JP2006325932A - Slot machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a slot machine, effectively and continuously calling a game player's attention, producing various kinds of presentations, and achieving new presentations that were not available before. <P>SOLUTION: This slot machine includes: a generator lottery means for holding the lottery for a generator, when a start switch 41 is operated; a liquid crystal display device 33 for displaying an image for presentation in an image display area 33a and supplying various information to the game player by the contents of the displayed image; an image display control means for controlling an image display of the liquid crystal display device 33; a generator 32, fitted to the front of the liquid crystal display device 33 to be moved in the image display area 33a; a generator movement pattern storage means for storing the movement pattern of the generator 32, corresponding to the lottery result of the generator lottery means; and a generator movement control means for selecting the movement pattern of the generator 32, corresponding to the lottery result for the generator from the generator movement pattern storage means, and controlling the movement of the generator 32, in accordance with the selected movement pattern. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a slot machine including an image display device that displays an image for an effect in a game in a predetermined image display region. Specifically, the present invention relates to the content of an image displayed in the image display region of the image display device. In addition, the present invention relates to a technique capable of providing various effects by providing an accessory that moves in an image display area.

  Conventionally, in a slot machine, a plurality of reels displaying a plurality of types of symbols are arranged side by side, and a game result is displayed by a combination of symbols at the time of rotation of each rotating reel, and various effect output devices (for example, lamps and In general, a predetermined effect is output by a speaker, an image display device such as a liquid crystal display, and the lottery result of the combination is notified according to the content of the output effect.

  And in particular, predicting the outcome when the reels are stopped (for example, the combination of symbols corresponding to one of the combinations stops on the active line, or the appearance of a so-called reach that means that the special combination is won) The production contents of the production output device used for the above are extremely important elements as playing an auxiliary role in the progress of the slot machine game.

  Here, a liquid crystal display, a dot display, an organic EL display, and the like are known as an image display device that is one of the effect output devices in the slot machine, but these all only display images. . Also, the player's primary concern is the outcome of the reel that has stopped. Therefore, in the conventional slot machine, there is a problem that the player may not notice the change in the image displayed on the image display device, and the effect of the presentation is not sufficiently exhibited.

Therefore, a technique for alerting the player so as not to overlook the image displayed on the image display device is known. That is, a slot machine that attracts the player's attention to the image display device by providing two doors that open and close mechanically on the front side of the image display area of the image display device (for example, patents) Reference 1).
JP 2003-236043 A

  According to the conventional slot machine disclosed in Patent Document 1, the front side of the image display device that displays an image for an effect in a game is opened and closed left and right by a double door. The door is repeatedly opened and closed between an initial position that covers part or all of the image display area of the image display device and a fully open position that exposes the entire image display area, and the number of repetitions is multiple. It is like that.

  Therefore, in the slot machine described in Patent Document 1, a player's attention is drawn toward the image display device by a mechanically opening / closing door. As a result, the player can obtain various kinds of information depending on the contents of the image displayed on the image display device, how to open the door, etc. It is said that the situation that is overlooked is prevented.

In addition, unlike the slot machine described in Patent Document 1, there is also known a technique in which an effect reel displaying a symbol is provided as an effect output device in addition to the game reel. That is, the slot machine is provided with the same number of effect reels as the game reels, and the effect reels are stopped in correspondence with the stop of the game reels (for example, see Patent Document 2).
JP 2002-224270 A

  The conventional slot machine disclosed in Patent Document 2 described above is provided with a plurality of effect reels that mechanically rotate in order to avoid that the effect is monotonous or that the effect that can be expressed is limited. It is. Then, by making the diameter and width of the effect reel smaller than the game reel, the difference from the game reel is clarified to avoid misrecognition of display contents.

  For this reason, according to the slot machine described in Patent Document 2, an important reel (game reel) for proceeding with the game is effectively visually recognized with respect to the effect reel, and rotated and stopped in the same manner as the game reel. It is said that the player's attention is drawn toward the symbol displayed on the effect reel.

  However, since the conventional slot machine disclosed in Patent Document 1 simply opens and closes the door on the front side of the image display device to the left and right, it is possible to produce an effect based on the contents of the image and how to open the door. However, there is a limit to calling attention to the player. That is, in the monotonous opening and closing of the two doors, only the effect of calling attention toward the image display device can be obtained, and the effect is not continuous. Therefore, it is required to further diversify the effects of the effect output device including the image display device and maximize the effects of the effects.

  In addition, since the conventional slot machine disclosed in Patent Document 2 uses an effect reel smaller than the game reel, the outer circumference of the game reel is shortened and displayed on the effect reel. The number of possible symbols is less than the number of symbols on the game reel. Therefore, even if the effect of attracting the player's attention can be achieved by means of reel rotation similar to the game reel, the effects possible with the effect reel are very limited. In this case, it may be possible to reduce the size of each symbol on the effect reel and display a larger number of symbols. However, in this case, a new problem arises in that one symbol becomes smaller and visibility becomes worse. Will occur.

