface included in the game device 100 of this embodiment. The operation input device 110 provides an interface (control panel) having a similar configuration for each player. In the game device 100 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2A, the operation input device 110 is arranged around the display unit 108 as a unit for each player.

<Structure of operation input device>
Here, an exemplary configuration of the operation input device 110 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2B, on the control panel, a direction indicating member 111 and an operation button group 112, which are operation members with which a user inputs an operation during game play, are provided in a separated region. .. Further, on the control panel, between the direction indicating member 111 and the operation button group 112, a card recognizing unit 113 and a medal recognizing unit 114 for obtaining information from articles used for game play are provided.

In the game device 100 of the present embodiment, the player obtains information by the card recognition unit 113, the card as the first type of article according to the present invention, and the medal recognition unit 114 obtains information. Two types of merchandise such as medals as the second type of merchandise according to the invention can be used for game play. In the game device 100 of the present embodiment, one card is ejected for each payment of consideration, so that the player can use the character of the ejected card for the game play related to the current payment of consideration. .. On the other hand, a medal is an article such as a toy body sold or distributed at a store or an event, and may not be an article discharged from the game device 100 or another game device.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 3, an article that can be used for game play in the game device 100 will be described. Although the usable items have been described as corresponding to the characters or items appearing in the game, in the following, in order to simplify the description, usable items correspond to the characters appearing in the game. It is assumed that one character among the characters that appears can be uniquely identified depending on the article.

An image 301 or 311 showing a character in the game corresponding to the card is attached to the card for which information can be acquired by the card recognizing unit 113, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, for example. ing. Further, the card is provided with a two-dimensional code 302 or 312 that is information for identifying the card in the game device 100, and the card recognition unit 113 reads the two-dimensional code to convert the card into a data string. Get the attached information. 3A and 3B respectively illustrate cards ejected by the game device 100 that processes the provided game title. In the card recognition unit 113 of the present embodiment, the shape of the card, at least the lateral dimension in the drawing, and the two-dimensional code are arranged in the card so that information can be obtained from the cards related to the plurality of game titles. The positions (printing positions) are configured to be common. Of course, an error may occur in the printing and manufacturing of the card, and therefore the printing positions of the two-dimensional code in the card are determined to be the same, that is, the card recognizing unit 113 is arranged to recognize the code. If

The card recognition unit 113 of the present embodiment detects that the card is placed on a concave surface (groove) 201 formed in a shape suitable for the card on the control panel, and acquires information. The concave surface 201 is composed of a light-transmissive member, and the reading of the two-dimensional code is arranged inside the operation input device 110 and is performed by an image pickup device (not shown) that picks up an image of the concave surface 201. Therefore, in order to recognize the card used for the game play, the player places the card surface shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B so that the card surface is in contact with the concave surface 201. Can get the information of the card. In the present embodiment, the description will be made assuming that the reading of the two-dimensional code is performed by the imaging device arranged inside the operation input device 110, but the position where the imaging device is arranged is not limited to this mode. Will be easily understood.

As for medals whose information can be obtained by the medal recognition unit 114, for example, as shown in FIG. 3C, an image 321 showing a character on the front surface of the medal and an insertion when inserting the medal into the medal recognition unit 114 are inserted. A mark 322 indicating the direction is attached. Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 3D, a groove portion 331 extending in the insertion direction is formed on the back surface of the medal, and a convex pattern which is information for identifying the medal is formed in the groove portion 331. 332 is formed. The medal recognition unit 114 reads the convex pattern 332 of the medal by inserting the medal along the guide rail 203 into the cover 202 having a shape suitable for the medal on the control panel. At this time, the switch group 204 is sequentially operated by the convex pattern 332 of the medal, and the bit pattern information can be acquired.

The information acquired from the card or medal by the card recognition unit 113 or the medal recognition unit 114 in this way is output to the control unit 101. The control unit 101 identifies the character ID of the character corresponding to the article by analyzing the information.

