CN111093785B

CN111093785B - Game device, game system, and recording medium

Info

Publication number: CN111093785B
Application number: CN201880059792.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 高桥诚
Original assignee: Bandai Co Ltd
Current assignee: Bandai Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-11-17
Filing date: 2018-09-21
Publication date: 2023-09-08
Anticipated expiration: 2038-09-21
Also published as: WO2019097837A1; CN111093785A; JP6669711B2; JP2019092573A

Abstract

The player's interest in the game is sustained and the utilization of the game device is increased. The game device performs processing of a game related to a first game play in a case where a first payout related to a start of provision of a one-time game play experience is detected, and performs processing of a game related to a second game play subsequent to the first game play in a case where a second payout is detected during a provision period of the one-time game play experience after the start of the first game play. The game device provides a game virtual article associated with the game element for the second game play.

Description

Game device, game system, and recording medium

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a game device, a game system, and a program, and more particularly, to a technique for providing a game and an article for a game for a payment of a price.

Background

There is a game device that provides a card with a code at the time of a game play experience of a game, and reads the card with the code to thereby execute a game in which a character associated with the card is brought out (patent document 1).

Prior art literature

Patent literature

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. H06-154421

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

The card provided by the game device of patent document 1 is a ready-made card manufactured by printing in advance, and an effect of increasing the desire of a player to collect the card is obtained by determining an inherent design pattern for each character provided to be usable in a game.

In addition, the number of characters set to be usable in the game is limited, and the kinds of ready-made cards that can be provided are limited. Thus, for players who have a primary purpose of card collection, there is no advantage to the use of a later gaming device in the case where all of these limited types of off-the-shelf cards are collected, and interest in the game may be lost.

The present invention provides a game device, a game system, and a program for keeping a player's interest in a game and increasing the use of the game device.

Solution for solving the problem

The game device of the present invention is a game device for providing a game playing experience of a game under the condition that a price is paid, and comprises: a detection unit that detects a price payment; a first execution unit that, in the event of detecting a first payout related to a start of provision of one play experience, executes a process of a game related to the first play; a second execution unit that executes, after the start of the first game play, a process of a game related to a second game play subsequent to the first game play in a case where a second payout of the price is detected in a provision period of one game play experience; and a providing unit that provides a game virtual article associated with the game element for the second game play.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

With this structure, according to the present invention, it is possible to keep the player's interest in the game and to increase the use of the game device.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a system diagram showing a configuration of a game system according to an embodiment and a modification of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of game device 100 according to the embodiment and the modification of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a mobile terminal 200 according to an embodiment and a modification of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining a game piece according to embodiment 1 and a modification of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a supply process executed in the game device 100 according to embodiment 1 and the modification of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a server 600 according to embodiment 2 and a modification of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a supply process executed in the game device 100 according to embodiment 2 and the modification of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of various information used in the game system according to the embodiment and the modification of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Embodiment 1 an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in one embodiment described below, an example will be described in which the present invention is applied to a game system including a game device capable of providing an actual card for a game and a virtual card for a game, and a portable terminal configured to be able to acquire the virtual card for a game, as an example of the game system. However, the present invention can be applied to any apparatus capable of providing 2 or more different types of articles. In this specification, the following description will be given below: "one play experience" refers to the entire experience that a player who is permitted to make a wager regarding 1 service use takes up the game device (corresponding to 1 round) for a prescribed period of time to provide the player with the wager. The following description will be given below: "play" refers to a specified game (game) provided by a player during a portion of a play experience.

In the game device of the present embodiment, the following description will be given with regard to 2 items that can acquire information in each game play experience. An actual game piece, which is an actual article for a first game according to the present invention, is configured so that a game in which a game element (for example, character) associated with the actual game piece is brought out of the game device can be executed by acquiring information. Another virtual game piece that is a virtual article for a game according to the present invention is configured so that a game in which an associated game element (for example, character) is brought out of the game device can be executed in the same manner as an actual game piece by setting the virtual game piece in a state in which information can be acquired in a portable terminal. In addition, the game device is configured to be able to provide these actual game pieces and virtual game pieces that can be acquired information.

Here, the actual game piece and the virtual game piece are different types of items, and as described later, are configured to be able to acquire information as game items, but the two are provided in different ways. The actual game piece (actual article for game) is an object having a physical entity (or volume) in the real world, and the virtual game piece (virtual article for game) is an electronic object (electronic information: data) which is treated as an equivalent object to the actual object in a program although not having a physical entity (or volume) in the real world, and in the present invention, these articles are treated as different types of articles. In the following description, the former and the latter are denoted by the "actual" and "virtual" items and game cards, respectively. In addition, when both are referred to or both are referred to, they are simply referred to as articles or game pieces.

In the present embodiment, in order to simplify the structure of the game device 100, information is added to the actual game card and the virtual game card so that information can be acquired by the same processing and method when the game device is in a state where information can be acquired. The information is added to the article in a form of a code (coding) which converts the information into a predetermined form, and when the article is in a state where the information can be acquired, the information is visually recognized to be presented to the appearance of the article.

For example, with respect to an actual game card, information is attached to the actual game card by including a code, which includes a card ID capable of uniquely identifying the card, a character ID capable of uniquely identifying a character as a game element associated with the card, and information indicating that the actual game card, as a coded image on the card surface. Similarly, in the virtual game card, for example, a coded image related to a code including a card ID capable of uniquely identifying the card, a character ID for uniquely identifying a character as a game element associated with the card, and information indicating that the virtual game card is included in data of the card, and the coded image is in a visually identifiable state in response to a display instruction of the card being made at the portable terminal. More specifically, when the actual game piece is configured to include the coded image 401 as shown in fig. 4 (a), the virtual game piece has the same design as the actual game piece and is displayed as a game piece including the coded image 402 when the virtual game piece is displayed on the portable display portion 230 of the portable terminal 200 as shown in fig. 4 (b). In the present embodiment, the coded image is described as being included in the data of the virtual game card, but the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this, and the coded image may be configured by converting necessary information in the mobile terminal 200, for example, and may be presented in the mobile terminal 200.

In the present embodiment, the game elements associated with the game pieces are described as characters, but the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this, and the game elements associated with the game pieces may be other elements such as props and effects of starting.

In the present embodiment, the game items provided to the game device are described as the actual game pieces and the virtual game pieces, but the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the game items provided by the game device have a plurality of categories, and the game cards may be not necessarily be provided as long as the categories include the actual items and the virtual items. For example, the game article may be any article configured to be able to identify a game element associated with the article, a paper medium other than a game card, a label, or the like, or a figure such as a toy, a key fob, or the like having the appearance of the game element. When the game article is a molded article, information to be given to the article can be obtained from a recording medium inside the molded article or a part of the appearance such as painting, labeling, printing, or the like attached to the molded article.