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention can effectively and continuously attract the player's attention, and can produce a wide variety of effects that are impossible only with a production reel and an image display device. It is to provide a slot machine that can realize an unprecedented new performance.

The present invention solves the above problems by the following means.
(Claim 1)
According to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of reels displaying a plurality of types of symbols are arranged side by side, a reel group displaying a game result by a combination of symbols when each of the reels is stopped, and a start switch for starting the reels And, when the start switch is operated, a role lottery means for performing lottery of a role and an image for effect in the game are displayed in a predetermined image display area, and various kinds of information are displayed to the player depending on the content of the displayed image. An image display device that provides information, an image display control unit that controls image display by the image display device, and an accessory that is attached to the front side of the image display device and moves within an image display area of the image display device And when the lottery of the combination by the combination lottery means is performed, and the combination of action combination storage means storing the operation pattern of the combination corresponding to the lottery result of the combination lottery means And an accessory action control means for selecting an action pattern of the accessory corresponding to the lottery result from the accessory action pattern storage means and controlling the action of the accessory according to the selected action pattern. Features.

  In the first aspect of the present invention, an image for display in the game is displayed in a predetermined image display area, and an image is displayed on the front side of the image display device that provides various information to the player according to the content of the displayed image. An accessory that moves in the image display area of the apparatus is attached. Therefore, it is possible to link an image displayed in the image display area of the image display device and the operation of the accessory as well as a simple image display by the image display device, so that it is possible to provide an unprecedented presentation. Become.

  When a start switch for starting the reels is operated, a combination of lotteries is performed by the combination lottery means. The action of the accessory is controlled by the accessory action control means according to the action pattern selected from the accessory action pattern storage means corresponding to the lottery result of the prize lottery means. Therefore, various effects according to the lottery result of the combination can be made only by storing various operation patterns of the combination in the combination operation pattern storing means.

(Claim 2)
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the slot machine according to the first aspect, the accessory is provided so as to be movable left and right within an image display area of the image display device.

  Therefore, the player can enjoy the effect of the accessory that physically moves left and right in the image display area in addition to the effect based on the contents of the image displayed in the image display area of the image display device. Therefore, it is possible to realize a fresh effect that cannot be obtained only by the image display device.

(Claim 3)
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the slot machine according to the first or second aspect, the accessory is provided so as to be movable up and down in an image display area of the image display device. .

  Therefore, as in the case where the accessory moves left and right in the image display area of the image display device, it is possible to realize a fresh effect that cannot be obtained only by the image display device. In the invention of claim 3 quoting claim 2, the accessory is not only moved up and down in the image display area of the image display device but also moved to the left and right at the same time. Can do. That is, the accessory can move freely up and down and left and right.

(Claim 4)
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the slot machine according to any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, the slot machine according to the fourth aspect further includes an accessory storage unit that hides the accessory outside the image display area of the image display device. It is characterized by.

  For this reason, it is usually possible to hide the accessory from the accessory storage unit so that the accessory appears in the image display area of the image display device in accordance with the lottery result of the combination. it can. Therefore, the appearance of the accessory itself can be added to the production, and a wide variety of production according to the plan is possible.

(Claim 5)
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the slot machine according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the action pattern of the accessory stored in the accessory action pattern storage means includes the combination. Corresponding to the lottery result of the combination by the lottery means, it has a specific operation pattern for controlling the operation of the combination so as to indicate any one of the plurality of types of content displayed in the image display area, When the specific action pattern is selected by the accessory action control means, the image display control means controls to display a plurality of types of contents in the image display area, and the accessory action control means includes: The operation of the accessory is controlled so as to indicate any one of the plurality of types of contents displayed in the image display area.

  Therefore, for example, when a plurality of images and characters (for example, lost characters and jackpot characters) are displayed in the left-right direction in the image display area of the image display device, a specific image can be obtained by moving an accessory to the left or right. Or characters (eg, lost or jackpot characters). Therefore, the slot machine can further expand the player's expectation.

(Claim 1)
According to the first aspect of the present invention, not only the image display by the image display device but also the image displayed in the image display area of the image display device and the action of the accessory can be linked. It becomes possible to produce. Therefore, it is possible to perform a variety of performances with a combination of objects, and it is also possible to respond to the player's requests for a variety of performances.

  In addition, since it is possible to perform various effects according to the lottery result of the winning combination simply by storing the action pattern of the winning combination in the accessory moving pattern storage means, it is possible to increase the effects that can be expressed. Accordingly, in response to the lottery result, it is possible to perform a variety of effects by combining the image display device with an accessory, and an effective effect that has never been achieved can be achieved.

(Claim 2)
According to the invention of claim 2, the player enjoys the effect of the accessory that physically moves left and right in the image display area in addition to the effect based on the contents of the image displayed in the image display area of the image display device. Therefore, it is possible to achieve a fresh effect that cannot be obtained only by the image display device. Therefore, the monotonous effect is eliminated and the player is not bored.

