JP2002100042A - Game machine and optical disk for game - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game machine which makes it possible to select a recording mode corresponding to the importance of recorded information and to provide an optical disk for game. SOLUTION: The optical disk 1 has, from the inner peripheral side to the outer peripheral side, a ROM area 2 dedicated to reproduction, a RAM area 3 where recorded information is rewritable, and a WO area where information can be written only once.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a CD, a CD-R
OM, CD-R, CD-RW, CD-I, MD, DVD
And a game optical disk using such an optical disk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an optical disk in which a plurality of areas having different functions are mixed, an optical disk having a read-only ROM area and a rewritable RAM area is known (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-7223). This kind of optical disk is
It has the advantages of both a read-only disc and a rewritable disc in that a large amount of software can be copied using a ROM area and data can be written in a RAM area.

[0003]

In this type of optical disk, it is impossible that information recorded in the ROM area is erroneously overwritten, but information recorded in the RAM area is erroneously overwritten. Is there. Floppy (registered trademark) disks can be protected from overwriting.
This is a unit of media, and it is not possible to prohibit only some important data from being overwritten.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a game apparatus and a game optical disk capable of selecting a recording mode according to the importance of recorded information.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object,
The game device according to the first invention of the present application can read and record information on an optical disc having a rewritable recording area in which recorded information can be rewritten and an additional recording area in which information can be recorded only once. A game device, comprising: a reading unit that selectively reads information recorded in the rewritable recording area and information recorded in the additional recording area.

[0006] In the first invention, the optical disc further includes a read-only area for reproducing recorded information only, and the reading means records information recorded in the read-only area and records information in the rewritable recording area. It is preferable that the read information and the information recorded in the additional recording area are selectively read.

In order to achieve the above object, a game optical disk according to the second invention of the present application is used in a game device capable of reading and recording information, and has a rewritable recording area in which recorded information can be rewritten and an information recording area. Is a game optical disc provided with a write-once recording area in which information can be recorded only once, so that information recorded in the rewritable recording area and information recorded in the write-once recording area can be selectively read out. It is characterized by comprising.

[0008] In the second invention, the game optical disc further includes a read-only area for only reproducing recorded information, and the game device includes information recorded in the read-only area, the rewritable recording area. It is preferable to selectively read out the information recorded in the additional recording area and the information recorded in the additional recording area.

In order to achieve the above object, a game optical disk according to a third aspect of the present invention includes a read-only area for only reproducing recorded information, and a rewritable recording area on which information relating to the game can be rewritten. The game can be executed by using information recorded in the rewritable recording area.

In order to achieve the above object, a game optical disk according to a fourth aspect of the present invention comprises a read-only area for only reproducing recorded information, and a write-once recording area for recording information relating to a game only once. The game can be executed using information recorded in the additional recording area.

In order to achieve the above object, a game optical disk according to a fifth aspect of the present invention includes a read-only area for reproducing recorded information, an additional recording area on which information relating to a game can be recorded only once, and a And a write-once recording area in which information on the write-once recording area can be recorded only once, and a game can be executed using information recorded in the rewritable recording area and the write-once recording area.

