JP2005312511A - Image type game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image type game machine that can display demonstration images without displeasing players and damaging the attraction effect. <P>SOLUTION: The image type game machine displays a game board having a start winning opening and a variable winning opening and including a pattern display section that varies patterns due to winning in the start winning opening and perform a pattern variation display to open the variable winning opening by stationary patterns and game balls launched and moving on the game board on an image display 5. An image display control device 6 to receive a launch command S1 is provided with a demonstration image display control means 7h. The demonstration image display control means 7h is made to monitor whether the launch command is received and patterns are being varied. The game machine displays a demonstration image on the image display 5 when the launch command is not received and patterns are not varied for a fixed period. The determination whether a game is being played can be made more surely and the display of demonstration images and the failure to display the demonstration images when needed can be prevented. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention includes a launch operation unit similar to a conventional mechanical game machine (actual game machine), and game board surface components such as a symbol display part, a winning opening, an out port, and a game nail are games of the actual game machine. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video game machine that virtually plays a game by displaying a game board surface imitating the form of the board surface, and a game ball that is driven into the game area on the game board surface and flows down on an image display. .

Conventionally, in the case of a gaming machine with an image display device, when there is no player in the gaming machine, a demonstration image is displayed on the image display device in order to inform other players of that fact. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent No. 3094019

However, in the above prior art, when the start winning ball (ball) is not detected for a predetermined period, it is determined that there is no player in the gaming machine, and a demonstration image is displayed. There was a problem like this.
That is, in the above gaming machine, winning at the start winning opening does not always occur at regular intervals, but actually varies. This means that it is difficult to set the predetermined period as a reference for determining that there is no player in the gaming machine, and sometimes it is set short and sometimes long.

  If the predetermined period is set short, the demonstration image is displayed on the image display device even though the player is playing with the gaming machine, and the player is uncomfortable. Also, if it is set for a long time, the demonstration image will not be displayed despite the fact that no player is on the gaming machine, resulting in problems such as a reduction in the effect of attracting customers. It had been.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above demands, and an object of the present invention is to provide a video game machine capable of displaying a demonstration image without causing discomfort to the player or reducing the effect of the customer. To do.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 includes a start winning opening and a variable winning opening that allows more game balls to be opened by opening the opening / closing body. A symbol display that displays a variation of symbols that can stop a predetermined time after the variation of the symbol is started by winning a game ball to the winning award and the opening and closing body can be opened by the stopped symbol. A video game machine that plays a game by displaying a game board surface including a game unit and a game ball that is launched by the operation of the launch operation unit and moves on the game board surface on an image display mounted on the game machine frame. And a main control means for creating and transmitting a game ball launch signal for each game ball to be launched by the operation of the launch operation unit, and receiving the game ball launch signal, and generating based on the game ball launch signal Each game ball with the ball route Image display control means for moving and displaying on the surface image of the game board and for controlling the display of fluctuation of the symbol, the image display control means for monitoring the presence or absence of reception of the game ball emission signal, and When a state in which no signal is received continues beyond a preset waiting time, or whether or not the game ball launch signal is received and whether the symbol is being displayed in a variable manner, the game ball launch signal And a demo image display control means for displaying a demonstration image on the image display device when a state in which the symbol is not being displayed and the symbol is not being displayed is continued beyond the waiting time.

  The invention according to claim 1 of the claims of the present invention is to stop and stop after a symbol variation starts by winning a game ball to a plurality of winning ports including a starting winning port, a variable winning port, and a starting winning port. A game board surface including a symbol display unit that displays a symbol change display that can be opened by a variable winning opening and a game ball that is launched by operation of the launch operation unit and moves on the game board surface is displayed on an image display. In the video game machine that performs the above, the demo image display control means is provided in the image display control means for receiving the game ball emission signal. Then, the demonstration image display control means monitors whether or not a game ball launch signal is received, and displays a demonstration image on the image display when a state where no game ball launch signal is received continues for a certain waiting time. I tried to make it.

In a video game machine, a game ball firing signal for displaying a game ball on an image display is always created for each game ball fired by operation of the launch operation unit and transmitted to the image display control means. This is because, unlike a real game machine, it does not fire an actual game ball.
Therefore, if the demonstration image display control means provided in the image display control means confirms the reception of the game ball launch signal, it can be considered that the player is actually operating the launch operation section, and the winning prize to the start winning opening is obtained. It is possible to determine that the player is in a pachinko machine (being a game) with a certainty compared to the prior art based on the above. On the other hand, if the demo image display control means does not confirm the reception of the game ball launch signal, the player has not operated the launch operation unit and is not in a pachinko machine (not playing a game). It can be judged with much greater certainty. Therefore, it is possible to display a demonstration image at an appropriate time as compared with the prior art, that is, without causing the player to feel uncomfortable or deteriorating the customer attraction effect. The waiting time can be easily set.

