JP2003030365A - Character using method, processor, game machine production method, game software production method, game software production device, and sales promoting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress the advertisement cost for sales of game software lower. SOLUTION: Characters expected to appear in games in future are rented out free or at low prices to users who use communication terminal devices and thus previously spread to obtain advertisement effects, thereby promoting sales of game software.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character use method, a processing apparatus, a game machine manufacturing method, a game software manufacturing method, a game software manufacturing apparatus, and a sales promotion method for promoting game sales.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a method of selling game software,
It is common to manufacture the game software that is actually sold, carry out advertising and publicity activities, and sell it side by side at the store on the release date. A maker that manufactures game software manufactures game software in accordance with the sales forecast number calculated based on its own achievements and experience. If the actual sales volume is far below the expected sales volume, the manufacturer will suffer a large loss. In order to prevent such a situation, it is customary for a manufacturer to ask a well-established advertising agency or the like to publicly advertise newly released game software in a large scale so as to avoid the deficit. .

[0003]

However, as in the conventional sales method, in a method that relies on large-scale advertising / advertising activities such as an advertising agency with a large amount of sales,
Naturally, it will require huge cost. In order to generate this cost, the manufacturer reserves a part of the profit from the sales of the game software in advance as an advertising cost.
This securing of advertising expenses is a factor that prevents more budget from being spent on the development of new game software, which is most important for manufacturers.

[0004]

In view of the above problems, in the present invention, the sales of the game software is promoted by pre-spreading characters that will appear in the game in the future. Is characterized by.

More specifically, the present invention provides the following.

(1) By using a character that will appear in a game in the future as a character having a limited use of authority, the character is preliminarily spread in the form of leaving some trace in the memory of the person who uses the character. A method of using a character for promoting sales of a device that uses the future game or the game software according to the above.

(2) By using a character that will appear in a game in the future as a character with a limited use of authority, it is preliminarily spread in the form of leaving some trace in the memory of the person who uses the character. A processing device for executing a device using the future game or a character use method for promoting sales of the game software by preserving the game, in order to promote the sales,
A processing device for selecting and setting a character that will appear in the future game.

According to the invention of (1) or (2), "a character that will appear in a future game,
Since it is used as a character with a limited use authority, it is possible to use the character only within a limited range, for example, the rental period, and make the operator feel easy to use the character. The possibility arises. This increases the possibility that the character can be easily spread.

(3) A character that will appear in a game in the future and is used as a character to which limited power is given, so that some trace is left in the memory of the person who uses the character. A game machine manufacturing method for manufacturing game software in which a character that has been popularized in advance is incorporated as an appearance character of the game.

(4) A character that will appear in a game in the future, and is used as a character to which a limited use authority is given, so that some trace is left in the memory of the person who uses the character. A game software manufacturing method for manufacturing game software in which a character that has been popularized in advance is incorporated as an appearance character of the game.

(5) A character that will appear in a game in the future, and is used as a character with a limited-use authority to leave some trace in the memory of the person who uses the character. A game software manufacturing device including a process of manufacturing game software in which a character that has been popularized in advance is incorporated as an appearance character of the game.

(6) A character that will appear in a game in the future, and is used as a character to which a limited use authority is given, so that some trace is left in the memory of the person who uses the character. Game software manufactured by incorporating a character, which is popularized in advance, as an appearance character of the game.

According to the above-mentioned inventions (3) to (6), "a character which is preliminarily popularized in the form of leaving some trace in the memory of the person who uses the character is manufactured by incorporating it as an appearance character of the game". Therefore, there is a possibility that the sales forecast can be made with a certain degree of accuracy before the manufacturing process is started.

(7) A character that will appear in a game in the future, and is used as a character with a limited-use authority to leave some trace in the memory of the person who uses the character. A game sales promotion method for promoting sales of a device using the future game and the game software by incorporating a character that has been popularized in advance as an appearance character of the game for manufacturing.

(8) A character that will appear in a game in the future, and is used as a character with a limited-use authority to leave a trace in the memory of the person who uses the character. A game software manufacturing apparatus for promoting sales of a game, in which a character that has been popularized in advance is incorporated as a character that appears in the game for manufacturing.

According to the invention of (7) or (8), "a character that will appear in a game in the future, and is used as a character to which limited use authority is given, The characters appearing in the produced game have a sufficient advertising effect before they are released, because a character that is widely used in advance in the form of leaving some trace in the memory of the user is incorporated as an appearance character of the game. There is a possibility that it has occurred. In addition, the advertising effect may promote the sales of the game.

[Definition of Terms, etc.] A “character” is a concept that generally includes not only a moving object such as a person, an animal or a plant, or a robot, but also various other fantasy characters. However, in view of the essence of the present invention, the “character” that is particularly intended in the present invention is considered to be a thing whose presence is noticeable at a glance and which is of interest to a person. Is preferred.

The "character information" is information including character image information and character personality information, and is a concept indicating information for externally and internally characterizing the character.

Further, the "finite use" means that the character information is limited in terms of time and area.
This is a concept of making the character usable by restricting the contents, for example, to make it possible to display the character on the display unit of the communication terminal device only within a predetermined period. It is a concept equivalent to "rental". In addition, the concept also includes regional restrictions that limit only people who live in a predetermined area and content restrictions that allow only predetermined functions to be used.

The above-mentioned "rental" is a concept indicating that a character can be used in a communication terminal device regardless of whether it is paid or free.

Furthermore, the "authority of limited use" is a concept indicating a qualification that allows limited use of character information, and this qualification is given by the server to the communication terminal device or determined by the server. To do.

The phrase "will appear" is included in the scope of the present invention when it is used not only as a material that will surely appear in the future but also as a material that may appear in the future.

"Dissemination" includes such things as being used in most households, being known or used within a certain range, and becoming famous. Of course, if it is not there, if it is in a topic among people who normally play games, or if it is published in information magazines and magazines such as game magazines , Is considered to be the "widespread" state of the invention.

"Disseminate" is a concept including not only the state of actual dissemination but also the process of dissemination.

The "form in which some trace is left in the memory of the user" is a concept in which the character casually touches the eyes of the user.

[0026]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[System Configuration] FIG. 1 is a character rental system 1 having a portable communication terminal device 10, a portable game device 60 and a mobile phone 70 (hereinafter referred to as communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70) according to the present invention. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of FIG. In the character rental system 1 shown in FIG. 1, a portable game device 60 is connected to the public telephone line network 2, and the portable game device 60 is connected to the server 4 via the public telephone line network 2 to form a server. 4 can receive various information.

