JP2003311003A - Game system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game system where players can efficiently peruse contents even if concentrated accesses have occurred. <P>SOLUTION: In the game system comprising an information provider 3 installed corresponding to a game machine 2 and provided with at least a communication means for receiving contents data distributed from the Internet, a contents screen generation means, a screen display and a server computer input operation means; and a relay 13 provided with a contents data acquisition means, a memory means, and an information communication means for transmitting the contents data to the information provider 3; the relay 13, at a demand for contents, confirms whether there is the corresponding data in the memory means, and if there is, determines whether its update history is identical with that of the contents data at a server computer on the Internet web, and if identical, transmits the contents data in the memory to the information provider 3 having sent the contents demand. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is provided corresponding to a game machine installed in a game arcade or the like, and is capable of displaying and browsing content data distributed from a server computer on the Internet network. The present invention relates to a gaming system including a providing device and a relay device such as a gate server that connects the information providing device to a server computer on the Internet network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the recent explosive spread of the Internet and mobile phones having an Internet connection function,
In the amusement hall as well, in order to answer the demand of the player who wants to browse the content on the Internet, such as an auction, provision of a device capable of browsing the content on the Internet in association with the gaming table has been partially implemented. ing.

[0003]

However, in these games, since there are many game machines installed in the game hall, a plurality of players may access the contents on the Internet at the same time. In some cases, it takes a long time to display, and there is a problem that the player cannot efficiently browse the content.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a gaming system in which a player can efficiently browse contents even if intensive access occurs. .

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, a gaming system of the present invention is installed corresponding to a gaming machine and receives content data distributed from a server computer on an Internet network. Communication means for generating the content screen, and a content screen generating means for generating a content screen based on at least the content data,
Between the information providing device, which includes at least display means for displaying the generated content screen and input operation means for accepting an operation related to access to the server computer, and between the information providing device and the Internet network. And an information acquisition unit for acquiring the content corresponding to the content request from the information providing apparatus from a server computer on the Internet network, and a storage unit for storing the content data acquired by the information acquisition unit. And a relay device including: the content data acquired by the information acquisition means or the content data stored in the storage means to the information providing device that transmitted the content request. System, the relay device is connected to the information providing device. When a content request is made, it is confirmed whether the content data corresponding to the content request exists in the storage means, and if so, the update history of the content data in the storage means is stored in the server computer on the Internet network. It is characterized in that it is judged whether or not it is the same as the update history of the content data, and if it is the same, the content data stored in the storage means is transmitted to the information providing apparatus which transmitted the content request. According to this feature, when the content corresponding to the content request from the information providing apparatus is stored in the storage unit, the content data stored in the storage unit is distributed to the information providing apparatus. Therefore, even if the access is concentrated, the player can efficiently browse the content without being affected by the connection capacity to the Internet network.

In the gaming system of the present invention, the relay device has an address database for storing in the storage means an address of a content for periodically acquiring content data, and the content data registered in the address database. Is acquired every predetermined period and the corresponding content data stored in the storage unit is updated. By doing so, by registering the addresses of frequently accessed contents in the address database, the contents data will be updated regularly, so that the contents data stored in the storage means will be updated. The frequency of use can be improved, and thus the communication load from the relay device to the Internet network can be reduced.

In the gaming system of the present invention, the relay device has a storage period setting means for setting a storage period from the last acquisition of the content data stored in the storage means, and the storage period is set. It is preferable to delete the excess content data. By doing this, it is possible to avoid unnecessary consumption of the storage capacity of the storage means by deleting the content data that has passed the storage period.

In the gaming system of the present invention, the relay device displays the content data acquired by the information acquisition means or the content data stored in the storage means on the display means of the information providing device. It is preferable to have data conversion means for converting the content data into a suitable display form, and to send the converted content data to the information providing apparatus that has transmitted the content request. With this configuration, the data conversion unit of the relay device converts the content data into a display form suitable for display on the display unit of the information providing device and transmits the content data to the information providing device. Even if a small-sized display device is used as the display means, it is possible to eliminate the difficulty of browsing the content screen.

In the gaming system of the present invention, it is preferable that the relay device stores the content data converted by the data conversion means in the storage means. By doing so, the content data once converted is stored in the storage means, and the converted content data is transmitted to the information providing device, so that repeated conversion is not performed, Content will be displayed quickly.

In the gaming system of the present invention, it is preferable that the information providing device can display information on the corresponding gaming machine on the display means. In this way, the player can further confirm the information about the gaming machine, so that not only can the player know the information about the gaming machine and can also refer to the selection of the gaming machine, but the device for the information about these gaming machines can be separately provided. There is no need to provide it.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following examples, an example using a normal pachinko machine in which pachinko balls that are game media are paid out as a game machine is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other game machines, For example, it can be applied to an enclosed-type pachinko machine in which pachinko balls are enclosed so that they cannot be touched, a slot machine or a pachi-lot that uses coins or pachinko balls as a game medium, and a gaming machine such as a full-credit-type slot machine. .

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a management computer 100 which is a recording medium management device for managing a card unit 3 which is an information providing device device of this embodiment, a visitor card which is a recording medium for games, and a membership card. It is a figure showing composition of a game system which has member management computer 120, and this game system is a card reader type pachinko machine (henceforth a pachinko machine) which is a game machine arranged in parallel in a game island arranged in a game hall. 2), a card unit 3 as an information providing device installed in a one-to-one correspondence with the pachinko machine 2, management of a membership card and a visitor card, which will be described later, used in the card unit 3 And the member management computer 12 that manages the balls accumulated by the member player who owns the membership card. When, it is mainly composed of, the management computer 100, the member management computer 12
0, the card unit 3 is connected to the card unit 3 via a hub (HUB) 7, a repeater 6 and a communication cable 8 so that bidirectional data communication is possible. A network (LAN) is formed, and each local IP address is assigned to transmission data and transmitted / received, so that data transmission / reception can be performed mutually.

A gate server 13 is provided between the repeater 6 and the member management computer 120, and the management computer 100 and each card unit 3 are provided.
Although the communication of the member management computer 120 from the member management computer 120 is passed unconditionally, communication control is performed by the local IP address so that the member management computer 120 cannot access the management computer 100. With respect to communication such as reply of the stored coin data to each card unit 3, the content of these communication is also monitored.

The gate server 13 is a connection device 19 connected to a predetermined Internet connection service provider (ISP) through a line having a relatively large communication capacity.
It is also connected to the Internet network via the Internet, and also serves as a relay device that relays so that an Internet connection board 324, which will be described later, provided inside each of the card units 3 can access each server computer on the Internet network. The gate server 13 converts the content data distributed from the server computer so as to match the display form of the display module 303 of the card unit 3 which will be described later, and at the same time, the server computer of a predetermined address registered in advance. Content data is downloaded and updated and stored, and the updated and stored content data is distributed to each card unit 3.

Further, the management computer 100 is connected via a communication line 11 to a management server 12 installed in a card management company so as to be able to carry out bidirectional data communication. The server 12 can grasp sales by member cards and visitor cards of each amusement hall, error status of the management computer 100 and the card unit 3, and the like.

First, the recording medium used for the membership card and the visitor card in this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, a membership card issued to a member player who has already registered as a member and a member card There are two types of IC cards, a visitor card used by a non-visitor player.

The IC card used in this embodiment has a nonvolatile memory capable of storing various data therein.
The non-contact IC card is capable of transmitting and receiving stored data and write data of the non-volatile memory in a non-contact manner and has a coil antenna for externally supplying operating power. In order to use the contact IC card as a member card and a visitor card, a magnetic stripe for recording member information such as a member ID is provided on the back surface of the member card. The visitor card can be identified, and the data such as the member ID, which is the recording information of the magnetic stripe, is read by the IC card reader / writer 327 of the card unit 3 when the member card is inserted, which will be described later. In the usage process (replay) of the accumulated coins, the member management computer 120
It will be sent to.

In addition, the internal memory of the IC chip mounted on the membership card and the visitor card allows each card to be individually identified, and the game hall (in this embodiment, the license is permitted). Card I as unique information including the amusement hall code that can specify the amusement hall that purchased the membership card and the visitor card from the card company
D, information about the degree of frequency that is the gaming value remaining on the card, device authentication encryption data used when performing mutual authentication with each device, and data transmission / reception during actual recording data The encryption key data used for encryption, the rewriting frequency data, etc. are recorded.

Next, the pachinko machine 2 which is the game machine used in this embodiment will be briefly described.
2, has a glass door frame 202 formed in a frame shape, and a hitting ball supply tray 203 is provided on the lower surface of the glass door frame 202. The operation section 14 is provided at a predetermined position on the upper surface of the hitting ball supply plate 203, and the surplus ball receiving plate 204 for storing the prize balls overflowing from the hitting ball supply plate 203 and the hitting ball are shot under the hitting ball supply plate 203. A hit ball operation handle (hereinafter referred to as an operation knob) 205 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, on the upper surface of the operation section 14, a frequency display section 17 for displaying the frequency read from the membership card or the visitor card in the card unit 3, and the start or the start of the game. Hitting ball supply plate 2
When the number of balls to be held in 03 has been reduced or has been lost, a lending button 16 for lending a predetermined number of pachinko balls from the pachinko machine 2 when the number is displayed in the frequency display section 17 is displayed. And a return button 15 for returning the member card being accepted to the card unit 3 at the end of the game, and these units are provided on the operation board 18 provided inside the operation unit 14. It is implemented.

