JP2003070963A - Slot machine and information terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a slot machine and an information terminal for realizing reproducing a game finished state when the next game is started. SOLUTION: The slot machine 1 is provided with a transmission and reception part 18 for mutually communicating with an information terminal 20 provided outside. When a game is finished, the slot machine 1 transmits information in a game state at the point of the time to the information terminal device 20 through the transmission and reception part 18. When the game is started, the slot machine 1 receives the information in the game state at the point of the time of finishing the game last time store in the information terminal 20 through the transmission and reception part 18. The information terminal 20 is mutually communicable with the slot machine 1, receives and stores information in the game state at the time point the finishing the game of the slot machine 1, and transmits this information to the slot machine 1 then starting the game of the slot machine 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a slot machine capable of reproducing the game state at the end of the previous game at the start of the next game, and an information terminal device connected to the slot machine for use.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A slot machine plays a game by inserting a predetermined number of game medals, and when the result of the game is a prize, the number of medals corresponding to the type of the prize is paid out. As for the type of winning, a small winning combination that is achieved when one of the three reels displaying a specific symbol and a regular bonus that is achieved when the symbols of the three reels are arranged in a predetermined combination. There are special roles such as and Bog Bonus. Generally, these special roles are called "winning" or "big hit", and if a prize is won, a bonus game advantageous to the player is played a predetermined number of times, and a total of approximately a fixed number of medals are paid out.

Some slot machines of recent years have a special game function that allows the player to play a game for a certain number of games after the bonus game of the special role is over without reducing the medals on hand. Even if a special combination is won during this special game, the bonus game is executed as in the case of winning the special combination in normal time, and after the bonus game is finished, the special game is executed again. Therefore,
Once you have won the special role, you may repeatedly win the special role with almost no investment in medals, and you can expect to win many medals.

However, since it takes a considerable amount of time, for example, one hour or more, to complete the special game a predetermined number of times, if a special role is won immediately before the closing time of the game hall or during the special game state. If the person's scheduled game time runs out, the situation may occur in which all the special game rights cannot be exercised. This not only does not allow the payout of medals due to winning that may occur within the remaining number of special games, but also loses the right to the next special game when the special prize is won again. Is a big loss for the person.

In reality, in order to avoid the above situation, most players stop playing the game shortly before the business end time,
When I don't have much time, I sometimes wait to play games. There are many requests from players who want to feel free to play a game for a short time without worrying about the time zone and the time they have. Further, if this is realized, it will increase the number of players and is preferable for the game arcade.

Therefore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-262725 proposes a technique for reproducing the game state at the end of the previous game in the game machine including the slot machine at the start of the next game. The technology described in this publication allows prepaid cards, which are widely used in pachinko machines, to store information about the gaming state of the gaming machine separately from the amount information, and at the end of the game, the information about the gaming state at that time is stored. Information about the game state stored previously from the prepaid card is stored in a prepaid card at the time of the next game, and the game is called in the game state based on the information.

[0007]

However, since the technique described in the above publication is premised on the use of a prepaid card, it is directly applied to a slot machine to which a medal supply system using a prepaid card has not been introduced at this time. There are many challenges to do. Also, if the prepaid card stores information about the game state, the information content cannot be confirmed by the player, so if you forget the situation at the end of the game, such as the game state, model, date and time, the next game When you try to do, there is a risk of failure.

The present invention has as its main object to make it possible to reproduce the game state at the end of the previous game at the start of the next game, and to provide a slot machine and an information terminal suitable for realizing this. .

[0009]

First, a slot machine according to the present invention is provided with a transmission / reception unit for mutually communicating with an external information terminal device, and at the end of a game, information on a game state at that time is described above. While transmitting to the information terminal device via the transmission / reception unit, the game state information at the time of the previous game end stored in the information terminal device at the start of the next game is received via the transmission / reception unit, and the game is executed based on the information. It is characterized in that it is possible to start.

According to the present invention, when the game has to be stopped for some reason during the game in the slot machine, the information of the game state at that time is stored in the information terminal device and the next game is performed. Sometimes, by reading the information into the slot machine, the previous game state can be reproduced.