In the game device 100 of the present embodiment, the two types of articles that can be used for the game play of the provided game title are described as cards and medals, but in the implementation of the present invention, the articles are limited to cards and medals. It is easy to understand that it is not possible. The mode of attaching information to the card is not limited to the two-dimensional code, and is stored as data in a storage medium such as a chip of the card, and the card recognition unit 113 can acquire the data via a dedicated reader. May be configured. Even in this case, the position of the chip on the card is the same as the position of the card discharged by the other game device. The mode of attaching information to the medal is not limited to the convex pattern, and may be a configuration in which the two-dimensional code is provided on the back side or the front side like a card, or a predetermined storage medium is used. It may be one.

The ejecting unit 120 ejects the card related to the provided game title according to the payment of the consideration. The cards are held in, for example, a stocker that vertically stacks the cards, and the discharging unit 120 discharges one card held at the bottom for each payment in response to a discharging command from the control unit 101. It may have a mechanism for

Here, with reference to FIG. 5, the stocker 502 arranged on the installation base 501 in the game apparatus 100 will be described. The stocker 502 can store a plurality of printed cards in the card storage unit 503 in a stacked state and eject one by one. The ejected cards are conveyed to the card ejection opening 105 provided on the front door of the game apparatus 100, and the player can collect the cards from the card ejection opening 105. Although FIG. 5 shows an example in which two stockers 502 are installed, a larger number of stockers 502 may be installed. The card ejection mechanism of the stocker 502 is provided with a card recognition unit 121 for reading information of a card to be ejected next (to be ejected). The card recognition unit 121 reads the two-dimensional code of the card to be ejected next, acquires the information attached to the card as a data string, and outputs it to the control unit 101. When there are a plurality of stockers, the control unit 101 can control from which stocker the card is discharged. For example, each stocker may be controlled to eject a predetermined number of sheets in order, or may be controlled to continue ejecting from the same stocker until all the held cards are ejected.

The article to be ejected need not be a card. For example, when the ejection unit 120 is a device capable of generating a three-dimensional object such as a so-called 3D printer, the article is an object such as a figure related to a character. Good. In this case, the discharging unit 120 may be configured to discharge the modeled object with the information of the character ID of the corresponding character including the information of the provided game title. In this case, the card recognition unit 121 outputs the information attached to the modeled object to the control unit 101.

Further, for example, when the discharging unit 120 has a sorter of a plurality of types of toy bodies and is configured to be able to selectively discharge the toy bodies related to a predetermined character, the article may be the toy bodies, and the discharging may be performed. The section 120 may be configured to add the same information to the target toy body before discharging and discharge the same. Also in this case, the card recognition unit 121 outputs the information attached to the toy body to the control unit 101.

The communication unit 130 is a communication interface with an external device included in the game device 100. The communication unit 130 can connect to an external device via a communication medium such as a communication network such as the Internet or a cable (not shown) such as a cable or the like, and can transmit/receive data. In the present embodiment, the game device 100 connects to the save DB 200 via the communication unit 130 and transmits/receives necessary information when the player desires to save or load the progress of the game using the recording card described above. .. Hereinafter, for the sake of simplicity, in the present embodiment, as the information on the progress of the game, it is assumed that the information on the growth rate indicating the rate of increase from the initial parameter is managed in the save DB 200 in association with the save ID for each character. In the case of saving the progress of the game, after the game play is finished, for example, the control unit 101 generates information about the growth degree of the character used in the current game play, and transmits the information to the save DB 200 via the communication unit 130. It records in association with the save ID acquired from the recording card. In addition, in the case of loading the progress of the game, after detecting the payment of the consideration, for example, the control unit 101 causes the communication unit 130 to transmit the growth degree information recorded in association with the save ID acquired from the recording card. It suffices to make a request to the save DB 200 via this and obtain it.