A game board 206 is detachably attached to the rear of the glass door frame 202, as shown in FIG. In addition, a game area 207 is provided on the front surface of the game board 206. Near the center of this game area 207,
A variable display unit 209 on which a plurality of types of identification information called “special symbols” are variably displayed, and a variable display device 210 on which a plurality of types of identification information called “normal symbols” are variably displayed.
And are provided. In addition, the game board 206 is provided with a plurality of winning openings 224, a passage gate 211, a starting winning opening 214, and a variable winning ball device 216, and at the bottom of the game area 207, hit balls that have not been won An outlet port 226 for collecting is formed.

The hit ball shot by a hammer (not shown) rocked by the operation of the hit ball operation knob 205 enters the game area 207 through the hit ball rail, and then flows down the game area 207. At this time, the pachinko balls that have not reached the game area 207 because the launching momentum is too weak, the surplus ball tray 20 is passed through a circulation path (not shown).
It is supposed to be recirculated to 4.

Further, when the hit ball hit in the game area 207 passes through the passage gate 211, the ordinary symbol stopped and displayed on the variable display device 210 is variably started.

The display result after the variable display operation of the variable display device 210 is a predetermined specific display result (for example, 7).
In this case, the movable piece 215 provided on the starting winning opening 214 is opened for a predetermined time, which is advantageous for the player.

When a pachinko ball is won in the start winning port 214, all the special symbols are variably displayed (variable display) on the variable display portion 209. And then left,
In the middle, the special symbol on the right is stopped, and when the stop display result becomes a predetermined specific display mode (for example, 777), a specific game state (big hit state) occurs. When such a big hit state occurs, the variable winning ball device 2
The opening / closing plate 220 provided at 16 is opened to enter the first state, which is advantageous for the player. The first state ends when a predetermined period (for example, 30 seconds) elapses or a predetermined number of hit balls (for example, 10) wins, whichever comes first, whichever comes first. It is a disadvantageous second state. If a hit ball that has entered the special winning opening of the variable winning ball device 216 in the first state wins a specific winning area (V pocket) and is detected by a V count switch (not shown), the first time of that time Waiting for the end of the state, the repeat continuation control for controlling from the second state to the first state is performed. The upper limit number of times of this repeated continuation control is set to 15 times, for example.

Further, when the left, middle, and right special symbols variably displayed on the variable display section 209 are stopped and displayed in a combination of big hit symbols that match the type of a predetermined probability variation symbol, the repeat continuation control is performed. After the "big hit" by, the probability of becoming a big hit again becomes a probability fluctuation state in which it is a higher probability state than the normal probability state,
The big hits in these probability fluctuation patterns are called "probable variation big hits" to distinguish them from normal big hits, and the occurrences of these certainty variation big hits are output to the outside.

Next, the structure of the pachinko machine 2 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 6. In the pachinko machine 2, a display control board 280 for controlling the display of the variable display section 209.
And a ball payout device 297 for paying out pachinko balls supplied to a ball tank (not shown), and a prize ball signal output from a game control board 231 (to be described later) and various signals input to and output from the card unit 3 Based on the prize ball control board 237 for controlling the payout of the pachinko balls, the lamp control board 235 for controlling the game effect lamps and the like, and the voice control board 270 for controlling the voice output from the speaker.
And, based on the operation of the hit ball operation handle 205, the pachinko balls paid out to the hit ball supply plate 203 are played in the game area 207.
A firing control board 29 for controlling a ball launch device for firing to
1 and a game control board 231 for controlling these respective parts
And are provided, and these are connected as shown in FIG. 7, so that the game can be carried out using the pachinko balls paid out to the hitting ball supply plate 203 described above.

The prize ball control board 237 is connected to the control unit 328 (see FIG. 6) of the card unit 3 via a signal cable 9, and is used for a terminal terminal lending completion signal (EXS) and a table to be described later. READY signal (PRDY)
Is output to the control unit 328 of the card unit 3, and the card unit 3
A card unit READY signal (BRDY), which will be described later, and a terminal lending request completion confirmation signal (BRQ) output from the control unit 328 are input.

Further, the game control board 231 is connected to an information output section 298 for externally outputting the game information in the pachinko machine 2, and the information output section 298 outputs the big hit from the game control board 231. Various game information such as big hit information based on signals, probability variation big hit signal, starting signal, premium reach generation signal output when the above-mentioned premium reach occurs, probability variation big hit information, starting information, premium occurrence information, etc. The data is output to the card unit 3.

The operation board 18 is connected to the card unit 3 through the award ball control board 237 and the signal cable 9 described above, and the lend button 16 is operated to allow the player to lend a ball. The lending input signal output when the return button 15 is operated and the return input signal output when the return button 15 is operated are output to the control unit 328 of the card unit 3 and the control unit When the frequency display signal of the frequency display unit 17 output from 328 is input, the frequency based on the frequency display signal is displayed on the frequency display unit 17.

Next, the card unit 3 of this embodiment will be described. On the front surface of the card unit 3, as shown in FIG. 2, the operation of the card unit 3 and the management computer 100 are arranged at the uppermost position. An operation lamp 301 for notifying the communication status is provided so that an attendant or the like of the game hall can perceive the occurrence of a malfunction of the operating status of the card unit 3 or the communication status with the management computer 100.

Below the operation lamp 301, there is provided a bill insertion slot 302 into which bills can be inserted so that the player can insert bills as currency.

Below the bill insertion slot 302,
On one side of the protruding plate protruding from the front surface of the card unit 3,
Along with the main menu, game information of the corresponding game console, various contents on the Internet and TV images,
A display module 303 having a transparent touch panel 314 arranged on the lower surface thereof, the transparent touch panel 314 displaying the number of replayable times based on the number of savings balls specified from the member card being accepted, a numeric keypad for inputting a personal identification number, and the like. In the case of determining the personal identification number entered in the display module 303 or in the case of the replay key 315 for executing a predetermined number of withdrawal of the number of saved balls and the inserted card is a membership card, the frequency And a play selection key 316 operated when switching between a game using and a game using the number of savings balls specified by the member ID of the member card,
A menu selection key 317 for displaying a main menu on the display module 303 is provided.

Further, at a position below the projecting plate, a changeable lamp that is turned on when a lending unit (a frequency used in one lending operation) can be changed in a lending process described later. 305, a lending unit change button 306 for changing the lending unit by operating while the changeable lamp 305 is lit, a lending unit display unit 307 for displaying the lending unit and the like, the membership card and the visitor. Frequency display unit 30 for displaying the frequency read from the card
9, an operation panel having a direction indicating lamp 311 indicating the connecting direction of the corresponding gaming machine, and an inserting lamp 312 indicating that a card is being inserted into a card reader / writer 327, which will be described later, is provided. The player can perform various operations.

A card insertion slot 319 into which the above-mentioned membership card and visitor card can be inserted is provided below the operation panel.

The structure of the card unit 3 used in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. The operation lamp 301 provided at the uppermost front surface position is connected to the card unit 3. In addition, the changeable lamp 305, the lending unit change button 306, the lending unit display unit 307, the frequency display unit 309, and the direction instruction lamp 31.
1, an inserting lamp 312, a display driver (not shown) of the lending unit display unit 307 and the frequency display unit 309, etc. are mounted, and an operation for inputting / outputting control signals between these units and a control unit 328 described later is performed. A board 320 is provided, and these operation boards 320 are arranged along the front panel of the card unit 3.

Further, at the upper position in the card unit 3, the bill insertion slot 302 is continuously provided, and the bill insertion slot 3
A bill validating unit 322 is provided, which takes in the bills inserted in 02, discriminates the authenticity and the bill type, and outputs the discrimination result to a control unit 328 (described later) provided in the central portion of the device. The bill validating unit 3
It is possible to accept various banknotes (10,000 yen, 5,000 yen, 2,000 yen, 1,000 yen banknotes) at 22.

An internet connection board 324 is arranged below the banknote identification unit 322 so as to be aligned with the protruding plate, and the internet connection board 324 has the display module 303 and menu selections. The key 317 is connected, and the display control of the display module 303, the input of the transparent touch panel 314, and the input detection of the menu selection key 317 are performed by the Internet connection board 324.

Further, the internet connection board 324.
As shown in FIG. 6, a microprocessor (MPU) 343, which has relatively high processing capability and performs various controls such as split screen display processing described later, and the MPU 343 performs various processing and display of the display module 303. A RAM 342 used for processing, a browser software in which content reproduction processing executed by the MPU 343 is described, a ROM 341 in which a control program in which various processing such as display control and input control are described, and the like, the hub 7, It is a one-board microcomputer provided with a communication unit 340 for transmitting and receiving various data to and from a server computer on the Internet network through the relay device 6 and the gate server 13, and is a server on the Internet network by the browser software. Various contents registered in the computer are displayed on the display mode. The control unit 328 is connected to the control unit 328 through a connection port 332e, which will be described later, and outputs the input content of the transparent touch panel 314 to the control unit 328, and the game from the control unit 328. Various types of information such as information can be output.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a TV tuner unit 344 for receiving TV radio waves is mounted on the Internet connection board 324 of the present embodiment. With respect to the TV tuner unit 344, Television waves from a cable television station are supplied from the distributor 5 provided for each gaming island shown in FIG. 1, and the television image signals received by these television tuner units 344 are sent to the MPU 343. By being output, the television image is displayed on the display module 303, and the channel selection control of the television is performed by the MPU 3 by the input of the transparent touch panel 314.
43 is to be implemented. In this example,
The MPU 343 processes these television image signals, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a dedicated device for displaying these television image signals is separately provided. You may do it.