[0012]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an optical disc according to an embodiment of the present invention. The optical disc 1 has a read-only ROM (Read Only Memory) area 2 from the inner circumference to the outer circumference, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) in which recorded information can be rewritten.
Area 3 and WO (Write Onc) where information can be written only once
e) region 4 is provided.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. The optical disc 1 has lands 1 at intervals of, for example, 1.6 μm.
RA and a groove 13 (and further pits in the ROM area 2) are formed on a transparent substrate 11 made of polycarbonate.
In the M region 3, for example, a magneto-optical material such as GdTbCuFe, GdCuFe, or GeSbTe, AgInSbTe
Forming an alloy layer 14 made of a phase change material such as
In the O region 4, for example, a dye layer 15 such as a cyanine dye, a phthalo dye, or a diazo dye is formed.
An aluminum reflective film 16 including the OM region 2 is formed, and the whole is covered with a protective layer 17 of resin or the like.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a manufacturing process of such an optical disc 1, and FIG.
(1) First, the substrate 11 on which the lands 12 and the grooves 13 (further pits in the ROM area 2) are formed is generated (S1 in FIGS. 3A and 4). (2) Next, RA of the substrate 11
The ROM area 2 and the WO area 4 other than the M area 3 are masked with a mask material 18 such as a film (FIGS. 3B and 4).
S2). (3) The alloy layer 14 is formed thereon by sputtering or vapor deposition (FIG. 3C, S3 in FIG. 4).
(4) The mask material 18 is removed (FIG. 3D, S4 in FIG. 4). (5) Next, RO of the substrate 11 other than the WO area 4
A mask material 19 such as a film is used for the M area 2 and the RAM area 3.
(FIG. 3E, S5 in FIG. 4).
(6) Dye is applied thereon by spin coating or the like to form a dye layer 15 (FIG. 3 (f), S6 in FIG. 4).
(7) The mask material 19 is removed (FIG. 3 (g), S7 in FIG. 4). (8) A reflective film 16 is formed thereon by sputtering or vapor deposition (FIG. 3 (h), S8 in FIG. 4). (9)
Finally, the protective layer 17 is applied to the whole to complete the optical disc 1 (FIG. 3 (i), S9 in FIG. 4).

Next, the optical disk 1 thus configured
Will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an optical disk drive device applicable to the optical disk 1. The optical disc 1 is rotated by a spindle motor 21 at a constant linear velocity, for example. At a position facing the recording surface of the optical disk 1, an optical pickup 22 as a light beam irradiation unit and a light detection unit is arranged. The drive of the optical pickup 22 is controlled by the feed motor 23 in the radial direction of the optical disc 1.

At the time of reproduction, a read signal (RF signal) from the optical pickup 22 is transmitted to an RF (high frequency) amplifier 2.
4 and amplified by EFM / CIRC (Cross Interleaved).
Reed-Solomon Code) is supplied to the encoder / decoder 25. The encoder / decoder 25 converts the read signal into E
FM demodulation and CIRC decoding are performed, and data is stored in the buffer memory 2 under the control of the memory controller 26.
7, and the control information is supplied to the system controller 28. The data stored in the buffer memory 27 is sequentially read from the buffer memory 27 under the control of the memory controller 26 and output to a host system (not shown). The servo control unit 29 controls the focus and tracking of the optical pickup 22 based on the output of the RF amplifier 24, and controls the spindle motor 21 and the feed motor 23 according to instructions from the system controller 28.

On the other hand, during recording, the buffer memory 2
7 to be recorded is read out via a memory controller 26, and is subjected to CIRC encoding and EFM modulation by an EFM / CIRC encoder / decoder 25 to become a recording signal. Supplied to The optical pickup 22 modulates a light beam by a recording signal to form recording pits on the optical disc 1. In the RAM area 3 and the WO area 4 of the optical disk 1, wobbles are formed in the grooves 13. The address decoder 30 generates a recording address of the optical disk 1 based on a signal obtained by reading the wobbles by the optical pickup 22. , And supplies the address information to the encoder / decoder 25.

FIG. 6 shows an example of recording / reproducing the optical disc 1 according to the present invention using the optical disc drive device configured as described above. FIG. 6A shows an example in which the final processed data is recorded in the WO area 4. For example, floppy disks and many other recording media can be protected from overwriting. However, this measure is performed for the entire medium, and cannot respond to a request to overwrite only a part of the data. In order to perform overwriting, it is necessary to remove protection. At this time, a mistake may occur in which the user mistakenly overwrites necessary data with other data. Therefore, by using the RAM area 3 as a draft area and the WO area 4 as a clear copy area, such an error is prevented from occurring.

That is, a data file or the like used by the user is recorded in the ROM area 2, and a necessary data file is read from this area (S11). Next, the data is processed or new data is added to the data file (S12), and the resulting processed data is overwritten and recorded in the RAM area 3 (S13). Since the RAM area 3 can be rewritten many times, the user can rewrite the data until the user is satisfied. When the processing is completed (S14),
The final processing data is recorded in the WO area 4 (S15). The data once recorded in the WO area 4 is in the same state as when overwriting protection has been applied. As described above, only important data can be overwritten with protection, so that usability is improved.

