JP2007061268A - Image type game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image type game machine which has a simple structure, low-cost, reliable, and low-noise and permits a parlor's computer to measure a total number of shot balls (number of out balls). <P>SOLUTION: The image type game machine which displays a game board including winning openings, an out opening and game pins, and game balls shot by the operation of a shooting operation section and moving on the game board in an image display device mounted on a game machine frame for playing a game, is provided with a shot ball count measurement signal output circuit 9 which outputs a shot game ball count measurement signal S7 whenever a game ball is shot. The simplification of the structure of the signal output circuit 9 and the use of wiring using a conventional game ball (actual ball) sensor as it is enable the shot game ball count measurement signal S7 to be sent to the parlor's computer and the entire structure to be simplified and the cost to be lowered. The circuit is structured so as to continue the output of the shot game ball count measurement signal S7 for a fixed period, and to electrically insulate input from output and permits the signal S7 to be reliably sent at a low noise level. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention includes a launch operation unit similar to a conventional mechanical game machine (actual game machine), and game board surface components such as a prize opening, an out port, and a game nail are similar to the game board surface form of the actual game machine. The present invention relates to a video game machine in which a game board surface arranged in this manner and a game ball or the like that is driven into a game area on the game board surface and flows down are displayed on an image display to virtually play a game.

A large number of gaming machines, for example, pachinko machines, are usually installed in one store (hall), and a computer (hall computer) is used to manage data of each unit.
Examples of data managed for each vehicle include the number of symbol rotations, the number of jackpots, the number of outs, and the like.
Here, the number of outs refers to the total number of game balls (total number of fired balls) driven into the board surface (game board surface) of the pachinko machine. Yes.
Such a number of outs is measured by detecting a game ball discharged from each pachinko machine in the so-called pachinko island on a so-called pachinko island with a sensor attached to each pachinko machine. Then, by performing cumulative calculation with the hall computer, the number of outs for a certain period (usually one day) for each pachinko machine, for each island, or for the whole hall is tabulated.
Here, in a conventional pachinko machine, that is, an actual pachinko machine, an actual game ball (real ball) made of a steel ball or the like is used, so that the game ball is directly detected by a sensor (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). reference).
Japanese Patent No. 2743242 JP 7-265500 A

However, in the video game machine, the game ball is a virtual image that is an intangible image and cannot be detected by the sensors disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2. On the other hand, in the management and operation of the hall, grasping the number of outs is indispensable for judging the operating status of the gaming machine.
Therefore, conventionally, there has been a demand for the development of a technique that enables the number of outs to be measured, particularly at a low cost, in video game machines.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described demand, and an object thereof is to provide a video game machine capable of measuring the number of outs (total number of shot balls) at low cost.

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 of the claims includes a game board surface including a winning opening, an out mouth and a game nail, and is fired by the operation of the launch operation unit and moves on the game board surface. A video game machine that displays a game ball to be displayed on an image display mounted on a gaming machine frame and plays a game, and controls a game state in a game board surface image displayed on the image display And image display control means for performing display control on the game board surface image based on the control of the main control means, wherein the main control means is the game board surface of the game ball that is launched by the operation of the firing operation unit. Sphere attribute determining means for determining the annihilation position on the image and the survival time from when it is displayed on the game board surface image until it disappears as a sphere attribute, and a launch signal including the sphere attribute for each game sphere to be launched Send The image display control means is configured to receive the launch signal and display the game ball on the game board surface image based on the ball attribute in the launch signal by receiving the launch signal. It is provided with a game ball movement display means for acquiring a ball route representing a route until it disappears at the out mouth, and moving and displaying each game ball on the game board surface image along the acquired ball route, It includes a firing ball number measurement signal output circuit that outputs a signal for measuring the number of shots of the game ball every time a signal is transmitted.