As the display module 303, a liquid crystal panel with a backlight, which is a flat display, is used in this embodiment to be housed in the protruding plate, but the present invention is not limited to this. However, other flat panels such as organic EL displays and plasma displays that have been put into practical use in recent years can be preferably used as these flat displays, and a thin cathode ray tube may be used.

In this embodiment, the liquid crystal panel has been widely used in car navigation systems and the like 1.
A liquid crystal panel compatible with a wide display of 6: 9 is used vertically so that the short side direction is the protruding direction.
By doing so, the protrusion amount of the protrusion plate on which the liquid crystal panel is arranged can be reduced, the risk of damage to the protrusion plate and the liquid crystal panel can be reduced, and the liquid crystal panel has become popular and has become inexpensive. However, the ratio of the screen of the present invention is not limited to 16: 9, but a liquid crystal panel having an aspect ratio of 4: 3 can be used. You may make it arrange | position and use so that a direction may become a short side.

Further, as the transparent touch panel 314, a transparent polyester film or the like on which an indium oxide thin film (ITO) is formed as a transparent conductive film, and the pressing position is detected by the resistance or dielectric constant of the thin film is preferably used. can do.

At the lower position of the card unit 3,
The recording information recorded in the IC chips of the membership card and the visitor card, which are arranged so as to be connected to the card insertion opening 319 and are received by being inserted into the card insertion opening 319, are read and written, and the like. When the inserted card is a membership card, a card reader / writer 327 is provided on the back surface of the membership card to read only the recorded data of the magnetic stripe.

Inside the card reader / writer 327, a communication board (not shown) for controlling transmission / reception of data to / from the inserted membership card and visitor card, a controller for controlling the card reader / writer 327, etc. are mounted. A control board (not shown) is provided, and the control board 327b is connected to a control unit 328, which will be described later, so that various data can be transmitted to and received from the control unit 328. .

Further, at the substantially central position of the card unit 3, the bill identification unit 322, the internet connection board 324, and the card reader / writer 327 are connected.
I / O port 332a for inputting / outputting various signals to / from the bill identifying unit 322, and connection port 332e for inputting / outputting various signals to / from the internet connection board 324.
Or an I / O connected to the card reader / writer 327 for transmitting / receiving various data to / from the card unit 3.
The port 332d, the operation board 320, an I / O port 332b connected to the play selection key 316 and the replay key 315 to input and output various signals, the prize ball control board 237 of the pachinko machine 2, and the operation board 18. I / O port 332c for inputting and outputting various signals, a communication unit 334 for performing data communication with the member management computer 120 through the management computer 100 and the gate server 13 via the hub 7 and the communication cable 8, Is connected to a calling lamp 4 (see FIG. 2) as an external device installed above the pachinko machine 2 and outputs a lighting instruction signal for lighting the calling lamp 4 to the calling lamp 4. , Provided at the upper position and the lower position of the corresponding pachinko machine 2 on the gaming island where the corresponding pachinko machine 2 is installed. Such as the counting signals output from the replenishing ball counter 24 and the out-ball counter 26 (see FIG. 2), the big hit information and the probability variation big hit information output from the information output unit 298 of the pachinko machine 2, and the premium occurrence information. A data input / output unit 336 that receives output of various game information (optional information), a real-time clock (RTC) 333 that outputs current time information, control of each unit configuring these card units 3 and mounted on the operation board 18 MPU 329 for controlling the frequency display unit 17, RAM 3 used as various registers and work memory, etc.
30, a control unit 328 including a control program in which the control content executed by the MPU 329 is described, a ROM 331 in which information such as a device ID of the card unit is stored, and the like are incorporated, and each of these units is illustrated in FIG. The operation of each unit constituting the card unit 3 is controlled by the control program which is connected as shown in FIG.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the card unit 3 of this embodiment is engaged with the main body of the card unit 3 by means of a unit holder 31 'formed at the upper and lower positions thereof, and the main body of the card unit 3 is fronted. It is installed on the game island through a unit holder 31 that holds it so that it can be pulled out in any direction.
A cylinder lock (not shown) is provided at a lower position on the front surface of the card unit 3, and the card unit 3 can be pulled out by releasing the lock with an unlock key carried by an attendant or the like. In addition, the unit holder 31
Is provided with a connector for relaying various connection cables, and is connected to the communication cable connected to the Internet connection board, the communication cable connected to the control unit 328, and the TV tuner unit. The coaxial cable or the like is used as the unit holder 31.
It is designed to prevent the communication of the communication cable, the coaxial cable and the like from being entangled when the card unit 3 main body is pulled out, and the card unit 3 main body cannot be pulled out.

Further, the card reader / writer 32 of the present embodiment.
A card collection path 40 for collecting the visitor cards remaining in the card reader / writer 327 when a new card is inserted is continuously provided at the rear position of the card 7, and the cards discharged to these card collection paths 40 are used. The completed visitor cards are collected at one end of the gaming island by a collecting and conveying path (not shown) that is installed so as to cross the longitudinal direction of the gaming island, and is reused.

Next, the card reader / writer 327 used in this embodiment will be briefly described with reference to FIG.
Inside the card reader / writer 327, an insertion sensor 397 for detecting the insertion of the membership card and the visitor card from the card insertion opening 319, and the card insertion opening 3
A card collection path 4 provided at the rear, extending from 19 and allowing a membership card and a visitor card to slide.
Drive motors 386, 39 for moving the guide rails 398 arranged in series with each other and the member cards and visitor cards inserted so as to sandwich the guide rails 398.
Transport roller 3 which is implemented by being driven and rotated by 3
87, 388 and a transport mechanism including a transport belt 391 stretched on one side of the transport rollers 387, 388, and a stop pin that stops the transported membership card and visitor card at a predetermined position. The solenoid 389 for performing, the communication head 3 for supplying power to the member card and the visitor card stopped at a predetermined position and data communication
90 or a reading head 399 for reading the recorded data recorded on the magnetic stripe of the membership card.
Also, the control board 327b that is connected to each of the above-mentioned parts and carries out control thereof is provided, and reading and writing of data to the inserted membership card and visitor card are possible in a non-contact state. There is.

When the inserted card is a visitor card and the frequency is "0 (no value)", the visitor card having the value "0" remains in the card reader / writer 327. In addition, a new card is inserted from the card insertion slot 319 in this state, so that the visitor card that remains when the stop pin is excited upward by the solenoid 389 is removed. By being urged by the conveyor belt 391 and the conveyor rollers 387 and 388, the conveyor belt 391 and the conveyor rollers 387 and 388 convey the sheet backward, and the sheet is discharged to the card collecting path 40 and collected. The visitor card which has become “0” and remains inside may be collected in response to the operation of the return button 15.

If the inserted card is a membership card, it is not possible to insert a new card, and the stored membership cards are collected when the frequency becomes "0". Instead, the card is returned from the card insertion slot 319 by operating the return button 15.

Further, the bill discriminating unit 322 used in the present embodiment is a bill conveying passage constructed so that its rear end side (the bill inserting front end side) crosses the inside of the game island via a bill collecting passage (not shown). (Not shown). The bill validating unit 322 accepts a bill when a membership card or a visitor card is being accepted and the read frequency is less than a predetermined value (10 degrees or less) or when the membership card is not being accepted. It is controlled by the control unit 328 to accept the insertion and identify the accepted bill. The banknote received by this identification is a regular banknote (1
000 yen bill, 2000 yen bill, 5000 yen bill, 10
When the bill is identified as 000 yen bill), the identification result is output to the control unit 328, the identified bill is sent to the bill transport path, and if the bill cannot be identified, the accepted bill. Is supposed to be returned. In the present embodiment, the bill identifying unit 322 accepts only 1000-yen bills when the card unit 3 (card reader / writer 327) and the management computer 100 are not connected for communication (including communication failure), It is controlled by the control unit 328 so that other banknotes are not returned and accepted, and the membership card or the visitor card is being accepted, and the frequency specified by the membership card or the visitor card is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. When remaining (11 or more in this embodiment), the control unit 328 controls so as not to accept any banknote.

Further, the memory configuration in the RAM 330 is configured as shown in FIG. 7, and the lower region thereof is the MPU3 in various processes executed by the MPU329.
29 is allocated to the usable work memory area.

In the upper area, a read data storage area for temporarily storing read data read from the inserted card and a unique information storage area for storing a card ID extracted from the read data Card ID storage area, a frequency data storage area as a gaming value storage area in which the remaining frequency data in the read data is stored, and the frequency data used while the same card is inserted is additionally stored. There are provided a usage frequency data storage area as a gaming value storage area and a deposit data storage area as an added value storage area in which frequency data corresponding to the deposit amount deposited while the same card is inserted is additionally stored. There is.

