JP2006288489A - Network game system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network game system which enables the reproduction of the real status of a game machine in a virtual reality space by making a server manage the game information of individual users. <P>SOLUTION: In the network game system 1 which is constituted of a terminal 2, a game server 4 and a network 6, a user accesses a game parlor in the virtual reality space from the terminal 2 to select one out of game machines within the virtual reality game parlor for playing a game. The virtual reality space is made up of a parlor screen 32 for displaying the game machine 40 within the virtual reality parlor as shown on the terminal and a game screen 33 showing the game machine 40 selected on the parlor screen 32. The game server 4 has a game database 5 which stores the status per game machine 40 and when the game machine 40 is selected with the terminal 3, the status of the game machine 40 is read out and set from the game database 5 and the game screen 33 is displayed on the terminal 2. The game server 4 gets the game status of the game machine 40 stored into the game database 5 each time a game is carried out with the game machine 40 selected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a network gaming system that provides users with gaming machines via a broadband network or the like.

  A gaming system that accesses a virtual space from a user terminal (such as a personal computer) via a broadband network or the like and provides a game using a slot machine or the like is known (for example, see Patent Document 1). Such a gaming system is configured to execute software including gaming machine information (hereinafter referred to as “game application”) on the user terminal.

JP 2000-189666 A

  However, when a game application is executed on the user's terminal, information (mode, outcome, etc.) of the gaming machine is managed in the user's terminal. Therefore, even if another user later plays a game with the same gaming machine, the result of the previous user's game is not reflected in the gaming machine, and the state of the actual gaming machine is faithfully reproduced in the virtual space. There was a problem that could not be reproduced.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and it is possible to reproduce the state of an actual gaming machine in a virtual space by managing information on the gaming machine that each user is playing with a server. An object of the present invention is to provide a network game system that can be used.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a network game system according to the first aspect of the present invention is configured by connecting a terminal and game providing means (for example, the game server 4 in the embodiment) to a network, and a user is connected to the terminal The virtual space is accessed from the virtual store provided in the virtual space, and one gaming machine is selected from the gaming machines provided in the virtual store, and the virtual space is It is comprised from the store screen which shows the game machine installed in the virtual store displayed on a terminal, and the game screen which shows the game machine selected on this store screen. The game providing means has a gaming machine information storage means (for example, the game database 5 in the embodiment) for storing the state of each gaming machine, and when a gaming machine is selected from the terminal, the gaming machine information storage means The state of this gaming machine is read out and set, and the game screen is displayed on the terminal. Also, the game providing means is selected every time the game is played by the selected gaming machine. The state of the gaming machine is configured to be stored in the gaming machine information storage unit.

  The network game system according to the second aspect of the present invention is also configured by connecting a terminal and game providing means to a network, and a user accesses the virtual space from the terminal and is provided in the virtual space. In the store, one game machine is selected from the game machines provided in the virtual store, and the virtual space indicates the gaming machine installed in the virtual store displayed on the terminal. It comprises a store screen and a game screen showing a gaming machine selected on the store screen. The game providing means is configured to display the state of the selected gaming machine changed by the game on the gaming machine on the store screen every time a game is played by the gaming machine on the gaming screen.

  At this time, a plurality of terminals are connected to the network, and the game providing means displays the state of the gaming machine selected by any of the terminals on the gaming machine in the store screen displayed on the other terminal. Preferably it is comprised.

  Furthermore, the network game system according to the third aspect of the present invention is also configured by connecting the terminal and the game providing means to the network, and the user accesses the virtual space from the terminal and is provided in the virtual space. In the store, one gaming machine is selected from the gaming machines provided in the virtual store, and the virtual space is displayed on the terminal, and the gaming machine installed in the virtual store is displayed. And a game screen showing the gaming machine selected on the store screen. The game providing means has gaming machine information storage means for storing the state of each gaming machine, and the user can access the store screen while maintaining the selected state of the gaming machine selected by the user. Thus, the state of the gaming machine is configured to be stored in the gaming machine information storage means.