  The invention according to claim 2 of the claims is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the firing ball number measurement signal output circuit opens or closes between its output terminals for a predetermined time when the firing signal is transmitted. It is configured by a circuit that operates and is electrically insulated between input and output.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gaming machine comprising: a gaming board surface including a winning opening, an outlet opening, and a game nail; and a gaming ball that is launched by an operation of a firing operation section and moves on the gaming board surface. In a video game machine that displays on an image display mounted on a frame and plays a game, a shot ball count signal output circuit is provided that outputs a signal for measuring the number of shots of a game ball each time a game ball launch signal is transmitted. It was.
According to this, by providing the hall computer with a signal for measuring the number of shots of the game ball in the video game machine, the hall computer calculates the total number of shot balls of the video game machine that sent the signal for measuring the number of shots of the game ball ( Out number) can be measured.
That is, even in a video game machine, it is possible to measure the number of outs and thus determine the operating status. Moreover, it is possible to send a signal for measuring the number of game balls to be sent using the wiring from the conventional game ball (real ball) sensor to the hall computer as it is, and the configuration for that is very simple, and the entire configuration is low in cost. realizable.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 2 of the claims, in the invention described in claim 1, the firing ball number measurement signal output circuit is opened between the output terminals for a certain time when the firing signal is transmitted. Alternatively, it is configured by a circuit that performs a closing operation and in which the input and output are electrically insulated.
As described above, according to the fact that the output terminals are opened or closed for a certain period of time (the game ball firing number measurement signal is output for a certain period of time), It can be detected reliably, and is particularly useful for hall computers that manage a large number of pachinko machines. Further, by electrically isolating the input and output of the shot ball number measurement signal output circuit, for example, the influence of noise between the hall computer from the shot ball number measurement signal output circuit can be given to the main controller side. The effect of preventing noise generation is obtained.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol shows the same or an equivalent part between each figure.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of an embodiment of a video pachinko machine to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main part in FIG.
In these drawings, a video game machine frame 1 of a video pachinko machine includes a fixed frame 2 to be attached to a so-called island-equipped game machine installation facility in a pachinko game hall. A movable frame 3 is attached to the fixed frame 2 by a hinge 4 located on the left side so as to be able to open one side. An image display 5 is attached inside the movable frame 3 with the screen facing forward. The image display 5 includes a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, an EL display, and the like, and can display an image whose display form can be electrically changed.
A main controller 6, an image display controller 7, and a card controller 8 are attached to the back side of the movable frame 3. Further, the shot ball number measurement signal output circuit 9 is also attached to the back side of the movable frame 3.

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

  Here, the board image is an image simulating a game board surface form of an actual gaming machine. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the guide rail 39, the launch passage 40, the game area 41, the center decoration 42, the symbol display unit 43, the general winning ports 44 to 47, the starting winning port 48, the big winning port (variable winning port) ) 49, an opening / closing body 50 in front of the grand prize winning port 49, a windmill 51, a side lamp 52, an out port 53, and a board surface constituting member such as a number of game nails (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 3, the main controller 6 includes, for example, a CPU 6a, a RAM 6b, a ROM 6c, and an input / output interface 6d. The ROM 6c stores a control program 6c1, a data group 6c2, and a winning rate table 6c3.
In the main controller 6, the CPU 6a executes the control program 6c1 using the RAM 6b as a work area, and controls the gaming state and the like described above while appropriately reading the data group 6c2 and the winning rate table 6c3 in the ROM 6c.

  In the winning rate table 6c3, the proportion of game balls that enter each of the winning ports 44 to 49 shown in FIG. 1 (hereinafter referred to as the winning proportion for each winning port) is made to correspond to the launch intensity of the game balls. It is expressed as The launch intensity of the game ball is associated with an operation amount of a launch operation unit described later.

Hereinafter, the winning rate table 6c3 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the winning rate table 6c3. In this figure, the disappearance position refers to the entry position of the game ball. In this example, since only the winning opening is shown as the winning position, the disappearance position indicates the winning opening.
As shown in the figure, the winning rate table 6c3 represents the winning rate for each winning port, that is, the winning rate, according to the launch intensity (value) of the game ball. For example, when the game ball firing strength is within the range of 11 to 20, the winning openings 44 and 45 shown in FIG. 1 are 0.01%, the winning openings 46 and 47 are 0.00%, and the starting winning opening 48 is 4.00. %, Indicating that the big prize opening 49 wins at 35.00%. The player enters the out port 53 at the remaining rate.

  In this example, the winning percentage according to the above-mentioned launch intensity is 1111 in 10 increments of the launch intensity range, such as 21 to 30 next to the range of 11 to 20 and 31 to 40 next. Up to 1120, a set of winning percentages for each set of winning prizes is set. The winning rate of the big winning port 49 is 0.00% when the opening / closing body 50 is not opened, and the winning rate of the big winning port 49 here is added to the winning rate to the out port 53 as it is. The

The opening operation of the opening / closing body 50 includes continuous opening or intermittent opening that repeats the opening / closing operation at an appropriate time interval. Any of these may be applied, but in this embodiment, continuous opening is applied. Hereinafter, this is abbreviated as opening.
It should be noted that a plurality of winning rate tables 6c3 may be prepared with different winning percentages for each winning opening, and one of them may be selected at random.