(Claim 3)
According to the invention of claim 3, since the player can enjoy the effect of the accessory that physically moves up and down in the image display area, as in the invention of claim 2, the image display device alone is sufficient. A fresh production that can not be obtained can be realized. Therefore, the monotonous effect is eliminated and the player is not bored.

(Claim 4)
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to cause a feature to appear in the image display area of the image display device in accordance with the result of the lottery of the role, so that the appearance of the feature itself is added to the effect. Will be able to. Therefore, it is possible to produce effects such as only the image display by the image display device, only the operation of the accessory (no image display), and the display of the image + the operation of the accessory, and a unique effect that cannot be obtained only by the image display device. be able to.

(Claim 5)
According to the invention of claim 5, since the action of the accessory is controlled so as to indicate any one of the plurality of types of contents displayed in the image display area, the player's expectation is further expanded. Can be. Further, various information such as a sign of an appearance when the reel is stopped can be effectively provided to the player. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a situation where the player misses a sign of an appearance when the reel is stopped without getting bored of the player.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a slot machine of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the following embodiments, as a specific example of the slot machine according to the present invention, a slot machine having three reels displaying symbols will be described as an example. In the game of the slot machine, an image display device that displays an image for production is a liquid crystal display.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the front surface showing the entire slot machine 10 of the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating the inside of the base portion 11 with the front mask portion 12 of the slot machine 10 opened in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the housing of the slot machine 10 includes a base body portion 11 and an openable / closable front mask portion 12 attached to the front surface of the base body portion 11.

  Here, the base portion 11 is formed by assembling wood or the like into a box shape having an open front surface. Inside the base portion 11, three reels 21 (hereinafter, the entire three reels 21 are indicated). A reel unit 20 comprising a group of reels 21) is arranged. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, three back lamps 22 for illuminating each reel 21 from behind are attached to the inner periphery of the reel 21 group (total of nine in the reel 21 group).

  On the other hand, the front mask portion 12 is attached to the base portion 11 so as to be openable and closable so as to cover the front surface of the base portion 11. As shown in FIG. 1, the front mask portion 12 has an operation switch 40 including a start switch 41 and a stop switch 42 of a reel 21 group, a medal slot 43, a medal on the front side (player side). A tray 44 and the like are arranged.

  A transparent display window 13 is provided above the operation switch 40 and in the center of the front mask portion 12. A part of the reel 21 group can be seen through the display window 13. That is, the reel 21 group is located at a substantially central portion of the slot machine 10 when viewed from the front side (player side), and the player advances the game while viewing the stop state of the reel 21 group in front. Become.

  In addition, the uppermost part of the front mask 12 includes a protective panel 31, an accessory 32, a liquid crystal display 33 (corresponding to the “image display device” in the present invention), and a speaker 34. A device 30 is arranged. That is, the front mask portion 12 is provided with a protective panel 31 having a transparent central portion, and a movable accessory 32 is provided on the rear side of the protective panel 31. A liquid crystal display 33 having substantially the same size as the protective panel 31 is provided on the rear side of the accessory 32. Note that the image display area of the liquid crystal display 33 has a size corresponding to the transparent central portion of the protection panel 31.

  Therefore, the accessory 32 and the image display area of the liquid crystal display 33 can be seen through the transparent central portion of the protective panel 31. However, when the accessory 32 is located in an opaque part (outside the image display area of the liquid crystal display 33) at both ends of the protective panel 31, the accessory 32 is hidden in the opaque part of the protective panel 31. Further, the accessory 32 cannot be seen through from the front side (player side), and only the image display area of the liquid crystal display 33 can be seen through.

  Such an effect output device 30 is disposed on the back side of the front mask portion 12 together with the sub-control board 106 as shown in FIG. That is, when viewed from the rear surface side of the front mask portion 12, an accessory 32 that moves in the image display area of the liquid crystal display 33 is attached to the front side of the liquid crystal display 33 shown in FIG. A protective panel 31 is provided on the front side.

  Such an accessory 32, a liquid crystal display 33, a pair of speakers 34 provided on the left and right sides of the sub control board 106, a back lamp 22 provided on the inner periphery of the reel 21 group, other lamps, etc. The included effect output device 30 is controlled by the sub-control board 106 and executes various effects when playing the slot machine 10.

  Further, a power supply unit 101 and a medal payout device 102 including a hopper for storing medals are provided in the lower portion of the base body 11. A support plate 103 is provided above the power supply unit 101 and the medal payout device 102, and the reel unit 20 is mounted on the support plate 103.

  Further, a main control board 104 accommodated in a transparent case 105 is disposed above the reel unit 20. The main control board 104 is a control board that performs overall control of the progress of the game including control for starting and stopping the group of reels 21 and is not shown, but is a CPU that performs arithmetic operations and a ROM that stores a game program. A RAM or the like for temporarily storing data for gaming or the like is provided. The main control board 104 is crimped and sealed after being accommodated in the case 105 in order to prevent fraud.