  If the network gaming system according to the first aspect of the present invention is configured as described above, the state up to that point is maintained even if the user of the gaming machine changes, so the user can feel that he is playing with an actual gaming machine. Can be given to.

  Further, when the network gaming system according to the second aspect of the present invention is configured as described above, the user can know the state of other users in the same manner as the actual store, and the user can feel the sense of being in the actual store. Can be given to. At this time, by displaying in the same manner on other terminals connected to the network, it is possible to give the user a sense of being in an actual store.

  Furthermore, when the network gaming system according to the third aspect of the present invention is configured as described above, the user can move in the store while holding the gaming machine that the user is playing, so that It is possible to give a sense of using a real game machine.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the overall configuration of the network gaming system 1 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The network game system 1 includes a terminal 2 used by a user (in FIG. 1, two terminals 2a and 2b are shown), and a game application 3 installed in the terminal 2 (also in FIG. The game server 4 that provides game to the user by exchanging game information with the game application 3, the game database 5 that stores game information, and the terminal 2 and the game The network 6 is connected to the server 4.

  In this network gaming system 1, a user accesses a virtual space created by a game application 3 and a game server 4 from a terminal 2, selects a virtual store in a virtual town, and plays a game such as a slot machine. It is. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the user goes back and forth between the town screen 31 and the store screen 32 in the virtual space, and uses content (for example, a game by a slot machine) 33 from the store corresponding to the store screen 32. To do. Although not shown, when the user accesses the game server 4 from the terminal 2, the user ID and password of the user are input to authenticate the user in the game server 4.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the store screen 32. In this way, on the store screen 32, a set of a plurality of gaming machines 40 and chairs 41 are displayed, and when the user selects any of these gaming machines 40 (or chairs 41) with a mouse or the like, FIG. A gaming machine (showing a slot machine in this example) 40 as shown in FIG.

  The slot machine (game machine) 40 is displayed at the center of the housing, three reels 41 (41a to 41c) each displaying a predetermined symbol, and a bet button for betting virtual medals owned by the user. 42, a lever 43 for starting the rotation of the reel 41, and a stop button 44 (44a to 44c) arranged corresponding to each of the reels 41a to 41c and stopping the rotation of the reels 41a to 41c. . The user operates a mouse or the like provided in the terminal 2 to press the bet button 42 to bet a virtual medal and press the lever 43 to rotate the reel 41. Then, the reel 41 is stopped by operating the stop button 44 at a desired timing and in a desired order. At this time, when the symbols displayed on the reel 41 correspond to a predetermined combination (referred to as a “winning symbol”), a predetermined number of virtual medals are paid out. The user is configured to play a game by repeatedly executing the above operations.

  In the game server 4, as shown in FIG. 5, each virtual store is uniquely managed by store identification information (store ID 50a), and each of the gaming machines 40 in each virtual store is also device identification information. (Device ID 50 b) is uniquely managed, and these pieces of information are managed as device information 50 in the game database 5. The device information 50 includes a use state 50c for storing whether or not the gaming machine 40 is being used by a user using the identification information 50a and 50b as a main key, and the output of each gaming machine 40. A device state 50d is provided for storing states such as eyes, mode, number of bets, and number of coins acquired.

  When the game application 3 displays the store screen 32 on the terminal 2, the device ID 50 b of the gaming machine 40 installed in the store and the use state of the store ID 50 a of the store selected from the game database 5 of the game server 4 as a key. As shown in FIG. 3, the player 42 is displayed on the chair 41 and the chair 41 is displayed on the gaming machine 40 not in use.

  When the user selects a gaming machine 40 that is not in use, the game application 3 displays a gaming screen 33 and, as shown in FIG. 6, obtains a device ID 50b from the device information 50 in the game database 5 of the game server 4. The device state 50d of the gaming machine 40 is acquired using the key (step S100). The game application 3 restores the state of the gaming machine 40 based on the device information 50 acquired from the game server 4, and is used for controlling the winning symbol by the above-described game based on the device state 50d (step S101).