As shown in FIG. 3, the main controller 6 includes a ball attribute determining means 6e, an opening / closing body opening / closing signal generating means 6f, a signal transmitting means 6g, a probability changing means 6h, a big hit lottery means 6i and a starting winning ball holding / digesting means 6j. Is provided.
Here, the ball attribute determining means 6e disappears on the board image of the game ball (launched ball) that is fired by the operation of the launching operation section described later according to the winning percentage for each winning mouth shown in the winning percentage table 6c3. The position and the survival time of the game ball from when it is displayed on the board image until it disappears are determined as the ball attributes.

The opening / closing body opening / closing signal generating means 6f generates an opening signal for opening the opening / closing body 50 when a predetermined condition is satisfied. After the opening / closing body 50 is opened, the opening / closing body opening / closing signal generating means 6f is predetermined. This is means for generating a closing signal for closing operation when a predetermined number of game balls are won (winning) or when a predetermined time elapses after the opening / closing body 50 is opened.
Here, “predetermined conditions are satisfied” means that a plurality of symbols to be described later stop at the jackpot symbol, or that the jackpot state (the other winning a prize opening 49 due to the opening operation of the opening / closing body 50 of the big winning opening 49) 44-48 indicates that a special game state in which a game ball is easier to enter is continued. As the predetermined number, 10 is set here, and as the predetermined time, 30 seconds is set here.

The signal transmission unit 6g transmits a game ball launch signal (hereinafter abbreviated as a launch signal) S1 including the ball attribute determined by the ball attribute determination unit 6e to the image display control device 7 for each shot ball. This is means for transmitting the opening signal S2 and closing signal S3 of the opening / closing body 50 generated by the opening / closing body opening / closing signal generating means 6f to the image display control device 7.
The signal transmission means 6g also transmits to the image display control device 7 a symbol variation start signal S4 for starting symbol variation display (big hit / losing effect image display) and a symbol variation pattern designation signal S5 for designating the type of symbol variation pattern. To do.
The “symbol variation pattern” refers to a symbol variation display form including the variation time, stop order, stop symbol type, and the like for the three symbols (L, C, and R) displayed on the symbol display unit 43. . The three symbols L, C, and R are each composed of a plurality of types of symbols, for example, numerical symbols from 0 to 9, and are cyclically displayed one symbol at a time.

  If the symbol variation pattern designating signal S5 for designating such a symbol variation pattern type is transmitted to the image display control device 7 together with the symbol variation start signal S4, the symbol variation from the time of reception of both signals in the symbol display unit 43. The variation of the symbol starts according to the type of the symbol variation pattern designated by the pattern designation signal S5. The symbol variation stops at the stop symbol type when the variation time set in the symbol variation pattern expires.

The probability changing means 6h is a means for changing the probability determined to be a jackpot in the jackpot lottery (jackpot probability) between high and low by satisfying preset conditions. For example, if the jackpot probability at the low probability is 5/1580 = 1/316, it is a means to increase or decrease the probability such that 26 / 1580≈1 / 61 at the high probability.
The probability changing means 6h is determined to be a jackpot in the jackpot lottery at the low probability, and changes from the low probability state to the high probability state when the stop symbol after the symbol change is a specific symbol among the jackpot symbols. The probability changing means 6h continues such a high probability state until, for example, the next big hit lottery up to a certain number of times is determined again as a big hit, and then returns to the low probability state.

The jackpot lottery means 6i is means for performing a jackpot lottery. This jackpot lottery is a lottery for determining whether the winning winning ball is a game winning ball whose annihilation position has been determined at the starting winning port 48 by the ball attribute determining means 6e with a predetermined jackpot probability.
The result of the jackpot lottery (the jackpot lottery result) is reflected in the contents of the symbol variation pattern designation signal S5. That is, the symbol variation pattern designation signal S5 given to the signal transmission means 6g is a signal to stop at a symbol corresponding to the big hit / off of the big hit lottery result, and is given to the signal transmission means 6g, together with the symbol variation start signal S4. It is transmitted to the image display control device 7.
Furthermore, the jackpot lottery result is reflected in the gaming state set by the main controller 6. Specifically, the main controller 6 controls each part of the pachinko machine to a gaming state according to the big hit lottery result. For example, if the jackpot lottery result is a jackpot, the main control device 6 sets the gaming state to the jackpot state at the end of the symbol variation display by the symbol variation pattern designation signal S5.
The jackpot lottery is obtained from the jackpot lottery value acquisition means (not shown) at the time of the determination for the starting winning ball, which is the game ball whose annihilation position is determined at the starting winning port 48 (start winning prize determination) as described above. The lottery value is checked against the jackpot value.

  In the present embodiment, as the lottery value, the count value read at the time of the start winning determination of the jackpot lottery counter (not shown) that repeatedly counts a numerical value from 0 to 1579 is used. The value is compared with the jackpot value set in advance in a lottery table (not shown) to determine whether the jackpot is out or not. According to this, the jackpot probability can be changed by changing the number of jackpot values.