As shown in FIG. 7, in the upper area, a member ID storage area in which the member ID read from the magnetic stripe is stored when the inserted card is a member card, A personal identification number storage area for storing personal identification number data returned from the member management computer 120 corresponding to the member ID, and a replay number storage area as a savings value storage area for storing the number of replays. Or a player data storage area for storing game information such as the number of IN / OUT of the corresponding pachinko machine 2 when inserting the membership card and the number of special prizes, the total number of IN / OUT and the number of big hits of the corresponding pachinko machine 2. And a table data storage area for storing game information such as the number of probability big hits and the number of starts, and the like.

Further, the upper area of each of these storage areas is a card usage history storage area for registering the usage history of frequency use and deposit in the card unit 3, and in the card usage history storage area. When the credit card is used or credited, the card ID, the added and subtracted credit frequency, and the time output from the real time clock (RTC) 333 at that time are stored. It is possible to register the usage history for 1000 times in these card usage history storage areas.
You can register usage history for about 2 days.

In the table data storage area, the total number of replenishing balls from the start of business based on the input of count signals from the replenishing sphere counter 24 and the out sphere counter 26 connected to the control unit 328 ( The number of INs and the total number of OUT balls (OUT number) are additionally stored, and the player data storage area stores the total number of supply balls (IN number) and the total number of OUT balls (OUT) during the insertion of the membership card.
Number) is stored, the total number of supply balls (IN number) and the total number of out balls (OUT number) at the time of returning the membership card, and the total number of supply balls (IN number) and the total number of out balls (OUT number) when the member card is inserted. ) And are transmitted to the member management computer 120, the member management computer 12
0 can grasp the balance of the member player.

Further, in the table data storage area, the number of special prizes, the number of probable changes and the number of start-ups based on the big hit information and the probability variation big hit information output from the information output unit 298 and the start information are additionally stored, and the membership card During insertion, the number of special prizes and the number of probability changes are additionally stored in the player data storage area, and the data in these player data storage areas are transmitted to the member management computer 120 when the membership card is returned. The member management computer 120 can grasp the number of big hits (special prizes) and probability-change big hits that occurred during the member's game. In addition, the game data of the table data storage area,
Member management computer 1 in closing process at the end of business
By being transmitted to 20, the member management computer 120 can grasp the total number of jackpots (total number of special prizes) that occurred in each pachinko machine 2 during business.

Next, the structure of the gate server 13 of this embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 5, contents for converting the contents distributed from the server computer on the Internet network into the data bus 401 for transmitting / receiving data inside the computer so as to have a display form that matches the display module 303 of the card unit 3. A conversion process, a content data update process of periodically acquiring content data of a site whose URL address is registered in advance and performing the content conversion process, and a content that is not accessed for a predetermined time or longer from the stored content data. A CPU 402 that performs a deletion process that specifies and deletes data, a RAM 403 that is used as a work memory, and a real-time clock (RTC) 4 that outputs time information and calendar information.
04, a storage device 405 including a magnetic disk or a magneto-optical disk, the card unit 3 (control unit 328) connected to the repeater 6, and the member management computer 12
Communication unit 407 for performing data communication with 0, the connection device 1
A computer having a relatively high processing capability, to which a communication unit 408 that performs data communication with each server computer on the Internet network via 9 is connected.

In the storage device 405, a global IP address, which is an address on the Internet network, and a local IP address in the LAN are converted to store the Internet connection board 324 of each card unit 3. In addition to a processing program for executing a routing process or the like that enables access to each server computer on the Internet network, as shown in FIG. 19, it is possible to access and update content data stored at predetermined intervals. As shown in FIG. 20, the address database in which the address of the site to be executed is registered, and the global IP address of the site is acquired from the server computer on the Internet network according to the access instruction from the card unit 3, and the access time And the file name after data conversion , A content database that is registered with the update information of the pre-conversion file is stored.

The ball lending process, the deposit process, and the replay process in the card unit 3 of this embodiment will be described below.

First, in the normal processing of the card unit 3, the operation lamp 301 is turned on in Sa1 to notify that the communication with the management computer 100 is possible and that the operation is good. . In this state, the display module 303 displays the game information (base data; see FIG. 15) of the corresponding pachinko machine 2 as a predetermined default screen.

Next, in Sa2, it is determined whether or not a member card or a visitor card is inserted into the card insertion slot 319. If the determination is negative (No), Sa24 is followed. It is determined whether money is inserted from the bill insertion slot 302 or the coin insertion slot 303,
If the determination is negative (No), the process proceeds to Sa34, and it is determined whether or not the termination processing shift instruction is received from the management computer 100. If the determination is negative (No), By returning to Sa2, the card insertion, the coin insertion, and the reception of the termination processing shift instruction from the management computer 100 are detected.

When a membership card or a visitor card is inserted into the card insertion slot 319, a card insertion signal is output to the Internet connection board, and the menu screen shown in FIG. 14 is displayed. It is displayed on the display module 303 so that the Internet connection function and the television function can be used.

The bill insertion slot 302 or the coin insertion slot 3
When money is inserted into 03, it is detected by Sa24, and proceeds to Sa25, and the card reader / writer 32
It is judged whether a membership card or a visitor card is being inserted in 7. If the card is not being inserted for some reason in the judgment, the accepted cash is returned (Sa
26) The process returns to Sa2, and if the card is being inserted, the process proceeds to Sa29, which will be described later, to execute the deposit process.

Further, when the termination processing shift instruction is received from the management computer 100, the reception is the above S.
It is detected at a34 and the process proceeds to the end process.

When a member card or a visitor card is inserted into the card insertion slot 319, the insertion of the card is detected by the Sa2 and the process proceeds to Sa37 to determine whether or not the remaining card count during insertion remains. If the determination is made and the remaining frequency remains in the determination, the process proceeds to Sa38 to return the inserted card, and then the process returns to Sa2. If the remaining frequency does not remain in the determination, the process proceeds to Sa3. , After collecting the inserted card, a new card is taken in (Sa4), and the recorded information (in the case of a member card, the member ID recorded on the magnetic stripe is also recorded) recorded on the card. (Including) is read, and the read data is temporarily stored in the read data storage area of the RAM 330 (Sa5).

Next, the card ID and the remaining number data are specified from these temporarily stored read data, and if the inserted card is a membership card, the member ID is specified and the card ID is stored as card ID data. In the area, the remaining count data is stored in the count data storage area, and the member ID data is stored in the member ID storage area, and the card ID, the remaining count data, and the license request registered in these storage areas are sent to the management computer 100. Send (Sa6).

The management computer 100 uses this card I
Based on the reception of D, the remaining number data, and the license request, first, by determining whether or not the usable store code in the card ID matches the store code of the amusement hall, the accepted card is the amusement hall. It is determined whether it is a card that can be used in, that is, a house card, and when the available store code matches the store code of the amusement hall, the serial number lower than the available store code is used. It is determined whether or not the matching card ID is registered (exists).

If it is determined that the card ID is registered (exists) in the determination of the card ID, the card I
The unusable flag stored in association with D is "1;
Make sure that "Unavailable" is not registered,
It is confirmed whether the card ID is not registered in the fraudulent card database, and if there is no problem in these confirmations, the residual number data stored in the card management database in association with the card ID is extracted and received. When the received residual frequency data is not larger than the extracted residual frequency data, it is determined that the card is legitimate and the license of the card is approved by the control unit 328. Send to. When the received residual frequency data is smaller than the extracted residual frequency data, it is determined that the frequency used during offline is present, and the residual frequency data in the card management database is updated to the received residual frequency data. If the received residual frequency data is larger than the extracted residual frequency data, a frequency error is transmitted to the control unit 328.

If these reply contents are not licensed, the process proceeds to Sa33 in the judgment of Sa7, and it is judged whether or not the contents of the returned error is a game hall error. Sa if there is a game hall error
It moves to 22, and the inserted card is returned, but in the case of an error other than a game hall error (card ID error, frequency error, fraudulent card error), if there is cash accepted, the cash accepted is returned After doing (Sa3
5) Go to Sa36 and wait for the error to be cleared,
When the error is cleared, the process proceeds to Sa2, so that the inserted card is not returned.

If the reply contents are licensed,
The license is detected at Sa7, and the process proceeds to Sa8, where it is determined whether the insertion card is a membership card. If it is a membership card, the process proceeds to Sa9, and the player data storage area IN / of the corresponding pachinko machine 2 at the time
After registering the OUT number, the process proceeds to Sa10.

Next, in Sa10, it is determined whether or not the remaining count is "0". If the remaining count is "0", the flow advances to Sa11 to set the lending invalid flag, and then Sa12 is entered. After proceeding to display the remaining frequencies stored in the frequency data storage area on the frequency display unit 309 and the frequency display unit 17, the process proceeds to Sa13 in FIG.

In Sa13, it is determined whether or not there is a lending input by pressing the lending button 16, and if there is no lending input, the flow proceeds to Sa14 to determine whether or not there is money acceptance. If no money is accepted, the process proceeds to Sa15, and it is determined whether the play selection key 316 is operated. If the play selection key 316 is not operated in the determination, the process proceeds to Sa16 and the return button is pressed. It is determined whether there is a return input based on the operation of 15, and when there is no return input, the above Sa1
By returning to 3, it is possible to detect whether any of the lending operation or the money acceptance, the operation of the play selection key 316, and the return operation is performed in Sa13 to Sa16.

