JP2004178221A - Prepaid card system for game facility - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily realize the common use across the country. <P>SOLUTION: This prepaid card system comprises a prepaid card C with information such as unique identification information, valuable information or issuing store information; a read/write device to which the prepaid card is freely insertable and drawable to read the information retained by the prepaid card and write information to the prepaid card; and a control means for controlling the read/write device, enabling a game corresponding to the valuable information retained by the prepaid card in a game device, and performing the rewrite of the valuable information retained by the prepaid card according to the use of the game device. The control means treats the prepaid card as an effective one, subject to that the valuable information related to the balance of the prepaid card is initialized, when the shop information recorded in the prepaid card is not of its own shop. Even if a nationwide common settlement system for shops is not present, no problem is caused. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a prepaid card system for a game facility using a prepaid card having valuable information.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, a gaming facility has provided a prepaid card on which electronic information or magnetic information is written as a medium for valuable information, and is capable of playing a game with a gaming machine based on the valuable information of the prepaid card. Is installed.
[0003]
In such a prepaid card system for amusement facilities that enables the use of a prepaid card, a magnetic card type prepaid card is generally used in view of the cost problem of the prepaid card. In order to prevent unauthorized use due to tampering, most of the systems that can use the prepaid card only at the gaming store that issued the prepaid card, so-called house card method, and can be used at multiple stores There are also membership card types, but even in this case, stores that can use prepaid cards are limited to the store group to which the store belongs, and it is possible to use prepaid cards issued at a store nationwide. It has not been made possible.
[0004]
On the other hand, from the customer's point of view, each store must have a prepaid card, and points obtained as benefits at one store cannot be used at another store.
[0005]
Also, on the store side, when the member-type prepaid card is issued, the customer information obtained from the prepaid card is only the use information at the store, and what kind of use the customer uses at another store You cannot know.
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-64-22274
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the case of using a prepaid card of an IC card type in which an IC chip is embedded in place of a magnetic card type in view of improvement of security, etc., the cost of the card increases, so the house card method has a problem. is there. In addition, the house card method has the above-mentioned problem on both the customer side and the store side, so that when using the IC card type, it can be used nationwide. Things are desired.
[0008]
However, at present, there is no payment system between stores nationwide. For this reason, a prepaid card (IC card) in which valuable information is written by paying a price at one store is used at another store. Making it available is inconceivable.
[0009]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to provide a prepaid card system for a game facility which can easily be used nationwide.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Thus, the prepaid card system for amusement equipment according to the present invention has a prepaid card in which information such as unique identification information, valuable information, and issuing store information is written, and the prepaid card is freely insertable and removable, and the prepaid card is A read / write device capable of reading information to be held and writing information to a prepaid card, and controlling the read / write device and enabling a game corresponding to valuable information held by the prepaid card in the game device and enabling the use of the game device. And a control means for rewriting valuable information held by the prepaid card in response to the prepaid card system. Valuable information about the balance has been initialized It is characterized in that it is intended to cover the prepaid card as valid bets condition. Even if there is no payment system between stores nationwide, there will be no problems. Note that the “own store” here includes a chain store (group store) in which a settlement system exists between each other, or a chain store managed collectively. In addition, “the case where the store information recorded on the prepaid card is not that of the own store” includes a case where the store information is blank.
[0011]
Further, the present invention provides a prepaid card on which at least unique identification information is written, a read / write device capable of inserting and removing the prepaid card and capable of reading information held by the prepaid card, and a unique card recorded on the prepaid card. A management device that manages valuable information for each prepaid card for each store based on the identification information of the prepaid card, and obtains valuable information relating to the prepaid card in the read / write device from the management means while controlling the read / write device. And control means for requesting the management means to rewrite valuable information on the prepaid card in accordance with the use of the game apparatus, wherein the management apparatus is configured to control the identification information recorded on the prepaid card. That the prepaid card is treated as valid based on It has a feature to. Valuable information is not written on the prepaid card side, and the valuable information of the prepaid card is managed by the store side management means based on the unique identification information written on the prepaid card. There is no problem with using it in stores. Note that the “store” here includes a chain store in which a settlement system exists between the stores or a chain store managed collectively.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on an example of the embodiment. The prepaid card C here is basically a house card type IC that can be used only at the issued store or at a designated group store. Cards (which may be magnetic cards) can be used as house cards at other stores if certain conditions are met, enabling them to be used at stores nationwide. As shown in FIG. 2, the gaming facilities that can use the prepaid card C include a large number of gaming machines 2, an inter-stand machine 1 individually attached to each gaming machine 2, a card settlement machine 3, It comprises a prize exchange terminal device 4, a card checker 5, a counter 6, a hall center device 7, etc., and various types of information are exchanged between these devices.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 6, the machine 1 attached to the gaming machine 2 has a built-in read / write device which is a card reader / writer capable of reading and writing information recorded on the prepaid card C, and The card C is also issued. When the player inserts the prepaid card C into the card insertion / ejection port 16 of the inter-machine 1, the player can obtain only valuable information (amount information) corresponding to the prepaid card C. The game can be enjoyed on the gaming machine 2. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a bill insertion slot in the bill validator. By inserting a bill into the bill insertion slot 10, a prepaid card C equivalent to a bill amount is issued or a valuable equivalent to a bill amount is inserted into the inserted prepaid card C. Information can be written. For this purpose, the inter-table machine 1 incorporates control means for controlling these units and communicating with the gaming machine 2 and the like, in addition to the above-described reading and writing device and the bill validator.