Further, the portable communication terminal device 10 or the portable telephone 70 can be connected to the portable telephone line network 3 via the base station 5, and can access the server 4 via the public telephone line network 2. It is designed to be able to.

The above-mentioned server 4 corresponds to each communication terminal device 1.
The addresses of 0, 60, and 70 are managed, and the server 4 uses the communication terminal device 10, 60, or 70.
It is possible to identify various information transmitted from, for example, information such as a password.

[Configuration of Communication Terminal Device] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70.

In the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 shown in FIG. 2, the CPU (Central P
rocessing unit) 12, ROM 14, RAM 16 and non-volatile RAM 18 are connected, and the CPU 12 is a RO
Each unit is controlled according to a program stored in the M14, the RAM 16 or the nonvolatile RAM 18.

A keyboard 32 and a controller 34 are connected to the bus line 30 via the input interface 22. In addition, the display circuit 2 is provided on the bus line 30.
4, a sound processing circuit 25, and a communication interface 21 for exchanging information with the public telephone line network 2 are connected.

The display circuit 24 described above includes a display device 41.
Is connected to the sound processing circuit 25, and the speaker 42
Are connected. Various information including a character, which will be described later, is displayed on the display device 41 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 12.

Further, the bus line 30 is also connected to a timer 20 for measuring a time such as a program execution time. The signal for starting the timer is CPU1
When issued from 2, the timer 20 initializes the timer value and starts counting the timer value. Further, when the signal for stopping the timer is issued from the CPU 12, the timer 20 stops counting the timer value and supplies the timer value at that time to the bus line 30. The date and time are set based on this timer value.

[Structure of Server] The server 4, which controls the system for renting characters through a communication line network such as the Internet, has a hard disk drive 88, a CPU 82, a ROM 84, and an R as shown in FIG.
It is composed of an AM 86 and a communication interface circuit 90. The hard disk drive 88 notifies a program for communicating with the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70, an unregistered user processing program, a registered user processing program, a dialog information processing program, and a rental deadline, which will be described later. A processing program, a program such as a program for processing rental completion information, and a program for displaying an image of a character on the display device 41 of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 are stored. By doing so, the server 4 gives the communication terminal device the authority of limited use of the character information including the image information of the character, and a program for supplying the character information to the communication terminal device,
That is, it has a storage medium for storing a program for displaying a character on the display unit of the communication terminal device.

With the configuration as described above, the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 and the server 4 are connected to each other via the public telephone line network 2 or the mobile telephone line network 3 and can transmit and receive data. Therefore, the server can transmit and receive data to and from the communication terminal device while being connected to the communication terminal device via the communication line.

In the following, the communication terminal device 10,
60 or 70 and the server 4 have been started in advance, the variables used in the CPU 12 and the CPU 82 described above are initialized to predetermined values, and the communication terminal devices 10, 6
It is assumed that 0 or 70 and the server 4 are operating steadily.

[Outline of Character Rental System] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an outline of a system for renting a character.
Shown in. In this specification, the term “rental” indicates that a character can be used in the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 regardless of whether it is paid or free.

The operator of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 specifies and accesses the server 4 for renting the character. Thereby, the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 7
On the display device 41 of 0, guidance information about character rental is displayed, and the appearance and character of the character are introduced. A plurality of types of characters are prepared, and the operator can select a character that is likely to be compatible with him or a character that he is interested in.

The operator who selects the character performs a predetermined procedure in order to apply for rental of the character. Thereby, user registration is performed, and character information such as character image data and personality information is received from the server, and rental of the character is started.

At the same time when the rental of the character is started, the trial period is counted. During this trial period, the character can be used in the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 free of charge. For example, when a mail or a call is received by the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70, a display indicating that the character has arrived is displayed, a display in which the character asks a question about the contents of the mail, or a character is displayed. Is displayed to invite the operator to the game.

During the trial period, restrictions may be set on the function of using the character. For example, it is possible to provide a function that cannot be used, such as notifying about incoming calls but not telling about incoming mails.

As described above, in the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70, by interacting with the rented character or playing a game, it is possible to know more about what kind of character the character is. After using the character for a while, if the operator determines that the character is not compatible with the character or gets tired of the character, the character can be exchanged.

When the predetermined trial period has elapsed, the server gives a notice as to whether or not to extend the rental period. When the operator wants to extend the rental period, the rental period can be extended by paying a predetermined number of chips to the server.

The number of chips is increased by interacting with the character or playing a game, and indicates the degree of interaction with the character. As will be described later, the number of chips changes depending on the number of times of interaction with the character, the time, and the result of the game competition with the character. It is also possible that the chip can be purchased in exchange for a predetermined amount of money. By doing this, it is possible to increase the number of chips even if the operator likes the character but has difficulty in providing time for interacting with the character or is not good at playing the game. The character can then be rented.

Further, when the extension period elapses or when the operator desires to purchase the character, the operator can purchase the character by further paying the tip. By purchasing the character, the operator can permanently use the character in the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70.

If desired by the operator, the character may be purchased even during the trial period. Further, in this case, the number of chips to be paid may be set to be large.

[Explanation of Server Operation] (Discrimination Process of Registered User or Unregistered User) FIG. 5 shows a subroutine executed by the server 4 below.

It is assumed that the subroutine shown in FIG. 5 is called and executed at a predetermined timing from a main routine (not shown) which has been executed in advance.

First, the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70
(Step S11). When it is determined that communication with the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 is not possible, the present subroutine is immediately ended.

When it is determined that the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 is in a communicable state, the user ID issued from the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 is received (step S12). The user ID is identification information for identifying the operator of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70, and is specified by the server 4.

Next, the communication terminal device 1 connected to the server 4
It is determined whether the operator 0, 60 or 70 is a registered user (step S13). This judgment is made based on whether or not the above-mentioned user ID exists. That is, the server 4
However, when the user ID is received, it is determined that the user is a registered user, and when the user ID is not received, it is determined that the user is an unregistered user.

When it is determined in step S13 that the user is not a registered user, that is, when the user is an unregistered user, an unregistered user process, which will be described later, is called and executed (step S14). On the other hand, when it is determined that the user is a registered user, a registered user process described later is called and executed (step S15).

After executing the processing of step S14 or S15 described above, this subroutine is ended.

(Process of Unregistered User) FIG. 6 shows a subroutine of the process of an unregistered user which is called and executed in step S14 described above.

First, the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70
Guidance information relating to the rental of the character is transmitted to (step S21).