FIG. 6B shows an example in which the best data in the game is recorded in the WO area 4. There are various types of games, but in the case of a role-playing game, there are times when it is desired to save information on the stage that has been cleared and information required for clearing. In addition, in the case of a shooting game, the score of each stage is important information in addition to the information of the stage that has been cleared, and therefore, it is desirable to save the information. For game users, there is a demand that the highest score and the latest information be stored as the best clear result, and that the score be updated by playing the game separately from the best score or to go to a further stage. However, the score cannot always be updated, so sometimes you may want to move on from the best data. In addition, recent games are large in scale, and there are many pieces of intermediate information such as scores, skills, and invincible items obtained during the game.

Therefore, the best data is recorded in the WO area 4 and the current progress data is updated in the RAM area 3. Then, at the start of the game, the ROM area 2, the RAM area 3, and the WO area 4 are read (S2
1) Selection is made whether to start anew, start a game using data in the RAM area 3, or start a game using data in the WO area 4 (S22). Data is read based on the selection result, and the game is executed (S23). Data during the game progress is sequentially recorded in the RAM area 3 (S24). When the best data is obtained (S25), the data is moved to the WO area 4 (S26). If the WO area 4 is selected in the selection step S22, the game can be started from the state of the best score.

As described above, according to the present invention, the usability of the optical disk is remarkably improved. In the present invention, the presence of the ROM area 2 is not essential, and the effect of the present invention can be obtained even with an optical disk having only the RAM area 3 and the WO area 4.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since a RAM area and a WO area are provided, there is a recording method in which data is processed, newly added, updated, and the like are performed in the RAM area, and high-priority information that has been processed and has no change is recorded in the WO area. Thus, only important data can be prohibited from being overwritten while leaving the degree of freedom of rewriting, and the effect of greatly expanding the range of information recording operation can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an optical disc according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining a manufacturing process of the optical disc.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the manufacturing process.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an optical disk drive device to which the optical disk is applied.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a specific example of a recording / reproducing method for the optical disc.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... optical disk, 2 ... ROM area, 3 ... RAM area, 4
.. WO area, 11 substrate, 14 alloy layer, 15 dye layer, 16 reflective film, 17 protective layer, 21 spindle motor, 22 optical pickup, 23 feed motor, 24
... RF amplifier, 25 ... EFM / CIRC encoder / decoder, 26 ... memory controller, 27 ... buffer memory, 28 ... system controller, 29 ... servo control unit, 30 ... address decoder.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A game apparatus capable of reading and recording information on and from an optical disc having a rewritable recording area in which record information can be rewritten and an additional recording area in which information can be recorded only once. A game apparatus comprising: a reading unit that selectively reads information recorded in a possible recording area and information recorded in the additional recording area. 2. The optical disc further comprises a read-only area for reproducing recorded information only, and the reading means includes information recorded in the read-only area, information recorded in the rewritable recording area, 2. The game apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the game apparatus selectively reads information recorded in an additional recording area. 3. A game optical disc for use in a game device capable of reading and recording information, comprising a rewritable recording area in which recorded information is rewritable and an additional recording area in which information can be recorded only once. An optical disc for games, wherein the information recorded in the rewritable recording area and the information recorded in the additional recording area can be selectively read. 4. The game optical disc further comprises a read-only area for reproducing recorded information only, and the game device stores information recorded in the read-only area and information recorded in the rewritable recording area. 4. The game optical disc according to claim 3, wherein the optical disc is adapted to selectively read out the information recorded in the additional recording area. 5. A rewritable recording area in which information relating to a game is rewritable and a reproduction-only area only for reproducing recorded information, wherein a game can be executed using information recorded in the rewritable recording area. An optical disc for games, characterized in that: 6. A reproduction-only area for reproducing recorded information only, and a write-once recording area for recording information relating to the game only once, so that the game can be executed using the information recorded on the write-once recording area. An optical disc for games, characterized in that: 7. A rewritable area comprising: a read-only area for only reproducing recorded information; an additional recording area for recording information relating to a game only once; and an additional recording area for recording information relating to a game only once. An optical disc for a game, wherein a game can be executed using information recorded in a recording area and the additional recording area.