Here, five types of jackpot values, 157, 479, 787, 1061, 1163, are set at low probability (low probability state), and 157, 479, 787, 1061, 1163, at high probability (high probability state). 199, 263, 317, 383, 443, 503, 577, 641, 701, 769, 839, 887, 983, 1049, 1109, 233, 419, 607, 877, 1087, 1123 are set.
That is, the jackpot probability of 5/1580 = 1/316 is obtained at the low probability, and the jackpot probability of 26 / 1580≈1 / 61 is obtained at the high probability.
Such a jackpot probability change is performed by the probability changing means 6h as described above.

The starting winning ball holding / digesting means 6j is a predetermined number (a certain number) when a new starting winning ball is generated while the symbol related to the starting winning ball is changing or the jackpot state is continuing, It is means for accumulating and storing up to four new start winning balls as reserved balls.
The starting winning ball holding / digesting means 6j, after the change of the symbol related to the preceding starting winning ball or holding ball or the end of the big hit state, uses the subsequent holding ball as the starting winning ball, and the symbol change start signal S4 related to the starting winning ball. The symbol variation pattern designation signal S5 is transmitted from the signal transmission means 6g to the image display control device 7.

The number of stored balls is decremented by one each time the symbol variation display for the start winning ball related to the stored balls is started or finished, that is, every time the stored balls are digested (decrement). When the stored number of reserved balls is subtracted and becomes less than 4, the accumulated number can be stored again up to 4 from that point.
Reference numerals 54 in FIG. 1 denote lamps (holding ball lamps) each indicating a holding ball, which are turned on one by one in order from the left lamp 54 according to the generation of the holding ball, and according to the digestion of the holding ball, for example, on the right side The lamps 54 are turned off one by one in order from the lamp 54, and the number of lit lamps represents the current number of reserved balls.

Next, the image display control device 7 will be described.
The image display control device 7 receives the emission signal S1 from the main control device 6 and other various signals based on the control of the main control device 6, and displays the board image on the image display 5 by these signals. And display control on the displayed board image.
Specifically, “perform display control on the displayed board image” means that the image display 5 is controlled to display control of the board image itself, for example, a change display of a plurality of symbols to be described later or FIG. The moving image display or the like of the open / close body 50 of the big prize opening 49 or the movement ball is displayed on the board image.
These displays under the control of the image display control device 7 are based on the control of the main control device 6. In particular, the control display of the board image itself by the image display controller 7 is based on the control of the gaming state in the board image by the main controller 6.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the image display control device 7 includes, for example, a CPU 7a, a RAM 7b, a ROM 7c, an arithmetic processing unit (GPU: graphics processing unit) 7d, a video RAM 7e, an input interface 7f, and an output interface. 7g is provided.

In the ROM 7c, the control program 7c1, game nail data 7c2 representing the position / shape (including size) of the game nail, and the ball attribute, here, the game ball extinction position / survival time based on the launch intensity A sphere route table 7c3 and other data group 7c4 are stored.
The data group 7c4 includes a guide rail 39 for displaying a board image together with the game nail data 7c2, a center decoration 42, a symbol display unit 43, various winning holes 44 to 49, an opening / closing body 50, a windmill 51, a side lamp 52 and an out. Data for display of board surface components such as the mouth 53, board surface background data, and the like are included.
The display data is data representing the position and shape (including size) of each board surface component to be displayed. From these data, the game ball is moved along the ball route (position coordinate data group). It can be moved and displayed and disappeared at the winning ports 44 to 49 and the out port 53.

  In the image display control device 7, the CPU 7a executes the control program 7c1 using the RAM 7b as a work area, reads out the game nail data 7c2 and the data group 7c4 in the ROM 7c as appropriate, and controls the GPU 7d to transmit drawing data to the video RAM 7e. Let it be written. As a result, the image display control device 7 displays the board image on the image display 5 as described above, and performs display control on the displayed board image.

In the present embodiment, the image display control device 7 includes a game ball movement display means 7h, an opening / closing body opening / closing display means 7i, and a symbol display control means 7j.
The game ball movement display means 7h receives the firing signal S1 from the signal transmission means 6g of the main controller 6 shown in FIG. 3, and acquires the ball route of each game ball based on the ball attribute in each firing signal S1. The game balls are configured to move and display on the board image along the ball route.

