AU2003200437A1 - Determining a winning symbol combination in a gaming machine - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 28/5/91 Regulation 3.2(2)

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Application Number: Lodged: Invention Title: DETERMINING A WINNING SYMBOL COMBINATION IN A GAMING

MACHINE

The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us DETERMINING A WINNING SYMBOL COMBINATION IN A GAMING MACHINE FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention is related to gaming devices and, in particular, to a method for a player to determine a winning symbol combination in a gaming machine and a gaming machine so disposed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION From European patent publication EP 1139310 A2 is known a coin operated gaming machine that incorporates a video screen which serves to display virtual gaming symbol reels that can be manipulated by a player using virtual and corporeal control elements. The video screen incorporates a touch screen where the player may make gaming and operative selections by touching relevant icons on the screen. Five adjacently arranged virtual reels having symbols thereon are also displayed on the screen. Below the reels, control elements in form of virtual buttons are displayed on the screen. Additional control elements in the form of physical push buttons are provided below the screen. The game can be controlled either by the push buttons or by the touch screen control elements.

In such a device, and in many other common gaming devices, the player initiates the rotation of the reels by touching a spin button (real or virtual) or pulling a dedicated handle. The reels are then randomly stopped using a random number generator to display combinations of symbols across one or more pay lines, some machines also being configured to allow a player to stop the reels using individual stop buttons allocated to each reel. An award is granted to the player for winning symbol combinations across the one or more pay lines.

Consequently, the payer's activities with such reel-type gamming devices are essentially confined to setting the reels into motion, stopping individual reels and watching the outcome.

It would be desirable for a player to have greater control over the outcome of the game to increase the player's interest in playing the gaming machine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A game performed by a gaming machine is described herein which involves an element of player skill in order for the gaming machine to grant an award to the player. This game may be used in a bonus game, or after a losing game, or for each game, or randomly.

In one embodiment of the invention, a gaming machine incorporates a plurality of virtual or corporeal gaming symbol reels, a video display with touch screen arranged to display a plurality of virtual buttons, each virtual button arranged for displaying an image selected from numbers, letters, playing cards, or any other suitable gaming symbol, and a controller operatively connected to the touch screen and arranged to register actuation of the virtual buttons by an operator, the controller being programmed to correlate a sequence of virtual button operations made within a predetermined time interval by an operator to a winning sequence while the reels are spinning. In one embodiment, the controller is programmed in a manner responsive to a player arranging the individual images displayed on the virtual buttons in a logical sequence, by correspondingly touching the virtual buttons, such as for example in an ascending order of numbers or letters, in a specified period of time. To exemplify this, in a simple embodiment with three virtual touch buttons and five reels, the three images displayed by the virtual buttons may be the numbers 3, 1 and 2. The controller may be then programmed to recognize the operator's goal as being for the player to touch these numbers in the ascending order of 1, 2, 3 within a specified period of time, for example within two seconds. The device may also be arranged to change the positions of the images of the virtual buttons according to the order selected by the player, simplifying recognition by a player of the goal to be achieved. After the specified period of time has elapsed, the reels are stopped to display the virtual button images in the order selected by the player. For example, if the player correctly arranged the numbers in the virtual buttons to be 1, 2, 3, this order will be displayed on the middle three stopped reels. Displaying this correct order of images on the reels causes an award to be paid to the player in the form of coins or credits. An incorrect selection by the player will result in no award to the player. An additional award may also be forthcoming if the five reels show winning symbol combinations across one or more pay lines.

The controller may be suitably programmed to vary the available winning sequences, eg in one game the winning sequence may be recognizing an ascending order of play card symbols, in another the selection of cards of same value, etc.

It will be immediately appreciated that this basic concept of the player making selections and the selections appearing as a final outcome on reels (or other display means) to determine an award may be applied to more complicated types of games. The present invention thus introduces a skill component into an otherwise more passive reels-type game and requires active involvement of the players in the outcome of the game, making the game more exciting and popular.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof that is provided with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a gaming machine incorporating the present invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates a block diagram of certain components of the gaming machine of Fig. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a reel-type gaming machine 1 that embodies the present invention. Machine 1 has a display screen 2 that may be a CRT, LCD, TFT, or any other type of display that incorporates a transparent touch screen layer, of conventional design. The touch screen is arranged to detect locations where a player touches the screen in order to operate virtual actuation elements and controls, such as virtual push buttons 9, 10, 11 that appear on screen 2, as is described below in more detail. Device 1 further incorporates a programmable micro-computer of known type and as commonly used in video gaming machines to provide a game and machine controller 12 (see fig. the controller being arranged to correlate the X-Y coordinate position where a player touches the screen with a specific gaming or operation function to be performed by the control unit.