When the guide information regarding the rental of the character is transmitted from the server 4, the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 receives this guide information, and the communication terminal device 10, 60
In the display unit 60 or 70, for example, as shown in FIG. 7A, the display device 41 of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 is displayed.
"Welcome to the character rental site" on the display
And a message prompting the user to select a character rental process such as "return", "continue", or "select".

When the operator of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 selects a desired process, the communication terminal device 10, 6 is selected.
Information about the process is transmitted from 0 or 70 to the server 4.

Next, the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70
It is determined whether or not the information to continue the process has been received (step S22). When the information that the processing is not continued is received, this subroutine is immediately ended.

On the other hand, when the information that the processing is to be continued is received, the character selection processing is performed (step S2).
3). In this selection process, one character type is selected as a character from a plurality of character types. As will be described later, the server 4 prepares a plurality of character types as characters so that one character can be selected from the plurality of character types. By carrying out such a processing, it is possible to freely select from a plurality of character types.

Further, the information indicating that the above-mentioned processing is continued constitutes the permission request information for the limited use of the character information in the communication terminal device.

The above-mentioned selection process may generate a random number and select the character type corresponding to the random number. In this case, one character type corresponding to a random number is selected from a plurality of character types.

The hard disk drive 8 of the server 4
In FIG. 8, a character introduction database as shown in FIG. 8 is stored in advance. This database stores images of a plurality of character types and messages corresponding to the character types. Step S2 described above
In 3, the database is searched and the image of the character type and the message corresponding to the character type are read out.

Next, the image of the read character,
The communication terminal device 1 sends a message corresponding to the character.
It is transmitted to 0, 60 or 70 (step S24).

When the image of the character or the message corresponding to the character is transmitted from the server 4, the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 receives the image of the character or the message corresponding to the character and performs communication. In the display unit of the terminal device 10, 60 or 70, for example,
As shown in FIG. 7B, an image of the character, a message from the character, and a message prompting the user to select a process are displayed.

By performing such processing, it is possible to display a display image related to selection on the display unit of the communication terminal device.

The operator of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 judges whether or not the displayed character is acceptable, and inputs the approval / disapproval by key operation. The permission / prohibition information is transmitted from the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 to the server.

The server 4 receives the permission / prohibition information transmitted from the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70, and determines whether or not to accept the character introduced by the operator (step S25). When it is determined that the operator does not want to rent the introduced character, the above step S
23, the character selection process is performed again.

By performing such processing, the character can be freely selected from a plurality of character types, and the character can be exchanged in the communication terminal device.

In step S25 described above, when it is determined that the operator wants to rent the introduced character, user registration processing is performed (step S2).
6). This user registration process is performed by the communication terminal devices 10, 6
0 or 70 name, communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70
The communication terminal device 10, 60 or 7 with predetermined information such as a mail address and a telephone number for communicating with the server 4.
When the server 4 receives the information from 0 and determines that there is no defect, the user registration is completed. By performing this process, the operator of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 is changed from an unregistered user to a registered user, and one user ID described later is set for the operator.

After the processing of step S26 is completed, the program of the character use system is changed to the communication terminal device 10, 6
It is transmitted to 0 or 70 (step S27).

The program of this character use system includes a program for displaying the rented character in the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70. For example, the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70
A program for displaying an image that the rented character will inform you of incoming mail or phone call when you receive an email or phone call, or the character asks a question to the operator based on the content of the mail It includes a program for displaying an image and a program for displaying an image in which a character invites a game.

If the above-mentioned program of the character use system includes a function of limited use authority for use of characters, the communication terminal device 1
0, 60 or 70 will manage the limited use time limit. With such a configuration, the character can be used only in a predetermined rental period in the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70, and the program transmitted by the server 4 causes the server 4 to perform limited use of the character information. The authority is given to the communication terminal device.

Further, as will be described later, the server 4 may manage the time limit for limited use. In this case, when the time limit for limited use is approached, the server 4 transmits information to that effect to the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70, and the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 is based on the transmitted information. The character information is used in a limited manner.

In the case of such a configuration, since the server 4 manages the limited use time limit, the limited use authority of the character information in the communication terminal device is determined. Further, since the information on the limited use period is transmitted to the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70, the server 4 also gives the communication terminal device the limited use authority for the character information.

The program of the character using system described above may be any programming language suitable for communication and display, and is a program created in a programming language such as I mode compatible JAVA (registered trademark).

Next, the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70
The image data of the character displayed on the display device 41 is transmitted to the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 (step S28). By performing such processing, the character information can be supplied as data to the communication terminal device.

When the image data is included in the program transmitted in step S27, the image data need not be transmitted independently.

Next, with respect to the personality information that determines the personality of the character, question information as to whether or not the past history is to be taken over is transmitted to the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70. As will be described later, the character personality information is information regarding the character personality that is formed based on the dialogue between the operator of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 and the character.

The communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 displays the question information transmitted from the server 4 on the display device 41,
Prompt for input of whether to take over past history. The operator of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 operates the keyboard 32 or the controller 34 to select and input an answer as to whether or not to take over the past history. Communication terminal device 10, 6
0 or 70 transmits this answer information to the server 4.

The server 4 receives the information of the answer as to whether to take over the past history transmitted from the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70, and judges whether to take over the past history of the personality information. (Step S29). When it is determined that the past history of the personality information is not taken over, the process proceeds to step S31 described below.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the past history of the personality information is taken over, the past history of the personality information of the character is transmitted to the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 (step S30). By performing such processing, the character information can be supplied to the communication terminal device as data. Further, the character information including the personality information is also supplied as data to the communication terminal device.

Then, the database as shown in FIG. 9 described later is updated in the server 4 (step S31).
It should be noted that this database stores the operator information of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 and the information of the rented character, and is stored in the hard disk 88 of the server 4.

After the above processing is completed, this subroutine is completed.

Steps S27, S28 and S2 described above
By performing the process of 9, the character information regarding the character displayed on the display unit of the communication terminal device and the program including the program for displaying the character are supplied as data to the communication terminal device.

In the above-mentioned step S21, when the guide information for renting the character is transmitted from the server 4 to the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70, it is displayed on the display device 41 of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70. The displayed image is shown in FIG. Incidentally, this FIG.
The display part of the mobile phone 70 shown in FIG.

A message "Welcome to the character rental site" from the server 4 is displayed on the upper part of the display section. Further, an image of a character as an example of the character is displayed in the center of the display unit. Further, in the lower part of the display unit, a selection frame of "continue" and "return" showing options for continuing or returning the process is displayed.