Further, the game device 100 of the present embodiment is configured to be able to receive program data, which is a packaged program of a process related to a game, from an external device via the communication unit 130. When the communication unit 130 receives the program data together with the program update request, the control unit 101 uses the received program data to execute the game processing program currently stored in the recording medium 102 according to the update request. Can be updated. In addition, the update process of the program of the process related to the game is automatically executed when the program data recorded in the recording medium is inserted into an optical drive (not shown) included in the game device, or after the insertion. It can also be executed by the administrator issuing a start command.

《Standby processing》
Regarding the standby process executed in the game device 100 of the present embodiment having such a configuration, a specific process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The standby process is a process in which the card information of the card to be discharged next is read in advance, the payment of the consideration is accepted, and the process until the game process is finally executed is performed for each player. The processing corresponding to the flowchart can be realized by the control unit 101 reading out a corresponding processing program stored in the recording medium 102, expanding the processing program in the memory 103, and executing the program. It should be noted that the standby process will be described as being started, for example, when the game device 100 is activated and enters a state in which the player can start the game play if the player pays the price (standby state). Further, the standby state is reached even when one game play is completed, and this standby process is started each time.

Further, whether or not the game device 100 is in the standby state is presented to the user who is watching the game device 100 by displaying the game screen including the notification on the display unit 108. For example, if the player is not operating any of the operation input devices 110 provided in the game device 100 (payment has not been paid), the notification of the standby state is given to each operation input device 110. In the area corresponding to the position, the logo display screen of the provided game title and the demonstration screen may be displayed together with a notification that the game is in a standby state (the game can be played by paying the price). In addition, when the player has started the operation (payment of the consideration) on any of the operation input devices 110, the area corresponding to the player is changed to a screen corresponding to the progress of the game play. However, the other areas are notified that they are still in the standby state.

In S401, the control unit 101 controls the card recognition unit 121 to a recognizable state, and acquires the card information of the card to be ejected next from each stocker of the ejection unit 120. The card information may include information indicating that the card information is discharged from the game device that executes the processing of the provided game title, and information for specifying an in-game element (character or item) corresponding to the card. it can. When there are a plurality of stockers, the control unit 101 holds the acquired card information in the memory 103 in association with the stocker identification information (stocker ID).

Next, in step S402, the control unit 101 determines, for each operation input device 110, whether or not payment has been made to the corresponding payment unit. Specifically, the control unit 101 makes the determination in this step depending on whether or not the detection unit 109 detects that the consideration has been paid. When the control unit 101 determines that the consideration has been paid, the control unit 101 advances the process corresponding to the player (target player) of the operation input device 110 to S403, and the process corresponding to the target player determined not to perform the present step. The process of is repeated. That is, in this standby processing, the processing from S401 to S406 is controlled for each player corresponding to each operation input device 110, and is executed in parallel for the maximum number of players who can play simultaneously.

In step S403, the ejection unit 120 ejects the card under the control of the control unit 101. The above card information is attached to the card discharged in this step, but the card information has already been acquired by the processing of S401.

In step S404, the control unit 101 controls the card recognition unit 113 to be in a recognizable state, and executes registration processing for registering a main character used for game play according to payment of consideration. The main character is a character that appears in the game processing described below and is a character that the target player can continue to use. The player can register up to three main characters per game play by placing his or her own card on the concave surface 201 and causing the card recognition unit 113 to acquire information. In this registration process, the character based on the card information of the card ejected in S402 can also be registered. In that case, since the control unit 101 has already acquired the card information in S401, the player does not need to use the card recognition unit 113 to input information regarding the cards ejected in S402.

<registration process>
Here, the registration processing of the present embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S601, the control unit 101 causes the display unit 108 to display an inquiry notification as to whether to use the character of the card ejected in step S403. At this time, the information of the character based on the card information acquired in S401 can be displayed on the notification screen. At that time, the control unit 101 identifies the character ID of the character based on the acquired card information, acquires the character information recorded in association with the character ID from the game information DB 104, and uses this for display. By operating the operation input device 110 in response to this notification, the player can decide whether or not to use the character of the ejection card. When the control unit 101 receives an operation from the player to use the character of the ejection card, the control unit 101 shifts the processing to S602. On the other hand, when the control unit 101 receives an operation from the player that the character of the ejection card is not used, the control unit 101 shifts the processing to S603.