Below display 2 are provided corporeal (ie physical) push buttons 3 to control certain conventional aspects of the game, such as spin reels, bet, bet max, cash out, and other suitable functions. Buttons 3 are linked to the controller 12 in suitable manner.

The gaming machine of Fig. 1 also incorporates a bill acceptor 5 and a coin slot 6 for accepting money or tokens in one or more denominations to generate credits within machine 1 for playing games. A coin tray 7 receives coins or tokens from a coin hopper internal to machine 1 upon a win or upon a player cashing out.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of certain components of the gaming machine of Fig. 1. A coin verification unit 13, connected to the control unit 12, accepts and verifies coins and bank notes and signals this acceptance to control unit 12.

Controller 12 includes an I/O unit to provide a data transfer between the microcomputer and peripheral elements it controls and from which it receives signals, such as display 2, buttons 3, the touch screen, and coin unit 13. The microcomputer of controller 12 further includes a microprocessor, ROM, RAM, a clock generator for the timing and controlling of the microprocessor and memory, and a bus system. Controller 12 also incorporates a pseudo random number generator. The data memory comprises all programs necessary for the operation of machine 1, including a pay table. Pseudo random numbers are determined for every game. All credits are stored in the RAM. The above described hardware elements are of conventional and known type.

Gaming machine 1 also incorporates a dedicated display zone (at the glass front) which displays instructions to the player for playing the belowdescribed game; alternatively, the micro controller 12 may be programmed to display the game rules on display screen 2 prior to a game being played.

In the present embodiment, display 2 is devised to display five (virtual) gaming reels 8, each reel having a set of symbols sequenced on its periphery. In operation of the machine 1, after a player makes a bet and presses the push button 3 allocated to put all virtual reels in rotation, the symbols to be displayed by the outside two reels, when these reels are stopped, are randomly selected by the pseudo-random number generator in control unit 12. The controller 12 is programmed to rotate reels 8 for a predetermined time after which the two outside reels are then stopped to reveal the symbols determined by the pseudorandomizer. The remaining, inner three reels are kept in rotation and the symbols to be displayed by these upon stopping are determined by a player operating virtual push buttons 9, 10 and 11 displayed on screen 2 in a specific manner.

Virtual buttons 9, 10, and 11 are arranged to display certain images in a certain order. Such images may be three numbers, three letters, three playing card ranks a king, queen, and jack), three sets of stones, or any other suitable gaming related images. Virtual buttons 9, 10 and 11 are controlled by controller 12 in a manner whereby a player has a predetermined period of time, such as two seconds, in which to operate the virtual buttons and arrange the images into a predetermined order, such as an ascending order.

In the example of Fig. 1, the numbers 3, 1, and 2 are shown within virtual buttons 9, 10, and 11, respectively. To place the numbers in the correct order, the player would first touch button 10, then button 11, then button 9. Optionally, the images within the buttons may then be rearranged by the machine to display the numbers in the selected order.

After the predetermined time period allowed by the controller for validly operating virtual push buttons 9, 10 and 11 has lapsed, the three middle rotating reels 8 are stopped such as to display the player-selected order of images. In the example of Fig. 1, the player has not selected the correct order, and the three middle reels stop after the predetermined time to display the incorrectly selected order 3, 1, 2. Conversely, a player-selected correct order of operation of the images in buttons 9-11 will be registered by controller 12 and, after being displayed by the middle three reels 8, will result in an award to the player. The correspondence between a given award and an image sequence is listed on a winning symbol combination table displayed at the front tableau of the gaming machine 1 so that a player can anticipate the amount to be won by selecting a correct symbol order. An increased award amount is payable to the player where the symbols on the outside two reels contribute to a winning a play line displayed by all five reels 8, in accordance with a winning table.

Hence, in playing a gaming machine 1 that embodies the concept underlying the present invention there is an element of player-skill in winning the game.

In another embodiment of the above described machine 1, there are as many virtual buttons as reels, and the player's selection of the order of the images within the virtual buttons dictates the stop position of each of the reels.

Since the reels are virtual reels, they can be stopped to display any symbol displayed by the corresponding virtual buttons.

A gaming machine in accordance with the present invention may be programmed to allow playing of many other games of similar type. For example, the player may be offered a set of similar images and must choose three identical images (or any other number) using virtual buttons. The reels will then stop at those identical images to provide an award to the player if the images were correctly selected. An incorrect selection will result in a losing symbol combination on reels 8.

In another embodiment, physical buttons 3, instead of virtual buttons, may be associated with the symbols that are to be arranged in a predetermined order by the player in order to achieve a winning game.

In another embodiment, the game may not require the player to arrange images but may simply require the player to press virtual or physical buttons in a certain order. In one example, one of the series of buttons may be illuminated for a very short period of time, and the player must touch the illuminated button in order to obtain a winning symbol for the associated reel. If the buttons are properly selected, the reels will stop to reveal a certain winning symbol combination. Many other types of games using these concepts are envisioned.