The ball route is a position coordinate data group that represents a path from when each game ball is displayed (launched) on the board image until it disappears at the winning openings 44 to 49 or the out opening 53 (see FIG. 1), that is, the path to enter the ball. Become.
Of course, the disappearance of the game ball at the winning openings 44 to 49 or the out mouth 53 which is the end point of the ball route is at the end of the survival time, and each position coordinate data in the position coordinate data group is the elapsed time. Correspondingly, here, it is expressed every unit time = 16 milliseconds.

  The ball route indicates a route at the center position of the game ball. In the video game machine, the game balls, the winning holes 44 to 49 and the out port 53 are displayed as images, so that the game balls are displayed at the positions of the winning ports 44 to 49 and the out port 53, that is, at the end of the ball route. When the game ball ends and the game ball disappears from the board image, it means that the game ball enters the winning ports 44 to 49 or the out port 53.

The opening / closing body opening / closing display means 7i is a means for displaying the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing body 50 on the board image by receiving the opening signal S2 or the closing signal S3 from the signal transmission means 6g.
The opening / closing body opening / closing display means 7i receives an open signal S2 transmitted from the signal transmission means 6g at the end of the change of the symbol related to the starting winning ball whose winning game lottery result is determined to be a big win, that is, when the symbol is stopped. Then, the opening operation display of the opening / closing body 50 on the board image is performed.
By receiving the symbol variation start signal S4 and the symbol variation pattern designation signal S5, the symbol display control means 7j includes a start winning ball (holding ball) related to the symbol variation start signal S4 in the symbol display unit 43 on the board image. ) Is started to display the symbol variation. Then, after a predetermined time, it is a means for stopping at a stop symbol corresponding to the symbol variation pattern designated by the symbol variation pattern designation signal S5 related to the start winning ball, that is, the jackpot lottery result.

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

The card insertion slot 14 is a slit-like slot into which a card-like recording medium in which valuable information such as points and monetary information is written, here a prepaid card etc. (hereinafter referred to as a card) 22 in which monetary information is written, is inserted. It is. On the back side of the card insertion slot 14, a card detector 23, a card transport mechanism 24, an information reader 25 and an information rewrite device 26 are positioned in a state where they are attached to the back of the front decorative frame 11.
The lending operation mechanism 15 includes a lending operation unit 27 operated by the player, and a lending switch 28 operated via the lending operation unit 27.
The return operation mechanism 16 includes a return operation unit 29 that is operated by the player from the front side of the front decorative frame 11 and a return switch 30 that is operated via the return operation unit 29.

  The settlement operation mechanism 17 includes a settlement operation unit 31 that is operated by the player from the front side of the front decorative frame 11, and a settlement switch 32 that is operated via the settlement operation unit 31. The settlement switch 32 itself may be arranged on the front side of the front decorative frame 11 so that the player can directly operate the settlement switch 32. In this case, the settlement operation unit 31 can be omitted.

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

The firing ball number measurement signal output circuit 9 is a circuit that outputs a game ball firing number measurement signal (game ball firing number measurement signal) S7 each time the firing signal S1 is transmitted.
The firing ball number measurement signal output circuit 9 receives a firing number measurement original signal S6 composed of a branch signal of the firing signal S1 or a signal synchronized with the firing signal S1 from the main control device 6, and transmits the firing signal S1. That is, every time the firing signal S1 is transmitted, the game ball firing number measurement signal S7 is output for a certain period of time.
“To output the game ball firing number measurement signal S7” means that a positive or negative electrical signal is output from the output terminal of the firing ball number measurement signal output circuit 9, and a firing ball number measurement signal output circuit. 9 includes an operation of opening or closing between the nine output terminals (for example, a state in which a positive or negative electric signal can be output by applying an appropriate potential to one of the output terminals).
Accordingly, a circuit that opens or closes the output terminals for a certain period of time when the firing signal S1 is transmitted, that is, when the firing number measurement original signal S6 is input is also included in the firing ball number measurement signal output circuit 9.