Further, in the present invention, in the above video game machine, the demonstration image display control means monitors whether or not the game ball launch signal is received and whether or not the design is variably displayed, the game ball launch signal is not received, and the design A demonstration image is displayed on the image display device when the state where is not in a variable display continues for longer than the waiting time.
According to this, it is possible to cause the demo image display control means to monitor only the presence or absence of reception of the game ball launch signal, that is, the game ball launch signal is not received within the wait time. When the symbol is changing (including the case where the change starts within the waiting time, the same applies hereinafter), the demonstration image is prevented from being displayed regardless of this.
A situation in which the game ball firing signal has not been received and the symbol is changing is, for example, when the player has forgotten to operate the firing operation unit due to a focus on the symbol change display (effect image), or the symbol. This may actually occur, for example, when the firing operation unit is not intentionally operated until the fluctuation display of is completed. Assuming such a situation, if the demonstration image is displayed by monitoring both the presence / absence of reception of the game ball launch signal and whether or not the symbol is being displayed as described above, the above-mentioned effect (appropriate (Demonstration images can be displayed at certain times).

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol shows the same or an equivalent part between each figure.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of an embodiment of a video pachinko machine to which the present invention is applied.
In this figure, a gaming machine frame 1 of a video pachinko machine includes a fixed frame 2 for attaching to a so-called island-equipped gaming machine installation facility in a pachinko gaming store. A movable frame 3 is attached to the fixed frame 2 by a hinge 4 located on the left side so as to be able to open one side. An image display 5 is attached inside the movable frame 3 with the screen facing forward. The image display 5 includes a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, an EL display, and the like, and can display an image whose display form can be electrically changed. A main controller 6, an image display controller 7, and a card controller 8 are attached to the back side of the movable frame 3.

The main control device 6, the image display control device 7, and the card control device 8 are connected as shown in FIG.
Of these, the main control device 6 displays a game board surface image (hereinafter abbreviated as a board image) on the image display 5 through the control of the image display control device 7, and the gaming state in the displayed board image is displayed. It is a device that controls the overall pachinko machine, such as control and prize ball control.

As shown in FIG. 3, the main control device 6 includes, for example, a CPU 6a, a RAM 6b, a ROM 6c, and an input / output interface 6d. The ROM 6c stores a control program 6c1 and a data group 6c2.
In the main controller 6, the CPU 6a uses the RAM 6b as a work area, executes the control program 6c1 while appropriately reading the data group 6c2 in the ROM 6c, and performs the above-described control.

  Further, the main control device 6 uses, as ball attributes, the disappearance position on the board image of the game ball fired by the operation of the launch operation unit, which will be described later, and the survival time of the game ball from when it is displayed on the board image until it disappears. Sphere attribute determining means 6e for determining is provided. Further, main controller 6 creates and transmits a game ball launch command (signal) S1 including the ball attribute determined by this ball attribute determination means 6e for each game ball that is launched by the operation of the launch operation unit described later. Command transmission means 6f is also provided.

  The image display control device 7 is based on the control of the main control device 6, that is, receives the game ball launch command S1 from the main control device 6 and other various commands, and the image display 5 receives the above-mentioned board surface by these commands. This is an apparatus that displays an image and performs display control on the displayed board image. “To perform display control on the displayed board image” specifically means that the image display 5 is controlled to display control display of the board image itself, for example, a plurality of symbols variation display and variable winning award described later. The moving image of the opening / closing body is displayed, or the game ball is moved and displayed on the board image. These displays under the control of the image display control device 7 are based on the control of the main control device 6. In particular, the control display of the board image itself by the image display controller 7 is based on the control of the gaming state in the board image by the main controller 6.

As shown in FIG. 4, the image display control device 7 includes, for example, a CPU 7a, a RAM 7b, a ROM 7c, an arithmetic processing unit (GPU: graphics processing unit) 7d, a video RAM 7e, an input interface 7f, and an output interface. 7g is provided.
In the ROM 7c, the control program 7c1, data indicating the position / shape of the game nail (game nail data) 7c2, the ball route table 7c3 for each game ball disappearing position / live time (ball attribute), demonstration data 7c4, and other data A group 7c5 is stored.

Here, the demonstration data 7c4 is data for displaying a demonstration image (hereinafter abbreviated as a demo image), which will be described in detail later, and description of game specifications such as the jackpot probability and the number of winning balls in the illustrated pachinko machine, This is data necessary for displaying an image such as a highlight scene of a game effect.
In the data group 7c5, for example, a guide rail for displaying a board surface image together with the game nail data 7c2, a center decoration, a symbol display section, various winning openings, a windmill, a side lamp, an out mouth, and the like are displayed. Data and board background data are included.