The system configuration of the game system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 1 (a). As shown in the drawing, in the game system of the present embodiment, the game device 100 is configured to be capable of communicating with the mobile terminal 200. In the example of fig. 1 (a), one portable terminal 200 is shown as a device capable of communicating with one game apparatus 100, but the game apparatus 100 may be configured to be capable of communicating with a portable terminal 200 used by a player and with a plurality of kinds of portable terminals 200. The game device 100 may be capable of communicating with an external device such as a server via a network not shown. In the following description, the same functional components as those of the game device 100 and the mobile terminal 200 are distinguished by the prefix character "portable".

First, the functional configuration of the game device 100 will be described using the block diagram of fig. 2.

The control unit 101 is, for example, a CPU, and controls the operations of the respective blocks included in the game device 100. Specifically, the control unit 101 controls the operations of the blocks by, for example, reading the operation programs of the blocks recorded in the recording medium 102, and then expanding the operation programs in the memory 103 to execute the operation programs.

The recording medium 102 is, for example, a nonvolatile memory, an HDD, or other recording device capable of permanently holding data. The recording medium 102 stores information such as parameters necessary for the operation of each block, and various graphic data used for a game executed by the game device 100, in addition to the operation program of each block included in the game device 100. The memory 103 is a storage device for temporary data storage, such as a volatile memory. The memory 103 is used not only as an expansion area of the operation program of each block but also as a storage area for temporarily storing data and the like output during the operation of each block.

The payout detecting unit 104 detects whether or not a payout of the price is made in the game device 100. The game device 100 of the present embodiment is described based on the service of providing the game card to the player in association with the start of the price payment, but the price payment is not a necessary condition, and the service may be started based on a predetermined start instruction.

In the game play provided by the game device 100 of the present embodiment, the acquisition unit 105 acquires information from the game piece via the reader 120. The reader 120 is provided so as to be incorporated in the same housing as the game device 100 or so as to be detachably connected to the outside of the game device 100. The reader 120 is configured to be able to acquire information from a game card, that is, an actual game card, and a virtual game card that is displayed on the mobile terminal 200 so as to be in a state of having the same appearance as the actual game card, receive placement of respective corresponding articles, and output information (card information) acquired from the articles to the acquisition unit 105. In this case, in order to convert card information acquired from the game card into a format suitable for use in each process in the game device 100, a predetermined data conversion process or the like may be performed on the card information. The reader 120 performs detection of whether or not an article is placed on a predetermined position, identification of the article, or acquisition of information from the article by applying predetermined image processing to an image obtained by imaging while being controlled in a state where information can be acquired from the corresponding article. In other words, the reader 120 detects the encoded image presented on the game card placed thereon, acquires card information by converting the encoded image, and outputs the card information to the acquisition unit 105.

As described above, the card information on the actual game card and the virtual game card may be configured to include, in association with the card ID 801 for uniquely identifying the game card, a character ID 802 for specifying a character associated with the game card and a virtual article flag 803 indicating whether the game card is a virtual game card (logical type, true indication is a virtual game card) as shown in fig. 8 (a).

In the present embodiment, the acquisition unit 105 is described as acquiring card information only from a game card for simplicity, but the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the acquisition unit 105 may be configured to acquire information from a player card having an individual player ID for identifying a player in order to identify the player who plays the game. In this case, for example, information (save data, etc.) showing the progress status of the game held by the player may be acquired based on the player ID and reflected in the game.

The character DB 106 is a database for managing information (character information) about each character set in advance to be out in a game executed by the game device 100. In the game provided by the game device 100 of the present embodiment, since a plurality of characters can be played in the game related to 1 game play, a plurality of character information is managed in the character DB 106.

As shown in fig. 8 (b), the character information for managing 1 character includes drawing information 812, sound data 813, and progress parameter 814 in association with a character ID 811 for uniquely specifying a character, wherein the drawing information 812 includes graphic data or the like used for generating a screen when the character is brought out of the game, the sound data 813 is similarly used for sound presentation when the character is brought out of the game, and the progress parameter 814 describes, in addition to names, attributes, and the like of characters, various parameters inherent to factors such as predetermined physical strength (endurance), attack strength, defense strength, launch skill, and special type. The progress parameter 814 is information (game information) referred to in a game for making a character play, and is used to control progress of the game provided. In the game of the present embodiment, even for the same character, different progress parameters 814 are assigned according to which of the actual game piece and the virtual game piece (which of the virtual article marks 803 is) the game piece for which information acquisition has been performed to bring the character out. Thus, the progress parameters 814 include an actual item parameter 821 for progress control of the game in the case where information is acquired from an actual game card, and a virtual item parameter 822 for progress control of the game in the case where information is acquired from a virtual game card. Here, although details will be described later, in order to obtain a virtual game piece, the player needs to make further payouts during at least one play experience to accept provision of a subsequent play experience in the game device 100. Therefore, in the game system of the present embodiment, the virtual game piece is determined to be a piece having higher rarity than the actual game piece, and the virtual item parameter 822 is determined to be more advantageous for the progress of the game than the actual item parameter 821.

The difference between the actual game piece and the virtual game piece is not limited to this, and for example, as shown in fig. 4 (a) and (b), the value of the virtual game piece and the collection desire of the player may be improved by making the pattern to be presented when the information is available different for the same character. In other words, the rare value of the virtual game piece may be increased by setting the pattern attached to the virtual game piece to a pattern that is not used in the actual game piece. The character information may also include information of such a pattern as drawing information 812.

In the present embodiment, the figure data and the sound data are stored in the character DB 106, and the character information includes these data, but the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this. The character information may include information indicating a storage location of the corresponding data. The character ID is described for uniquely identifying a character determined to be present in the game, but there is no possibility that 1 character has a plurality of types of different patterns, such as a rank (rank) determined in the game, a rank (class) of a character type, a rank (rarity) of a class classified by various capability values included in game parameters, and the like. For example, the different types of roles may be configured such that different role IDs are determined for the respective roles, so that the roles can be uniquely specified, or such that the roles can be uniquely specified by combining the class information indicating the classes with the role IDs.

In the present embodiment, the following configuration is described: the character IDs are associated with character information managed for each character in the character DB 106, and various game information required for progress control of a game related to the character associated with the card is acquired from the character DB 106 based on the character IDs of the card information acquired from the game card by the acquisition unit 105, whereby information of characters appearing in the game can be registered, but the implementation of the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, the card information attached to the game card is not limited to information such as character ID for specifying the game information, and may include the game information itself.