FIG. 6 shows a configuration example of such a shot ball number measurement signal output circuit 9.
The shot ball number measurement signal output circuit 9 shown in the figure includes an input resistor 9a, an NPN transistor 9b, and a relay 9c. When an original signal S6 for shooting number measurement is input to the input terminal 61, the NPN transistor 9b is input during the input period. ON to close the contact of the relay 9c. That is, the output terminals 62 and 63 are closed (the game ball firing number measurement signal S7 is output).
The time chart of FIG. 7 shows that when a game ball is continuously fired at an interval of 600 ms, for example, every time the game ball is fired, in other words, every time the number signal of the firing number measurement is input, The state where the contact of the relay 9c of the output circuit 9 is closed for 50 ms (the game ball firing number measurement signal S7 is output) is shown.
The game ball firing number measurement signal S7 is sent to a hall computer (not shown). The hall computer receives a signal S7 for measuring the number of game balls fired from each pachinko machine in the hall, measures the total number of shot balls (number of outs) of each pachinko machine, and determines the operating status.
Here, the ball count measurement signal output circuit 9 shown in FIG. 6 is electrically insulated between the input and the output by the relay 9c. Since the input and output are electrically insulated, the influence of noise between the hall computers from the shot ball count signal output circuit 9 is not given to the main controller 6 side. An element other than the relay 9c, such as a photocoupler, may be used as long as the input and output can be electrically insulated.
In this example, since the ON period of the firing number measurement original signal (pulse signal) S6 output from a predetermined port of the CPU 6a (see FIG. 3) of the main controller 6 is 50 ms, this is used as it is as the transistor 9b. When the signal S6 cannot be used as it is, a monostable multivibrator or the like is provided in the firing ball number measurement signal output circuit 9, and a 50ms game ball firing number measurement signal is provided. S7 may be output.

Hereinafter, the basic operation of the above-described embodiment will be described with reference mainly to FIGS. 1, 3, and 5.
First, when the main control device 6, the image display control device 7, and the card control device 8 are activated by supplying DC power from a power supply device (not shown) provided in the gaming machine frame 1, Based on the control, the image display control device 7 controls the image display 5 to display a board image on the image display 5.
As described above, this board surface image includes various board surface constituting members 39, 42 to 55, and a large number of game nails that are not shown.

Now, when the player inserts the card 22 into the card insertion slot 14 (see arrow A in FIG. 1), the card detector 23 outputs a card detection signal to the card control device 8, and controls the card transport mechanism 24 to be pulled in. . As a result, the card 22 is transported into the machine (see arrow B in FIG. 1), and the information reader 25 reads the amount information of the card 22 and outputs it to the card control device 8. The card processing device 8 displays the read amount information on the balance display 20.
Thereafter, when the player inputs an investment amount corresponding to the number of balls to be borrowed by operating the lending operation unit 27, investment amount information corresponding to the input investment amount is sent from the lending switch 28 to the card control device 8 as a lending signal. Is output. The card control device 8 calculates investment amount information corresponding to the lending signal from the lending switch 28, and whether the amount information (card reading amount information) read and stored from the card 22 is equal to or greater than the investment amount information. Determine whether or not.

  When the card read amount information is equal to or greater than the investment amount information, the card control device 8 uses the investment amount information as it is, and when the card read amount information is less than the investment amount information, the card control amount information is used as the investment amount information. 6 is output. The main control device 6 outputs the ball number information corresponding to the investment amount information output from the card control device 8 to the ball number display 19 and displays the number of balls as a numerical value on this ball number display 19 ( Set as number of balls.)

Specifically, when it is assumed that one lending signal of the lending switch 28 corresponds to 500 yen, the amount information of an integral multiple of 500 yen is written in the card 22. And, for example, when the amount information of 1000 yen is written on the card 22 inserted into the card insertion slot 14 and the player operates the lending operation unit 27 once, it is 500 yen. When the operation is performed twice, the number of balls corresponding to 1000 yen is displayed on the ball number display 19. If the amount information of 500 yen is written on the card 22 and the player operates the lending operation unit 27 twice, the ball number indicator has a number of balls equivalent to 500 yen regardless of the two operations. 19 is displayed.
Note that the card read amount information may be displayed as frequency information on a frequency display (not shown) connected to the card control device 8.

In parallel with the display of the number of balls by the number-of-balls display 19, the card control device 8 controls the information rewriter 26 by subtracting the investment amount information corresponding to the number of balls as a loan from the card read amount information. Then, the amount information of the card 22 is rewritten to the remaining amount information as a result of the subtraction.
When the remaining amount information is “0”, the card control device 8 controls the card transport mechanism 24 to return. When the player operates the return operation unit 29, the card control device 8 receives the return signal from the return switch 30 and controls the card transport mechanism 24 to return.
With these return controls, the card transport mechanism 24 transports the card 22 and projects a part of the card 22 from the card insertion slot 14 so that the card 22 can be taken out from the gaming machine frame 1.

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

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

The sphere attribute is determined by the sphere attribute determining means 6e provided in the main control device 6.
That is, the ball attribute determining means 6e obtains the launch intensity of the game ball according to the operation amount of the launch operation unit 33, and based on this launch intensity, the disappearance position on the board image of the game ball to be fired and the board face image The survival time of the game ball from when it is displayed until it disappears is determined as a ball attribute.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the relationship between the launch intensity of the game ball and the survival time determined based on the launch intensity. Here, an example in which the survival time obtained based on the launch intensity has a certain width is shown.
The survival time of the game ball is based on the launch intensity of the game ball, but may be obtained directly according to the disappearance position. In addition, the launch strength of the game ball may be included in the ball attribute. In this case, the launch strength is used to determine the position of the board surface component member where the game ball first strikes the game area 41, that is, the landing position. Is done.