  In the image display control device 7, the CPU 7a uses the RAM 7b as a work area, appropriately reads the game nail data 7c2 and the data group 7c5 in the ROM 7c, and executes the control program 7c1. Then, the image display control device 7 controls the GPU 7d to write drawing data to the video RAM 7e, displays the board image on the image display 5 as described above, and performs display control on the displayed board image.

  The image display control device 7 receives the game ball launch command S1 from the command transmitting means 6f, generates a ball route for each game ball based on the ball attribute in each game ball launch command S1, and uses the ball route. Each game ball is configured to move and display on the board image.

  Furthermore, the image display control device 7 provides a demonstration image on the image display 5 when a predetermined condition is satisfied, for example, description of game specifications such as jackpot probability and the number of winning balls in the illustrated pachinko machine, and highlight of game effects. Demo image display control means 7h for displaying mainly a customer image such as a scene is provided.

The demonstration image display control means 7h performs the demonstration image display by reading the demonstration data 7c4. The predetermined condition is to monitor whether or not the game ball launch command S1 has been received and whether or not a plurality of symbols in the board image are being displayed in a variable manner, the game ball launch command S1 has not been received, and the symbols are being displayed in a variable manner. Is not satisfied by continuing over a preset waiting time, here 1 minute.
That is, the demonstration image display is started when one minute or more has passed in a state where the game ball launch command S1 has not been received and the symbol is not being variably displayed. Whether or not the symbol is being displayed in a variable manner can be easily determined from the fact that the image display control device 7 controls the variable display of the symbol.

Returning to FIG. 1, the front decorative frame 11 is attached to the front surface of the movable frame 3 by the hinge 4 so that the movable frame 3 can be opened in one side.
The front decorative frame 11 includes a round opening 12, and the round opening 12 is closed by a panel 13 made of colorless and transparent glass or synthetic resin provided on the back side of the front decorative frame 11. A card insertion slot 14, a lending operation mechanism 15, a return operation mechanism 16, a settlement operation mechanism 17, a firing operation mechanism 18, a ball count indicator 19 and the like are provided on the front surface of the front decorative frame 11 surrounding the round opening 12. Prepare.

  The card insertion slot 14 is a slit-like slot into which a player inserts a game medium (hereinafter referred to as a card) 22 such as a prepaid card. On the back side of the card insertion slot 14, a card detector 23, a card transport mechanism 24, an information reader 25 and an information rewrite device 26 are positioned in a state where they are attached to the back of the front decorative frame 11. The lending operation mechanism 15 includes a lending operation unit 27 operated by a player, and a lending switch 28 that is turned ON / OFF by the lending operation unit 27.

  The return operation mechanism 16 includes a return operation unit 29 that is operated by the player from the front side of the front decorative frame 11, and a return switch 30 that is turned ON / OFF by the return operation unit 29. The settlement operation mechanism 17 includes a settlement operation unit 31 that is operated by the player from the front side of the front decorative frame 11, and a settlement switch 32 that is turned on and off by the settlement operation unit 31.

The firing operation mechanism 18 includes a firing operation unit 33 that is operated by the player from the front side of the front decorative frame 11, a variable resistor 34 that is operated by the operation of the firing operation unit 33, and a front side of the front decorative frame 11 that is provided by the player. And a launch stop switch 36 that is turned ON / OFF by the launch stop operating unit 35. The firing operation mechanism 18 includes a touch sensor (not shown) that detects whether or not the player is touching the firing operation unit 33.
The ball count indicator 19 is attached to the front decorative frame 11 or the movable frame 3 so that the numerical display surface can be seen from the front side of the front decorative frame 11.

The operation of the above embodiment will be described below.
First, when the main control device 6, the image display control device 7, and the card control device 8 are activated by supplying DC power from a power supply device (not shown) provided in the gaming machine frame 1, Based on the control, the image display control device 7 controls the image display 5 to display a board image on the image display 5.
This board image is an image simulating a game board surface form of an actual gaming machine. That is, the board image includes a guide rail 39, a launch passage 40, a game area 41, a center decoration 42, a symbol display unit 43, a general winning port 44 to 46, a starting winning port 47, a variable winning port (attacker) 48, and a variable winning port 48. The front opening / closing body 52, the windmill 49, the side lamp 50, the out port 51, and a board surface component such as a number of game nails (not shown) are shown.