The presentation control unit 107 is responsible for controlling presentation of various information to the player in the game device 100. In the game device 100 of the present embodiment, the description has been made with the display unit 130 for displaying an image (game screen, menu screen, or the like) and the audio output unit 140 for outputting audio as means for presenting various information to the player, but the means for presenting information is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that substitution or addition can be made.

The rendering control unit 107 includes a rendering device such as a GPU, for example, and performs predetermined rendering processing when generating a screen to be displayed on the display unit 130. Specifically, the presentation control unit 107 performs appropriate arithmetic processing on the necessary drawing object based on processing and commands performed by the control unit 101 during operation of the game device 100 (during play and standby state), and draws a screen. The generated screen is output to the display unit 130, and is displayed in a predetermined display area, and is presented to the player, and the display unit 130 may be a display device that is in the same housing as the game device 100 or is detachably connected to the outside of the game device 100.

The presentation control unit 107 includes, for example, a circuit for outputting and amplifying a sound signal such as a sound card or an amplifier, and performs predetermined processing when generating a sound to be outputted by the sound output unit 140. Specifically, for example, the presentation control unit 107 determines audio data to be simultaneously output based on audio data recorded in advance in the recording medium 102, converts the audio data into an audio signal (D/a conversion), and outputs the audio signal to the audio output unit 140, thereby outputting audio. The sound output unit 140 may be a predetermined speaker or the like, and outputs sound waves based on the input sound signal.

The providing control unit 108 performs control of providing a game card for one play experience started based on the price payment. In the game device 100 of the present embodiment, the provision control unit 108 controls the provided game pieces so as to be different depending on the condition under which the price payment is made.

Specifically, in a case where the game device 100 does not provide a game playing experience, that is, a payment of a price is made while in a so-called standby state in which no occupation time is allocated to any player, the providing control section 108 controls the card providing section 150 so that an actual game card is provided. The card supply unit 150 is, for example, a card dispenser, and may have the following structure: the game machine has a not-shown bin in which actual game cards are stacked in a vertical direction, and a mechanism for supplying 1 actual game card held at the lowermost portion of the bin in response to a supply command issued by the supply control unit 108. When the card supply unit 150 is incorporated in the same housing as the game device 100, the actual game card is supplied to the player through the take-out port 151 (see fig. 1 (a)) that is guided to be accessible from the outside of the game device 100. The actual game pieces provided by the game device 100 of the present embodiment are ready-made pieces printed in advance, and the actual game pieces associated with the same character are identical except for the pieces of card ID included in the pieces of card information. In addition, as described above, since the actual game pieces are supplied in the order held in the bin, the actual game piece to be supplied next in the standby state is determined. Accordingly, the game device 100 of the present embodiment does not include a dynamic element that changes the provision of a card according to the game play content of the game, and the provision of an actual game card is performed, for example, before the provision of a game play related to a predetermined game (game play).

In the present embodiment, the actual game card is described as an off-the-shelf card, but the actual game card may be provided as a card in which the design pattern can be dynamically changed by so-called on demand (on demand) printing. In this case, the card supply unit 150 may be a printing device that prints on a predetermined paper medium, and may be configured to print and supply an actual game card by adding a coded image obtained by converting the card information to card information having a character ID of a character selected by a player or selected by a lottery process according to progress of a game.

On the other hand, in a case where further payouts are made while the game device 100 is providing a game play experience, that is, while the player is in a state of being assigned an possession time, the providing control section 108 controls the communication section 110 so that data of the virtual game card concerning 1 character is provided to the portable terminal 200. In the present embodiment, the communication with the mobile terminal 200 via the communication unit 110 is described by means of short-range wireless communication, but the communication method with the mobile terminal 200 is not limited to short-range wireless communication, and it is needless to say that the communication method can be replaced.

The operation input unit 109 is, for example, a user interface provided in the game device 100, such as an operation member for inputting a direction, an operation member for determining an input, and various sensors. When detecting that an operation input to the operation member is performed, the operation input unit 109 outputs a control signal corresponding to the operation input to the control unit 101.

The communication unit 110 is a communication interface with an external device provided in the game device 100. The communication unit 110 realizes the device-to-device communication between the game device 100 and the mobile terminal 200 as described above. The communication unit 110 may be connected to an external device via a network (not wired or wireless) and may transmit and receive data, or the network may be a communication network such as the internet or a cable for connecting devices. The communication unit 110 converts information input as a transmission target into data of a predetermined format, for example, and transmits the data.

Next, the functional configuration of the portable terminal 200 will be described with reference to the block diagram of fig. 3.

The portable control unit 201 is, for example, a CPU, and controls the operations of the respective blocks included in the portable terminal 200. Specifically, the portable control unit 201 reads out an operation program of each block recorded in the portable recording medium 202, and then expands the operation program in the portable memory 203 to execute the operation program, thereby controlling the operation of each block.

The portable recording medium 202 is, for example, a nonvolatile memory, an HDD, or other recording device capable of permanently holding data. The portable recording medium 202 stores information such as parameters necessary for the operation of each block in addition to the operation program of each block included in the portable terminal 200. The portable memory 203 is a storage device for temporary data storage such as a volatile memory. The portable memory 203 is used not only as an expansion area of the operation program of each block but also as a storage area for temporarily storing data and the like output during the operation of each block.

The portable display control unit 207 includes, for example, a drawing device such as a drawing chip, and performs predetermined drawing processing when generating a screen to be displayed on the portable display unit 230. In the game system of the present embodiment, the portable display control unit 207 mainly performs display control for bringing card information of a virtual game card into an acquirable state. For example, when an application program (associated application program) associated with a game of the game device 100 is executed in the mobile terminal 200 and an operation input for selecting a virtual game card to be used from the acquired list of virtual game cards is performed, the mobile display control unit 207 generates an image of the virtual game card including the encoded image 402 using the data of the card. The portable display unit 230 is a display device of the portable terminal 200, and for convenience, the portable display unit 230 is described as constituting a part of the external appearance of the portable terminal 200.

The portable operation input unit 209 is, for example, an operation member for determining input, a user interface provided in the portable terminal 200 such as various sensors, and the like. When detecting that an operation input to the operation member is performed, the portable operation input unit 209 outputs a control signal corresponding to the operation input to the portable control unit 201. In the present embodiment, the portable operation input unit 209 includes, in addition to the physical operation member, a touch input detection sensor for detecting a touch input performed on the screen of the portable display unit 230, for example.