[0014]
At the time of issuance of the prepaid card C, the information such as the type of the general card or the member card, the store number, the date of issuance, the unique identification information, the amount of the ticket issued, the remaining amount, and the member registered store number in the case of the member card, etc. The remaining amount is subtracted according to the usage of the gaming machine 2.
[0015]
Here, when a new prepaid card C is issued (ticket issuance), a prepaid card C in which the issue amount and the remaining amount are written in accordance with the amount of the inserted bill (money) is issued, and the prepaid card C is issued. When the history information is created at the same time and the history information is only transmitted to the hall center device 7 which supervises the game equipment of each store, but the user inserts the prepaid card C on hand into the inter-machine 1 As shown in FIG. 1, the control means of the machine 1 determines whether or not the prepaid card C is usable and whether or not the card is issued by its own store or a chain store. If it is issued by the local store or the chain store, the process proceeds to the next banknote (money) payment processing step.
[0016]
If the card is not issued by the store or chain store, it is determined whether or not the card is an initialization card. If the card is an initialization card, the process proceeds to a bill (money) deposit processing step. If not, the prepaid card C is returned. Here, whether or not the card is an initialization card is determined based on whether or not the remaining amount recorded on the prepaid card C is zero. I'm moving. If the remaining amount is zero, there is no need to perform a settlement process with the store that issued the prepaid card C, so that it can be used at its own store.
[0017]
When it is determined that the card is not an initialization card because the remaining amount is not zero, the user is inquired as to whether or not to perform the process of setting the remaining amount to zero instead of returning the prepaid card C immediately. May be written to the prepaid card C so that the remaining amount is zero, and then the process proceeds to the depositing process. Further, there is a game facility in which the prepaid card C for temporary use is built in the inter-chamber machine 2, but in this case, processing of payment using the built-in prepaid card C instead of the prepaid card C inserted by the user. The process may shift to a step. At this time, since the built-in prepaid card C is used, there is no need for the user to insert his / her own prepaid card C. However, by providing a privilege with a point service described later, the user owns the card. If the user is prompted to insert the prepaid card C, the member information recorded on the prepaid card C can be extracted.
[0018]
In addition, the fact that the remaining amount (valuable information) is zero means that in addition to the fact that data equivalent to zero as a numerical value is actually written, an invalid numerical value regarded as zero (eg, data of a negative value) This includes the case where the information has been written.
[0019]
In addition to the store information recorded as the store number, if the store information is included in other information such as unique identification information, that information may be used.
[0020]
The valuable information is a prepaid card C in which a plurality of sets can be written together with the store information, and the control means of the inter-chamber machine 1 determines the store information of the store (or the chain store) from the plurality of sets of information. If the priority is to use the items, the set of store information and valuable information that has already been written is initialized unless all areas where the set of store information and valuable information are written are used. It does not have to be. This is because an area in which a set of new store information and valuable information can be written exists in an initialized state (value information is zero), and by using this area, settlement with other stores is performed. Can be processed without causing any problem.
[0021]
By the way, the host computer H shown in FIG. 2 becomes a member between stores (halls) that can be used regardless of the store that issued the prepaid card C if the prepaid card C is initialized. In addition to sharing the user's history information, points are assigned to the user for each use, and points are managed when preferential treatment is given to the user according to the total number of points. This is performed based on the unique identification information recorded on the prepaid card C.
[0022]
The case where the prepaid card C is issued by the inter-machine 1 is shown. However, the issuance process is not limited to the inter-machine 1 and may be performed by a device dedicated to card issuance. Also, by performing the processing shown in FIG. 1, the original object can be achieved. In particular, a ticketing machine dedicated to the prepaid card C issued by another store may be prepared, and only this ticketing machine may determine whether or not the card is an initialization card.
[0023]
In addition, as a condition for initialization, the case where the remaining amount is equivalent to zero is shown here, but some other information may also be initialized, and furthermore, the unique identification of the prepaid card C Information obtained by clearing all other information except information may be treated as initialized.
[0024]
Next, an example of another embodiment will be described. Here, the same system configuration as that shown in FIG. 2 can be used, but the information recorded on the prepaid card C does not include the valuable information that is the remaining amount, and the management for each store is not performed. In the hall center device 7, which is a device, valuable information of each prepaid card C is managed based on the unique identification information of the prepaid card C. In this case, the prepaid card C may be a card in which only the unique identification information is written, and accordingly, the read / write device such as the inter-machine 1 may be capable of reading only. It is only necessary that the one that issues the prepaid card C has a writing function.