The above-mentioned launch intensity is information indicating the strength of launch of the game ball, and is used as basic information for obtaining the disappearance position and survival time of the game ball as described above.
The disappearance position of the game ball indicates a winning ball (entering a ball) in the winning ports 44 to 49, a winning port when winning, or a winning ball indicating whether or not to enter the out port 53 without winning. It is a sphere attribute related to the position. The display of the game ball ends when winning in the winning openings 44 to 49 or entering the out opening 53, and disappears from the board image.
The survival time of the game ball is a ball attribute related to the elapsed time from when the launch operation unit 33 is operated and the game ball is fired until it disappears, that is, from when the display on the board image is started to when it is finished.

The firing signal S1 including each sphere attribute determined by the sphere attribute determining means 6e is transmitted from the signal transmitting means 6g to the image display control device 7.
The image display control device 7 receives the firing signal S1 from the signal transmission means 6g, selects (acquires) the moving route of each game ball, that is, the ball route, based on the two ball attributes in the firing signal S1, Each game ball is moved and displayed on the board image displayed on the image display 5 by the ball route.

  In the ball route, after the game ball is launched (displayed) and driven into the upper part of the game area 41 along the guide rail 39, the ball hits the windmill 51 or a game nail (not shown) while flowing down and moving, This is information consisting of a position coordinate data group representing a route from winning to any one or not winning and entering the out mouth 53. Many types of spherical routes are set according to the firing signal S1.

In the winning, the game balls moving down the game area 41 in the board image displayed on the image display 5 are the winning holes 44 to 48 (the opening / closing body 50 is closed in the illustrated example, so the large winning hole 49 is not included). ) Is information representing entering a ball.
Non-winning is information indicating that a game ball moving down the game area 41 in the board image displayed on the image display 5 enters the out port 53 without winning any of the winning ports 44-49. is there.
Note that jackpot / losing information (separate jackpot / losing) is determined only when winning at the start winning opening 48 is determined as a winning.

  As for the jackpot / miss information, the main controller 6 obtains a count value of a jackpot lottery counter (not shown) at the timing when the winning to the start winning port 48 is determined as a prize, and uses this count value as a lottery value. It is determined by matching with the jackpot value (lottery lottery). The lottery value and the jackpot / losing information (lottery result) are stored in the RAM 6b.

When the game ball is moved and displayed on the board image displayed on the image display 5, the main control device 6 subtracts the ball number information for each of the firing ON signals, and has the subtracted ball number information as the number of balls. Output to the display 19.
When the firing signal S1 including the ball attribute is sequentially transmitted to the image display control device 7 for each launch ON signal, and the image display control device 7 controls the image display 5, the image display 5 can play the game ball moving image. (Game ball images moving along the ball route) are displayed one after another.
This game ball moving image is a moving image in which a game ball is driven into the game area 41 from the launch passage 40 in the board image at a rate of 100 shots per minute, and moves down the game area 41.

The number-of-balls display 19 displays numerically the number of balls corresponding to the subtracted ball number information from the main controller 6. That is, the numerical value displayed on the number-of-balls display 19 is a numerical value that is subtracted every time a game ball is launched.
When the game ball that has been driven into the game area 41 wins the general prize opening 44 to 47 and disappears from the board image displayed on the image display 5, the main control device 6 moves to the general prize opening 44 to 47. The added ball number information obtained by adding the corresponding constant prize ball number information to the current ball number information is output to the possessed ball number display 19, and the held ball number display 19 is the number of balls corresponding to the added ball number information. Is displayed numerically.
Thereby, the numerical value displayed on the number-of-balls display 19 is a numerical value obtained by adding the numerical value subtracted each time a game ball is fired and the constant number of winning balls corresponding to the general winning openings 44 to 47. .

When the game ball that has been driven into the game area 41 wins the start winning opening 48 and disappears from the board image displayed on the image display 5, the main controller 6 responds to the symbol variation start signal S4 and the big hit lottery result. The symbol variation pattern designation signal S5 is transmitted to the image display control device 7, and the image display control device 7 controls the image display 5 (performs display control on the board image).
By this control, the image display unit 5 causes the symbol display unit 43 to start the variation display of the three symbols (L, C, R), and the lottery result specified by the symbol variation pattern designation signal S5 (separate winning / losing) ), That is, after a predetermined time, it is stopped at a stop symbol corresponding to the lottery result relating to the start winning ball.