Now, when the player inserts the card 22 in which the money amount information is written into the card insertion slot 14, the card detector 23 outputs a card detection signal to the card control device 8 and controls the card transport mechanism 24 to be pulled in. Thereby, the card 22 is conveyed, and the information reader 25 reads the amount information of the card 22 and outputs it to the card control device 8.
Thereafter, when the player inputs an investment amount corresponding to the number of balls to be borrowed by operating the lending operation unit 27, investment amount information corresponding to the input investment amount is sent from the lending switch 28 to the card control device 8 as a lending signal. Is output. The card control device 8 calculates investment amount information corresponding to the lending signal from the lending switch 28, and whether the amount information (card reading amount information) read and stored from the card 22 is equal to or greater than the investment amount information. Determine whether or not.

  Next, the card control device 8 uses the investment amount information as it is when the card read amount information is equal to or greater than the investment amount information, and the card read amount information as the investment amount information when it is less than the investment amount information. Output to the control device 6. As a result, the main control device 6 outputs the ball number information corresponding to the investment amount information output from the card control device 8 to the ball count display 19, which corresponds to the ball count information. The number of balls to be played is displayed numerically.

  Specifically, when it is assumed that one lending signal of the lending switch 28 corresponds to 500 yen, the amount information of an integral multiple of 500 yen is written in the card 22. And, for example, when the amount information of 1000 yen is written on the card 22 inserted into the card insertion slot 14 and the player operates the lending operation unit 27 once, it is 500 yen. When the operation is performed twice, the number of balls corresponding to 1000 yen is displayed on the ball number display 19. If the amount information of 500 yen is written on the card 22 and the player operates the lending operation unit 27 twice, the player has the number of balls equivalent to 500 yen regardless of the two operations. Displayed on the display 19.

In parallel with this ball number display, the card control device 8 controls the information rewriter 26 by subtracting the investment amount information corresponding to the ball number information as the loan from the card read amount information, and the amount of the card 22 The information is rewritten to the remaining amount information as a result of the subtraction.
When the remaining amount information is “0”, the card control device 8 controls the card transport mechanism 24 to return.
When the player operates the return operation unit 29, the card control device 8 receives the return signal from the return switch 30 and controls the card transport mechanism 24 to return.
With these return controls, the card transport mechanism 24 transports the card 22 and projects a part of the card 22 from the card insertion slot 14 so that the card 22 can be taken out from the gaming machine frame 1.

  When the player operates the firing operation unit 33 in the state where the number-of-balls display 19 displays the number of balls, a touch sensor (not shown) is turned on and the variable resistor 34 corresponds to the operation amount of the firing operation unit 33. The variable resistance value (or voltage value) is output to the main controller 6. It is assumed that the firing stop operation unit 35 is not operated and the firing stop switch 36 is OFF.

The main controller 6 fires whether or not the operation amount of the firing operation unit 33 exceeds a so-called play range, specifically, whether or not the variable resistance value of the variable resistor 34 is greater than or equal to a certain value (or less). Judgment is made. When the determination result indicates that the firing is possible, the main control device 6 generates a firing ON signal at a rate of, for example, 100 per minute, and the variable resistance value at the time of the signal generation for each firing ON signal. (Operation amount of the launch operation unit 33: launch operation amount) is acquired.
In addition, the main control device 6 sets the ball attribute which is basic information on what route the game area 41 flows and moves after the game ball drawn as an image is displayed on the image display 5 to be flown and moved. It is determined for each launch ON signal, that is, for each game ball to be launched.

The sphere attribute is determined by the sphere attribute determining means 6e provided in the main control device 6.
That is, the ball attribute determining means 6e obtains the launch intensity of the game ball according to the launch operation amount, finds the extinction position on the board image of the game ball to be launched based on the launch intensity, and decides this as the ball attribute. To do. The ball attribute determining means 6e also obtains the survival time of the game ball based on the launch intensity, and determines this as the ball attribute.
You may make it obtain | require the survival time of a game ball according to the extinction position based on the launch intensity | strength of a game ball. Further, the launch intensity of the game ball may be included in the ball attribute.

The above-mentioned launch intensity is information indicating the launch strength of the game ball, and is used as basic information for obtaining the disappearance position and survival time (ball attribute) of the game ball as described above.
The position at which the game ball disappears is information indicating whether to win (win) the winning openings 44 to 48, which winning opening when winning, or whether to enter the out opening 51 without winning ( Sphere attribute). The display of the game sphere (game sphere image) is terminated when winning in the winning openings 44 to 48 or entering the out opening 51 and disappears from the board image.
The survival time of the game ball is time information (ball attribute) from when the game ball is launched (the launch operation unit 33 performs a launch operation) until it disappears, that is, from when display is started on the board image to when it ends. .