The portable communication unit 210 is a communication interface with an external device provided in the portable terminal 200. In the present embodiment, the portable communication unit 210 is capable of performing inter-device communication with the game device 100 to receive data of the virtual game piece. When receiving the data of the virtual game piece from the game device 100, the portable communication unit 210 updates the information stored in the portable recording medium 202 and referred to in the execution of the associated application program, and sets the virtual game piece to a displayable state. The portable communication unit 210 may be connected to an external device via a network not shown, and may be capable of transmitting and receiving data.

In the present embodiment, the following configuration is described: the mobile terminal 200 has a display device, and displays the virtual game card received from the game device 100 based on the data of the card, thereby bringing the card into a state in which information can be acquired. That is, the present invention is not limited to the mobile terminal 200, as long as it is a device or article configured to receive data of a virtual game card and to allow the game device 100 to acquire the data or corresponding card information. However, from the viewpoint of interest or convenience of the player, it is more preferable that the player be configured to be able to confirm the character associated with the received data in the device or article. Accordingly, the device or article for receiving the data of the virtual game piece may be configured to be able to confirm the character associated with the virtual game piece for which the data is received by a method other than the data display.

The present embodiment describes specific processing with reference to the flowchart of fig. 5 regarding the provision processing executed in connection with the provision of a game play experience in the game device 100 having such a configuration. The processing corresponding to this flowchart can be realized by reading out a corresponding processing program stored in the recording medium 102 by the control section 101, and then expanding the processing program in the memory 103 and executing the processing program. Note that, for example, the present providing process is described as being started when the game device 100 is in a standby state (the game device 100 is started, or the game play experience is provided once and the instruction to start the game play experience can be accepted).

In S501, the control unit 101 determines whether or not a payout related to the start of provision of one play experience is made as a first payout of the present invention. This step is a step of detecting a price payment made while the game apparatus 100 is in a standby state, for judging whether to start providing an initial game play experience for a new player. Here, the "initial game play experience" refers to a game play experience that is provided for the first time after being in a standby state and not being allocated an occupied time to any player, and is described as being different from the provision of the initial game play experience for the player. The control unit 101 shifts the process to S502 when it is determined that the payout related to the start of the provision of the one-time play experience is performed, and repeats the process of this step when it is determined that the payout related to the start of the provision of the one-time play experience is not performed.

In S502, the control unit 101 starts processing relating to providing a game play experience, and allocates an occupation time to a player who has invested a price to use the game device 100. The occupation time does not need to be fixedly determined and the time allocated to be capable of occupation may be dynamically changed according to the game play content of the game, and for example, the remaining occupation time may be determined based on a predetermined state while ensuring progress to the predetermined state.

In S503, the providing control section 108 controls the card providing section 150 under the control of the control section 101 so that 1 real game card is provided. The game card provision performed in this step is a provision of a game card related to the initial play experience that is started in response to the entry of the price to be performed in the standby state, and thus the actual game card is provided to the player by the card providing section 150.

In S504, the control unit 101 executes various processes related to preparation of the game (predetermined game) for the game play provided for the current game play experience. Among various processes related to the preparation of the opponent game, a registration process of a character of an opponent (opponent character), a registration process of a character used by a player (use character), and the like are included. Here, the registration processing using characters is processing for registering characters associated with an actual game card or a virtual game card based on card information acquired from the game card or the virtual game card via the reader 120. The player can use a desired character as a use character in the game play by using a game card having a character which is associated with a game which is intended to be played in the fight game, from among the actual game card and the virtual game card. When the number of used characters is smaller than the predetermined number determined for the fight game, the control unit 101 may determine and register the characters temporarily used by the player in the predetermined character group. The management of the usage roles and opponent roles registered in the preparation process is performed by reading out the corresponding role information from the role DB 106 based on the role IDs of the respective roles and storing the necessary information in the tables for managing roles (usage role management table and opponent role management table). At this time, regarding the progress parameter 814 registered for the usage role, the virtual item parameter 822 (true) or the actual item parameter 821 (false) is included in the table according to the virtual item flag 803 in the acquired card information.

In S505, the control unit 101 starts a game process related to the registered game of the opponent character and the use character. More specifically, the control unit 101 starts the following game process: the use character management table and the opponent character management table are referred to, and progress control is performed based on progress parameters of each character. The game control unit 101 ends the game process based on the satisfaction of the predetermined end condition until the game is provided and played by the fight game.

In S506, the control unit 101 executes various processes such as a result display, a script (script) display, and the like related to the end of the game. The control unit 101 causes the presentation control unit 107 to present a display for confirming whether or not to provide a subsequent game play experience subsequent to the current game play experience, and starts measuring a reception period for whether or not to provide the reception. Herein, the provision of the subsequent play experience refers to extending the occupation time of the game apparatus 100 allocated to the player and further providing a different one-time play experience, which is a play experience provided to the same player without going through the standby state. In the present embodiment, the description is given of accepting a selection of whether to provide a subsequent game play experience in the timing of the game play end of the game play in this way, but the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the present invention can be accepted when it is determined whether or not the subsequent play experience is provided, and the present invention can be accepted when it is determined that the current one-time play experience is provided without any problem, and can be accepted during the period after the start of the provision of the one-time play experience, preferably, any time during the period from the start of the play until the end of the provision period in the one-time play experience.

In S507, the control unit 101 determines whether or not to provide a subsequent game play experience. Specifically, the control unit 101 determines whether or not the provision of the subsequent one-time play experience is requested, based on whether or not the additional payout is performed as the second payout of the present invention during the acceptance period of acceptance of the provision. Accordingly, when additional payment is made, the control unit 101 determines that the subsequent game play experience is requested, and determines that the game play experience is to be provided for that time. The control unit 101 determines that the subsequent play experience is not to be provided, based on not only that no additional payment is made until the reception period for receiving whether the provision of the subsequent play experience is provided has elapsed, but also that an operation input is made to the effect that the provision of the subsequent play experience is not to be accepted. The control unit 101 transitions the process to S509 when it is determined that the provision of the subsequent play experience is performed, and transitions the process to S508 when it is determined that the provision of the subsequent play experience is not performed.

In S508, the control unit 101 executes a process of bringing the game device 100 into a standby state, and completes the present providing process.

On the other hand, when it is determined in S507 that the provision of the subsequent play experience is performed, the control unit 101 starts processing related to the provision of the subsequent play experience in S509, and allocates a new occupation time to the player who has added the price.