  When the user finishes one game (bet, reel rotation, reel stop), the game application 3 displays the game information of the game (number of coins bet, information on winning / losing, BB, RB status). Is transmitted to the game server 4 (step S102), and the game server 4 stores the game information in the device information 50 of the game database 5 (step S103). Finally, when the user ends the game and pays out the virtual medal, the game application 3 displays the store screen 31 on the terminal 2.

  As described above, the game database 5 of the game server 4 is configured to manage the state of each gaming machine 40 as the device information 50 and store the state of the gaming machine 40 for each game executed in the terminal 2. Therefore, the state of the gaming machine 40 is always managed by the game server 4, and even if the user changes, the previous state of the gaming machine 40 is maintained, so the actual state of the gaming machine 40 is changed. Can be reproduced in virtual space.

  As described above, every time a user plays a game, the game information is transmitted to the game server 4 (for example, game information transmitted from the game application 3a of the terminal 2a in FIG. 8). The information is distributed to other terminals 2 (terminals 2b and 2c in FIG. 8) together with the device ID. The game applications 3b and 3c of the terminals 2b and 2c display the information on the state display unit 40a (shown in FIG. 3) of the gaming machine 40 corresponding to the device ID when the store screen 32 is displayed. For example, the number of medals acquired by the user is displayed as the number of medals storage boxes (so-called dollar boxes), and this state display section 40a is displayed by blinking when winning a BB or RB. .

  In this way, by distributing information on a certain user from the game server 40 to another user's terminal 2 and displaying the state on the store screen 32 or the like, the user can make another It is possible to know the state of the user and to get a sense of being in an actual store.

  The game database 5 has user information 51 for managing game information of each user. As shown in FIG. 7, the user information 51 includes, for each game information, the user ID 51a as a main key, the game date and time 51b, the number of bet coins 51c, the game result (win, miss, BB, RB, etc.) 51d and the number of acquired coins 51e are stored.

  As described above, when the user finishes one game, the game application 3 transmits game information of the game to the game server 4 (step S102 in FIG. 6). Then, the game server 4 also stores the game information in the user information 51 of the game database 5 as shown in FIG. 9 (step S104).

  When the user activates the balance book function (S110) of the game application 3 of the terminal 2, the game application 3 collects the user's balance information from the user information 51 together with the user ID for the game application 4. A command is transmitted (step S111). When the game server 4 receives this collection command, it collects balance data from the user information 51 on a yearly, monthly, and daily basis using the user ID as a key and transmits it to the terminal 2 (step S112). When receiving the balance data, the game application 3 of the terminal 2 displays it on the terminal 2 (step S1113).

  In this way, the balance book function S110 provided by the game application 3 allows the user to obtain statistical information on the games played in the virtual space, so that the management of the amount of money used, analysis of stores with many hits, etc. It can be carried out. Note that the game result (game information) of the user's gaming machine 40 in the terminal 2 is not transmitted to the game server 4 for each game, but when the user leaves the gaming machine 40 (that is, It is also possible to configure such that when the game screen 33 shifts to the store screen 32, the game information is transmitted to the game server 4 and stored in the user information 51.

  By the way, the network gaming system 1 is configured to be able to move in the virtual store while the gaming machine 40 is selected, and the other gaming machines 40 can maintain the state of the specific gaming machine 40. (This function is referred to herein as a “gaming machine keep function”). As shown in FIG. 3, a holding display 43 is displayed on the store screen 32 for the gaming machine 40 held by the gaming machine keep function (in this example, “meal” is displayed). .

  The gaming machine keep function S120 will be described with reference to FIG. When the user (user a in FIG. 10) selects to hold the gaming machine 40 currently playing on the game screen 33, the game application 3 issues a holding command together with the device ID of the gaming machine 40 to the game server 4. (Step S121). Upon receiving this holding instruction, the game server 4 changes the use state 50c corresponding to the device ID 50b in the device information 50 managed by the game database 5 to be held (step S122). On the other hand, the game application 3 displays the store screen 32 by displaying the holding display 43 on the gaming machine 40 held as described above. Thereby, this user can move in the store screen 32 freely.