In step S602, the control unit 101 registers the character information acquired in step S601 in the memory 103 as main character information, and moves the process to step S603. In step S603, the control unit 101 determines whether the card recognition unit 113 has acquired information from the card. If the control unit 101 determines that the information has been acquired from the card, the process proceeds to step S604. If the control unit 101 determines that the information has not been acquired, the process proceeds to step S605.

In step S604, the control unit 101 identifies the character ID of the character corresponding to the card for which information has been acquired, based on the information acquired by the card recognition unit 113. Then, the control unit 101 acquires the character information recorded in association with the character ID from the character DB 104, and registers it in the memory 103 as main character information. At this time, when the information indicating the progress of the game is stored in the memory 103, the control unit 101 refers to the information on the growth degree of the corresponding character in the information indicating the progress of the game, and changes the registered character information. All you have to do is register. The control unit 101 then shifts the processing to S605.

In step S605, the control unit 101 determines whether to end the registration of the main character. Specifically, the control unit 101 determines whether or not the maximum number of main characters has been registered, or whether or not there is an instruction to end the registration of the main characters even if the maximum number is not reached. At this time, the control unit 101 confirms whether the information acquisition of the recording card is unnecessary if the information acquisition of the maximum number of recording cards has not been performed, and determines that the registration is ended if the information acquisition of the recording card is not necessary. To do. The control unit 101 moves the process to S606 if it is determined that the registration of the main character is completed, and returns the process to S603 if it is determined not to be completed.

Here, in the present embodiment, the character of the card discharged at the time of payment of the consideration can be registered as the main character. Therefore, when the character of the discharged card is registered, the player can play (maximum number-1) cards. The card can be scanned in S603 to register the main character. On the other hand, if the player does not register the discharged card character as the main character, the player can scan the maximum number of cards in S603 to register the main character. Further, when the player has not completed registration of the maximum number of main characters and does not have an additional card for which information is to be acquired, the control unit 101 arbitrarily selects a predetermined character. It may be selected (for example, by lottery) and made available to the player.

In step S606, the control unit 101 determines which button of the operation button group 112 should be set for each operation of the registered main character. In the game device 100 of the present embodiment, the player can perform a moving operation of a plurality of registered main character groups by operating the direction indicating member 111, and which character will perform the action at the destination of the movement. In order to make it possible easily, different main characters are associated with each of the plurality of buttons of the operation button group 112. To which button the operation of the main character is assigned may be determined based on, for example, an operation input related to a setting request by the target player, the order in which the information is acquired by the card recognition unit 113, or the assignment for each button. It may be determined according to the suitability of the assigned role (the degree to which it is suitable to play the role in the game). When the button setting in this step is completed, the control unit 101 completes the main registration process.

By performing the registration process in this manner, the main character used for game play can be registered for each player. When the registration processing in S404 is completed, the control unit 101 starts the game processing in subsequent S405. The game device 100 according to the present embodiment can execute a game play by a single player, or a game play in which a plurality of players participate, in particular, a battle game in which a plurality of players cooperate with each other to battle an enemy character. In S405, the control unit 101 executes the game process related to the competitive game for the target player. The battle game executed by the game device 100 according to the present embodiment may be executed by all the players playing the game on the game device 100, for example, so that at least events common to the enemy characters occur in common. it can. After the game process in S405 is completed, the control unit 101 executes the end sequence in S406, and the standby process is completed. The ending sequence here includes, for example, a game progress saving process.