A game ball launch command S1 including each ball attribute (game ball disappearing position and survival time) determined by the ball attribute determining means 6e is transmitted from the command transmitting means 6f to the image display control device 7.
The image display control device 7 receives the game ball launch command S1 from the command transmission means 6f, and generates a route (ball route) of each game ball based on the two ball attributes in each game ball launch command S1. Then, each game ball is moved and displayed on the board image displayed on the image display 5 by the ball route.

  In the ball route, after a game ball is launched and driven into the upper portion of the game area 41 along the guide rail 39, the center ornament 42, the windmill 49, the side lamp 50, and a number of game nails (not shown) are moved while falling. For example, the information represents a route from winning a prize to any of the winning openings 44 to 48 or entering the out opening 51 without winning.

  In the winning, a game ball that drops and moves in the game area 41 in the board image displayed on the image display 5 wins a prize in any of the winning holes 44 to 48 (the winning hole 48 is not included in the illustrated example; the same applies hereinafter). This is information indicating what to do. Non-winning is information indicating that a game ball that moves down the game area 41 in the board image displayed on the image display 5 enters the out port 51 without winning any of the winning ports 44-48. . Note that the winning / winning information is determined only at the time of winning at the start winning opening 47, that is, when the start winning information is determined as winning.

  In the main controller 6, the main controller 6 obtains a count value from a counter (not shown) at the timing when the start prize information is determined as a prize, and uses this count value as the total count value of the counter and the jackpot / outgoing value. It is determined by collating (lottery lottery) with the associated lottery table. The determined jackpot / outlier (lottery content) is stored in the RAM 6b. As a result, the lottery content stored in the RAM 6b is either a big hit or a miss.

  The main controller 6 subtracts the ball number information for each launch ON signal and outputs the subtracted ball number information to the ball number display 19 and also includes a game ball launch command including each ball attribute as described above. S1 is created for each game ball (for each firing ON signal) and transmitted to the image display control device 7, and the image display control device 7 controls the image display 5. By this control, the image display 5 displays a game ball moving image (game ball image moving along the ball route). This game ball moving image is a moving image in which game balls are driven into the game area 41 from the launch passage 40 in the board image at a rate of 100 shots per minute, and flow down and move through the game area 41.

  The number-of-balls display 19 displays numerically the number of balls corresponding to the subtracted ball number information from the main controller 6. That is, the numerical value displayed on the number-of-balls display 19 is a numerical value that is subtracted every time a game ball is launched. Then, when the game ball launched into the game area 41 wins the general winning opening 44 to 46 and disappears from the board image displayed on the image display 5, the main controller 6 opens the general winning opening 44 to 46. The added ball number information obtained by adding the corresponding constant prize ball number information to the current ball number information is output to the possessed ball number display 19, and the held ball number display 19 is the number of balls corresponding to the added ball number information. Is displayed numerically. As a result, the numerical value displayed on the number-of-balls display 19 is a numerical value obtained by adding the numerical value subtracted each time a game ball is launched and the constant number of winning balls corresponding to the general winning openings 44 to 46. .

  When the game ball launched into the game area 41 wins the start winning opening 47 and disappears from the board image displayed on the image display 5, the main controller 6 is determined by the symbol variation start command and the above jackpot lottery. Hit information (command) or miss information (command) is transmitted to the image display control device 7, and the image display control device 7 controls the image display 5. With this control, the image display 5 starts displaying a plurality of symbols on the symbol display unit 43, and after a predetermined time, the image display 5 is determined by the jackpot lottery transmitted from the main control device 6 to the image display control device 7. The variable display (effect display) of the plurality of symbols in the symbol display unit 43 is stopped so as to reflect the winning information or the missed information.

  When the information determined by the big hit lottery is the winning information, the display symbols displayed on the symbol display unit 43 by this stop are, for example, “333”, “777” and the same numerical values arranged in a line. When the information determined in the big hit lottery is out of date information, the display form is such that different numerical values such as “133” and “767” are arranged in a line.

  When the display mode in which the symbol is stopped in the symbol display unit 43 is a winning mode (the stopped symbol is a jackpot symbol), the main controller 6 transmits jackpot information (command) to the image display controller 7, and the image display controller 7 controls the image display 5. By this control, the image display 5 displays an operation image of the variable winning opening 48. The operation image of the variable winning opening 48 is a moving image that opens obliquely forward from a state in which the opening / closing body 52 of the variable winning opening 48 is vertically closed with the lower side as a fulcrum. When the opening / closing body 52 is thus opened, more game balls can be won in the variable winning opening 48 (compared to the other general winning openings 44 to 46).