  On the other hand, the sub-control board 106 on the back side of the front mask portion 12 is a board that controls the effects during the game. As described above, the sound output from the speaker 34, the back lamp 22 (see FIG. 1), etc. The lighting of the lamp, the operation of the accessory 32, the display of the image by the liquid crystal display 33, and the like are controlled, the CPU for performing the calculation, the ROM storing the effect program and the effect data, and various data A RAM or the like for temporary storage is provided. The sub-control board 106 is a board belonging to the lower level of the main control board 104, and is electrically connected to the main control board 104 by a harness (not shown). An effect execution command or the like is transmitted from the main control board 104 to the sub-control board 106.

As described above, in the slot machine 10 of the present embodiment, the entire game is comprehensively controlled by the main control board 104, and the reels 21 of the reel unit 20 are started and stopped. Further, the overall effect during the game is controlled by the sub control board 106, and the operation of the accessory 32 of the effect output device 30, the display of the image by the liquid crystal display 33, and the like are performed.
Next, the reel unit 20 and the effect output device 30 in the slot machine 10 of the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the reel unit 20 in the slot machine 10 of the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 3, the reel unit 20 includes a reel 21 group in which three ring-shaped reels 21 are arranged side by side. A stepping motor 23 (not shown) is connected to each rotation center of the reel 21 group, and each reel 21 is individually rotated by driving control of the stepping motor 23. Further, as described above, the back lamp 22 (not shown) is attached to the inner periphery of the reel 21 group.

  Further, reel tapes on which a plurality of symbols (designs constituting a role) are printed are respectively affixed to the outer peripheral surface of the reel 21 group. That is, 21 symbols are displayed on each reel 21 by reel tape, and from the display window 13 of the front mask portion 12 shown in FIG. It is like that. Therefore, a total of nine symbols of the reel 21 group can be seen through the display window 13. In FIG. 1, the back lamps 22 are illustrated by dotted circles, and the symbols positioned on the front side of the respective back lamps 22 are symbols that can be seen through the display window 13.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a symbol combination line L (indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1) is formed in the display window 13 portion of the front mask portion 12. That is, the symbol combination line L is a symbol arrangement line when the reel 21 group is stopped, and is a line that forms a symbol combination. In the present embodiment, the symbol combination line L is composed of a total of five lines formed in each of the upper, middle, and lower stages in the horizontal direction and the diagonal lines in the lower right and lower left directions. The three symbols that are continuous above and below the reel 21 group are each positioned on one or more symbol combination lines L.

  Here, in the present embodiment, five symbol combination lines L are set based on the arrangement of the reels 21 so that three symbols continuous in the vertical direction can be seen. However, for example, when the reel 21 group is arranged so that four symbols continuous in the vertical direction can be seen, the number of symbol combination lines L changes. That is, there are four symbol combination lines L in the horizontal direction and two symbol combination lines L in the diagonally downward and leftward directions, so that a total of eight symbol combination lines L are formed. Will come to be.

  Further, among the symbol combination lines L, a predetermined symbol combination line L is set as an effective line. Specifically, in this embodiment, the number of medals (number of bets) that a player inserts in a single game is set to three uniformly, so that one or two medals cannot be played. I have to. Further, all (five) symbol combination lines L are set to be effective lines by inserting three medals.

  However, even when the number of inserted medals is one or two, the game may be enabled. That is, according to the number of inserted medals, an effective line and an invalid line are set from among the five symbol combination lines L. When the number of medals is one or two, the combination of symbols is determined. It is also possible to generate invalid lines that do not become necessary. For example, when the number of inserted medals is 1, the horizontal middle symbol combination line L (one) is set as an effective line, and the remaining four symbol combination lines L are set as invalid lines. When the number of inserted medals is two, the horizontal, middle, upper and lower symbol combination lines L (three in total) are set as valid lines, and the other two symbol combination lines L are set as invalid lines. When the number of medals inserted is three, all symbol combination lines L (total of five) can be set as valid lines as in this embodiment.

  In the slot machine 10 according to the present embodiment, when the player inserts a medal into the medal insertion slot 43 shown in FIG. 1 and operates the start switch 41, the reels 21 are simultaneously moved based on a command from the main control board 104. The symbols are rotated and the symbols displayed on the reels 21 are moved up and down in the display window 13. Next, when the player presses each stop switch 42 individually, the rotation of the reels 21 corresponding to the stop switch 42 stops, and when all the reels 21 are stopped, the player passes the display window 13 through the symbol. The symbol on the effective line in the combination line L can be confirmed.

  In this way, the game of the slot machine 10 progresses while the player sees the stop state of the reel 21 group located in the center as viewed from the front side, and the game result is obtained by the combination of the symbols of the stopped reel 21 group. Will be displayed. Then, it is determined whether the symbol combination line L is a combination of symbols that gives a player some benefit depending on whether the symbol combination line L is an effective line or an invalid line. However, in the case of an invalid line, the combination of symbols is not a target for establishment.