According to the above, the game device 100 can read in advance the information of the card discharged according to the payment of the player's consideration, and execute the main character registration process based on the information. This eliminates the need for the player to read the card information to the game device 100 again by scanning the discharged card in response to the payment of the consideration, thereby improving the complexity of the operation.

<Modification 1>
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the card information includes information for identifying the character corresponding to the card has been described. However, the card information includes items other than the character, such as items that the character can use during the game. Information for specifying may be included.

In that case, the control unit 101 does not use the card information acquired in the standby process in the character registration process in S602, but uses it in the game process in S405. For example, in the game process, the control unit 101 displays on the display unit 108 an inquiry notification as to whether or not the item of the ejected card is used during the game. At this time, the information of the item based on the card information acquired in S401 can be displayed on the notification screen. At that time, the control unit 101 identifies the item ID of the item based on the acquired card information, and acquires the item information recorded in association with the item ID from the game information DB 104. By operating the operation input device 110 in response to this notification, the player can determine whether or not to use the item.

<Modification 2>
In the game processing in S405 of the above embodiment, the card recognition unit 113 may read additional card information, and an event may occur that controls the progress of the game based on the card information. In such an event, the card information of the card discharged in S403 can be read again by the card recognition unit 113. In that case, the control unit 101 may change (for example, increase) the parameter of the character of the card during the game processing so that the game can be advantageously progressed. In the reading of the additional card information, the control unit 101 controls so that when the card discharged in S403 is used, the game can be more favorably progressed as compared with the case where another card is used. May be. When one card includes character information and item information, the character information is acquired in S401 and used in the registration processing in S404, while the item information is used in the event that occurs during the game processing. Information may be obtained to achieve a similar effect. As a result, even a player who has a small number of cards can advantageously advance the game depending on the timing at which the cards are used, and the playability can be improved.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the card information corresponds to two in-game elements such as a character or an item has been described, but the card information is an arbitrary in-game element other than this and is information on the progress of the game. So long as it corresponds to any kind. At that time, the card information acquired at the time of ejection may be limited to only a specific type among a plurality of types of in-game elements. Further, the timing of using the card information acquired at the time of discharging is not limited to the time of character registration, and may be any timing other than that. When using at a specific timing, the parameter of the character or item may be set. You may make it give a privilege, such as changing.

<Modification 3>
In the above-described embodiment, the card is to be ejected when the payment for the consideration is made. However, the embodiment of the invention is not limited to this, and the cards may be ejected at the end of the game or during the game (at least after the end of some games). Even in that case, the information on the discharged character of the card can be used for the game processing. For example, even if the card has not been ejected, the character of the card that should be ejected in the registration processing of S404 can be registered as the main character. Even when the card information is not available in the registration process, it may be available in the subsequent game process, and the timing at which the card information is available may be different from the card ejection timing.

In addition, the ejection of the card and the use of the card information may be restricted until the registration processing of S404 ends. However, when the number of main characters registered in the registration process is less than the maximum number, the characters of the ejection card (the card to be ejected) may be controlled to be registered as the main character. If the number of main characters is still insufficient, the arbitrary character selected by the control unit 101 by the lottery as described above can be registered as the main character.

<Modification 4>
In the above-described embodiment, the player is not provided with any information regarding the card information of the card to be ejected next, until the payment of the consideration is made. On the other hand, when the consideration is not paid and the logo display screen or the demonstration screen of the provided game title is displayed on the display unit 108, the background is identified from the card information of the card to be discharged next. Information about the character may be displayed. For example, the silhouette of the character or information that reminds the character (such as items used by the character) may be displayed on the background. Further, in addition to the information presentation by a video, audio information about the character may be output.

[Embodiment 2]
Next, a second embodiment of the invention will be described. In the first embodiment, it is mainly used when registering information such as characters and items previously acquired from cards discharged at the time of payment of payment as characters and items to be used in the game without card scanning. The possible forms have been described. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the player can select the progress of the game based on the information of the cards to be discharged while the card is discharged at the end of the game or at the end of a part of the game.

