JP2006174979A - Video game system and card - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To add the fun of constructing a deck in a card game to video games of fights, battles, adventures, actions and sports, etc. <P>SOLUTION: On 7 prescribed positions set within a read range by a bar code reader in a card, one recording part where game auxiliary information (information to be reflected on a game or its index information) is indicated by a bar code and perforated parts and/or non-perforated pats equivalent to remaining 6 parts are respectively provided in a prescribed size. The deck 5 is constructed by combining 7 cards C1-C7 in an appropriate order, the read range of the deck 5 is read by the bar code reader, and the game auxiliary information of the readable bar code is reflected on the game. The game auxiliary information to be obtained is different depending on the way of constructing the deck 5, and the video game and the fun of constructing the deck are united. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a video game system and a card, and is applied to a video game system such as a home video game machine or an arcade video game machine. The present invention relates to a video game system capable of experiencing the fun reflected in a game at the same time, and a card configuration for realizing it.

Recently, in home video game systems and commercial video game systems, in addition to the original game program provided on a recording medium or board such as a CD (Compact Disk) or ROM, a card composed of a bar code reader, etc. Information such as additional characters, items, and techniques recorded on a card by a reader is read and the information is reflected in a video game.
According to such a video game system, the conventional system can execute the video game only within a range of contents based on the program loaded initially, whereas information to be reflected in the video game or index information thereof (Hereinafter referred to as “game auxiliary information”) can be recorded and used on a card, which is a simple and individual recording medium, so that each user can independently expand and develop the video game itself using the card. There is fun.

On the other hand, in the field of game cards, competitive card games using cards printed with images and characteristics (attributes, physical strength, attack power, defensive power, etc.) of characters and the like of TV animation are popular among elementary and junior high school students. Has been done.
The card game is based on the fact that each player determines the game by comparing the information of cards drawn from the hand, but the hand draws a predetermined number of cards in order from a deck that is a combination of many cards. It is configured, and building a stronger deck in consideration of the combination and order of cards greatly affects the outcome of the game.
Therefore, players can make more matches by using commercially available card sets (generally a combination of cards that are generally effective and valuable for games and regular cards) and cards that are traded (exchanged) between players. Focusing on creating a strong, unique deck, it can be said that a significant part of the fun of this type of card game is in the deck building stage.

And the following patent document 1 discloses a video game device for business use provided with a barcode reading means as described above, and a video game is started by inserting and reading a card with a barcode, A system is disclosed that ejects a card with a bar code for starting the execution of another video game when a player advantageously ends the game.
Patent Document 2 below discloses a method of reading a design drawn on an actual card in a home video game system, and reading out card data related to the card from a data cartridge and using it in a video game. Yes.
Furthermore, in Patent Document 3 below, magnetic card or bar code is applied to a card for a competitive card game to record individual card identification information, while the video game system includes a card reader, Corresponding to the above identification information, information such as the image, name, attribute, physical strength, attack power, defense power, comments, etc. of individual cards is stored, and a deck is constructed by reading each individual card with a card reader one by one. A method of executing a battle-type card game as a video game is disclosed.
JP-A-6-154421 JP 2004-222755 A JP 2003-946 A)

The technologies disclosed in Patent Documents 2 and 3 are for causing a card game, which is a table game, to be simulated and executed on the screen of the video game system as it is. Although it is possible to experience the fun and it is possible to play alone because it is a video game, the content of the game is limited to the card game.
On the other hand, there are various types of game software for video games, such as fighting, battle, adventure, action, sports, etc., and each user uses a card to execute game auxiliary information (for example, As described above, a video game system that can be expanded and developed independently by inputting a certain ability to a character or the like appearing in the game is implemented.

  Therefore, the present invention introduces the concept of building a deck in a card game into a method for inputting game auxiliary information using a card as described above in various types of video games, and how the game auxiliary information is It was created for the purpose of adding the fun of being able to give a large number to it effectively.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, a video game machine includes a card reader, game auxiliary information is recorded on the card, the card reader reads the game auxiliary information from the card, and the video game machine stores the game program. In the video game system in which the content corresponding to the game auxiliary information is reflected in the video game in the course of execution, the card has at least three or more predetermined positions in a partial area having a predetermined size, and one of the cards is the game The auxiliary information is selectively arranged and formed as a recording part, and other partial areas are selectively arranged and formed as perforated parts and / or non-perforated parts. It is possible to load a deck constructed by stacking a plurality of cards, and the front of the first card from the front side of the deck It has a function of optically reading the game auxiliary information appearing in the recording part and the punching part of the partial area, and the content of the game auxiliary information read from the surface side of the deck by the card reader by the video game machine The present invention relates to a game system that is reflected in a video game.