  When the opening / closing body 52 is opened, if the game ball wins from the game area 41 to the variable winning opening 48 and disappears from the board image displayed on the image display 5, the main controller 6 corresponds to the variable winning opening 48. The added ball number information obtained by adding the awarded ball number information to the current ball number information is output to the possessed ball number display 19, and the possessed ball number display 19 displays the number of balls corresponding to the added ball number information. Display numerical values. In other words, the numerical value displayed on the number-of-balls display 19 is a value obtained by adding the numerical value at the time of winning the variable winning opening 48 and the constant number of winning balls corresponding to the variable winning opening 48.

  A game ball that has won from the gaming area 41 to the variable winning opening 48 wins either a normal area set inside the variable winning opening 48 or a specific area called a V zone (both not shown). It has become. Further, the main control device 6 counts up the elapsed time from the start of opening of the opening / closing body 52, and when the game ball that has won the variable winning opening 48 wins the normal area of the variable winning opening 48, the normal area Count up the number you won.

  When either one of the above conditions, the elapsed time that has been counted up reaches the set opening time or the number of winnings in the counted up normal area reaches a set winning number such as 10, for example, the main condition is satisfied. The control device 6 transmits closing information (command) of the opening / closing body 52 to the image display control device 7, and the image display control device 7 controls the image display 5. By this control, the image display 5 displays an operation image of the variable winning opening 48. The operation image of the variable winning opening 48 is a moving image in which the opening / closing body 52 of the variable winning opening 48 closes in the vertical state shown in FIG.

  When the game ball that has won the variable prize opening 48 wins a specific area of the variable prize opening 48 between the opening and closing of the opening / closing body 52, the main controller 6 opens and closes the opening / closing body 52 once. The jackpot continuation information (command) for performing again is transmitted to the image display control device 7 and the numerical value won in the specific area is counted up. When the image display control device 7 receives this jackpot continuation information, the image display control device 7 controls the image display 5 again after the opening and closing of the opening / closing body 52 is completed. By this control, the image display 5 displays a moving image in a form in which the opening / closing body 52 of the variable winning opening 48 opens obliquely forward with the lower side as a fulcrum.

The jackpot continuation in which the opening / closing body 52 is opened and closed again may be performed until the counted number of specific winnings reaches a set number of continuations such as 16, for example. If there is no winning in a specific area during one opening / closing of the opening / closing body 52, the continuation of the jackpot ends at that time, so the number of times the opening / closing of the opening / closing body 52 continues is only possible.
When the player ends the game, the player operates the settlement operation unit 31. As a result, the settlement switch 32 outputs a settlement signal to the card control device 8, and the card control device 8 outputs a settlement signal to the main control device 6.

  As a result, the main control device 6 outputs the ball number information corresponding to the number of balls displayed on the held ball number display 19 to the card control device 8 and sets the numerical value of the held ball number display 19 to “0”. The number-of-balls display 19 is controlled so that The card control device 8 adds the amount information corresponding to the number-of-balls information input from the main control device 6 to the amount information of the card 22 taken into the inside of the gaming machine frame 1, and then uses the information rewriter 26. Control. By this control, the information rewriter 26 rewrites the amount information of the card 22 taken in the inside of the gaming machine frame 1 to the amount information added above. Thereafter, the card control device 8 controls to return the card transport mechanism 24, and the card 22 with the amount information rewritten is discharged from the card insertion slot 14 to the front side.

Next, in the present embodiment, a series of processing operations from when the launch operation unit 33 shown in FIG. 1 is operated until the game ball is displayed on the board image and then disappears (display ends) from the board image. The processing operation related to the demonstration image display will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
First, the game ball launching process in the main controller 6 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 in FIG. 5. In step 501, it is determined whether or not the launch operation mechanism 18 is ready to launch a game ball.
That is, it is determined whether or not the touch sensor (not shown) of the firing operation unit 33 is ON, the firing stop switch is OFF, and the operation amount of the firing operation unit 33 exceeds the range of play. This is to determine whether or not the player is actually operating the launch operation unit 33 to launch the game ball. If the determination result in step 501 is No (negative), the firing process is terminated, and if Yes (positive), the process proceeds to the next step 502.

  In step 502, it is determined whether or not a fixed time has elapsed since the previous launch. This is in order not to fire more than 100 shots per minute, for example, and the fixed time is 0.6 seconds here. If it is determined in step 502 that the predetermined time has not elapsed, the firing process is terminated. That is, the main controller 6 does not perform any processing regarding the launch of the game ball. If it is determined that a certain time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step 503.