  By the way, the effect output device 30 does not play the game or the game until such a game result is determined (at least one reel 21 is rotating) or after the game result is determined (after all the reels 21 are stopped). It informs about the possibility of winning the pre-game role and plays an auxiliary role in the progress of the game.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the effect output device 30 in the slot machine 10 of the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a side view showing the effect output device 30 in the slot machine 10 of the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the effect output device 30 has a protection panel 31 attached to the front mask portion 12 (see FIG. 1) and a drive control of the stepping motor 36 as indicated by an arrow along the rail 37. It is comprised from the accessory 32 which moves to the left and right, and the liquid crystal display 33 which has the image display area 33a corresponding to a color.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the protection panel 31 has a transparent central portion and opaque portions 31a at both ends. Further, the image display area 33a of the liquid crystal display 33 corresponds to the transparent central portion of the protective panel 31, and is visible from the outside. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, the stepping motor 36 and the rail 37 for moving the accessory 32 are disposed below the lower end portions of the protective panel 31 and the liquid crystal display 33 so that they cannot be seen from the outside. It has become.

  When the stepping motor 36 is driven, the elongated arrow-shaped accessory 32 extending upward from the stepping motor 36 moves along the horizontal rail 37 as shown by the arrow in FIG. 4, and from the outside, the accessory 32 is moved. It can be seen that the liquid crystal display 33 moves left and right in the image display area 33a. However, when the accessory 32 is located in the opaque part 31a at both ends of the protective panel 31, the opaque part 31a and the accessory storage part that hides the accessory 32 outside the image display area 33a of the liquid crystal display 33. As a result, the accessory 32 becomes invisible.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another example of the effect output device 30a in the slot machine 10 of the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 6, the effect output device 30a includes a stepping motor 36a and a horizontal rail 37a for moving the accessory 32 left and right, a pair of stepping motors 36b for moving the accessory 32 up and down, and a pair of vertical. Rail 37b. The accessory 32 can be freely moved vertically and horizontally along the horizontal rail 37a and the vertical rail 37b by individually driving the stepping motor 36a and the stepping motor 36b.

  Therefore, in the effect output device 30a shown in FIG. 6, the operation of the accessory 32 becomes more diverse than the effect output device 30 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and a more effective effect can be performed. It becomes like this. When the accessory 32 is located in the opaque portions 31a at both ends of the protective panel 31, the opaque portion 31a displays the accessory 32 on the liquid crystal display as in the effect output device 30 shown in FIGS. It becomes an accessory storage part hidden outside the image display area 33a of the container 33, and the accessory 32 becomes invisible.

As described above, the effect output device 30 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 can freely move the accessory 32 left and right. In addition, the effect output device 30a illustrated in FIG. 6 can freely move the accessory 32 in the vertical and horizontal directions. Therefore, the slot machine 10 of the present embodiment can perform a wide variety of effects using the accessory 32 in addition to the liquid crystal display 33.
Then, next, the control of the reel unit 20 and the effect output device 30a shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the control of the reel unit 20 and the effect output device 30a by the slot machine 10 of the present embodiment.
In the block diagram shown in FIG. 7, the game control means 50 is a means for overall control of the entire slot machine 10 including the progress and effects of the game of the slot machine 10. The game control means 50 includes a main control means 60 for controlling the progress of the game, such as a lottery of a winning combination, drive control of each reel 21 in the reel unit 20, a payout at the time of winning, etc., and a sub-control for controlling the output of the effect. Means 70. Each unit in the present embodiment is an example, and the main control unit 60, the sub control unit 70, and the like are not limited to the units shown in the present embodiment.

  Here, the main control means 60 in the game control means 50 is composed of a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like mounted on the main control board 104 (see FIG. 2). The sub-control means 70 is composed of a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like mounted on the sub-control board 106 (see FIG. 2).

  An operation switch 40 including a start switch 41 and three stop switches 42 is electrically connected to the input side (left side in FIG. 7) of the main control means 60. The start switch 41 is a switch operated by the player when starting each reel 21 of the reel unit 20, and three stop switches 42 are provided corresponding to the three reels 21. This switch is operated by the player when 21 is stopped individually.

  Further, three stepping motors 23 for driving the reels 21 are electrically connected to the output side (right side in FIG. 7) of the main control means 60. When the start switch 41 is operated, a signal generated at that time is input to the main control means 60, and a control signal is output from the main control means 60 to the stepping motor 23, whereby all the reels 21 rotate. To be controlled. Therefore, each reel 21 is rotated by the operation of the start switch 41, and the symbol of each reel 21 is moved and displayed at a predetermined speed in the display window 13 (see FIG. 1).

  Further, the main control means 60 receives a signal indicating that the start switch 41 has been operated and controls the start of each reel 21, and transmits a signal indicating that the start switch 41 has been operated to the sub-control means 70. . Then, the sub control means 70 receives this signal, and the stepping motor 36a and the stepping of the effect output device 30a (see FIG. 6) electrically connected to the output side (right side in FIG. 7) of the sub control means 70. The motor 36b is driven to move the accessory 32 up and down, left and right, and the contents such as images and characters are displayed in the image display area of the liquid crystal display 33, and the speaker 34 and the back lamp 22 (see FIG. 1) are included. The lamp 35 is controlled.