  According to a second aspect of the invention, the video game machine includes a card reader, game auxiliary information is recorded on the card, the card reader reads the game auxiliary information from the card, and the video game machine uses the game. A card that is applied to a video game system that reflects the content corresponding to the game auxiliary information in a video game in the course of execution of the program, and is a partial area that is configured with a predetermined size at at least three predetermined positions, One is selectively arranged and formed as the game auxiliary information recording part, and the other partial area is selectively arranged and formed as a perforated part and / or a non-perforated part. The deck constructed in the state is loaded into the card reader, and the card reader reads the first card from the surface side of the deck. When the game auxiliary information appearing in the recording part and the punching part of the divided area is optically read, the content of the read game auxiliary information is reflected in the video game. Related to cards.

The present invention proposes a game system and cards used in the system as described above.
According to the present invention, the surface of the deck constructed of cards is naturally composed of the first card, but the game auxiliary information recording part in the partial area of the card has the first card. When game auxiliary information is formed and there is a non-perforated part, even if the second and subsequent cards have a game auxiliary information recording part at a position corresponding to the partial area, it is visible from the surface side of the deck. If there is a perforated part, the problem is how to correspond to the game auxiliary information recording part, perforated part and non-perforated part of the second card in the partial area.
That is, in a state where a plurality of cards are stacked as a deck, in order to see the game auxiliary information recording part in the second and subsequent cards from the front side, the perforated part of the card on the front side is the The condition that it is formed at a position corresponding to the recording part of the game auxiliary information must be satisfied.
Therefore, in order to allow the card reader to read more game auxiliary information or to read more effective game auxiliary information in the execution of the game, the deck is constructed in consideration of the above conditions. It is necessary to determine whether the game can be advantageously developed.
In the present invention, “game auxiliary information” is defined as “information to be reflected in a video game or its index information” as described above, and may be control information itself. It may be code information for selection.
The video game machine in the present invention includes a home video game, a commercial video game, or a personal computer game. The card reader can be loaded with a deck and has a function of reading game auxiliary information of the recording unit from the front side. Any optical information reading method can be applied without being limited to the barcode method.

The video game system and the card according to the present invention read game auxiliary information in units of constructed decks when inputting game auxiliary information using cards in video games of various contents, and assist the game by searching for deck construction. Adds the fun of how much information can be given effectively.
In addition, the player's willingness to collect cards can be stimulated, and the value of the card itself can be given as an independent product.
In the present invention, the card reader is capable of loading the deck and reading the deck. However, the card reader may read the cards one by one. It is easy to ensure compatibility.

Embodiments of a video game system and a card according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.
First, FIG. 1 is an external configuration diagram of a video game system. A game controller 2, a display 3 and a card reading unit 4 are connected to a game machine main body (in this embodiment, a home video game machine) 1 via a cable. Has been.

FIG. 2 is a system circuit diagram of the video game system.
In FIG. 1, a game machine main body 1 includes a CPU 10, a ROM 11 storing a system control program, a RAM 12 used as various work areas, a hard disk device 13 storing a loaded game program, and a card reading unit 4. A communication interface 14 between them, a communication interface 15 between the game controller 2, a built-in CD drive 16, a bus connection interface 17 for the CD drive, an interface 18 for the display 3, and a network interface 19 respectively. The CPU 10 executes a system control program in the ROM 11 based on a control signal received from the game controller 2 via the communication interface 15. More controls the entire system and to execute the game by reading the game program of the hard disk drive 13. The game program of the hard disk device 13 may be loaded from a CD set in the CD drive 16 or downloaded from a network via the communication interface 19.