Further, the reels 8 may be motor-driven reels instead of virtual reels, and the images on virtual buttons 9-11 may take any other form, such as LEDs, or small physical reels.

Accordingly, a main game or secondary game for a gaming machine is described wherein a player makes certain selections by touching or pressing buttons and the selections are reflected in the stopped positions of rotating reels (or other means). The final symbol combinations on the reels determine whether an award is to be paid to the player.

Having described the invention in detail, those skilled in the art will appreciate that, given the present disclosure, modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit of the inventive concepts described herein. Therefore, it is not intended that the scope of the invention be limited to the specific embodiments illustrated and described. Further, the terms "comprises" and "comprising" are used herein and in the following claims in non- 7 limiting manner to indicate the presence of certain features without excluding the presence of additional features, unless the context of use of these terms expressly requires otherwise.

Claims (22)

1. A gaming device having: a first display for displaying a first plurality of images; at least one control element arranged to be operated by a player for selecting a group from the first plurality of images; a second display for displaying the selected group of images; and a game controller arranged to detect operation of the at least one control element in selecting the group of images, the controller further arranged to allocate an award where the group of images was selected in a predetermined sequence that comprises an award-winning sequence and losing sequences.

2. The device of claim 1, further including a video display screen arranged to display a plurality of virtual gaming reels, at least some of the virtual gaming reels providing said second display and being arranged to be stopped by the controller in respective positions to display the group of images in the sequence selected by the player.

3. The device of claim 1, further including a plurality of motor-driven gaming reels, at least some of the reels providing said second display and arranged to be stopped by the controller in respective positions to display the group of images in the sequence selected by the player.

4. The device of claim 2 or 3, wherein the first display includes the or a video display screen arranged to display said first plurality of images.

The device of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the number of said control elements corresponds to the number of the members in the group of images selectable by the player.

6. The device of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the at least one control element includes a mechanical push button.

7. The device of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the at least one control element is provided in form of a virtual push button at a touch sensitive screen arranged to detect locations where a player touches the screen.

8. The device of claim 7, wherein the touch sensitive screen is provided at the video display screen.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein individual ones of said first plurality of images are allocated to a respective one of said virtual push buttons.

The device of claim 7, 8 or 9, wherein the virtual push buttons are arranged to display an associated one of said first plurality of images.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the controller is arranged to change an image originally displayed at a given virtual push button to display one of the member images of the group of images in accordance with a sequence in which the player touches the push buttons.

12. The device of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the number of gaming reels is greater or equal to the number of first images.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein it comprises five virtual or mechanical gaming reels and or displaying the selected group of three of these reels provide the second display for the selected group of first images.

14. The device of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first plurality of images comprises images of numbers, letters, playing card ranks or similar gaming symbols that may be selected by a player to provide a logical sequence.

The device of claim 14, wherein the logical sequence is an ascending or descending order of numbers or letters.

16. The device of any one of claims 2 to 15, wherein the game controller includes a pseudo randomizer arranged to determine symbols to be displayed by those of the gaming reels that do not form part of the second display.

17. The device of any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the controller is further arranged to allocate an award where the group of images was selected in a predetermined sequence that comprises the award-winning sequence and where the selection was made within a predetermined time period.

18. A skills based gaming method implemented on a gaming device, including: displaying a first plurality of images on a display screen; a player selecting at least some of the first plurality of images in a certain manner, the certain manner comprising an award-winning manner and a losing manner; displaying the selected images on a gaming symbol display means; and granting an award to the player for selecting the at least some of the first plurality of images in an award-winning manner.

19. The method of Claim 18 further comprising displaying a second plurality of reels, and stopping rotation of the reels to display images corresponding to the player's selection of the at least some of the plurality of images in a certain manner.

The method of Claim 19 wherein the certain manner comprises a certain arrangement of the images.

21. The method of Claim 19 wherein the second plurality of reels is displayed on a video screen.

22. A gaming machine incorporating a plurality of virtual or corporeal gaming symbol reels, a video display with touch screen arranged to display a plurality of virtual buttons, each virtual button arranged for displaying an image selected from numbers, letters, playing cards, or any other suitable gaming symbol, and a controller operatively connected to the touch screen and arranged to register actuation of the virtual buttons by an operator, the controller being programmed to correlate a sequence of virtual button operations made by an operator within a predetermined time interval to a winning sequence that is then displayed on predetermined ones of said reels, the remaining gaming reels being operated in know fashion under the control of a pseudo-randomizer of the controller and provide potential additional winning symbol combinations with the selected gaming symbols. DATED this 10th day of February 2003 ATRONIC INTERNATIONAL GMBH WATERMARK PATENT TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS 290 BURWOOD ROAD HAWTHORN VIC 3122 AUSTRALIA