In the above slot machine, if a transmitting unit for transmitting information having the same contents as the information stored in the information terminal device to the information management device that manages information in the entire game arcade is provided,
At the end of the game, the contents stored in the information terminal device and other various information can be recorded in the information management device, so that the unauthorized use of the information terminal device can be prevented and it can be used for the customer management of the player.

Further, the information terminal according to the present invention is capable of mutually communicating with the slot machine, receives and stores the information of the game state at that time at the end of the game of the slot machine, and stores this information. It is characterized in that it is configured to transmit to the slot machine at the start of the game.

According to the present invention, when the game has to be stopped for some reason during the game on the slot machine, the game state at that time is stored in the information terminal device, and the information is stored when the next game is played. It is possible to reproduce the previous game state by loading the slot machine into.

Further, in the above information terminal device, if a display section for displaying the stored information is provided, the player can confirm the information content anytime and anywhere.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in detail below based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front external view of a slot machine and an information terminal according to the present invention. In this slot machine 1, a rectangular display window 3 is formed on an upper part of a front panel 2, and three rotary drums 4, 4 and 4 which are independently rotated by a rotation drive device (not shown) are housed inside the display window 3 in parallel. Has been done. A plurality of symbols 5, ... Are drawn at equal intervals on the outer peripheral surface of each of the rotating drums 4, 4, 4, and when the rotating drums 4, 4, 4 are stopped, three of the symbols are drawn. It is designed to be displayed on the display window 3. Reference numeral 6 in the drawing is a pay line display tool for indicating the direction of a pay line, which will be described later, and reference numeral 7 is an activated line display lamp for displaying an activated pay line.

When a game medal is inserted into the medal insertion slot 10 and the start button 11 is pressed, the rotary drums 4, ... Start rotating. And stop button 1 at any timing
Press 2, 12, 12 in order to turn each rotary drum 4, 4, 4
To stop the rotation of. At this time, a specific design is displayed on a specific rotary drum, or one of a total of five pay lines including a horizontal line in the upper, middle, and lower lines and two diagonal lines, or a designated pay line. When three symbols 5 are arranged in a predetermined combination, a prize is won, and the number of medals corresponding to the kind of the prize is won from the medal payout opening 13 provided at the lower part of the front panel 2 to the medal tray 1
Be paid out to 4.

In particular, when three of the same specific symbols are lined up on the pay line, it becomes a special role called a regular bonus or a big bonus, and thereafter, a bonus game in which a predetermined number of medals are paid out for each game is performed a predetermined number of times. Done. As a result, a total of approximately a fixed number of medals are paid out. Furthermore, after the bonus game is over, a special game state is reached in which the player can play a game without reducing the number of medals. The number of times of this special game is, for example, about several hundred times, although it varies depending on the model and the type of special winning combination.

On the upper side of the display window 3, a liquid crystal display 15 for assisting game contents and displaying various effects, an effect display lamp 16 blinking or lit during a bonus game or a special game state, and a bonus game or a special game are displayed. A speaker 17 is provided which emits a sound effect when in a game state. Further, on the left side of the medal insertion slot 10, the information terminal 2
Connector 18 which is a transmission / reception unit for communicating with 0
Is provided.

The information terminal device 20 has a rewritable storage unit 21 (shown in FIG. 2) built therein, and a plug 22 is connected to the connector 18 to communicate with the slot machine 1. The information terminal device 20 includes a reception button 23 for receiving information from the slot machine 1, a transmission button 24 for transmitting stored information to the slot machine 1,
Liquid crystal monitor 25 which is a display unit for displaying the stored information
And a display button 26 for turning on the liquid crystal monitor.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configurations of the slot machine and the information terminal device. Slot machine 1 is CP
A control unit 30 including U, POM, RAM, and the like is provided, and the control unit 30 determines by lottery the prize type and winning, and the control for stopping each rotating drum 4, 4, 4 at an appropriate position, The payout of medals is controlled. In addition, depending on which of the game state at that time, that is, the normal game state, the bonus game state, or the special game state,
An output command is issued from the control unit 30 to the liquid crystal display 15, the effect display lamp 16 and the speaker 17.