At this stage, when the player presses the lending button 16, the lending operation is detected by the Sa13 and proceeds to Sa27, whether the lending invalid flag is set, that is, the remaining number. Is "0", and if the lending invalidation flag is set, the process returns to Sa2. If the lending invalidation flag is not set, the process proceeds to Sa28 and the lending process shown in FIG. Move to.

If money is accepted at the stages of Sa13 to Sa16, the money acceptance is detected at Sa14, and the process proceeds to Sa28 to shift to the deposit process shown in FIG.

When the play selection key 316 is operated in the steps Sa13 to Sa16, the operation is detected by Sa15 and the process proceeds to Sa30, and the card accepted at Sa30 is a membership card. If the card is a membership card, the process proceeds to Sa32 and shifts to the replay process shown in FIG. 12, and the card accepted in the determination of Sa30 is a visitor card. If there is, the operation proceeds to Sa31 to invalidate the operation, and the operation returns to Sa13.

When the return button 15 is operated in the steps Sa13 to Sa16,
The return operation is detected at Sa16 and proceeds to Sa17, where the remaining frequency and usage frequency of the card, the payment frequency, and the history data of the frequency usage and payment of the card together with the card ID and the device ID are stored in the management computer 100. To the card that receives the remaining frequency stored in the frequency data storage area in accordance with the update completion reply sent from the management computer 100 to Sa18. The management computer 100 that has received the update information extracts a registration record corresponding to the card ID of the received update information from the card management database (DB), and based on the update information, the remaining count, the issued deposit count, Update the usage frequency.

Next, in Sa19, it is determined whether the received card is a membership card. If it is a membership card, the processing proceeds to Sa20 and the usage registered in the card usage history storage area is used. From the history, total the usage history corresponding to the card ID to be returned,
Frequency usage information including the usage frequency and the deposit frequency of the card, and the IN / O of the corresponding pachinko machine 2 at the start of the game of the member player stored in the player data storage area.
Game information including the number of UTs, the number of special prizes during the game of the player, and the total IN / OUT number of the corresponding pachinko machine 2 at the time of the return stored in the table data storage area,
After transmitting to the member management computer 120 together with the member ID and the device ID stored in the member ID storage area and deleting the registered information in the player data storage area, the process proceeds to Sa22 to return the member card, Sa24
Then, the stored data in the frequency data storage area, the usage frequency storage area, and the deposit data storage area are initialized (reset), and the Internet connection board 3
A signal indicating that a card has not been inserted is output to 24.

In the determination at Sa19, if the card to be returned is a visitor card, the process proceeds to Sa21 to determine whether the lending invalid flag is present, that is, whether the remaining frequency is "0". , If the residual number remains, the process proceeds to Sa22 and returns, but if the residual number does not remain, the process proceeds to Sa22 without proceeding to Sa22.
By proceeding to a24 and initializing (resetting) the respective stored data in the frequency data storage area, the usage frequency storage area, and the deposit data storage area, and then returning to Sa2, the visitor card with the remaining frequency "0" is displayed in the card reader / writer. It remains in 327, and the player or another player can deposit money to the remaining visitor card and play the game. When the visitor card with the remaining count of "0" remains in the card reader / writer 327, a signal indicating that the card has not been inserted is output to the Internet connection board 324, so that the Internet The Internet connection function and the television function by the connection board 324 are disabled.

Next, Sa28 which is the lending process of the present invention
10 will be described with reference to the flow of FIG. 10 and FIG. 13, the control unit 328 determines HIGH / LOW of PRDY output from the pachinko machine 2 (Sb1), and when PRDY is HIGH. Performs a predetermined error process (Sb17) and ends the loan process.

When PRDY is LOW in Sb1, BRDY is switched to LOW (Sb2), BRQ is set to LOW (Sb3), and the state of waiting for detection of EXS HIGH from the pachinko machine 2 is reached. Then (Sb4), BRQ is switched to HIGH based on the detection of LOW of the EXS (Sb5), and the state of waiting for the detection of the EXS HIGH is entered (Sb6).

Next, when the payout for one time in the pachinko machine 2 is completed and EXS HIGH is detected, the MPU
329 subtracts and updates the frequency stored in the frequency data storage area once (Sb7), and displays the frequency display section 17, 309.
The display is updated to the frequency obtained by subtracting the frequency of (Sb8), and the BRQ
Is counted (Sb9), and the counted BRQ
And the number of lending units set by the lending unit change button 306 (in the present embodiment, five lending processes are performed by default in one lending process, so five by default). Are compared (Sb10).

In the comparison of Sb10, if the number of BRQs counted and the number of loan units do not match, the processes of Sb3 to Sb10 are performed again, and the BRs counted in Sb10 are compared.
If the number of times Q and the number of loan units match, BRD
Y is set to HIGH (Sb11), and the usage history including the frequency (use frequency) subtracted in the above, the card ID, and the time at that time output from the real time clock (RTC) 333 is stored in the card usage history storage area. Register (Sb12).

Then, it is judged whether or not the frequency stored in the frequency data storage area is "0" (Sb1).
3) In the determination, if the frequency is "0", the lending invalidation flag is set (Sb14), and if the accepted card is a membership card, the lending process is terminated and the process goes to Sa13. Return, if the accepted card is a visitor card, proceed to Sb16 (Sb1
5) Similar to the processing of Sa17 at the time of returning, the remaining frequency “0” of the card and the deposit frequency, and the history data of the card frequency usage and deposit are updated to the management computer 100 together with the card ID and the device ID. The information is transmitted as information, and the management computer 100 updates the remaining frequency, the deposit frequency, and the usage frequency corresponding to the card in the card management database to “0” based on the reception of the remaining frequency “0” of the card. Then, the update completion is returned to the control unit 328 of the transmission source. Based on this reply, the control unit 328 finishes the lending process, and the Sa1
If the acceptance card is a visitor card and the remaining frequency becomes "0", information such as the frequency usage of the card and the history of payment is displayed on the management computer 100. It will be sent to.

Next, the depositing process of Sa29 in FIG. 9 will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG. 11. First, the bill accepted by the bill identifying unit 322 is identified (Sc1), and the identification result is determined based on this (Sc1). Sc2).

When the discrimination result is not normal in the judgment, the accepted bill is returned (Sc12), the depositing process is terminated and the process returns to Sa13.

If the identification result in Sc2 is normal, it is judged whether the lending invalidation flag is set (Sc3). If the lending invalidation flag is set, the process proceeds to Sc4 and the lending invalidation is performed. After clearing the flag, the process proceeds to Sc6, and if the lending invalid flag is not set, the process proceeds to Sc5, and the remaining count stored in the count data storage area is equal to or less than the predetermined depositable count (in the present embodiment, (10 degrees or less) is performed, and when the remaining frequency of 11 degrees or more remains in the determination, the accepted money is returned (Sc12), the depositing process is terminated, and the process goes to Sa13. Return.

In the determination of Sc5, if the remaining frequency stored in the frequency data storage area is 10 or less, the process proceeds to Sc6, and the frequency corresponding to the identified bill amount is added. And the set addition frequency is displayed on the frequency display section 17, 309 (Sc7).

Then, the control unit 328 adds and updates the set addition power to the remaining power of the frequency data storage area (Sc8), and stores the added addition power (deposit frequency) in the deposit data storage area. The updated payment frequency is added and updated (Sc9), and the addition frequency (deposit frequency), the card ID, and the real-time clock (RT) are added to the card usage history storage area.
C) A deposit history consisting of the current time and the time output from 333 is registered (Sc10), and the new frequency in the added and updated frequency data storage area is displayed in the frequency display sections 17, 3 described above.
09 is updated and displayed (Sc11), the processing is terminated, and the above S
Return to a13.

Next, the replay process of Sa32 in FIG. 9 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 12 and FIG. 13. First, in the replay process, when the membership card is inserted, the data is read from the magnetic stripe. Member ID stored in the member ID storage area
Data to the member management computer 120, device ID
It is transmitted together with the alignment determination request (Sd1).

Upon receiving the judgment request, the member management computer 120 judges whether or not the registration corresponding to the received member ID exists in the member information table (correctness judgment). The number of savings balls and the personal identification number registered in association with the member ID that is determined and received in the member information table are extracted, and the number of replays corresponding to the number of savings balls, specifically, the present embodiment. In order to return 125 balls equivalent to 500 yen in one replay operation, 13 coins including 13 coin usage fees
Since eight balls are required to be stored, for example, if there are 940 balls stored, an integer value obtained by dividing the 940 balls by 138, that is, 6 times is calculated as the number of replays, and the number of replays is calculated. The judgment result indicating that the personal identification number and the member ID have been registered is returned. When the number of replays becomes “0”, after notifying that, the process returns to Sa13 and the replay process is ended.

Upon receipt of the reply, the control unit 328
Stores the received personal identification number and the number of replays in the personal identification number storage area and the number of replays storage area (Sd2), and determines the returned determination result (Sd3).

In the determination of the determination result, if the determination result is a reply indicating that the member ID has not been registered, Sd
After notifying the player that the member ID is an error at 26, the process returns to Sa13, and if the determination result is normal authentication indicating that the member ID is registered, the process proceeds to Sd4 and the number of times of inputting the personal identification number. After setting the initial value "0" to the variable N, the process proceeds to Sd5.

In Sd5, by outputting a personal identification number acceptance instruction to the Internet connection board 324, as shown in FIG.
The numeric keypad is displayed on 03, and the input of the personal identification number is accepted.