In step S24 described above,
FIG. 7B shows a display image displayed on the display device 41 of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 when a character image or a message corresponding to the character is transmitted to the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70. Shown in. In addition, this FIG.
7B is an enlarged view of the display unit of the mobile phone 70 shown in FIG. 1, as in FIG. 7A.

At the upper part of the display unit, an introduction sentence of the character from the server 4 "I'm a cute character. I want to play with you" is displayed. An image of an introduction character is displayed in the center of the display unit. Further, in the lower left part of the display unit, a selection frame of "next" and "return" showing options for advancing the process or returning to the process is displayed. Furthermore, a “select” frame for selecting the displayed character is displayed in the lower right part of the display unit.

In step S24 described above, the message from the character is transmitted to the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 7
FIG. 8 shows an example of a character introduction database to be referred to when transmitting to 0.

The left column stores character types, for example, "bully character", "cute character", "sluggish character", and the like.

In the center column, the name of the character corresponding to the character type is stored.
Character names such as "chan", "○", and "x" are stored.

Further, in the right column, a document of self-introduction from each of the characters is stored. For example, "I am
□ Right. It's fun to play with me. "," My name is ○. I want to play with you. ","I'm x. It might be good to play with me. "

The character introduction database also stores the image data of the introduction character,
The image data is read together with the introduction text of the character.

FIG. 9 shows a database generated or updated in the above step S31.

The first column is the area where the user ID is stored. This user ID is for identifying the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 or the operator of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70, and when the user registration process of step S26 is completed, the server 4 To allocate.

The second column is the area where the character ID is stored. This character ID is for identifying a rented character, and is used in step S2.
The server 4 assigns it when the user registration process 6 is completed. The character ID also includes information for identifying the character type.

The third column shows the number of times of renting, and shows the number of times the character has been rented in the past.

The fourth column stores the rental start date, and stores the date when the user registration process of step S26 described above is completed.

The fifth column shows whether or not the rental of the character is during the trial period. For example, during the trial period, the stored value is set to "1", and the trial period is set. If not, the stored value is "0".
Set to.

The sixth column shows whether or not the rental of the character is during the extension period. For example, when the rental period is not during the extension period, the stored value is set to "0", and the value is stored during the extension period. At some time, the number of times of extension is stored.

The seventh column stores whether or not the character has been bought. For example, when the character is not bought, the stored value is set to "0", and when the character is bought, it is stored. The value is set to "1".

The eighth column stores the number of chips. This number of chips is
For example, it increases when the player interacts with the character or plays a game with the character.

FIG. 10 shows a time chart when the above-mentioned subroutine of FIG. 6 is executed. The vertical line on the left side indicates the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70, and the vertical line on the right side indicates the server 4.

When the process of step S21 described above is executed, character server guide information is transmitted from server 4 to communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70.

On the other hand, when the processing is continued,
Information to the effect that processing will be continued is transmitted from the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 to the server 4.

When the process of step S24 is executed, the introduction information such as the introduction character image is transmitted from the server 4 to the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70.

On the other hand, when renting the introduced character, the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 is rented.
The information of consent is transmitted from the server 4.

Further, in step S27, the program of the character use system is transmitted from the server 4 to the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70, and the communication terminal device 1 is transmitted.
When it is determined that 0, 60, or 70 has received all of the programs, the information indicating the end of reception is displayed in the communication terminal device 1.
It is transmitted from 0, 60 or 70 to the server 4.

Furthermore, in step S28, the character image data is transmitted from the server 4 to the communication terminal device 10,
When it is determined that the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 has received all of the character image data by being transmitted to the communication terminal device 1 or 60, the information indicating the end of reception is provided to the communication terminal device 1
It is transmitted from 0, 60 or 70 to the server 4.

Further, in step S29, the server 4 transmits, to the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70, question information as to whether or not the past history of the personality information that determines the personality of the character is to be taken over. .

On the other hand, when the history is taken over,
The communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 sends information to that effect to
It is transmitted to the server 4.

[Explanation of operation of communication terminal device] (Operation when receiving mail / operation when receiving a telephone call) When the character is rented, the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 is When the mail is received, the image as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on the communication terminal device 1
It is displayed on the display device 41 of 0, 60 or 70.

At the upper part of the screen, a message from the character is displayed, such as "A mail has arrived from Kanna-chan. Do you read it now?". An image of the rented character is displayed in the center of the screen. In addition, at the bottom of the screen, "read" or "do not read" the email.
A frame indicating the selection of or is displayed.

In this way, when the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 receives a mail while renting the character, the character is informed of the display.

Further, even when the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 receives a call, the character is displayed to inform that fact.

Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 11, while renting a character, information indicating that the character is currently rented, such as "renting", may be displayed on the screen. By performing such processing, the display image related to the notification information regarding the limited use of the character information is displayed on the display unit of the communication terminal device.

(Motion of asking a question from a character)
In some cases, the character may ask about the content of the received mail. An example thereof is shown in FIG. For example,
It extracts words from the emails it receives and asks what they mean.

As shown in FIG. 12A, at the top of the screen, what is "" normal ""? The question of the character "" is displayed. The word "normal line" is a word extracted from the received mail. An image of the character is displayed in the center of the screen. Further, at the bottom of the screen, a frame for selecting “answer” and “do not answer” to the question from the character is displayed.

When the operator answers the question from the character, a screen as shown in FIG. 12B is displayed. On the left side of the screen, categories to which the word may belong, for example, "place", "food", "game name", and "person name" are displayed.

When the operator answers this, the character further asks a question and at the top of the screen, "Do you like or dislike" normal "? The question from the character is displayed. At the bottom of the screen, a frame for selecting whether the word indicates "like" or "dislike" is displayed. The operator
As described above, the question from the character is answered.

The question from this character is registered in the keyword database described later and is reflected in the character's character and the like.

Further, in order to facilitate the extraction of words, a standardized mail format may be used.

(Operation of Competing Game with Character) Further, when the character is rented, the character may give an indication to the operator to compete the game. This example is shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 13A, a challenge message from the character "Do you want to play with me?" Is displayed at the top of the screen. In addition, at the bottom of the screen, a frame for selecting "Yes" or "No" for the challenge from the character is displayed.

When the operator receives a challenge from the character, the game is started.

When the game ends and, for example, the character wins, a screen as shown in FIG. 13B is displayed.
At the top of the screen, "My win, do you want to do it again?"
The message from the character is displayed, and a frame for selecting "play" or "not" for the game is displayed at the bottom of the screen.