When it is necessary to end the game in the middle of the bonus game state or the special game state, the ending process is performed by the following method. That is, the plug 22 of the information terminal 20
Is connected to the connector 18 of the slot machine 1 and the reception button 23 is pressed. As a result, information about the game state at that time is transmitted from the control unit 30 of the slot machine 1 to the information terminal device 20. The information regarding the game state includes, in addition to which game state, the remaining number of bonus games and special games, the model of the slot machine, the date and time when the game ends, the code number of the player, and the like.

At the same time when the information is transmitted, the control unit 30 switches to the control of the normal game, and the liquid crystal display 15,
The effect display lamp 16 and the speaker 17 are also changed to the corresponding display. In addition, information having the same content as the transmitted information is transmitted from the transmission unit 31 to the information management device 32 that manages information of the entire game hall.

The content of the information about the game state transmitted from the slot machine 1 to the information terminal 20 is the liquid crystal monitor 25.
Is displayed in. Therefore, the information content can be visually confirmed. After a certain period of time, the liquid crystal monitor 25 is automatically turned off. After that, when confirming the information content, the display button 26 may be pressed to turn on the liquid crystal monitor 25.

When playing the next game, the information terminal 2
Connect the plug 22 of 0 to the connector 18 of the slot machine 1 and press the send button 24. As a result, the information stored in the information terminal device 20 is transmitted to the control unit 30 of the slot machine 1. In the control unit 30, the information terminal device 2
The information from 0 is collated with the information at the end of the previous game recorded in the information management device 32, it is determined whether the information from the information terminal device 20 is proper, and if it is proper, it is transmitted. While switching to the game state according to the received information, the liquid crystal display 15, the effect display lamp 16 and the speaker 17 are also changed to the corresponding display. As a result, the game is restarted in exactly the same state as the game state at the end of the previous game.

Since the information from the information terminal device 20 is collated with the information at the end of the previous game recorded in the information management device 32, it is possible to prevent fraud such as falsification of the information stored in the information terminal device 20. You can In addition, the information management device 3
Various information for each player can be collected from the information recorded in 2, and the customer management of the player and the service according to the player can be provided.

In the present embodiment, the information terminal is directly connected to the slot machine for communication, but the communication may be performed remotely using radio waves or light. Further, the information terminal device is not limited to a dedicated device for slot machine communication, and may be used by adding an information device such as a mobile phone with a communication function with the slot machine.

[0027]

As described above, by using the slot machine according to the present invention in combination with the information terminal device, in the game on the slot machine, the game state at the end of the previous game can be changed to the state at the start of the next game. It is possible to reproduce, and even if the game is ended when it is in a game state advantageous for the player, the player will not suffer a loss, so the player can play at any time at his convenience for any time. Only now you can play games easily.

By providing the slot machine with a transmitting unit for transmitting information having the same contents as the information stored in the information terminal device to the information management device that manages the information of the entire game arcade, it is possible to prevent unauthorized use of the information terminal device. At the same time, it became possible to effectively manage the customer of the player.

Further, by providing the display unit for displaying the information stored in the information terminal, it becomes possible to check the stored information content at any time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front external view of a slot machine and an information terminal device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing configurations of a slot machine and an information terminal device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 slot machine 20 Information terminal 22 Display (LCD monitor) 30 control unit 31 connector (transceiver) 32 transmitter

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A transmission / reception unit for mutually communicating with an external information terminal device is provided, and at the end of the game, information on the game state at that time is transmitted to the information terminal via the transmission / reception unit, and the next game. A slot characterized in that it is configured such that it is possible to receive the information on the game state at the time of the previous game end stored in the information terminal device at the time of start via the transmission / reception unit and start the game based on the information. Machine. 2. The slot machine according to claim 1, further comprising a transmission unit for transmitting information having the same content as the information stored in the information terminal device to an information management device that manages information in the entire game arcade. 3. A slot machine is capable of communicating with each other, and at the end of the game of the slot machine, receives and stores information on the game state at that time, and transmits this information to the slot machine at the start of the game of the slot machine. An information terminal device configured as described above. 4. The information terminal device according to claim 3, further comprising a display unit for displaying the stored information.