  Here, the effect output device 30a performs various effects by the accessory 32, the liquid crystal display 33, the speaker 34, and the effect lamp 35 (back lamp 22). In other words, the stepping motor 36a and the stepping motor 36b that operate the accessory 32 move the accessory 32 up, down, left, and right in a predetermined operation pattern when a predetermined condition is satisfied so as to perform various effects during the game. In addition, the liquid crystal display 33 displays a predetermined image, characters, or the like in the image display area 33a (see FIG. 6) so as to perform various effects during the game. In addition to the liquid crystal display 33, a dot display, an organic EL display, etc. can also be used for displaying images and the like.

  Furthermore, the speaker 34 outputs a predetermined sound when a predetermined condition is satisfied in order to perform various effects during the game. Furthermore, the effect lamp 35 lights or blinks in a predetermined pattern when a predetermined condition is satisfied so as to perform various effects during the game. The effect lamp 35 is typically an upper lamp or the like that is arranged above the front mask portion 12 and blinks when winning a winning combination.

  In such a slot machine 10, in a normal game, a player operates the start switch 41 by setting the symbol combination line L as an effective line by inserting three medals from the medal insertion slot 43 shown in FIG. To start all the reels 21. Thereafter, when the player operates each stop switch 42, the main control means 60 controls the rotation of the corresponding stepping motor 23 to stop, and the corresponding reel 21 stops. When all the reels 21 are stopped, when the combination of symbols on the active line in each reel 21 matches a predetermined combination of symbols of a certain combination, the winning combination is determined according to the winning combination. The medals will be paid out.

  Next, the main control means 60 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 7, the main control means 60 includes a combination lottery means 61, a lottery table 62, a lottery result storage means 63, a reel stop control means 64, a stop position determination table 65, and a stop symbol determination means 66. And a winning processing means 67 and a special game control means 68.

  Here, the role lottery means 61 performs a lottery of a role provided in advance. Pre-set roles include special roles, small roles, and replays, and special roles are shifted from normal games to special games (games that can be expected to win medals more than normal games and are advantageous to the player). It is a role. In general, there are BB (Big Bonus), RB (Regular Bonus), and SB (Single Bonus) as special roles, and BB, RB and SB are BB games, RB games and SB, respectively, which are special games. It is a role to shift to a game.

  The small combination is a combination from which a predetermined number of medals are paid out, and is set so that the number of medals paid out varies depending on the type of small combination. Furthermore, the replay is a replaying role that enables a replaying with the number of medals inserted in the game (the number of bets) maintained.

  The role lottery means 61 is based on, for example, a random number generation means (hardware random number, etc.) for the role lottery, a random number extraction means for extracting a random number generated by the random number generation means, and a random value extracted by the random number extraction means. And determining means for determining whether or not the winning combination has been won. The random number generation means generates random numbers in a predetermined area (for example, 0 to 65535 in decimal notation), and the random number extraction means generates random numbers when the player operates the start switch 41, for example. The random number generated by the means is extracted, and the determination means determines the combination corresponding to the area to which the random number value belongs by comparing the random value extracted by the random number extraction means with the lottery table 62. is there.

  The lottery result storage unit 63 is for storing the lottery result of the combination by the combination lottery unit 61. That is, the lottery result storage means 63 has a winning combination flag for every combination. When any combination is won, each winning combination is turned on by turning on the winning combination flag corresponding to that combination. Memorize winning / non-winning.

  Further, the reel stop control unit 64 refers to the stop position determination table 65 based on the lottery result of the combination stored in the lottery result storage unit 63 and the timing when the stop switch 42 is operated. The stop position of the reel 21 is determined. Then, the stepping motor 23 is driven to control each reel 21 to stop at the determined position.

  Here, the stop position determination table 65 includes the lottery result of the combination by the combination lottery means 61 (the ON / OFF state of the winning combination flag relating to each combination stored in the lottery result storage unit 63) and the stop switch 42. The stop position of the symbol of each reel 21 is determined from the position of each reel 21 at the moment of operation. In other words, the stop position determination table 65 determines the stop position of each reel 21 so that the combination of symbols corresponding to any of the combinations does not stop on the effective line when no combination is won. On the other hand, at the time of winning a small combination or replay, the stop position of each reel 21 is such that the combination of symbols corresponding to the selected small combination or replay stops on the effective line within the range of the stoppable position of each reel 21. Is determined.

  Then, the stop symbol discrimination means 66 discriminates whether or not the symbol combination stopped on the active line matches the symbol combination corresponding to any combination when each reel 21 is stopped. The stop symbol discrimination means 66 discriminates the symbols on the effective line by detecting, for example, the angle or number of steps when the stepping motor 23 is stopped.