As described above, the communication with the character is deepened through notification of incoming mails and telephone calls, questions about mails, game competitions, and the like.

(Processing of Registered User) Step S described above
FIG. 14 shows a subroutine of a registered user process called and executed in 15.

First, the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70
It is determined whether or not the information issued from is the information indicating that the dialog information is desired to be transmitted (step S41). When it is determined that the information does not indicate that the interactive information is desired to be transmitted, the information for menu display is transmitted to the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 (step S42).

Information for displaying the menu is displayed on the communication terminal device 1.
When 0, 60 or 70 is received, the communication terminal device 1
The image as shown in FIG. 15 is displayed on the display device 41 of 0, 60 or 70.

At the top of the screen, a message "Please select the desired process" is displayed. Below that, a list of processes, for example, "character exchange", "rental extension", "character purchase", “End” is displayed.

When the operator of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 selects the desired processing, the operator of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70
0 or 70 transmits information identifying the selected process to the server 4.

The server 4 receives the information for identifying the selected process and determines whether the process desired by the operator of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 is character exchange (step S43). .

When it is determined that the processing desired by the operator is not character exchange, other processing such as rental extension or character purchase processing is performed (step S44), and this subroutine is terminated.

When it is determined that the operation desired by the operator is character exchange, the processing of steps S23 to S31 is executed. Incidentally, these steps S23 to S31
5 is the same as that shown in FIG. 5, and is denoted by the same reference numeral.

In step S41 described above, when it is determined that the information issued from the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 is the information indicating that the dialog information is to be transmitted,
The dialogue information is received (step S45).

The communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 transmits the dialogue information to the server 4 at a predetermined timing,
For example, night or morning. For example, when transmitting at night, the conversation information for one day of the day is transmitted to the server 4. Also, when transmitting in the morning, the dialogue information for one day of the previous day is transmitted to the server 4. By performing such processing, R of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70
Even if the storage capacity of the AM 16 or the non-volatile RAM 18 is small, the dialogue information can be sufficiently stored, and the server 4
The dialogue information can be accurately transmitted to.

Further, the transmission timing may be matched with the motion of the displayed character. For example, at night, a message “I'm sleepy, I'm going to sleep.” From the character is displayed on the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 7.
It may be transmitted after being displayed on the display device 41 of 0. Also, in the morning, the message “Good morning!” From the character may be transmitted after being displayed on the display device 41 of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70.

Also, the above-mentioned dialogue information is, for example, as shown in FIG.
It consists of items as shown in FIG.

The items include the number of times of interaction with the character, the time of interaction with the character, and the number of responses to calls from the character such as “Good morning!” And “Good night”. The number of times of this reply includes, for example, the number of times the character is called and the number of times the character is ignored.

The item also includes the number of answers to the question about the word included in the mail. The number of times of this reply includes the number of times of answering and the number of times of not answering.

Further, the items of the dialogue information include the number of times the operator has called for the character, the number of times the character has played a game with the character, the classification of the words the character has asked, and the like.

As described with reference to FIG. 12, the word questioned by the character is a word extracted from the received mail, and is a category of what the word means or another category of likes and dislikes.

In step S45 described above, after receiving the dialogue information, the dialogue information processing described later is executed (step S46), and the personality information and the keyword information generated by the dialogue information processing are sent to the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70. Transmission is performed (step S47), and this subroutine is completed.

(Processing of Dialogue Information) Step S4 mentioned above
FIG. 17 shows a subroutine of interactive information processing called and executed in No. 6.

First, the total number of dialogues is calculated from the number of dialogues already stored in the database and the number of dialogues newly received from the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 (step S51). Next, the interaction time already stored in the database and the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 7
The total conversation time is calculated from the conversation time newly received from 0 (step S52).

Next, the number of replies to the call from the character already stored in the database and the number of replies to the call newly received from the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 are used to make the call. The total number of answers is calculated (step S53). Next, the total number of times the call is ignored is calculated from the number of times the call from the character already stored in the database is ignored and the number of times the call newly received from the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 is ignored ( Step S54).

Next, with respect to the number of times the question about the word from the character already stored in the database is answered, and the question about the word from the character newly received from the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 is answered. Then, the total number of times the question is answered is calculated from the number of times answered (step S55). Next, the number of times that the question about the word from the character already stored in the database is not answered, and the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 7
The number of times the question is not newly answered from 0 and the total number of times the question is not answered are calculated from the number (step S56).

Next, the number of times the character already stored in the database is called and the communication terminal device 1
From 0, 60 or 70, the total number of times the character has been called and the total number of times the character has been called are calculated (step S57).

Furthermore, the number of times the game has already been stored in the database and the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 are executed.
The total number of game executions is calculated from the number of game executions newly received from (step S58).

Next, character character setting processing, which will be described later, is performed (step S59), keyword setting processing is performed (step S60), and this subroutine is terminated.

(Personality setting process) Step S59 described above.
FIG. 18 shows an example of a database used in the personality setting process in FIG.

FIG. 18 (a) is a database that defines the basic character determined according to each character type. The basic personality is, for example, "Kachiki", "Crazy", "Cute", "Naughty", etc. In addition, five personality parameters, "extroversion", "cooperation",
“Diligence”, “emotional stability”, and “intelligence” are quantified to determine the above basic character.

For example, for a winning character, the extroversion is set high and the emotional stability is set low. For cute characters, cooperation and diligence are set high.

The basic personality defined by these five personality parameters is first defined, and as the character is rented and interacts with the operator of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70, the personality parameter is set. The value of is changed. As shown in the example of FIG. 18B, as the character is rented and interacts with the operator, the value of the personality parameter changes. For example, when the dialogue time with the operator is long or the number of dialogues is large, the value of the personality parameter is changed so that the operator has a personality. Further, when the dialogue time with the operator is short or the number of dialogues is small, the value of the personality parameter is changed so that the personality avoids the operator.

As described above, the character of the character is gradually changed by the dialogue with the operator to determine the character.
The values of the three personality parameters are stored as a personality database as shown in FIG. 18 (b). In this way, the character's character gradually changes according to each operator who rents the character, so that the operator tries to take care of the character diligently and feels attachment to the character. It becomes.

In the personality database shown in FIG. 18 (b) described above, the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 or the user ID for identifying the operator of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 is rented to this operator. The character ID for identifying the character being played and the values of the five personality parameters are stored, and the personality of the character rented by one operator can be determined.

By carrying out such a processing, even if a predetermined number of character types are prepared, a character type having a character corresponding to each of a plurality of operators is generated. Can be done.