[0025]
Then, when the prepaid card C is inserted into the inter-machine 1, the control unit inquires the valuable information held by the prepaid card C to the hall center device 7 based on the unique identification information of the prepaid card C.
[0026]
Here, if the prepaid card C has been used in the store, the hall center device 7 holds the valuable information corresponding to the corresponding unique identification information. Send back to the side. Then, if the valuable information is not zero, the control means shifts to a state in which a game can be played, and if the valuable information is zero, the control means waits for a payment process. Even if the valuable information is not zero, if a bill is inserted, the process proceeds to a depositing process. When the deposit is made, the control unit requests the hall center device 7 to rewrite the valuable information.
[0027]
When the prepaid card C is used for the first time in the store, the hall center device 7 does not hold valuable information corresponding to the corresponding unique identification information, and therefore, newly stores a management record for the unique identification information. Then, the control means notifies the control means that the prepaid card IC has become usable, and upon receiving this notification, the control means shifts to a deposit processing and notifies the hall center apparatus 7 of the received money amount information. . FIG. 3 shows this processing flow.
[0028]
When the valuable information of the prepaid card C is reduced by playing the game, the control unit requests the hall center device 7 to rewrite the valuable information each time. The request for rewriting valuable information to the hall center device 7 by the control means may be made only when the inserted prepaid card C is returned.
[0029]
In this case, the valuable information of each prepaid card C is managed by the management device (the hall center device 7), and the valuable information itself is not written on the prepaid card C. C can physically handle the prepaid card C and can always be used in stores nationwide that perform the same management.
[0030]
In this example, as in the above-described example, sharing of the history information of the prepaid card C (which is also customer information) by the host computer H and point addition service are possible.
[0031]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a prepaid card in which information such as unique identification information, valuable information, and issue store information is written, and reading of information held by the prepaid card while the prepaid card is insertable and removable. A read / write device capable of writing information to a prepaid card, and a read / write device that controls the read / write device and enables a game corresponding to valuable information held by the prepaid card in the game device. A prepaid card system for a game facility, comprising: control means for rewriting valuable information to be held, wherein the control means uses valuable information relating to the balance of the prepaid card when the store information recorded on the prepaid card is not that of the own store. Prepay, provided that Because the card is treated as valid, even if there is no settlement system between stores nationwide, there is no need for settlement, so there is no problem with settlement between stores, Prepaid cards issued at specific stores can be used at stores nationwide. In addition, since there is no need to construct a payment system, prepaid cards can be easily used nationwide.
[0032]
Further, the present invention provides a prepaid card on which at least unique identification information is written, a read / write device capable of inserting and removing the prepaid card and reading information held by the prepaid card, and a unique card recorded on the prepaid card. A management device that manages valuable information for each prepaid card for each store based on the identification information of the prepaid card, and obtains valuable information relating to the prepaid card in the read / write device from the management means while controlling the read / write device. And control means for requesting the management means to rewrite valuable information on the prepaid card in accordance with the use of the game apparatus, wherein the management apparatus is configured to control the identification information recorded on the prepaid card. The prepaid card is treated as valid based on , In this case, even if no exist settlement system between the store, and that can always use a certain prepaid card in stores nationwide. Also in this case, since there is no need to construct a payment system, the prepaid card can be easily used nationwide.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an example of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the same.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an example of another embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
C Prepaid card machine between machines 7 Hall center equipment

Claims (2)

A prepaid card in which information such as unique identification information, valuable information, and issuing store information is written, and the prepaid card is insertable and removable, and the information held by the prepaid card can be read and the information written to the prepaid card can be written. Possible read / write device and control for controlling the read / write device and enabling a game corresponding to the valuable information held by the prepaid card in the gaming device and rewriting valuable information held by the prepaid card in accordance with use of the gaming device A prepaid card system for a gaming facility, comprising: means for controlling the prepaid card to initialize valuable information relating to the balance of the prepaid card when the store information recorded on the prepaid card is not that of the own store. Treats the prepaid card as valid Prepaid card system for a game equipment characterized by Rukoto. A prepaid card on which at least unique identification information is written, a read / write device that allows the prepaid card to be inserted and removed and that can read information held by the prepaid card, and a unique identification information recorded on the prepaid card. A management device that manages valuable information for each prepaid card for each store; and a game corresponding to the valuable information by controlling the read / write device and obtaining valuable information on the prepaid card in the read / write device from the management unit. And control means for requesting the management means to rewrite valuable information of the prepaid card in accordance with the use of the game apparatus, wherein the management apparatus performs the prepaid based on the identification information recorded on the prepaid card. The card is treated as valid Prepaid card system for technique equipment.

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