The configuration of the game device 100 corresponding to this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. However, the game information DB 104 of FIG. 1 is different in that scenario information for controlling the progress of the game is registered in addition to the various kinds of information on the characters and items described in the first embodiment. The scenario information includes a scenario ID for identifying the scenario information, scenario data such as various parameters forming the scenario, and various information for controlling the game progress based on the scenario. The various information includes, for example, character information, item information, map information, route information, event information and the like. The character information and the item information included in the scenario information include a character ID and an item ID related to the progress of the scenario. Therefore, when the character ID is specified, the scenario associated with the character ID can be specified. Descriptions of other configurations are omitted here.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a standby process executed in the game device 100 of this embodiment. This standby process in the flowchart of FIG. 7 reads the card information of the card to be ejected next in advance, accepts payment of consideration, and finally executes the game process for each player. This is the process to be performed. The processing corresponding to the flowchart can be realized by the control unit 101 reading out a corresponding processing program stored in the recording medium 102, expanding the processing program in the memory 103, and executing the program. Of the processes in FIG. 7, processes common to those in FIG. 4 are given the same reference numerals. Regarding the processes having the same reference numbers, only the same processes as the processes described in relation to FIG. 4 are executed, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted below.

After payment of the consideration in S402, a scenario selection process is executed in the standby process of FIG. Details of the scenario selection process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S801, the control unit 101 displays a scenario selection screen on the display unit 108. At this time, at least two or more scenarios to be selected are displayed. The scenario to be selected is associated with the character ID specified from the card information of the card to be discharged next by each stocker, which is acquired in S401. More specifically, the control unit 101 specifies the character ID of the character based on the acquired card information, and extracts the scenario information including the character ID from the game information DB 104 (or recorded in association with the character ID). get. For example, if the discharging unit 120 has four stockers, four pieces of scenario information will be presented. At this time, the control unit 101 stores the identified scenario information and the stocker ID of the corresponding stocker in the memory 103 in association with each other.

Even if the card to be ejected next by the stocker is an item card, the control unit 101 identifies the item ID based on the acquired card information, and determines the item ID from the game information DB 104. The scenario information including (or recorded in association with the item ID) is acquired.

In subsequent S802, the control unit 101 determines whether the scenario selection from the player has been accepted. If it is determined that the scenario selection has been accepted from the player, the process proceeds to S803. If it is determined that the scenario selection has not been accepted from the player, the process of S802 is continued. In subsequent S803, the control unit 101 registers the scenario information corresponding to the scenario selected by the player in S802 in the memory 103. At this time, the stocker ID corresponding to the selected scenario information is also registered. Then, the scenario selection process ends.

Returning to the description of FIG. 7, when the scenario selection processing in S701 is completed as described above, the control unit 101 executes the registration processing in S702. In the registration process, S603 to S606 of the registration process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 are executed. In the present embodiment, at the stage of the main character registration processing, the character of the card to be discharged is not available. Therefore, the player can register the main character using the card in his hand, or the control unit 101 can register any character as the main character by the lottery as described above.

When the registration process is completed, the control unit 101 starts the game process in subsequent S405. At this time, the control unit 101 advances the game processing based on the scenario information selected in S701. After the game process in S405 is completed, the control unit 101 executes the end sequence in S406, and then ejects the card in S703. At this time, the control unit 101 acquires the stocker ID corresponding to the scenario information registered in the process of S803 of the scenario selection process from the memory 103, controls the stocker having the stocker ID, and ejects the card. When the card is ejected, the control unit 101 completes the standby process.

<Modification 1>
In the above-described embodiment, the card information of the cards to be ejected next by all the stockers in the game device 100 is acquired in advance, and the scenario can be selected based on the card information. However, the embodiment of the invention is not limited to this, and control may be performed such that some of the stockers out of the stockers do not acquire the card information of the card to be ejected next. In that case, the scenario of the selection target presented in S801 can be specified within the range of the acquired card information, or an arbitrary scenario may be additionally included in the selection target in addition to the range. .. In the latter case, when the player selects an arbitrarily added scenario, the card can be ejected from a stocker that is not a target for acquiring card information.