The encryption number input on the display module 303 is the same as the transparent touch panel 314 and MPU3.
The control unit 328 executes a comparison between the received personal identification number and the personal identification number stored in the personal identification number storage area (Sd6). Confirm your identity.

If the two personal identification numbers do not match, it is judged whether the value of the input count variable N has reached 2, that is, the third input (Sd7).
If the value of N has reached 2, the replay process is terminated and the process returns to Sa13. If the value of N has not reached 2, 1 is added to the input count variable N (Sd8), The S
Return to the PIN acceptance of d5.

If both the personal identification numbers match, the process proceeds to Sd9, the replay count stored in the replay count storage area is output to the Internet connection board 324, and then the process goes to Sd10. move on. Due to the output of the number of replays, as shown in FIG. 14, the membership card, which is the type of the reception card, and the number of replays are displayed on the bar at the bottom of the display screen by the display module 303 by the Internet connection board 324. It is supposed to be displayed.

In Sd10, the detection of the input from the replay key 315 provided at the lower position of the display module 303 (Sd10) and the operation detection of the return button 15 (Sd11) are performed. When the return button 15 is operated, it is detected in Sd11 and returns to Sa17, and return processing is performed in which information such as frequency use of the membership card, payment, etc. and a use history are transmitted to the management computer 100. After that, the membership card is returned.

When the member player operates the replay key 315 for replay, the operation is Sd1.
When it is detected at 0, the process proceeds to Sd12, and it is determined whether the number of replays stored in the replay number storage area is "0".

If the number of replays is "0" in the judgment, the replay processing is terminated and the process returns to Sa13. If the number of replays exists, the process proceeds to Sd13 to pay out the pachinko ball. .

The refund processing after Sd13 is basically carried out in the same manner as the lending processing, and the control unit 3
28 is the L of PRDY output from the pachinko machine 2.
OW / HIGH is judged (Sd13), PRDY is HI
If it is GH, a predetermined error process is executed (Sd
25), the replay process ends.

Further, in Sd13, the PRDY
Is LOW, after BRDY is switched to LOW (Sd14), BRQ is set to LOW (Sd15),
Waiting for the detection of EXS LOW from the pachinko machine 2 (Sd16), B is detected based on the detection of EXS LOW.
Switch RQ to HIGH (Sd17), EXS HIG
A state of waiting for detection of H is set (Sd18).

Next, when the payout of 25 pachinko balls corresponding to one time in the pachinko machine 2 is completed and EXS HIGH is detected, the MPU 329 adds 1 to the number of BRQs (Sd19), and the counted BRQ. Is compared with a preset number of withdrawal units (in this embodiment, 5 times worth = 125) (Sd20).

In the comparison of Sd20, when the counted BRQ number and the payout unit number do not match, the processes of Sd15 to Sd20 are performed again, and the counted BQ is compared in Sd20.
If the number of RQs and the number of refund units are the same, Sd
Go to step 21 and set BRDY to HIGH.

After BRDY is set to HIGH in Sd21, the member ID and the fact that replay has been performed are transmitted (Sd21).
22), waiting for reception of the number of replays in Sd23, and saving value management device (member management computer 120)
After receiving the updated replay count from Sd24, the replay count is updated, and the replay count is output to the Internet connection board 324 in Sd9.
Display it.

Next, while these cards are being inserted (frequency "0")
About the Internet connection function and the TV function that can be used (except when the visitor card is inserted)
To explain, as described above, the card reader / writer 327
In the case where the card being accepted is a membership card or a visitor card with a remaining frequency, the player selects the menu selection key 315 to cause the display module 303 to display a menu as shown in FIG. The screen is displayed.

In this menu screen, when a membership card or a visitor card having a remaining number is inserted into the card insertion slot 319, a card acceptance signal is output from the control unit 328 to the Internet connection board 324. By doing so, it is automatically displayed without operating the menu selection key 315.

On this menu screen, as shown in FIG. 14, in order to display a TV image and a selection item of "device data" to be selected when displaying the device data displayed before the insertion of the card. "TV" selection item of
A selection item of “Internet” for displaying various contents on the Internet is provided, and the player can select a desired item.

First, when the selection item of "base data" is selected, the MPU 343 detects the selection and outputs the base data stored in the base data storage area to the control unit 328. The request is output, the platform data is obtained, and displayed as shown in FIG.

Incidentally, at the lower position of this stand data screen,
The selection items of "Internet" and "TV" are provided. When either one of them is selected, for example, when the "Internet" is selected, the display screen is divided into upper and lower two screens, and the upper area is displayed. The internet display will be displayed on the, and platform data will be displayed on the lower area.

When the "TV" selection item is selected on the menu screen, a TV image is displayed on the entire surface of the display module 303, and a channel selection operation unit and a volume operation unit are displayed in the lower area. While being displayed, the upper part of the operation unit, similar to the table data screen,
The selection items of "Internet" and "vehicle data" are provided, and by selecting either one of them, the selected content and the television screen are displayed in a vertically divided manner.

When the "Internet" selection item is selected on the menu screen, as shown in FIG. 16, the browser software stored in the ROM 341 is activated and the home page of the game hall is opened. U
The HTTP request of the RL address is output to the gate server 13 to display the content data of the homepage of the amusement hall, and the homepage of the amusement hall can be selected by the player this week. In addition to the information item of "Recommended stand of this week" that you can browse information of the platform that is likely to frequently occur in the game state, and the information item of "Event information" that you can browse event information coming soon, There is a "pachinko maker" item that allows you to browse the link page for each machine manufacturer, and a "slot maker" item that allows you to view the link page for each slot machine manufacturer. You can access each site on the web.

Various operation items required for operating the browser are displayed in the upper area of the display screen of the Internet, and various portal sites can be accessed by selecting "Search". At the same time, in the lower area of the display screen of the Internet, an input area in which letters, numbers and hiragana can be input is displayed.
It is possible to access any site by directly entering the site address (URL) from these input areas.

Various processes executed by the gate server 13 in connecting to the Internet will be described below.

Further, in the normal state, the processing shown in the flow chart of FIG. 21 is executed, and in the normal state, it is in the state of waiting for the HTTP request from each card unit 3 (Sm1).

When an HTTP request including the URL address of the access destination is received from the card unit 3 in Sm1, the global IP address of the server computer corresponding to the URL address is set to the connection to which the gate server 13 is connected. Provider (ISP)
From the domain name server (Sm2), the global IP address is temporarily stored, and then it is determined whether the same global IP address exists in the content database (Sm3).

If the same global IP address is registered in the determination, the process proceeds to Sm4 to obtain the update information of the content data corresponding to the address from the server computer of the global IP address (Sm4), Whether the acquired update information is the same as the update information of the content database, or if there is a blockage, it is determined whether the converted content data stored in the storage device 405 is the latest (Sm5), If they are the same in the determination, the file name after data conversion registered in the content database in association with the IP address is specified, the file after data conversion is read, and the HTTP request is transmitted. Reply to the original card unit 3 and it is not the same in the judgment of Sm5. If data registered is not current, the determination of the Sm3, proceed to the case as well as Sm7 appropriate registration of the global IP address does not exist.

At Sm7, the global IP address of the server computer 13 is added to the local IP address of the HTTP request sent from the card unit 3, and the added HTTP request is sent to the Internet network.

Next, a reply is waited for the transmitted HTTP request (Sm8), and if there is a reply of the content data, the process proceeds to Sm9 to temporarily store and store the received data and receive the received data. The converted content data is subjected to data conversion so as to be displayed in conformity with the display form of the display module 303, and the converted data and the global IP address, the time (access time) at that time, and the before conversion After registering in the content database in association with the update information added to the content data of (Sm10), the converted content data is returned to the card unit 3 which is the transmission source of the HTTP request.

With respect to the returned converted content data, a content screen is generated by the browser software executed by the Internet connection board 324, and the content is displayed on the display module 303.

As shown in FIG. 25, the concrete contents of the conversion of these contents data in the present embodiment are such that the contents such as a normal home page have a large number of characters of line breaks and the size of the image, and this is displayed as above. When it is displayed on the module 303, as shown in FIG. 25 (a), the characters on each line are cut off and difficult to read, and the pasted image is large, so it is necessary to move the screen one by one to display the entire image. However, in this embodiment, in the data conversion of the Sm9, the member management computer 120 shown in FIG.
In order to set the number of characters in one line to the set number of characters based on the setting contents based on the remote setting from, the line feed tab is inserted for each specified number of characters in the displayed text data, and the horizontal size of the display image is set. Is the display module 3
When the width exceeds 03, the resolution is converted into a predetermined value so that the image is displayed so as not to exceed the width of the display module 303.

In the present embodiment, as described above, the width of one page of content is determined by the display module 30.
The page is converted to a vertically long page that matches the width of 3. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and in these conversions, a plurality of pages are generated from the original one page, and each page is mutually converted. Data conversion may be performed so as to insert a link part that enables movement.

The conversion contents of these data conversions are displayed by logging in to the gate server 13 from the member management computer 120 as the conversion contents setting means and the storage period setting means connected to the gate server 13 as described above. It can be done on the data conversion setting screen.