By performing the processing as described above, it is possible to "determine personality information that determines the personality of the character displayed on the display unit of the communication terminal device based on the dialogue between the operator of the communication terminal device and the character. Eggplant.

The values of the above-mentioned five personality parameters may be changed only within a predetermined range, for example, ± 1. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the character's personality from changing significantly from the basic personality.

As described above, the character's character is formed in correspondence with the dialogue with the owner who rented the character. By performing such processing, when the owner who rents the character changes, the character formed by the previous owner is inherited, and the database shown in FIG. 18B is updated. It will go.

As described above, since the character's personality is formed by the dialogue with the owner,
At the beginning of renting a character, the character formed by the owner in the past becomes the character of the character, and as the time for dialogue with the new owner becomes longer and the number of dialogues increases, the character The character changes and becomes a character formed by a new owner.

By performing the above-mentioned processing, when the personality information that defines the character of the character is generated as the character information from the history of the dialogue, the history includes the dialogue of the past owner.

When renting a character, it may be possible to select whether to use the character's character as the basic character or to inherit the character changed by the owner in the past. In step S29 of FIG. 6 described above, the determination as to whether or not to take over the past history of the personality information is performed by this selection process, and is transmitted to the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 in step S30. The past history of the personality information of the character is the personality information corresponding to the personality formed by the past owner.

(Keyword Setting Process) An example of the word database used in the above-described keyword setting process is shown in FIG.
It shows in (a). It should be noted that the example of the word database shown in FIG. 19A shows a database for one character ID, and words for all operators who have rented that character from the past to the present are shown. It is something to remember.

Further, the word is a word extracted from the mail sent to the operator who rented the character, as described with reference to FIG. 12, and the category of the word and the classification of likes and dislikes are as follows. The character asks the operator about the word and is obtained by answering the question.

A keyword database is generated based on the word database described above. As shown in FIG. 19B, this keyword database is obtained by extracting a predetermined number of words, for example, 10 words, which have been frequently used, from the word database. In step S47 of FIG. 14 described above, this keyword database is transmitted from the server 4 to the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70. In this way, by extracting only a predetermined number of words as keywords, the communication terminal device 1
Even if the storage capacity of the RAM 16 of 0, 60, or 70 or the nonvolatile RAM 18 is small, the keywords can be sufficiently stored.

Further, in the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70, it is possible to use this keyword to perform a display for calling from the character to the operator of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70. For example, in FIG.
As shown in, using the keyword "Kanna-chan",
It is possible to display a message from a character such as "You haven't received a call from Kanna-chan these days. Did you have a quarrel?"

As described above, the word extracted from the mail is stored as a keyword, and the keyword is used by the character to display the message, which may increase the degree of intimacy between the character and the operator. .

Further, it is also possible to determine the word to be extracted by reflecting the character of the character. For example, when renting a cute character, only the favorite word is extracted. By doing so, a message from the character using only the operator's favorite word is displayed. Further, in the case of a bullish character, only words that he / she dislikes are extracted. By doing so, a message from the character using only the word that the operator dislikes is displayed.

By processing in this way, the character of the character can be included in the message, and there is a possibility that the character will feel a sense of familiarity or interest. In addition, there is a possibility that the character in the virtual space and the operator in the real space can be inseparably integrated, or information can be shared with the character.

When the time limit for renting a character is approaching, the server 4 informs the communication terminal device 10,
Send to 60 or 70. The processing at this time is shown in FIG.

First, it is determined whether or not it is time to notify the rental time limit (step S81). This timing is the timing at which the rental start date recorded in the database shown in FIG. 9 is compared with today's date and, for example, the rental end date or the day before the rental end date is notified. To determine.

When it is determined that it is not the timing for notifying, this subroutine is immediately ended. On the other hand, when it is determined that it is time to notify the rental deadline, information indicating that the rental deadline is approaching is transmitted to the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 (step S82).

When the guide information indicating that the rental deadline is approaching is transmitted from the server 4, the communication terminal devices 10, 60.
Or 70 receives this guidance information and communication terminal device 1
For example, as shown in FIG. 22, the display unit of 0, 60, or 70 has the display device 41 of the communication terminal device 10, 60, or 70.
The message such as "You can play with me until today. Let's play with me" and "I can play with you until tomorrow. Also, with you I want to play. "Is displayed.

By performing such processing, a message indicating that the rental period is about to expire is transmitted from the server 4 to the communication terminal device 10, 60, or 70, and therefore the characters displayed on the display unit of the communication terminal device are related. Notice information about the limited use of character information,
It can be supplied to the communication terminal device. Furthermore, since the message received by the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 is displayed on the display device 41 on the communication terminal device,
The display image related to the notification information regarding the limited use of the character information is displayed on the display unit of the communication terminal device.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 22A or 22B, a message reflecting the character of the character may be displayed. For example, a bullish character displays a bullish message, and a cute character displays a pretty message.

When the rental period ends, it is necessary to prohibit the use of characters in the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70. This process is shown in FIG.
Shown in.

First, it is determined whether it is time to send the rental completion information (step S91). When it is determined that it is not the time to send the rental completion information, this subroutine is immediately ended.

When it is determined that it is time to send the rental completion information, the rental completion information is sent to the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 (step S9).
2).

When the rental completion information is transmitted from the server 4, the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 receives the rental completion information, and the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 is received.
The value of the flag used in the program executed in is set to a predetermined value, for example 1. This flag indicates whether the character is rented or has been rented.
The value of the flag is “0” when the character is rented, and the value of the flag is “1” when the rental is completed.

When the rental completion information described above is received from the server 4, the value of the flag is set to "1". When the character is displayed or the character is called after the value of this flag is set to "1", for example, a message as shown in FIG. 24, "The rental period has passed. I can't play with you anymore, but if you like, please sign up again. Then, you can play with me again. "Is displayed on the display device 41 of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70. , The action of the function using the character is prohibited.

By performing such processing, the server 4 gives the communication terminal device the limited use authority for the character information and determines the limited use authority of the character information in the communication terminal device. It also serves.

Further, the value of the above-mentioned flag indicates whether or not the "limited use authority" is given, and the limited use authority for the character information is provided to the communication terminal device independently of the program. To give to the other.

In this case, it is possible to visually indicate that the rental period has ended by displaying only the message without displaying the character image. Further, since the image of the character is not displayed, it is possible to cause a sad feeling of wanting to see the rented character again, and to make the character rent again.

The contents of the message are, by then,
The character of the rented character may be reflected. By doing so, the operator can remember the character and have the desire to display the character again, and can be motivated to rent the character again.