  The game controller 2 includes a CPU 20, a ROM 21 storing an input / output control program for control signals, a RAM 22 used as a signal input / output work area, an operation key / switch unit 23, and the game machine body 1. When the operation key / switch unit 23 is operated, the CPU 21 outputs a control signal corresponding to the operation to the game machine main body 1 via the communication interface 24.

  The card reading unit 4 includes a CPU 40, a ROM 41 that stores an operation control program of the unit 4, a RAM 42 that is used as a signal input / output work area, a sensor 43 that detects loading of a deck 5 composed of a plurality of cards, A state in which a bar code reader 44 that reads a bar code by operating a predetermined part of the loaded deck 5 and a communication interface 45 between the game machine body 1 and the game machine body 1 is set to a deck reading mode Then, the CPU 21 drives the barcode reader 44 to read the barcode on the deck 5 and outputs the barcode data from the communication interface 45 to the game machine body 1 side.

Incidentally, the front side of each card constituting the deck 5 has a configuration as shown in FIG. However, in this embodiment, taking a battle game as an example, the card gives game auxiliary information to the game, and the game auxiliary information here is an index code associated with control information to be reflected in the game. Suppose there is.
First, 51 is a card-type print area, for example, “SKILL” (to allow another skill to be used for the selected battle character) or “ASSIST” (to summon another character that supports the selected battle character). Or “ITEM” (providing various items such as improving the ability of the selected battle character) is printed.

Reference numeral 52 denotes a reading range by the bar code reader 44 of the card reading unit 4, in which seven circular partial areas of the same size are arranged at equal intervals. One of the circular partial areas is a game auxiliary information recording unit 53 on which a barcode is printed, and the other six circular partial areas are combinations of a perforated unit 54 and a non-perforated unit 55. Or all are perforated portions 54 or non-perforated portions 55.
Here, the game auxiliary information given by the barcode is associated with the control information on the game execution related to “SKILL” or the like, and is read by the barcode reader 44 so that the selected battle character is On the other hand, “SKILL” or the like is given.
In general, the arrangement positions of the recording unit 53 and the perforating unit 54 and the non-perforating unit 55 are set to be different for each card. However, when the game auxiliary information of the recording unit 53 is different, it is the same. It may be an arrangement position.

Reference numeral 56 denotes a pattern printing area. If “SKILL” is described, the state of the skill is displayed. If “ASSIST” is selected, the character to be summoned is printed. If “ITEM”, images of various items are printed. .
Further, 57 is a print area for the names of techniques, characters, and various items, and 58 is a print area for description of specific contents related to the techniques, characters, and various items.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the deck is composed of seven cards C1 to C7 as shown in FIG. That is, a case is considered where game auxiliary information that is as advantageous as possible is given to a battle character selected by the player using two “SKILL” cards, three “ASSIST” cards, and two “ITEM” cards.
In the card reading unit 4 of this embodiment, when the deck 5 is loaded into the barcode reader 44, the barcode information is read by scanning the reading range 52 of the first card from the surface side of the deck 5, The barcode data is transmitted to the game machine body 1.
Since the bar code data gives game auxiliary information as described above, all the recording sections 53 can be seen from the front side with the deck 5 constructed, and the game using the bar codes of the cards C1 to C7. Ideally, the auxiliary information should be readable.

Now, using the cards C1 to C7 shown in FIG. 4, as shown in FIG. 5 (A), the deck 5 is constructed in the order of C7.fwdarw.C1.fwdarw.C6.fwdarw.C4.fwdarw.C3.fwdarw.C2.fwdarw.C5 from the front side. Then, as shown in FIG. 5 (B), along with the game auxiliary information recording part 53 of the card C7, the perforated parts 54 of the other cards C1, C6, C4, C3, C2, C5 are skillfully combined from the surface side. As a result, the game auxiliary information recording unit 53 of all other cards can be seen from the front side, and the ideal deck can be constructed.
Therefore, when the deck 5 is read by the bar code reader 44 of the card reading unit 4, as shown in FIG. 7A, the beam is scanned, so that the bar code information of the recording unit 53 of the card C7 on the surface is obtained. And the recording portion 53 of each card C1, C6, C4, C3, C2, C5 on the bottom surface of the recess formed by the overlapping of the perforated portions 54 of the other cards C1, C6, C4, C3, C2, C5. All bar code information can be read.