In this data conversion setting screen, the number of characters in one line displayed on the display screen after conversion, the size (font size) of display characters, the display color, and the image size exceed the width of the display module 303. In addition to the display resolution item to be converted in the case, there is a retention time item for setting the elapsed time from the time of the last access until the deletion is performed, and these items are changed to the setting contents. After that, by selecting and inputting the item of "setting" provided at the bottom of the screen, the setting is performed.

By making it possible to set the conversion contents in the gate server 13 as described above, even if various card units provided with display modules having different display capabilities are used as display screens, the display of the card units to be used is displayed. This is preferable because conversion to a display form that conforms to the specifications can be set, but the present invention is not limited to this, and these settings are unique and include the conversion content setting means. It may be configured not to.

Further, in the present embodiment, the content data which is one day after the last access is deleted in the retention time item, but the capacity of the storage device 405 and the like during these setting periods. It may be appropriately selected based on

Further, as shown in FIG. 22, the gate server 13 of the present embodiment periodically accesses the content data of the sites registered in the address database and is registered in the gate server 13. It is adapted to monitor whether the content data of the site is the latest, that is, whether or not the content data is updated.

This monitoring process is started every preset time, sequentially accesses the sites registered in the address database, acquires the update information of the content data of the site, and updates the content database. If the comparison does not match with the update information of the content data corresponding to the registered site, that is, if there is an update, the latest updated content data is acquired and data conversion is performed. Then, the registered data in the content database is updated with the converted data and update information.

By doing so, by registering the addresses of the sites that are frequently accessed in the address database, such as the homepage address of the amusement hall and the homepage addresses of the linked destinations, and the addresses of various portal sites, The content data of each frequently accessed site is regularly updated and registered in advance in the gate server 13, and when there is access to these sites, it is registered in advance in the gate server 13. Since the stored content data is read out and distributed to the card unit 3, it is possible to reduce the communication load on the Internet network and to display the content quickly in the card unit 3. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and these monitoring processes It may be configured is not performed.

Further, the gate server 13 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 23, sequentially determines whether the access time registered in the content database has exceeded a predetermined storage retention time. If the time exceeds a predetermined time, those that have been deleted will be deleted.

As described above, the access time is updated and registered by accessing the content, and the content data which has not been accessed for a predetermined time or more, that is, the content data which has not been accessed for a predetermined time or more, is deleted. Therefore, it is preferable because the storage capacity of the storage device 405, which is a storage unit, can be prevented from being carelessly consumed.
The present invention is not limited to this.

The respective elements in the above embodiment correspond to the present invention as follows. Claim 1 of the present invention
Communication means (communication unit 340) installed corresponding to the gaming machine (pachinko machine 2) and for receiving content data distributed from a server computer on the Internet network.
A content screen generation means (internet connection board 324) for generating a content screen based on at least the content data, and a display means (display module 3) for displaying the generated content screen.
03) and an input operation unit (transparent touch panel 314) for accepting an operation related to access to the server computer, and between the information providing apparatus (card unit 3) and the information providing apparatus and the Internet network. An information acquisition unit (CPU 402, communication unit 408) installed to acquire the content corresponding to the content request from the information providing apparatus (card unit 3) from the server computer on the Internet network, and the information acquisition unit. Storage means (storage device 405) for storing the acquired content data, content data acquired by the information acquisition means (CPU 402, communication unit 408) or content stored in the storage means (storage device 405). Providing data by sending the content request In the gaming system including a relay device (gate server 13) including an information transmitting unit (communication unit 407) for transmitting to the device (card unit 3), the relay device (gate server 13) provides the information. When there is a content request from the device (card unit 3), it is confirmed whether the content data corresponding to the content request exists in the storage means (storage device 405), and if there is, the storage means ( It is determined whether the update history of the content data of the storage device 405) is the same as the update history of the content data of the server computer on the Internet network. If the update history is the same, it is stored in the storage means (storage device 405). The content data stored therein to the information providing device (card unit 3) that transmitted the content request. That.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the relay device (gate server 13) has an address database for storing in the storage means (storage device 405) an address of a content for periodically acquiring content data, The content data registered in the address database is acquired every predetermined period, and the corresponding content data stored in the storage unit (storage device 405) is updated.

According to claim 3 of the present invention, the relay device (gate server 13) sets a storage period for setting a storage period from the last acquisition of the content data stored in the storage means (storage device 405). It has setting means (membership management computer 120, CPU 402) and deletes content data that has passed the storage period.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the relay device (gate server 13) includes the information acquisition means (CPU 402,
Suitable for displaying the content data acquired by the communication unit 408) or the content data stored in the storage unit (storage device 405) on the display unit (display module 303) of the information providing device (card unit 3). It has a data conversion unit (CPU 402) for converting the content data in the display form, and transmits the converted content data to the information providing apparatus (card unit 3) that has transmitted the content request.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the relay device (gate server 13) includes the data conversion means (CPU 40).
The content data converted in 2) is stored in the storage means (storage device 405).

According to claim 6 of the present invention, the information providing device (card unit 3) can display information on the corresponding gaming machine (pachinko machine 2) on the display means (display module 303). .

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and changes and additions can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It goes without saying that even if there is, it is included in the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the television tuner unit 344 is provided to display the television image on the display module 303, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the television image is not limited to this. The display function may not be provided.

In the above embodiment, two display screens are provided above and below the display screen so that different information can be divided and displayed. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the divided display is possible. It may be configured to have no function.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the form in which the information providing device is the card unit 3 is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to this, and these information providing device devices correspond to gaming machines. It is only necessary to display various kinds of information by using an information display device 150 or the like provided above the pachinko machine 2 which is a gaming machine for displaying information such as table data, as shown in FIG. It can be
Furthermore, the information display device 150 may be integrated with the call lamp 4 and the like.

Further, in the above embodiment, the display module 303 displays the base data which is the game information about the corresponding pachinko machine 2, but the present invention is not limited to this. As the information about the pachinko machine 2, a description of the game method of the pachinko machine 2 or the like may be displayed, and further, the information about the pachinko machine 2 such as the data of these units may not be displayed.

Further, in the embodiment, the transparent touch panel 314 is used as the input operation means, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other forms such as a cross key etc. can be operated as these input means. It goes without saying that the parts may be formed by providing them individually.
Further, it may be performed by voice recognition or the like.

Further, in the above embodiment, the television function and the internet function are made available only during the insertion of the membership card or the insertion of the visitor card having the remaining number, but the present invention is not limited to this. However, it is also possible to adopt a form in which these functions are always available.

In the above embodiment, the usable store code is included in the card ID. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the usable store code and the card ID are separately provided. It may be recorded.

In the game system of the above embodiment,
Management computer 100 and member management computer 1
20 and each card unit 3 are connected by a wired LAN, but the present invention is not limited to this, and these communication forms use a power cable regardless of whether it is wireless or infrared. Needless to say, this is applicable as long as bidirectional data communication is possible.

In the above embodiment, each card unit 3 is connected to the Internet network through the gate server 13, but the present invention is not limited to this, and each card unit 3 is individually connected. It may be connected to the ISP.

Further, in the above embodiment, the frequency of the membership card or visitor card inserted as the information providing device,
In addition, the card unit 3 for causing the card reader type pachinko machine 2 to pay out (pay back) the pachinko balls by using the accumulated balls of the membership card is used, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the provision of these information The device may be configured such that the payout according to the above-mentioned frequency and the payout of the coins of the membership card are provided as separate units. In addition, at this time, the payout (payout) of the pachinko balls, which are these game media, may be performed not on the pachinko machine 2 but on the unit side.

Further, in the card unit 3 of the above embodiment, when the number of savings balls specified by the membership card is used for replaying, the personal identification is carried out by accepting the input of the personal identification number. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of savings balls may be used for replay without receiving the personal identification number.

Further, the card unit 3 of the above-mentioned embodiment can accept 1000-yen bills, 2000-yen bills, 5000-yen bills, and 10000-yen bills and perform additional deposit processing to the membership card and the visitor card. Is not limited to this, and for example, 100 yen coins and 500 yen coins may be accepted to perform the additional deposit processing and the issue loan processing, and a plurality of additional deposit processing may be performed in one additional deposit processing. It may be configured such that money can be accepted for additional deposit, or coins or banknotes of a single denomination can be accepted for additional deposit processing and issue / lending processing. Further, it may be configured so as not to have the additional deposit function.

Although not carried out in the above embodiment,
It is optional to add a new visitor card issuing function to the card unit 3.

Further, in the card unit 3 of the above embodiment, when the membership card and the visitor card are accepted,
The recorded information such as the frequency of these cards is stored in the RAM 33.
The information obtained by temporarily storing the read data in the read data storage area of 0 and storing the corresponding read data in the card ID storage area or the frequency data storage area is updated based on the loan processing or the additional deposit processing, and the card is returned or the remaining number Although "0" is recorded on the card being accepted by the card reader / writer 327, the present invention is not limited to this, and the stored contents such as the frequency data are changed each time. The changed data may be recorded in the card being accepted by the card reader / writer 327 every time.

Further, in the above embodiment, the contactless IC card is used as the recording medium (membership card, visitor card), but the present invention is not limited to this, and a magnetic card or a contact card is used. Type IC card, or a recording medium having a predetermined information recording symbol such as a bar code printed thereon in a readable manner.

Further, the recording medium (membership card, visitor card) used in the above embodiment is card-shaped, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, coin-shaped, disc-shaped or It may have a spherical shape, a chip shape, or any other shape.