In the above-described embodiment, "finite use of character information" is shown when the rental period is expired. However, there are regional restrictions such as those limited to those who live in a predetermined area, The content may be restricted so that only predetermined functions can be used.

[Outline of Sales Promotion Method of Game] FIG. 25 shows an outline of a method of promoting sales of a game in which a character appears.

The operator of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 designates and accesses the server 4 for renting the character, and starts renting the character. Renting a character is a means for popularizing a character that will appear in a game in the future, and also a means for making the character have an attachment. By having as many people as possible know the character and having the character attach to it as much as possible, the aim is to promote sales of games in which future characters will be released.

[Character Usage Method] Communication Terminal Device 1
Characters rented by 0, 60, or 70 operators are prepared in a plurality of types. Since these characters are created on the assumption that they will appear in future games, they are eye-catching and interesting. The operator can select a character that seems to be compatible with him or a character that he is interested in.

At the same time when the rental of the character is started, the trial period is counted. Since the trial period also serves as a period for promoting characters appearing in a game to be released in the future, the operator of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 can select the character selected by himself or It can be used for a fee. When renting a character for a fee, the number of chips required for renting is displayed when the guide information for renting the character is displayed. As described above, the number of chips increases when the user takes care of the character, for example, interacts with the character or plays a game with the character. In the server 4, a predetermined period of time,
For example, the character is rented free of charge within 48 hours, and if the required number of chips is accumulated within that time, it is assumed that the rental fee has been paid and a formal rental contract is concluded with the user.

By making the character available for free or for a fee, as many people as possible can be made aware of the character. As a result, it is possible to "spread" the character.

As described above, the rented character, when receiving a mail or a call to the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70, displays a message to the effect that it has arrived, or asks the character about the contents of the mail. Is performed, or the operator is invited to a simple mini game or the like. In addition, sometimes the character touches and talks to the character.

The operator gradually learns the character of the character through various interactions with the character of his choice. Then, the character gradually feels "attachment".

If the operator determines that the character is not compatible with the character or is tired of the character after using the character for a while, the character may be exchanged or returned. it can.

The server 4 manages the predetermined trial period, and when the trial period approaches the end, the communication terminal device 10,
60 or 70 is notified. When the trial period ends, the character is usually returned, but as described above, the trial period can be extended or the character can be purchased.

[Determination process of whether character has spread] The server 4 determines whether a character has spread or not based on the number of users who rented the character. Even if the rental is stopped and returned or the character is changed to a different character on the way, it is considered to be popular if the character is rented even once. Specifically, a predetermined number is set in advance in the server 4, and when the number of users exceeds that number, the character is considered to be popular.

[Process for Determining Whether Character has Attachment] Before manufacturing the game, the communication terminal devices 10, 60
Alternatively, it is determined whether or not the user of the character who is the operator of 70 is attached to the used character. A procedure of processing for determining whether or not the person has the attachment will be described with reference to FIGS. 26 and 27.

[0200] In order to determine whether or not one has an attachment,
A database stored in the server 4 as shown in FIG. 26 is used. This database is used by the communication terminal device 1
It stores 0, 60, or 70 operator information and rental character information, and is stored in the hard disk 88 of the server 4.

The database stores the user ID of the user who rents the character, the character ID of the character used by the user, the rental start date when the user started renting, and the like. Further, in order to know whether or not the rental of the character is during the trial period, for example, the value to be stored is set to "1" during the trial period, and set to "0" during the trial period. There is. Similarly, whether or not the trial period has expired, whether or not the trial period is being extended, and whether or not the character has been purchased are also stored in the database.

The server 4 determines whether the user who rented the character has an attachment to the character, based on whether the user used the character until the trial period expires. Whether or not the trial period has expired can be determined by whether the value of the item “trial period expired” in the above database is “1” or “0”. It should be noted that another method for determining whether or not the user has an attachment to his or her character is to determine how often the user responds to a call from the character as described above. A method is also possible. The server 4 determines how often the user responds based on the database shown in FIG.

Whether or not the user is attached to the character is a very important judgment material for predicting the number of games sold, which will be described later.

(Selection / Setting of Character) The server 4 selects and sets a character in order to make a more popular character appear in the game before the game in which the character appears is manufactured. It is processing. The procedure will be described below with reference to FIG.

In order to select and set a character, it is effective to check which character the user's attachment is concentrated on. Therefore, the server 4 calculates the user's degree of attachment for each character.

As shown in FIG. 27, first, a database as shown in FIG. 26 is used to perform a process of classifying by character ID (step S101). In the case of the character ID included in the database, for example, in the case of B-0052, the part “B” expresses the type of appearance of the character, and the part “0052” is the character information including the character information of the character. Expresses the type. When the user makes a character who has a love to appear in the game, a classification process is performed using up to a portion including a four-digit number in the character ID, and when making a character that has simply become popular appears in the game, The classification process is performed using only the first alphabet part of the character ID. After sorting by character ID, the sum of the values of the items "expiration of trial period" of each character is calculated (step S10).
2). As described above, the item “expiration of trial period” is set to “1” when the user uses the character until the trial period is expired, and when the user changes or returns the character before the trial period is expired. Is set to "0", the sum of the items directly represents the user's degree of attachment to the character.

After calculating the degree of attachment of the character, next,
The order of the characters is rearranged in descending order of the calculated sum value (step S103). By this processing, the characters are rearranged in the order of being attached to the user, that is, in the order of popularity. Of the rearranged characters, the server 4 selects, for example, the top 7 most popular characters as characters to appear in the game (step S104). When the process of setting the selected character (step S105) ends, the process of the server 4 ends.

[Manufacture of Game] The maker will manufacture a game using the selected and set character.
The manufacture of the game will be described below.

(Incorporation of Character) FIG. 28 is a diagram showing an example of a game using a character. In the figure,
A character is appearing in a fighting game.

The game software is manufactured in such a manner that popular characters can appear in the fighting game program in a selectable manner.

In the fighting game, try to fight with another character by using the character that he / she has an attachment to, or fight with the character including the personality information that he / she has an attachment to and another character. You can play with it. Of course, it is also possible to fight with other characters using a character that has never been in contact with until now.

If a program for manufacturing such a game is stored in a storage medium in advance and the data of the character selected by the server 4 is given to the storage medium, the game in which the character appears is manufactured. You may be allowed to do so.

(Sales Forecast Calculation Processing) The manufacturer predicts the number of sales at the stage of manufacturing the game, and determines the number of manufactures based on the forecast. The procedure of the sales forecast calculation process will be described below with reference to FIG.