On the other hand, the deck 5 as shown in FIG. 5 is not conceived, and the deck 5 is overlapped in the order of C1, C7, C2, C3, C4, C6, C5 from the front side as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6B, the combination is such that only the three game auxiliary information recording units 53 of the cards C1, C2, and C5 are visible, and the deck 5 is connected to the bar code reader 44 of the card reading unit 4. When read, as shown in FIG. 7B, only the barcode information of the cards C1, C2, C5 can be read.
As a result, there is a high possibility that the deck 5 using the game auxiliary information of the cards C1 to C7 on hand is not used to the maximum extent and the game cannot be developed advantageously.

By the way, it is rather rare to have a combination capable of constructing an ideal deck in which the game auxiliary information of all cards is gathered, such as the cards C1 to C7 shown in FIG. Depending on the case, there are cases where only “SKILL” and “ITEM” are available, even if an ideal deck is assembled.
Therefore, as in the conventional card game, it is required to be able to construct a deck that meets various battle conditions by purchasing a card set or trading (exchange) between players.
In other words, according to the video game system and the card of this embodiment, in addition to the fun of the original video game, the fun of building the deck in the card game is added, and the card dedicated to this video game is an independent product. Will have the value of

Next, the deck reading operation in the video game system of this embodiment will be described with reference to the configuration of FIGS. 1 and 2 and the flowchart of FIG.
However, here, the player has selected 1P play, and the selection of the battle characters on the system side and the player side has already been completed. For the battle characters on the player side, the “SKILL” and “ASSIST” It relates to the procedure when adding “ITEM” or the like.
First, when the player inputs an instruction to set the deck reading mode by operating the operation key / switch unit 23 of the game controller 2, the CPU 10 of the game machine body 1 sets the mode based on the game program of the hard disk device 13. Then, the card reading unit 4 is set to the ready state (S1).

Here, when the player sets the deck 5 constructed in advance in the card reading unit 4, the sensor 43 detects it and notifies it to the game machine main body 1 side. The message “Is the deck read OK?” Is displayed (S2 to S4).
When the player selects “YES” by operating the operation key / switch unit 23 in response to the message, the reading operation by the card reading unit 4 is started and the front side of the deck 5 loaded with the barcode reader 44 is started. 7 is scanned with a laser beam as shown in FIG. 7, bar code data appearing in the same range is read, the data is temporarily stored in the RAM 42, and then transferred to the game machine body 1 ( S4 ~ S6).

In the game machine body 1 that has received the barcode data, the data is temporarily stored in the RAM 12, and the game auxiliary information (code information) obtained by decoding it is stored again in the RAM 12 (S7).
Further, based on the game auxiliary information, the “card type” (51), “skill, character and various item names” (57) and “specific contents” in FIG. 3 stored in the game program of the hard disk device 13 are stored. Is read to the display interface 18 and the fact that they are given to the battle character on the player side is displayed on the display 3. A confirmation screen is displayed (S8).

  When the player operates the operation key / switch unit 23 to select “YES”, the game auxiliary information in the RAM 12 is transferred to the hard disk device 13 and “SKILL” associated with the battle character on the player side in the game program. ”,“ ASSIST ”,“ ITEM ”, and the like (S9, S10). That is, the game auxiliary information is incorporated into the game program, and “SKILL”, “ASSIST”, “ITEM”, etc. are given to the battle character on the player side during the game execution.

  The deck reading mode is canceled by incorporating the above-mentioned game auxiliary information into the game program, and the transition to the original battle game mode is possible (S10, S11), but “NO” was selected in step S4 or step S9. In this case, the deck reading mode is canceled, and in this case, the deck reading mode may be executed again by reassembling the deck 5 (S4, S9 → S11).

In the above-described embodiment, printing and punching are performed only on one side of the card with the configuration shown in FIG. 3, but both sides of the card may be used.
In that case, the configuration on the back side of the card appears in a positional relationship in which the perforated part 54 and the non-perforated part 55 are turned upside down with respect to the front side, and the recording part of the game auxiliary information is at an arbitrary position of the non-perforated part 55. The game auxiliary information can be different from the information on the front side.
For example, in the case of the card C5 in FIG. 4, the back side can be configured as shown in FIG. 9, and depending on whether the front side or the back side is used when building the deck 5, Since the contents of the game auxiliary information are different and affect the usage of the game auxiliary information of other cards, the interest related to the construction of the deck 5 can be broadened and deepened.