  In such a state, when another user (user b in FIG. 10) selects the game machine 40 being held on the store screen 32, the game application 3 and the game server 4 together with the device ID and the game A machine securing command is transmitted (step S123). The game server 4 searches for the device ID transmitted with respect to the device information 50 of the game database 5 using the key as a key to obtain the use state 50c. If this state is in use or being held, the hold warning information is displayed. It transmits to the game application 3 (step S124). The game application 3 that has received the holding warning information does not shift to the game screen 33. Further, when the user holding the gaming machine 40 returns to the gaming machine 40 (selecting from the store screen 32 with a mouse or the like), the holding state is released, and the usage state 50c of the device information 50 is being used. The

  Thus, by providing the function of holding the gaming machine 40, the user can be given a sense of using an actual gaming machine in the virtual space. In addition, although the case where one store (store screen 32) is configured by one floor has been described in the above embodiment, it may have a plurality of floors. In this case, the above gaming machine keep function S120 may be configured to be movable to another floor while holding the gaming machine 40.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a network game system. It is a block diagram which shows transition of the screen in a game application. It is explanatory drawing which shows a store screen. It is explanatory drawing which shows a game screen. It is a data structure figure which shows the structure of apparatus information. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process when hold | maintaining the state of a game machine with a game server. It is a data structure figure which shows the structure of user information. It is explanatory drawing which shows the flow of data with a some game application and a game server. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of a balance book function. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of a gaming machine keep function.

Explanation of symbols

1 network game system 2 terminal 4 game server (game providing means)
5 game database (game machine information storage means)
32 store screen 33 game screen

Claims (4)

A game provided in the virtual store in a virtual store provided in the virtual space when a terminal and game providing means are connected to a network and a user accesses the virtual space from the terminal. A network gaming system for selecting one gaming machine from a machine and playing a game,
The virtual space is composed of a store screen showing the gaming machine installed in the virtual store, displayed on the terminal, and a game screen showing the gaming machine selected on the store screen,
The game providing means has gaming machine information storage means for storing the state of each gaming machine,
When the gaming machine is selected from the terminal, the state of the gaming machine is read from the gaming machine information storage means and set to display the gaming screen on the terminal,
The game providing means is configured to store the state of the selected gaming machine changed by the game in the gaming machine information storage means each time a game is played by the selected gaming machine. A featured network gaming system. A game provided in the virtual store in a virtual store provided in the virtual space when a terminal and game providing means are connected to a network and a user accesses the virtual space from the terminal. A network gaming system for selecting one gaming machine from a machine and playing a game,
The virtual space is composed of a store screen showing the gaming machine installed in the virtual store, displayed on the terminal, and a game screen showing the gaming machine selected on the store screen,
The game providing means is configured to display the state of the selected gaming machine changed by the game on the gaming machine on the store screen every time a game is played by the gaming machine on the gaming screen. A network game system characterized by A plurality of the terminals are connected to the network;
The game providing means is configured to display the state of the gaming machine selected by any one of the terminals on the gaming machine on the store screen displayed on another terminal. The network game system according to claim 2. A game provided in the virtual store in a virtual store provided in the virtual space when a terminal and game providing means are connected to a network and a user accesses the virtual space from the terminal. A network gaming system for selecting one gaming machine from a machine and playing a game,
The virtual space is composed of a store screen showing the gaming machine installed in the virtual store, displayed on the terminal, and a game screen showing the gaming machine selected on the store screen,
The game providing means is
Having gaming machine information storage means for storing the state of each gaming machine;
The gaming machine information storage means stores the gaming machine state so that the user can access the store screen while maintaining the selected state of the gaming machine selected by the user. A network game system characterized by that.

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