  In step 503, it is determined whether or not there is a number of balls held (whether the number of balls displayed by the number-of-balls display 19 is 1 or more). A command to be generated is transmitted to the voice control device (step 504). If the determination result is Yes, the sphere attribute is determined by the sphere attribute determining means 6e (step 505). Here, the launch intensity of the game ball is determined according to the operation amount (launch operation amount) of the launch operation unit 33, and the extinction position and the survival time of the game ball are obtained based on the launch intensity, and the extinction position and the survival time are determined. Time is a sphere attribute.

When the ball attribute is determined, the process proceeds to step 506, where a game ball launch command S1 including the determined ball attribute is transmitted from the command transmission means 6f to the image display control device 7, and the launch process is terminated.
The above processing is performed for each shot ball (game ball launched by the operation of the launch operation unit 33).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining display processing by the image display control device 7 shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the display processing by the image display control device 7 will be described with reference to FIG.
First, in step 601, the image display control device 7 receives various commands from the main control device 6. In this command, in addition to the game ball launch command S1 including the ball attribute transmitted in step 506 in FIG. 5, a symbol variation start command, hit information or miss information, closing information (command) of the opening / closing body 52, etc. There is a command for effect display control.
The game ball launch command S1 is received by the image display control device 7 for each shot ball, and other effect display control commands are received when transmitted according to the game state controlled by the main control device 6.

In step 602, it is determined whether or not to display a demo image (satisfaction of the demo image display condition) and an execution process of the determination result. Details of this processing will be described later.
In step 603, a ball route is generated based on the ball attributes (game ball disappearance position and survival time) in the received game ball launch command S1, and here, the ball route is read from the ball route table 7c3 shown in FIG. A game ball is displayed on the image display 5 at a position corresponding to the ball route. Specifically, based on the ball route read from the ball route table 7c3 by the CPU 7a shown in FIG. 4, the GPU 7d calculates the position of the game ball that moves when the next frame is updated, and writes it to the video RAM 7e.

In step 604, it is determined in step 603 whether the calculation and writing to the video RAM 7e has been completed for the game ball position at the time of the next frame update. If not completed, the process of step 603 is repeated, and if completed, step 605 is executed.
When a plurality of game balls are displayed on the board image, the above-described display processing is performed in parallel. In such a case, the determination in step 604 is whether or not the calculation and writing to the video RAM 7e have been completed for all the positions of the plurality of game balls, and if completed, step 605 is executed.

In step 605, effect display control to a gaming state that can invite a special gaming state or a special gaming state, such as opening / closing movement of the variable opening / closing body 52 of the variable winning opening (combination) 48 in the board image or symbol variation, is performed.
In step 606, other than the display control performed in step 605, for example, the side lamp 50 in the board image, and lighting / extinguishing control such as electrical lighting attached to the front surface of the front decorative frame 11 (not shown) (general effect control processing) I do.
In step 607, the processing (control) results of steps 603, 605, and 606 are combined and rendered on the image display 5, that is, displayed.

  Since steps 601 to 607 are repeated at a constant cycle, unless the process of step 602 is executed in the middle, the image display 5 has an opening / closing movement of the opening / closing body 52 of the variable prize opening 48, a symbol variation, and a side lamp 50 blinking. A game ball (image) is superimposed and moved on the board image on which various effects are displayed.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the necessity / unnecessity of the demonstration image display and the execution result of the determination result in step 602 in FIG. The operation of the demo image display control means 7h, which is the main part of the present embodiment, will be described below with reference to FIGS.
First, in step 701, the demonstration image display control means 7h determines whether or not a command is received from the main control device 6. If a command is received, step 702 is executed, and if not, the process jumps to step 703.
In step 702, it is determined whether or not the received command is a game ball launch command S1, and if it is a game ball launch command S1, step 704 is executed; otherwise, step 703 is executed.

In step 703, it is determined whether or not the symbol is currently being displayed in a variable manner, that is, whether or not the symbol is changing in the board image (the symbol display unit 43) displayed on the image display 5. If the symbol is changing, step 704 is executed, otherwise step 705 is executed.
In step 705, whether or not one minute has elapsed since the determination result of No (negative) is obtained in both steps 702 and 703, here, whether or not one minute has elapsed, that is, the game ball launch command S1 is received. It is determined whether or not 1 minute or more has passed in a state where there is no symbol and the symbol is not changing. If this determination result is Yes (positive), the demonstration image display control means 7h reads the demonstration data 7c4 and starts displaying the demonstration image (step 706). Otherwise, step 704 is executed.