In S510, the control unit 101 determines a predetermined number of characters as candidates for providing virtual game pieces. The character to be provided as a candidate may be determined from characters that have been played in the previous game, or may be extracted by a lottery process or the like. When determining the character as the providing candidate of the virtual game card, the control unit 101 transmits the information to the providing control unit 108, causes the display unit 130 to display the information, and receives an instruction input concerning selection of the character for providing the virtual game card from among the characters as the providing candidate. As described above, (data of) virtual game pieces related to 1 character are provided for subsequent game play experiences, and thus 1 character is selected from among more than 1 provided candidate characters. In the present embodiment, the character for providing the virtual game card is selected based on the operation input by the player, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the selection may be performed in accordance with a predetermined providing order by the lottery process performed by the control unit 101.

In S511, the control unit 101 determines whether or not a character (providing character) for providing the virtual game piece is selected. When the control unit 101 determines that the provision role is selected, it shifts the process to S512, and when it determines that the provision role is not selected, it repeats the process of this step.

In S512, the presentation control section 107 causes the display section 130 and the sound output section 140 to present information for instructing the player to bring the portable terminal 200 close to a prescribed position under the control of the control section 101 so as to provide a virtual game piece. At this time, in the mobile terminal 200, for example, a pickup function of a virtual game card is selected in an associated application, and data can be received from the game device 100. After that, when the state is reached in which communication between the game device 100 and the portable terminal 200 is possible via the communication unit 110, the control unit 101 advances the process to S513.

In S513, the providing control unit 108 transmits data of the virtual game card related to the providing character to the communication unit 110 under the control of the control unit 101, and transmits the data to the portable terminal 200. By doing so, provision of virtual game pieces can be made for a subsequent game play experience that is performed after the initial game play experience. When the transmission of the data for transmitting the virtual game card to the portable terminal 200 is completed, the control unit 101 returns the process to S504.

In this way, in the game device 100 of the present embodiment, the occupation time of the game device 100 allocated to the player can be prolonged in response to the payment of the price related to the provision of the subsequent game play experience while the game play experience is provided, and a game play experience with higher satisfaction can be provided. Further, since not only an actual game piece but also a virtual game piece that can be used for playing a game in the game device 100 if the portable terminal 200 is provided for the subsequent game play experience, that is, a virtual game piece that is excellent in portability is provided, it is possible to greatly expand the interesting elements concerning the collection of the articles.

In the providing process of the present embodiment, it is assumed that if additional play price is paid during the period of providing the subsequent play experience, further subsequent play experience providing is started, but the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, to ensure fairness among players, an upper limit number of times including an initial play experience may be set with respect to the number of times each player can accept the provided play experience for a period of time.

In the present embodiment, the description has been made on the assumption that the player has the mobile terminal 200, and the corresponding character is registered as the use character when the data of the virtual game card is acquired. That is, the method of providing the virtual game piece so that the player can use the virtual game piece may be performed without providing the player with a communication terminal such as the mobile terminal 200, for example, by managing information of the virtual game piece to be provided in association with identification information of the player attached to the actual game piece, the player card, or the like in an external server configured to be able to communicate with the game device 100 or the game device 100 itself. In this case, the virtual game card desired to be used by the player may be selected from the virtual game cards managed in association with the identification information of the player based on information acquired from the actual game card and the player card at the time of playing the game again.

As described above, in the game device according to the present embodiment, the player's interest in the game can be sustained and the use of the game device can be increased. In more detail, the game device is a game device that provides a game play experience of a game on the condition that a payout of a payout is necessary, performs processing of a game related to a first game play when a first payout related to a start of provision of a game play experience is detected, and performs processing of a game related to a second game play subsequent to the first game play when a second payout is detected during a period of provision of a game play experience after the start of the first game play. In this case, the above-described effects can be achieved by providing the game virtual article associated with the game element for the second game play.

In modification 1, the above-described embodiment 1 exemplifies a method of determining a predetermined number of characters or the like as candidates for providing virtual game pieces based on the game play content of a game of the previous game play. On the other hand, a player who makes an additional price payment to accept the provision of a subsequent game play experience is highly interested in the game, and the provision of an attractive article to such a player can further increase the interest in the game, thereby prolonging the service provision.

Thus, for example, a character that is a candidate for providing a virtual game piece may be dynamically adjusted according to the number of times of providing a subsequent game play experience, thereby improving the interest. The number of times of providing the subsequent game play experience serving as the reference for adjustment may be the number of times of providing the subsequent game play experience (the number of continuous experiences) so as to extend the occupation time from the initial game play experience, or the number of times of providing the subsequent game play experience to the player so far (the total number of experiences), or the number of times of judging in consideration of both the number of continuous experiences and the total number of experiences, in a case where information for identifying a player is configured to be acquired from a predetermined article, the portable terminal 200, or the like and the usage history is managed for each player.

Further, the number of characters as the provision candidates may be increased as the number of times of provision of the subsequent game play experience increases, or the probability that a predetermined character is included in the provision candidates may be increased as the number of times of provision of the subsequent game play experience increases. In the latter case, the predetermined character may be, for example, a character having a parameter that contributes to progress of the game, such as a beautiful pattern or a gorgeous decoration, and having a high rarity (rarity) determined for the game.

In addition, by presenting characters that can be included in the provision candidates in timing to confirm whether the subsequent play experience is provided, it is possible to appropriately guide the player desiring to acquire the virtual game card related to the specific character to perform the subsequent play experience. Alternatively, in the case of further shifting to the subsequent game play experience in the case where the provision of the subsequent game play experience is already in progress, the character that is the candidate for provision may be presented in the timing of confirming whether the provision is made.

In the method of managing the usage history for each player as described above, it is possible to grasp a virtual game card provided to the player. In this manner, the character associated with the virtual game piece that has been provided may be controlled not to be included in the provision candidate. Alternatively, in this manner, in the case where the player desires to repeatedly acquire a virtual game piece associated with the same character, for example, this is confirmed and controlled so that the character is included in the provision candidates at the time of the provision request.

In the above-described embodiment 1 and modification 1, the description was given of the game piece provided for the subsequent game play experience being a virtual game piece, but the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the game device 100 may be configured to further provide an actual article when a predetermined condition is satisfied by a subsequent game play experience. The actual article provided in response to the satisfaction of the prescribed condition may be different from the actual game piece provided at the time of the usual initial game play experience, and will be referred to as an actual special piece in the following description. However, the actual article provided according to the satisfaction of the predetermined condition is not necessarily a card, and may be a different article. The actual special card may be configured to be able to bring out the associated character in the fight game by acquiring information in the same manner as the actual game card, or may be configured to be a different item that is associated with the game content but has no card information and cannot be used in the fight game, for example, as shown in fig. 4 (c). In any case, the rarity of the actual special card is set to be higher than that of the actual game card, and if the special card can be used in the fight game, even if the same character is used, the progress parameter 814 that can be more advantageous to the progress of the game is allocated than if the actual game card is used for the presence.