  Further, the winning symbol processing means 67 determines that the combination of symbols stopped on the active line when each reel 21 is stopped coincides with the combination of symbols corresponding to any combination, and the winning symbol determination means 66 determines the winning combination of the combination. When it becomes, a predetermined number of medals corresponding to the winning combination is paid out to the player, or processing such as addition of credit is performed. When a replay is won, control is performed so that the number of medals inserted in the game is automatically inserted without paying out medals.

  Further, the special game control means 68 controls the transition from the normal game to the special game (BB game, RB game or SB game), the progress of the game during the special game, the transition from the special game to the normal game, and the like. is there. That is, the special game control means 68 makes a transition from the normal game to the special game on condition that the combination of symbols stopped on the active line matches the combination of symbols corresponding to the special combination and the special combination is won. Control. Then, when the transition is made to the special game, control is performed so that the special game is ended and the normal game is returned when the special game end condition (for example, the payout number has reached the upper limit value) is satisfied.

  Next, the sub control means 70 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 7, the sub-control means 70 includes an accessory action pattern storage means 71, an accessory action control means 72, and an image display control means 73.

  Here, the accessory action pattern storage unit 71 stores an action pattern of the accessory 32 corresponding to the lottery result of the part lottery means 61. Note that the types of images and characters to be displayed in the image display area of the liquid crystal display 33, the type of sound output from the speaker 34, the lighting pattern of the effect lamp 35, and the like are also stored by other storage means.

  Further, when the winning combination lottery means 61 performs the lottery of the winning combination, the accessory action control means 72 selects an action pattern of the accessory 32 corresponding to the lottery result from the winning combination action pattern storage means 71, According to the selected operation pattern, the operation of the accessory 32 is controlled. Furthermore, the image display control means 73 controls the contents displayed in the image display area of the liquid crystal display 33.

  And in this embodiment, according to the lottery result of the combination by the lottery means 61, the operation of the accessory 32 is performed so as to indicate any one of the plural types of contents displayed in the image display area. A specific action pattern to be controlled is stored in the accessory action pattern storage means 71. When this particular action pattern is selected by the accessory action control means 72, the image display control means 73 has a plurality of types in the image display area. The accessory operation control means 72 controls the operation of the accessory 32 so as to indicate any one of the plurality of types of contents displayed in the image display area. .

FIG. 8 is a front view showing an example of an effect based on the specific operation pattern of the effect output device 30a in the slot machine 10 of the present embodiment.
In the production example shown in FIG. 8, at the beginning of the game, the accessory 32 is located in the accessory storage part (in this embodiment, the opaque portions 31a at both ends of the protective panel 31 shown in FIG. 6). The object 32 is hidden behind the image display area 33a of the liquid crystal display 33 and cannot be seen.

  Then, when the player inserts a medal into the medal slot 43 shown in FIG. 1 and operates the start switch 41, each reel 21 is started and the game of the slot machine 10 is started. In addition, when the start switch 41 is operated, a combination of lotteries is performed by the combination lottery means 61.

  Next, when the player presses the stop switch 42 of the first reel (left reel 21), the first reel stops, and when the player presses the stop switch 42 of the second reel (center reel 21), the second reel. Stops. Further, when the player presses the stop switch 42 of the third reel (right reel 21), the third reel stops and the game result is displayed.

  Here, in the slot machine 10 of the present embodiment, an effect is produced by the effect output device 30a. That is, when the winning lottery is performed by the winning lottery means 61, the specific action pattern stored in the accessory action pattern storage means 71 is selected by the accessory action control means 72 corresponding to the lottery result. Then, the image display control means 73 displays a plurality of types of contents (in the example of production shown in FIG. 8, characters such as “losing”, “big hit”, “losing”, etc.) in the liquid crystal display 33. To control. Therefore, the player can see characters such as “losing”, “big hit”, and “losing” displayed on the liquid crystal display 33.

  Further, the accessory action control means 72 follows the specific action pattern selected from the accessory action pattern storage means 71, and displays a plurality of types of contents displayed in the image display area (in the production example of FIG. ”,“ Lose ”, etc.), the operation of the accessory 32 is controlled so as to finally indicate any one of the contents. That is, the stepping motor 36 a moves the accessory 32 left and right along the horizontal rail 37 a as shown by the arrows, and the accessory 32 appears in the image display area 33 a of the liquid crystal display 33. Further, the pair of stepping motors 36b moves the accessory 32 up and down as shown by arrows along the vertical rail 37b. Therefore, the player moves not only the characters such as “losing”, “big hit”, and “losing” displayed on the liquid crystal display 33 but also the image display area 33a of the liquid crystal display 33 vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. You can see the role 32 to play. A predetermined sound is output from the speaker 34, and the effect lamp 35 (back lamp 22) is lit or blinks in a predetermined pattern.