In step 704, if the demonstration image is currently being displayed, the display is terminated. If the demo image is not being displayed, this process is terminated. That is, if the game ball launch command S1 is received before the waiting time (1 minute) elapses or the symbol is changing, the present process is terminated without starting the display of the demo image. If the demo image is being displayed, the display is terminated.
The reception of the game ball launch command S1 can be considered that the player is actually operating the launch operation unit 33, and the fact that the symbol is changing indicates that the player It is presumed that the player will not leave the pachinko machine, and in any case, it is considered that the player is sure to be in the pachinko machine (being a game). In such a case, it is not necessary to display the demo image, and if it is displayed, the player is strongly uncomfortable.

The demonstration image display start condition is that the game ball launch command S1 has not been received and the symbol is not changing. If the symbol is changing, the player does not perform a launch operation and the game ball This is because even if the firing command S1 is not received, the player is assumed to be in the pachinko machine (during the game).
That is, in a pachinko machine whose symbols vary, if the symbol at the time of stoppage (stop symbol) is a jackpot symbol such as “777” or the like, the variable winning opening 48 in the board image displayed on the image display 5 is displayed. The opening / closing body 52 is opened, and a special gaming state is reached in which more game balls can be won and eventually prize balls can be acquired.

  Therefore, if the symbol is changing, it is considered that the player usually keeps track of whether or not the stop symbol becomes a jackpot symbol in anticipation of acquiring more prize balls. That is, it is presumed that the player will not leave the pachinko machine. During this time, it is often the case that the player does not actually perform the firing operation.

In this way, the game ball launch command S1 has not been received, but if the symbol changes and the demo image is displayed due to the elapse of the waiting time, the player wins a jackpot (special game state). This is because, despite waiting in anticipation, a situation occurs in which a demo image is displayed in the middle of the game, giving a strong discomfort to the player.
The waiting time is not necessarily 1 minute. It is possible to set a certain time width and select any time within the range.
When the above-described steps 701 to 706 are executed to complete the process of determining whether or not to display the demo image and the determination result process, the process proceeds to step 603 in FIG.

Note that the board image displayed on the image display 5 (the board image controlled by the image display control device) is not limited to the mode shown in FIG. For example, a board is added to the board image, and a lottery is performed when a game ball passes through the gate, and a board image that opens a movable piece incorporated in the start winning opening when this lottery is displayed is displayed. May be.
Although the embodiment described above is a simulation of a first type pachinko machine, the present invention can be applied to other pachinko machines and other ball game machines.

  1 shows the case where the main control device 6 includes only the image display control device 7 as its control target, but actually, in addition to the image display control device 7, a voice control device, for example, a front surface A lamp control device that controls electrical decorations (not shown) attached to the decorative frame 11 is also provided. That is, the main control device 6 can perform not only display of the board image and control of the gaming state in the displayed board image, but also effect control by voice or lamp.

It is a principal part block diagram of one Embodiment of the image | video type pachinko machine to which this invention was applied. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main control device, an image display control device, and a card control device in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the main controller in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the image display control apparatus in the figure. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the launching process of the game ball in the main controller in FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining display processing in the image display control apparatus in FIG. 4. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the necessity determination of demonstration image display in FIG. 6, and the execution process of a determination result.

Explanation of symbols

1: gaming machine frame, 5: image display, 6: main control device (main control means), 6f: command transmission means, 7: image display control device (image display control means), 7a: CPU of image display control device 7c: ROM of the image display control device, 7c4: Demonstration data, 7h: Demo image display control means, 33: Launch operation section, 43: Symbol display section, 44 to 46: General winning opening, 47: Start winning opening, 48 : Variable prize opening, 52: Opening and closing body, S1: Game ball launch command (game ball launch signal).

Claims (1)

Variations in symbols start due to multiple winning holes including a winning winning opening and a variable winning opening that allows more game balls to be opened by opening the opening and closing body, and winning game balls to the starting winning opening A game board surface including a symbol display unit for displaying a variation of the symbol, which is stopped after a predetermined time from being released, and the opening and closing body can be opened by the stopped symbol;
A game ball that is launched by the operation of the launch operation unit and moves on the surface of the game board,
A video game machine for playing a game displayed on an image display mounted on a gaming machine frame,
Main control means for creating and transmitting a game ball launch signal for each game ball launched by the operation of the launch operation unit;
Image display control means for receiving the game ball launch signal, moving and displaying each game ball on the game board surface image by a ball route generated based on the game ball launch signal, and controlling the variation display of the symbol; With
This image display control means
The presence or absence of reception of the game ball firing signal is monitored, and when the state in which the game ball firing signal is not received continues beyond a preset waiting time,
Or monitoring whether or not the game ball firing signal is received and whether or not the symbol is variably displayed, and the state where the game ball firing signal is not received and the symbol is not variably displayed exceeds the waiting time. When you continue
A video game machine comprising demo image display control means for displaying a demonstration image on the image display.

Images