The predetermined condition is a condition determined for the use condition of the game device 100 regarding the subsequent game play experience. For example, the predetermined condition is a condition that is satisfied every time the number of subsequent game play experiences provided to the player exceeds a predetermined number, that is, a condition that is satisfied every time the number of virtual game pieces provided to the player exceeds a predetermined number. Alternatively, the condition may be determined similarly according to the number of subsequent game play experiences that are continuously performed after one initial game play experience. For example, the condition may be satisfied when the combination of characters associated with the virtual game piece provided to the player matches the combination determined for providing the actual special piece. By doing so, it is easier to guide the player through the subsequent game play experience, and as a result, an increase in sales of the game device 100 can be predicted.

In addition, the predetermined condition may be set as follows: the number of times used in playing the game is managed for each virtual game piece, and the condition is satisfied when the number of times exceeds a predetermined number of times.

For example, the card supply unit 150 may be configured to be able to supply an actual special card by including a storage box in which an actual special card is stored in addition to a storage box in which an actual game card supplied for a normal initial game play experience is stored. In addition, in the case where the card supply section 150 has an on-demand printing function, the actual special card may be generated and supplied based on the print data configured to include the pattern for the actual special card. Alternatively, in the case where the card supply section 150 has a card dispenser and an on-demand printing function, the supply source of the actual game card may be different from the supply source of the actual special card. In addition, in the system having such an on-demand printing function, the actual special card may be configured to have a pattern corresponding to a virtual game card used for playing a game.

Embodiment 2 in the above embodiment 1 and modification, the description was given of providing a virtual game piece that can be used in the game play executed in the game device 100 in the subsequent game play experience, but the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this, and the character (game element) associated with the virtual game piece may be a game element of a game different from the game play of the game device 100.

Conventionally, for the same content, a plurality of types of game titles having different corresponding hardware, game rules, game styles, and the like have been distributed, and since the world view and the like are common among these game titles, some game elements are common. In addition, even between game titles having different contents, game elements of the contents can be brought out by executing a so-called cooperation plan or the like. In some game titles that are common to some of the game elements, for example, conditions under which a player can use the game elements, conditions under which the player plays the game, and the like may be different, and depending on the game title, the player may have to meet a precondition that is difficult to play the desired game element.

Thus, in the present embodiment, when the provision of the subsequent game play experience in the game device 100 is performed, a virtual ticket as a virtual article enabling the use of the associated game element is provided in a portable game as a second game related to the present invention, which is different from the game play provided by the game device 100 as the first game related to the present invention. The virtual coupon is the following: in the case where the virtual ticket is used in the portable game, a game element associated with the virtual ticket and related to the portable game can be used. In the present embodiment, a part of game elements that are to be played in a portable game is common to characters that are designed to be played in a fight game executed by the game device 100, and the following two methods are set in which the corresponding game elements (characters) can be used (or played): achieving a condition in the portable game; and performing a subsequent game play experience in the game device 100 to obtain a virtual ticket associated with the game element.

In the present embodiment, the portable game is a game executable in the portable terminal 200, and the game can be progressed by performing communication connection with an external server and transmitting/receiving data during execution. Such a method of providing a portable game is effective in that, for example, the portable terminal 200 can perform a multi-player game (multi-play) even if its operation performance is low, and in that, the game balance control and progress control are possible, and in that, illegal falsification of game data is avoided, and has been widely used in recent years.

As shown in fig. 1 (b), the game system according to the present embodiment includes a server 600, and the server 600 is communicably connected to the game device 100 and the mobile terminal 200 via a network 700. As in the system of embodiment 1 described above, the game device 100 may be configured to communicate with a plurality of types of mobile terminals 200 via the network 700 or directly communicate with each other without via the network 700. Similarly, the server 600 may be configured to be able to communicate with a plurality of game devices 100 and a plurality of types of mobile terminals 200 via the network 700. The server 600 is a game server capable of executing a portable game on the portable terminal 200, and when the portable terminal 200 executes the portable game, information is transmitted and received between a predetermined timing and the network 700 in the game. In the present embodiment, the server 600 also communicates information with the game device 100, but this information communication is not necessary for game play of the game device 100, and is performed to provide a virtual ticket.

In the game system of the present embodiment, the game device 100 and the mobile terminal 200 are configured in the same manner as in the embodiment, and the configuration of the server 600 will be described below. In the description of the structure of the server 600, the same functional components as those of the game device 100 are distinguished by adding a prefix character of "server".

Next, the functional structure of the server 600 will be described using the block diagram of fig. 6. The server 600 according to the present embodiment may be configured to manage game data including information of each player using a portable game, a play history of the portable game of each player, available game elements, and acquired virtual article information.

The server control unit 601 is, for example, a CPU, and controls the operations of the blocks included in the server 600. Specifically, the server control unit 601 reads the operation program of each block recorded in the server recording medium 602, and then expands the operation program in the server memory 603 to execute the operation program, thereby controlling the operation of each block.

The server recording medium 602 is, for example, a nonvolatile memory, an HDD, or another recording device capable of permanently holding data. The server recording medium 602 stores information such as parameters necessary for the operation of each block in addition to the operation program of each block included in the server 600. The server memory 603 is a storage device for temporary data storage, such as a volatile memory. The server memory 603 is used not only as an expansion area of the operation program of each block but also as a storage area for temporarily storing data and the like output in the operation of each block.

The game DB 604 is a database for managing various information (player information) of each player for the portable game. In the present embodiment, the server 600 is described as managing player information related to a portable game for simplicity, but the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, various information related to a player of a game may be also managed. As shown in fig. 8 (c), for example, in the player information, progress status information 832, usable element information 833, and owned virtual article information 834 are managed in association with a player ID 831 for identifying a player of a portable game, wherein the progress status information 832 is used to manage a play history of the portable game, a script progress status, and the like, the usable element information 833 indicates a character and a prop that can be used (acquired) by the player when the portable game is used, and the owned virtual article information 834 indicates a virtual article provided by using a subsequent play experience in the game apparatus 100. Although details are omitted, in the case of the portable game of the present embodiment, when a corresponding application is executed in the portable terminal 200, the portable control unit 201 requests the reception of player information based on the application, and controls the progress of the portable game or the like based on the player information after the reception is completed.