[0214] In order to make a sales forecast, the degree of user's attachment to the character who uses the character is an important judgment factor. This is because a user who has an attachment to a character can almost certainly purchase the game software in which the character appears.

As shown in FIG. 29, at the initial stage of making a sales forecast, the character decided to appear in the game by the processing of the server 4 is attached to the character based on the database of FIG. Calculate the number of users you have. In order to calculate the number of users who have attachments, the sum of the values of the items “expiration of trial period” of all users may be calculated (step S111). The numerical value calculated by this process will be referred to as (a). As a maker, the (a) number of game software calculated in step S111 will be manufactured with the belief that it can be sold almost certainly.

Some of the users are not interested in using the character on the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70, but would like to purchase it if they appear in the game. Among all the users who have spread the character by renting it, such a potential purchase layer exists among those who have not expired the trial period of the character. The number obtained by subtracting (a) from the total number of users (referred to as (b)) is the number including the potential purchasers. Therefore, [total number of users- (a)] ((b))
Is calculated (step S112).

Since not everyone who has spread the character purchases the game, it is necessary to multiply (b) obtained in the previous step by an appropriate coefficient. Here, 0.2 is selected as the coefficient and the sales forecast [(a) +
(B) × 0.2] is calculated (step S1)
13). Based on the number calculated here, the manufacturer can determine the number of game software products to be manufactured. This completes the sales forecast calculation process.

[0218]

According to the present invention, since many characters can use the characters that appear in the game before the game is sold, the characters can be popularized in advance. The effect is obtained, and it has a positive influence on the sales of the game in which the character appears. In addition, since the number of people who will actually purchase the game can be predicted to some extent based on the prevalence of the character, even a maker who manufactures the game will lose sales more than expected after shipping, and it will be a loss. The situation can be avoided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a character rental system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a server 4.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of a system for renting a character.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a subroutine that is executed in the server 4.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of processing of an unregistered user which is called and executed in step S14 of the flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 7 shows communication terminal devices 10 and 60 when guide information for renting a character is transmitted from server 4.
Or (a) which shows an example of the message displayed on the display part of the display device 41 of 70, and (b) which shows an example of the message which urges selection of a character.

FIG. 8 is a table showing an example of a character introduction database that is referred to when a message from a character is transmitted to communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 in step S24.

FIG. 9 is a table showing an example of a database generated or updated in step S31.

FIG. 10 is a time chart when the subroutine of FIG. 6 is executed.

11 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display device 41 of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 when the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 receives a mail. FIG.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display device 41 of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 when the character asks a question about the content of the received mail.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 when a character offers a game battle to an operator.
It is a figure which shows an example of the image displayed on the display device 41 of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of an unregistered user process called and executed in step S15 of FIG.

FIG. 15: Communication terminal device 1 for displaying information for menu display
When 0, 60 or 70 is received, the communication terminal device 1
It is a figure which shows an example of the image displayed on the display device 41 of 0, 60, or 70.

FIG. 16 is a table showing items included in dialogue information between a character and an operator.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of interactive information processing called and executed in step S46 of the subroutine of FIG.

FIG. 18 is a table showing an example of a database used for character personality setting processing.

FIG. 19 is a table showing an example (a) of a word database used for a keyword setting process and an example (b) of a keyword database generated based on the word database.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing a communication terminal device 10, 6 using keywords.
It is a figure which shows the example of a display when a character calls an operator of 0 or 70.

FIG. 21: When the character rental period is approaching, the server 4 informs the communication terminal device 10, 6 of that effect.
It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of the process transmitted to 0 or 70.

FIG. 22 shows the communication terminal device 10, when the guide information indicating that the rental deadline is approaching is transmitted from the server 4.
Reference numeral 60 or 70 is a diagram showing an example of an image received on the guidance information and displayed on the display unit of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of processing when the end date of the rental period comes.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of a message displayed on the display unit of the communication terminal device 10, 60 or 70 when the rental completion information is received from the server 4.

FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a method for promoting sales of a game in which a character appears.

FIG. 26 is a table showing an example of a database for determining whether or not a user has an attachment to a character.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing a procedure for performing processing for selecting and setting a character that will appear in a future game.

FIG. 28 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a game in which a character appears.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing a procedure for performing a process of predicting sales of a game in which a character appears.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Character rental system 2 Public telephone network (communication line) 3 Mobile phone network (communication line) 4 servers 10 Portable communication terminal device (communication terminal device) 41 Display (Display) 60 Portable game device (communication terminal device) 70 Mobile phone (communication terminal device)

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A character that will appear in a game in the future is used as a character with a limited-use authority to preliminarily spread it in a form that leaves some trace in the memory of the person who uses the character. A method of using a character that aims to promote sales of the device that uses the future game and the game software. 2. A character that will appear in a game in the future is used as a character with a limited-use authority to preliminarily spread it in a form that leaves some trace in the memory of the person who uses the character. It is a processing device for executing a device using the future game and a character usage method for promoting sales of the game software, and appears in the future game in order to promote the sales. A processing device that performs processing for selecting and setting a character that is likely to be. 3. A character that will appear in a game in the future and is used in advance as a character that has a limited use authority and leaves some trace in the memory of the person who uses the character. A game machine manufacturing method for manufacturing game software in which a popular character is incorporated as an appearance character of the game. 4. A character that will appear in a game in the future, and is used in advance as a character that has a limited use authority and leaves some trace in the memory of the person who uses the character. A game software manufacturing method for manufacturing game software in which a popular character is incorporated as an appearance character of the game. 5. A character that will appear in a game in the future, and is used in advance as a character that is given a limited-use authority to leave some trace in the memory of the person who uses the character. A game software manufacturing apparatus including a process of manufacturing game software in which a character to be popularized is incorporated as an appearance character of the game. 6. A character that will appear in a game in the future and is used in advance as a character that has a limited use authority and leaves some trace in the memory of the person who uses the character. Game software manufactured by incorporating a popular character as an appearance character of the game. 7. A character that will appear in a game in the future, and is used in advance in a form that leaves some trace in the memory of a person who uses the character by using it as a character to which limited power is given. A game sales promotion method for promoting the sales of a device using the future game and the game software by incorporating a character that is widely used as an appearance character of the game for manufacturing. 8. A character that will appear in a game in the future, and is used in advance as a character that is used as a limited-use character to leave some trace in the memory of the person who uses the character. A game software manufacturing apparatus for promoting sales of a game, in which a popular character is incorporated as an appearance character of the game for manufacturing.