According to the above, the game device 100 can read in advance the information of the card to be discharged according to the payment of the consideration of the player, and provide the player with the candidate of the game progress scenario based on the information. After performing the game process according to the scenario selected from the candidates, the player can obtain the character or item card corresponding to the scenario.

100: game device, 101: control unit, 102: recording medium, 103: memory

Claims (6)

A game device that discharges goods in response to payment of consideration,
Execution means for executing the game,
Discharging means for discharging the article,
First acquisition means for acquiring information from the article to be discharged next by the discharging means,
Presenting means for presenting in-game elements corresponding to the items to be discharged next,
After presenting by the presenting means, selecting means for selecting whether or not an in-game element corresponding to the next discharged article is to appear in the game,
If the game elements corresponding to the article to be discharged in the next and selected to appear in the game, the first based on the information acquired by the acquiring unit, the game is introduced the game element the and control means to be executed by the execution unit,
In each of the in-game elements, reference information that is referred to for determining the progress of the game is predetermined,
When the in-game element corresponding to the item to be discharged next is selected to appear in the game, the control means sets the reference information on the in-game element to a state in which the progress of the game is advantageous. A game device that is changed and causes the executing means to execute the game. A game device that discharges goods in response to payment of consideration,
Execution means for executing the game,
An ejecting unit having a plurality of accommodating portions for accommodating the articles, and configured to be controllable so that the articles accommodated in any of the plurality of accommodating portions are ejected ;
For at least a portion of the housing portion of the plurality of accommodating portions, and a candidate of the article to which the housing part is discharged to the next by said discharging means an article that will be discharged when a controlled discharge, the information from the article First acquisition means for acquiring,
Presenting means for presenting a plurality of in-game elements including in-game elements corresponding to candidates for the next item to be discharged,
Selecting means for selecting which in-game element of the plurality of in-game elements to appear in the game after the presentation by the presenting means;
Control means for causing the executing means to execute the game in which the in-game element selected by the selecting means has appeared, based on the information acquired by the first acquiring means,
In each of the in-game elements, reference information that is referred to for determining the progress of the game is predetermined,
The control means, when the in-game element corresponding to the candidate of the next article to be discharged is selected by the selection means,
Controlling the discharging means to discharge the article from the accommodation unit related to the selected candidate,
A game device that changes the reference information related to the in-game element to a state in which the progress of the game is advantageous, and causes the executing means to execute the game. Further comprising previously discharged article, or a second acquisition unit for acquiring information from the information acquirable configured articles in said game device,
In each of the in-game elements, reference information that is referred to for determining the progress of the game is predetermined,
The discharging of the next discharged goods by the discharging means is completed by the completion of one game play based on the payment of consideration,
The control means is an in-game element corresponding to the article when the second acquisition means acquires information from the article after the ejection means ejects the next article to be ejected. 3. The game device according to claim 1, wherein the reference information related to is changed to a state in which the progress of the game is advantageous, and the execution means is caused to execute the game. Further comprising previously discharged article, or a second acquisition unit for acquiring information from the information acquirable configured articles in said game device,
A predetermined number of in-game elements appear in one game executed based on payment of consideration,
The control means executes the game in which an in-game element corresponding to the next article to be ejected appears when the information is not acquired from the predetermined number of articles by the second acquisition means. game apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is executed. When the total of the number of articles for which information has been obtained by the second obtaining means and the number of articles to be discharged next is less than the predetermined number, the control means determines the article to be discharged next. The game device according to claim 4 , wherein an in-game element selected by lottery is made to appear from among in-game elements other than the corresponding in-game element, and the execution means is caused to execute the game. Program for causing a computer to function as each unit of the game device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.