The server communication unit 610 is a communication interface with an external device provided in the server 600. The server communication unit 610 can be connected to an external device via the network 700 (not wired or wireless), and can transmit and receive data, and the network 700 may be a communication network such as the internet or a cable connecting devices. The server communication unit 610 converts information input as a transmission target into data of a predetermined format, and transmits the data to external devices such as the game device 100 and the mobile terminal 200 via the network 700. When receiving information from an external device via the network 700, the server communication unit 610 decrypts the information and stores the decrypted information in the server memory 603.

Next, a specific process will be described with reference to a flowchart of fig. 7 regarding a provision process executed in connection with provision of a game play experience in the game device 100 of the present embodiment. The processing corresponding to this flowchart can be realized by, for example, reading out a corresponding processing program stored in the recording medium 102 by the control section 101, and then expanding the processing program in the memory 103 and executing the processing program. Note that, for example, the present providing process is described as being started when the game device 100 is in a standby state (the game device 100 is started, or the game experience is provided once and the game experience start instruction can be accepted). In the providing process of the present embodiment, steps for performing the same process as in embodiment 1 described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted, and only steps for performing the characteristic operation in the present embodiment will be described below.

After the control unit 101 starts processing related to the provision of the subsequent game play experience in S509, the control unit 101 determines a predetermined number of characters as candidates for the provision of the virtual ticket in S701. Specifically, the predetermined number of characters as candidates for providing a virtual ticket are candidates for characters associated with the virtual ticket, and a character usable when the virtual ticket is used in the portable game is a candidate for selecting which character. As described in embodiment 1 and the modification, the candidate character can be determined based on the game content of the previous game, and the character can be made available in the portable game. Whether or not a character is configured to be able to be played in a portable game can be determined by, for example, adding information on whether or not the character is able to be played in the portable game to character information managed by the character DB 106. When determining the roles as the providing candidates for the virtual instrument, the control unit 101 transmits the information to the providing control unit 108, causes the display unit 130 to display the information, and receives an instruction input concerning selection of a role for providing the virtual instrument from among the roles as the providing candidates. That is, in the game device 100 of the present embodiment, the article (virtual ticket) provided for the subsequent game play experience is configured to be unusable in the game play executed in the game device 100, but usable in the portable game executed in a device (portable terminal 200) different from the game device 100.

After that, when it is determined in S511 that the providing character is selected, the presentation control unit 107 causes the display unit 130 and the sound output unit 140 to present information for instructing the player to input identification information (player ID of the portable game) on the portable game under the control of the control unit 101 in S702 so as to provide the virtual ticket. The player ID related to the portable game may be transmitted from the portable terminal 200 to the game device 100 by selecting a function for outputting the player ID in the portable terminal 200 to which the application related to the portable game is installed, or may be input by a text of the player, for example. Alternatively, in a mode in which a game (loading function) that inherits a past game play situation can be continuously played in a game of the game device 100 and a player ID for managing the game play situation is acquired from a given recording medium by the acquisition unit 105, the player ID of the game and the player ID of the portable game are bound to the same player in advance, or a common player ID can be used in both games, and information input may not be necessary in this step.

When the player ID of the portable game is input, the control unit 101 transmits data of the virtual ticket related to the provided character and the player ID of the portable game to the communication unit 110 in S703, and transmits them to the server 600 together with the assignment request. Based on the assignment request, the server control unit 601 updates the owned virtual item information 834 of the corresponding player information stored in the game DB 604, and sets the state of assigning a virtual ticket associated with the provided character to the player in the portable game.

In this way, according to the game device of the present embodiment, in the first game play experience, the player is provided with the actual article associated with the game element that can be used in the game play of the game device, whereas in the subsequent game play experience, the player is provided with the virtual article associated with the game element that cannot be used in the game play of the game device but can be used in the game play of another external device. Here, the game provided in the game device is different from the game provided in the external device, and the use of the subsequent game play experience in the game device is communicated with the improvement of the interest in the game play in the external device, as a result of which the player's interest in both games can be enhanced and the player can be guided to play repeatedly.

In the present embodiment, the description has been made of the case where the state of having the virtual ticket in the portable game is achieved by transmitting the information of the virtual ticket together with the request for giving the virtual ticket to the server 600 for managing the player information required for playing the portable game, but the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this. The information of the virtual instrument is provided from the game device 100 to the mobile terminal 200 in the same manner as the virtual game cards of embodiment 1, modification 1, and modification 2. In this case, the information of the virtual ticket transmitted to the portable terminal 200 may be stored in the recording medium 102 or the like, and the information of the virtual ticket is referred to and reflected when the application program of the portable game is executed, thereby realizing a state in which the virtual ticket is owned in the game.

In the present embodiment, as an example of a mode in which a game element associated with a virtual item can be made available based on the virtual item in a portable game, a description has been given of issuing a virtual ticket in the game device 100 and associating the virtual ticket with player information. However, the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this as long as the items provided in the game apparatus 100 for the two game playing experiences (the game playing experience based on the first paymate and the game playing experience based on the second paymate) are different in terms of whether or not there is a physical entity in the real world. That is, at the time point when the article is supplied from the game device 100, the article may take one of the actual article for the game and the virtual article for the game. For example, as in the present embodiment, the game data such as the virtual ticket provided from the game device 100 constitutes the virtual article for the game at the time of providing, but it is not necessary that the game data is clearly presented as the virtual article for the game or the virtual article for the game is owned in the portable game after the providing, and is presented as the game element associated with the virtual article for the game.

In the above embodiment and modification, the description has been given of providing an actual game card for the first game play experience, but the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a player who collects all kinds of actual game pieces prepared by repeatedly using the game device 100 may not desire more actual game pieces, with the result that the interest in the game device 100 may be lost. Accordingly, a timing for confirming which item is desired to be provided may be provided for the first game play experience, and provision of the game virtual item such as the virtual game card may be permitted exceptionally based on a selection operation performed by the player.

Other embodiments the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The game device according to the present invention can be realized by a program for causing 1 or more computers to function as the game device. The program can be provided/distributed by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium or by an electric communication line.

Description of the reference numerals

100: a game device; 101: a control unit; 102: a recording medium; 103: a memory; 104: a payment detection unit; 105: an acquisition unit; 106: a character DB;107: a presentation control unit; 108: providing a control part; 109: an operation input unit; 110: a communication unit; 120: a reader; 130: a display unit; 140: a sound output unit; 150: a card supply section; 200: a portable terminal; 201: a portable control unit; 202: a portable recording medium; 203: a portable memory; 207: a portable display control unit; 209: a portable operation input unit; 210: a portable communication unit; 230: a portable display unit; 600: a server; 601: a server control unit; 602: a server recording medium; 603: a server memory; 604: a game DB;610: a server communication unit; 700: a network.