  The present invention is applicable to video game systems such as home video games, commercial video games, and personal computer games.

It is an external appearance block diagram of the video game system which concerns on embodiment. It is a system circuit diagram of a video game system. It is a figure for demonstrating generally the structure of the surface side of a card | curd. It is a figure which shows the surface side of seven cards which construct an example deck. (A) is a perspective view when the deck is configured by superimposing cards C1 to C7 in FIG. 4 in the order of C7, C1, C6, C4, C3, C2, and C5, and (B) is a front view of the deck. It is the top view seen from the side. (A) is a perspective view when a deck is constructed by superimposing cards C1 to C7 in FIG. 4 in the order of C1, C7, C2, C3, C4, C6, and C5, and (B) is a front view of the deck. It is the top view seen from the side. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a cross section of the reading range of the deck of FIGS. 5 and 6 and showing a beam scanning state, a diagram of the reading range of the deck viewed from the front side, and a bar code reading signal. It is a flowchart which shows deck reading operation | movement in a video game system. It is a figure which shows the structure of the back surface in the case where the back surface side is made to be used for a game about the card | curd C4 of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Game machine body, 2 ... Game controller, 3 ... Display, 4 ... Card reading unit, 5 ... Deck, 10 ... CPU, 11 ... ROM, 12 ... RAM, 13 ... Hard disk drive, 14 ... Communication interface, 15 ... Communication Interface, 16 ... CD drive, 17 ... Bus connection interface, 18 ... Display interface, 19 ... Network interface, 20 ... CPU, 21 ... ROM, 22 ... RAM, 23 ... Key switch for operation, 24 ... Communication interface 40 ... CPU, 41 ... ROM, 42 ... RAM, 43 ... sensor, 44 ... barcode reader, 45 ... communication interface, 51 ... print area of card type, 52 ... reading range, 53 ... recording part of game auxiliary information, 54 ... perforated part, 55 ... non-perforated part 56 ... picture printing area, 57 ... printing area such as the name of the technique and characters and various items, the specific contents of the 58 ... technique and characters and various items printed area.

Claims (3)

The video game machine is provided with a card reader, and information to be reflected in the video game or index information (hereinafter referred to as “game auxiliary information”) is recorded on the card, and the card reader receives the game auxiliary information from the card. In the video game system in which the video game machine reflects the content corresponding to the game auxiliary information in the video game in the process of executing the game program,
The card is selectively arranged and formed as a recording part for the game auxiliary information, and one of the partial areas configured in a predetermined size at a predetermined position in at least three locations. Is selectively arranged and formed as a perforated part and / or a non-perforated part,
On the other hand, the card reader can be loaded with a deck constructed in a state where a plurality of the cards are stacked, and the recording portion and the punching portion of the partial area in the first card from the surface side of the deck Having the function of optically reading the game auxiliary information appearing in
A game system, wherein the content of the game auxiliary information read from the front side of the deck by the card reader is reflected on the video game by the video game machine. The video game machine includes a card reader, game auxiliary information is recorded on the card, the card reader reads the game auxiliary information from the card, and the video game machine executes the game program in the course of executing the game program. A card applied to a video game system that reflects information corresponding to information in a video game,
Of the partial areas configured in a predetermined size at at least three predetermined positions, one is selectively arranged and formed as the game auxiliary information recording section, and the other partial areas are formed as perforations and / or Or it is selectively arranged and formed as a non-perforated part,
The deck constructed in a state where a plurality of sheets are stacked is loaded in the card reader, and the game auxiliary information appearing in the recording area and the punching section of the partial area in the first card from the surface side of the deck by the card reader. A card configured to reflect the content of the read game auxiliary information in a video game when optically read. 3. The card according to claim 2, wherein a non-perforated portion in a partial area other than the position corresponding to the recording portion of the game auxiliary information on the front side is different from the game auxiliary information on the front side when viewed from the back side. A card characterized by being selectively arranged and formed as a recording section for auxiliary information.

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