  As described above, in the slot machine 10 according to the present embodiment, the effect 32 is performed in consideration of the expectation that the accessory 32 will eventually indicate the “big hit” character in the image display area 33a (bonus establishment). Thus, the player's attention can be effectively attracted to the effect output device 30a. In addition, since various operation patterns can be set depending on the combination of the accessory 32 and the liquid crystal display 33, various effects are produced. For example, information on the operation order of the stop switch 42 when performing a specific game is provided. When the notification is made, the player can win a predetermined combination or the like by operating the stop switch 42 in accordance with the notified content.

  Therefore, according to the slot machine 10 of the present embodiment, the game 32 and the liquid crystal display 33 of the effect output device 30a are maintained while the game progresses while observing the stop state of each reel 21 of the reel unit 20. As a result of this synergistic effect, it is possible to advance the game with a variety of productions that could not be achieved with conventional slot machines, and to provide various information to the player effectively. can do.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications such as the following are possible.
(1) In the present embodiment, the shape of the accessory 32 is a long and narrow arrow, but the shape is not limited to this and may be another shape. For example, in the case of the shape of a pointing hand or a ball game such as baseball or table tennis as a motif, the shape of a bat or a racket may be used.

  (2) In the present embodiment, the accessory 32 is moved along the horizontal rail 37a and the vertical rail 37b by the stepping motor 36a and the stepping motor 36b. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other means, etc. You may make it move the accessory 32 by. In this embodiment, the opaque portions 31a at the left and right end portions of the protective panel 31 are used as the accessory storage portions. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an opaque portion is provided at the upper end or lower end portion of the protective panel 31 to store the accessory. It is good as a part. Furthermore, the accessory 32 may be hidden outside the image display area 33 a of the liquid crystal display 33 by attaching another member instead of providing an opaque portion on the protective panel 31.

It is a front view of the front surface showing the whole slot machine of this embodiment. In FIG. 1, the front mask part of the slot machine is open | released, and it is the front view shown in figure so that the inside of a base | substrate part could be seen. It is a perspective view which shows the reel unit in the slot machine of this embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the effect output apparatus in the slot machine of this embodiment. It is a side view which shows the effect output apparatus in the slot machine of this embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the effect output apparatus of the other example in the slot machine of this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows control of the reel unit and effect output apparatus by the slot machine of this embodiment. It is a front view which shows the example of an effect based on the specific operation pattern of the effect output device in the slot machine of this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Slot machine 11 Base | substrate part 12 Front mask part 13 Display window 20 Reel unit 21 Reel 22 Back lamp 30, 30a Production output device 31 Protection panel 31a Opaque part 32 Accessory 33 Liquid crystal display 33a Image display area 34 Speaker 35 Production lamp 36 , 36a, 36b Stepping motor 37, 37a, 37b Rail 40 Operation switch 41 Start switch 42 Stop switch 43 Medal slot 44 Medal tray 50 Game control means 60 Main control means 61 Role lottery means 62 Lottery table 63 Lottery result storage means 64 Reel Stop control means 65 Stop position determination table 66 Stop symbol determination means 67 Winning processing means 68 Special game control means 70 Sub control means 71 Accessory action pattern storage means 72 Accessory action Control means 73 image display control unit 101 Power unit 102 medal payout device 103 supporting plate 104 the main control board 105 casing 106 sub-control board

Claims (5)

A reel group in which a plurality of reels displaying a plurality of types of symbols are arranged side by side, and a game result is displayed by a combination of symbols when each of the reels is stopped,
A start switch for starting the reel;
Role lottery means for performing lottery when the start switch is operated,
An image display device that displays an image for an effect in a game in a predetermined image display area and provides various information to the player according to the content of the displayed image;
Image display control means for controlling image display by the image display device;
An accessory attached to the front side of the image display device and moving within an image display area of the image display device;
An accessory operation pattern storage unit that stores an operation pattern of the accessory corresponding to a lottery result of the combination lottery unit;
When a combination of lotteries is performed by the combination lottery means, an operation pattern of the combination corresponding to the lottery result is selected from the combination operation pattern storage unit, and according to the selected operation pattern, A slot machine comprising: an accessory operation control means for controlling the operation. The slot machine according to claim 1, wherein
The slot machine is characterized in that the accessory is provided so as to be movable left and right within an image display area of the image display device. The slot machine according to claim 1 or 2,
The slot machine, wherein the accessory is provided so as to be movable up and down in an image display area of the image display device. In the slot machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A slot machine comprising: an accessory storage unit that hides the accessory out of the image display area of the image display device. In the slot machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The operation pattern of the accessory stored in the accessory operation pattern storage unit includes any of a plurality of types of contents displayed in the image display area corresponding to the result of the combination lottery by the combination lottery unit. A specific action pattern for controlling the action of the accessory so as to indicate one content,
When the specific action pattern is selected by the accessory action control means, the image display control means controls to display a plurality of types of contents in the image display area, and the accessory action control means includes: A slot machine, wherein the operation of the accessory is controlled so as to indicate any one of a plurality of types of contents displayed in the image display area.

Images