Further, the membership card and the visitor card used in the above embodiments can be used only in a predetermined amusement hall, but the present invention is not limited to this and can be used in a plurality of amusement halls. It may be used as a common prepaid card made possible.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the frequency and the amount of money corresponding to the frequency are used as the form of the game value used in the pachinko machine 2 which is the game machine, but the present invention is not limited to this. Alternatively, these gaming values may be set as predetermined points or the corresponding number of pachinko balls or coins, and the form thereof may be arbitrarily selected.

In the above embodiment, the pachinko balls are used as the game media used in the pachinko machine 2 which is a game machine. However, these game media are coins or points, and further image-type pachinko machines and slots described later. It may be a pachinko ball, a coin, or the like formed by an image on a machine or the like, and if these game media are media used in the game,
It is included in the game medium of the present invention, and its form is not limited.

Further, in the above embodiment, the RAM 330 of the card unit 3 is provided with the replay number storage area to store the replay number as the value of the saving value, but the present invention is not limited to this. Alternatively, the form of these savings values may be used as the number of saved balls, and the number of saved balls may be stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 330 and subtracted from the number of saved balls.

Further, in the above embodiment, the replay can be carried out by using the number of saved balls, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the replay function may not be provided. good.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the same form in which the pachinko ball lending in the replay and the pachinko ball lending from the frequency which is the gaming value are both lent from the pachinko machine 2 which is a gaming machine is used. By doing so, the card unit is provided with a pachinko ball receiving passage and a payout device for lending the pachinko ball in the replay, and a guide passage for guiding the lent pachinko ball to the pachinko machine 2. Although it is preferable that the pachinko balls can be lent out in the replay without providing the above-mentioned item 3, the present invention is not limited to this, and the receipt of the pachinko balls for renting the pachinko balls in the replay is possible. To have a passage, a payout device, and a guide passage for guiding the rented pachinko ball to the pachinko machine 2. Te may be a loan aspects of pachinko balls from lending and the frequency of the pachinko ball in the replay as different processing mode. Further, the pachinko ball lending from the frequency may be rented from a guide passage for guiding the pachinko ball to the pachinko machine 2. Furthermore, the pachinko ball lending by the lending process is also the lending of the pachinko ball in the replay. Similarly, the pachinko machine 2 may be rented from a guide passage for guiding the pachinko machine 2.

Further, a mechanism such as a pachinko ball receiving passage, a payout device and a guide passage is provided, and the pachinko balls are lent out by the lending process and the replay process using the same mechanism. May be.

Further, in the above embodiment, each time a replay is rented, a new replay count is sent to the member management computer 120 together with the member ID indicating that the replay was made. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and like the processing in the frequency management with the management computer 100, these new replay times are updated and stored on the card unit 3 side. It is also possible to manage such information and transmit the final number of replays to the member management computer 120 when the accepted membership card is returned.

Further, in the above embodiment, the number of savings balls is used as the form of the savings value because the game balls are used as the game medium, but when the game machine used is a slot machine or the like, coins are used. The coins may be stored coins, or may be in the form of points regardless of these game media.

[0165]

The present invention has the following effects. (A) According to the invention of claim 1, when the content corresponding to the content request from the information providing device is stored in the storage means, the content data stored in the storage means provides information. Since the content is distributed to the device, the player can efficiently browse the content without being affected by the connection capacity to the Internet network even if the access is concentrated.

(B) According to the second aspect of the invention, by registering the addresses of frequently accessed contents in the address database, the contents data can be updated regularly, so that the storage The frequency of use of the content data stored in the means can be improved, and thus the communication load from the relay device to the Internet network can be reduced.

(C) According to the third aspect of the invention, it is possible to avoid unnecessary consumption of the storage capacity of the storage means by deleting the content data that has passed the storage period.

(D) According to the invention of claim 4, the data conversion means of the relay device converts the content data into a display form suitable for display on the display means of the information providing device, and the information is provided. Since the data is transmitted to the device, it is possible to eliminate the difficulty of browsing the content screen even when a small display device is used as the display means.

(E) According to the invention of claim 5, the content data once converted is stored in the storage means, and the converted content data is transmitted to the information providing apparatus. Content is displayed quickly without conversion.

(F) According to the invention of claim 6, since the player can further confirm the information about the gaming machine, not only can the information of the gaming machine be grasped but also the selection of the gaming machine can be referred to. It is not necessary to separately provide a device for information about these gaming machines.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a gaming system in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a pachinko machine and a card unit used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a top view showing an operation unit of the pachinko machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a card reader / writer used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the card unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing configurations of a card unit and a pachinko machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a memory map showing a memory configuration in the card unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing normal processing of the card unit in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing normal processing of the card unit in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a lending process of a card unit in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a deposit process of the card unit in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a replay process of the card unit in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a timing chart showing an output situation of each signal output from the prize ball control board and the card unit of the pachinko machine in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a menu screen displayed on the display module of the card unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a platform data screen displayed on the display module of the card unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an Internet screen displayed on the display module of the card unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a personal identification number input screen displayed on the display module of the card unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a gate server according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an address database according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a content database according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a processing flow chart showing processing of the gate server in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a processing flowchart showing a monitoring processing in the gate server according to the embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 23 is a process flow chart showing a deletion process in the gate server according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a data conversion setting screen in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a situation of data conversion in the example of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Card reader type pachinko machine (gaming machine) 2'card reader type pachinko machine (game machine) 3 card unit (information providing device) 3'card unit (information providing device) 4 call lamp 5 distributors 6 repeaters 7 hub 8 communication cable 9 signal cable 10 communication cable 11 communication network 12 Management server 13 Gate server 14 Operation part 15 Return button 16 Lending button 17 frequency display 18 Operation board 20 card unit stocker 21 issuing and depositing device 22 Settlement device 24 Supply Ball Counter 26 out ball counter 31 unit holder 31 'slide rail 37 membership card (recording medium, game recording medium) 37 'membership card (recording medium, game recording medium) 38 Visitor Card (Recording medium for games) 40 card collection path 100 system controller (recording medium management device) 120 Member management computer (saving value management device) 140 hall computer 150 information display device 202 glass door frame 203 Ball supply plate 204 Surplus ball saucer 205 Ball Hitting Handle (Operating Knob) 206 game board 207 Game area 209 Variable display 210 Variable display device 211 Passage gate 214 Starting prize hole 215 Movable piece 216 Variable winning ball device 220 open / close plate 224 prize hole 226 Out mouth 298 Information output unit 231 game control board 235 lamp control board 237 prize ball control board 270 Voice control board 280 Display control board 291 Fire control board 297 ball dispensing device 298 Information output unit 301 operation lamp 302 banknote insertion slot 303 display module 305 changeable lamp 306 Lending unit change button 307 Rental unit display section 309 frequency display 311 Direction indicator lamp 312 Inserting lamp 314 Transparent touch panel 315 replay key 316 Play selection key 317 Menu selection key 319 Card slot 320 Control board 322 Banknote recognition unit 324 Internet connection board 327 card reader / writer 328 Control unit 329 MPU 330 RAM 331 ROM 332a I / O port 332b I / O port 332c I / O port 332d I / O port 332e connection port 333 Real Time Clock (RTC) 334 Communication unit 336 Data input / output section 340 Communication unit 341 ROM 342 RAM 343 Microprocessor (MPU) 344 TV tuner unit 401 data bus 402 CPU 403 RAM 404 Real Time Clock (RTC) 405 storage device 407 Communication unit 408 Communication unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A communication means installed corresponding to a game machine, for receiving content data distributed from a server computer on an internet network, and a content screen for generating at least a content screen based on the content data. An information providing apparatus including at least a generation unit, a display unit for displaying the generated content screen, and an input operation unit for receiving an operation related to access to the server computer, the information providing apparatus, and the Internet. An information acquisition unit installed between the network and an information acquisition unit for acquiring the content corresponding to the content request from the information providing apparatus from a server computer on the Internet network, and the content data acquired by the information acquisition unit are stored. Storage means and the information acquisition means In a gaming system comprising: a relay device including: the content data obtained, or the content data stored in the storage means, to the information providing device that has transmitted the content request, the relay device includes: When there is a content request from the information providing device, it is confirmed whether the content data corresponding to the content request exists in the storage means, and if so, the update history of the content data in the storage means is displayed. It is determined whether it is the same as the update history of the content data of the server computer on the Internet network, and if the update history is the same, the content data stored in the storage means is transmitted to the information providing apparatus that transmitted the content request. A gaming system characterized by the following. 2. The relay device has an address database that stores an address of a content for periodically acquiring content data in the storage unit, and acquires the content data registered in the address database every predetermined period. The game system according to claim 1, wherein the corresponding content data stored in the storage means is updated. 3. The relay device has a storage period setting means for setting a storage period from the last acquisition of the content data stored in the storage means, and deletes the content data after the storage period. The game system according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The content of a display form suitable for causing the relay device to display the content data acquired by the information acquisition means or the content data stored in the storage means on the display means of the information providing device. The gaming system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising data conversion means for converting the data, and transmitting the converted content data to the information providing apparatus that has transmitted the content request. 5. The gaming system according to claim 4, wherein the relay device stores the content data converted by the data converting means in the storage means. 6. The gaming system according to claim 1, wherein the information providing device is capable of displaying information on the corresponding gaming machine on the display means.