Claims

1. A game device for providing a game play experience of a game and a game practice object associated with a game element of the game, with a price payment as a necessary condition, the game device comprising:

a detection unit that detects a price payment;

a first execution unit that, in the event of detecting a first payout related to a start of provision of a play experience of one play, executes processing of the game related to the first play;

A providing unit that provides any one of the game actual items of a limited variety for the first game play, and provides a game virtual item associated with a game element for a second game play subsequent to the first game play; and

and a second execution unit that executes processing of the game related to the second game play in a case where a second payout of the price is detected during the provision period of the one-time game play experience after the first game play starts and the actual article for the game is provided by the providing unit.

2. The game apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a first presenting unit that presents a plurality of game elements as selection candidates when the virtual article for game is provided; and

a first selection unit that selects any one of game elements as the selection candidates,

the providing unit provides the virtual article for game associated with the game element selected by the first selecting unit.

3. The game apparatus according to claim 2, wherein,

The first presentation unit increases the number of game elements as the selection candidates according to at least one of the number of times the second game play is performed in the provision period of the one-time game play experience and the total number of times the second game play is performed in the provision of the plurality of times of game play experience.

4. A game device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein,

also provided is a first acquisition unit that acquires management information for managing game elements associated with the virtual article for game that has been provided to a player,

the first presentation means does not include, in the selection candidate, a provided game element managed as the virtual article for game that has been provided in the management information on the player.

5. The game apparatus according to claim 4, wherein,

further comprises a reception means for receiving a request for providing a new virtual article for game with respect to the provided game element,

when the reception means receives a request for providing, the first presentation means includes at least a part of the provided game elements in the selection candidates.

6. A game device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein,

the probability of each game element being included in the selection candidate is changed based on at least any one of the number of times the second game play is performed during the one-time game play experience providing period and the total number of times the second game play is performed during the multiple game play experience providing period.

7. The game apparatus of claim 6, wherein,

the probability included in the selection candidates is changed in the following manner: the more the number of times the second game is played as a reference for the change, the more easily game elements belonging to the category predetermined to be high in value are included in the selection candidates.

8. The game apparatus of claim 6, wherein,

the game device further includes a notification unit that notifies that a game element associated with the game virtual item is changeable by playing the second game during a period of receiving the second payout during the one-time game play experience providing period.

9. A game device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein,

And a second presentation unit that presents at least a part of game elements associated with the virtual article for game play by playing the second game play during the period of accepting the second payment for price in the period of providing the one-time game play experience.

10. The game apparatus of claim 1, wherein,

the game element associated with the game virtual article is a game element set for the game,

the game device further has a second acquisition unit that acquires game information on a game element associated with the virtual article for game and the actual article for game from the virtual article for game,

the first execution unit and the second execution unit control progress of the game using the game information acquired by the second acquisition unit for playing the game, respectively,

regarding the game information acquired for the same game element associated with the actual game item and the virtual game item, the game information acquired from the virtual game item is in a state more favorable for the progress of the game than the game information acquired from the actual game item.

11. The gaming apparatus of claim 10, wherein the plurality of game pieces are configured to,

the second acquisition unit includes an imaging section that images an article, acquires the game information based on an image of the article obtained by imaging,

the actual article for game has a visually identifiable pattern representing the game information on at least a portion of the appearance,

the game virtual article is image data for display, and the image representing the game information is displayed in a visually recognizable form by displaying the image data on an information communication terminal having a display unit.

12. The game apparatus of claim 1, wherein,

at least images of game elements associated with the virtual article for game and the actual article for game are added to the virtual article for game,

the image of the game element included in the virtual article for game is made different from the image of the game element attached to the actual article for game with respect to the same game element associated with the actual article for game and the virtual article for game.

13. The game apparatus of claim 1, wherein,

And a third acquisition unit that acquires status information for managing a utilization status of the game of the player,

the providing means may provide the game actual article when the use condition of the game managed by the condition information about the player satisfies a predetermined condition.

14. The gaming apparatus of claim 13, wherein the plurality of game pieces are configured to,

the actual game item provided when the use condition of the game satisfies the predetermined condition is a second actual game item different from the first actual game item provided for the first game.

15. The gaming apparatus of claim 14, wherein the plurality of game pieces are configured to,

the second game actual article has an appearance corresponding to the game virtual article.

16. The game apparatus according to claim 13 or 14, wherein,

the utilization condition of the game includes information indicating the number of times the first game play and the second game play are performed by the player or the number of times the second game play is performed by the player,

when the number of times of use exceeds a predetermined number of times, the providing means determines that the predetermined condition is satisfied and provides the actual article for game without further payment of the price as a necessary condition.

17. The game apparatus according to claim 13 or 14, wherein,

the virtual article for game can be used in a game played in the game device,

the game utilization status includes information indicating the number of times the player has used in playing the game for each game virtual article,

when the number of uses exceeds a predetermined number, the providing means determines that the predetermined condition is satisfied and provides the actual game item without further payment of the price as a necessary condition.

18. The game apparatus of claim 1, wherein,

the game element associated with the game virtual article is a game element set for a game different from the game,

by providing the game virtual article, a game element associated with the game virtual article is brought out during play of the different game in the information communication terminal different from the game device.

19. The game device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the providing unit provides the virtual article for game by transmitting to a server or an information communication terminal having a recording medium and causing the server or the information communication terminal to record.

20. A game system comprising a game device for providing a game play experience of a first game and a game physical object associated with a game element of the first game on the basis of a payment of a price, and an information communication terminal for providing a game play experience of a second game different from the first game,

the game device includes:

a detection unit that detects a price payment;

a first execution unit that, in the event of detecting a first payout related to a start of provision of a play experience of one play, executes processing of the first game related to the first play;

a providing unit that provides any one of the game actual items of a limited variety for the first game play, and provides a game virtual item associated with a game element of a second game for the second game play subsequent to the first game play; and

a second execution unit that executes processing of the first game related to the second game play in a case where a second payout of the price is detected during the provision period of the one-time game play experience after the first game play starts and the actual article for game is provided by the providing unit,

The information communication terminal includes:

a third execution unit that executes processing of the second game; and

and a control unit that controls the third execution unit so that, when the virtual article for game provided by the providing unit is present, a game element associated with the virtual article for game is presented.

21. A recording medium in which a program for causing a computer to function as each unit of the game device according to any one of claims 1 to 19 is recorded.