  The symbols displayed on the symbol display unit 43 by the symbol stop (stop symbols “L, C, R”) are, for example, “2, 2, 2”, “3, 3” when the jackpot lottery result is a jackpot. 3 ”,...,“ 7, 7, 7 ”,...,“ 9, 9, 9 ”, all display the same display form (big hit symbol) in a line. Also, if the jackpot lottery result is out of place, for example, “1, 3, 3”, “5, 9, 1”, “7, 6, 7” are not all the same numerical values. Are displayed in a line.

The probability changing means 6h is a jackpot at a low probability, and the stop symbol “L, C, R” is a specific symbol out of the jackpot symbol, here an odd number with the same numerical value, that is, “1, 1, 1”. ”,“ 3, 3, 3 ”,“ 5, 5, 5 ”,“ 7, 7, 7 ”,“ 9, 9, 9 ”, the jackpot probability is changed from low probability to high probability .
The probability changing means 6h continues the high probability state from the next time until it is determined again as a big hit in the big hit lottery up to a certain number of times, and then returns to the low probability state.
The probability of winning a jackpot regardless of whether the probability state is high or low follows the jackpot probability currently set by the probability changing means 6h.

  When the stop symbol in the symbol display unit 43 is a jackpot symbol, the main control device 6 transmits an open signal S2 for displaying the opening / closing body 50 to the opening operation to the image display control device 7, and the received image The display control device 7 controls the image display 5. By this control, the image display 5 displays an opening operation image of the special winning opening 49.

The opening action image of the special winning opening 49 is a moving image that opens obliquely forward from a state in which the opening / closing body 50 of the special winning opening 49 is vertically closed with the lower side as a fulcrum. When the opening / closing body 50 is opened in this way, a larger number of game balls can be won in the grand prize winning opening 49 than in other general winning opening 44 to 47.
If the game ball wins the big prize opening 49 and disappears from the board image displayed on the image display 5 while the opening / closing body 50 is opened, the main controller 6 has a fixed number of prize balls corresponding to the big prize opening 49. The added ball number information obtained by adding the number information to the ball number information at that time is output to the possessed ball number display 19, and the held ball number display 19 displays the number of balls corresponding to the added ball number information numerically. In other words, the numerical value displayed on the number-of-balls display 19 is a value obtained by adding the numerical value at the time of winning to the big winning opening 49 and the constant number of winning balls corresponding to the big winning opening 49.

The game balls that have won from the game area 41 to the big prize opening 49 are awarded to a normal area set inside the big prize opening 49 or a specific area called a V zone (both not shown). . Further, the main control device 6 counts up the elapsed time from the start of opening of the opening / closing body 50 and counts up the number of game balls won in the special winning opening 49.
Either the elapsed time counted up reaches the set opening time, here 30 seconds, or the number of prizes received in the counted up big prize opening 49 reaches a predetermined number of prizes such as 10, for example. When the above condition is satisfied, the main control device 6 transmits a closing signal S3 for displaying the opening / closing body 50 to the closing operation to the image display control device 7, and the image display control device 7 controls the image display 5.
By this control, the image display 5 displays a closing operation image of the special winning opening 49. The closing action image of the special winning opening 49 is a moving image in which the opening / closing body 50 of the special winning opening 49 closes in the vertical state shown in FIG.

When the game ball is won in a specific area of the big winning opening 49 during the period from the opening operation to the closing operation of the opening / closing body 50, that is, during the opening, the main control device 6 has won the specific area. Count up (+1). Even if there are a plurality of winning numbers in the specific area while the opening / closing body 50 is opened once (a big win state), the number is not counted up after the first +1 count up (it remains +1).
When this count-up occurs, the main control device 6 contains the opening information for opening the opening / closing body 50 again after the image display control device 7 completes the opening of the opening / closing body 50 once. A signal is transmitted to the image display control device 7, and the image display 5 is controlled again.
By this control, the image display 5 displays a moving image in a form in which the opening / closing body 50 of the special winning opening 49 opens obliquely forward with the lower side as a fulcrum.

  The jackpot continuation in which the opening / closing body 50 is opened again may be performed until the number of winnings in the specific area that has been counted up reaches a preset number of times such as 16, for example. If there is no winning in the specific area during one opening of the opening / closing body 50, the continuation of the jackpot state ends at that time, so the number of times the opening / closing body 50 continues to open is only possible.

When the stop symbol in the symbol display unit 43 is not a jackpot symbol (is a dismissal symbol), the main controller 6 sends an open signal S2 for displaying the opening / closing body 50 to the image display controller 7 in an open state. And the gaming state will not be a big hit state.
Note that the main controller 6 also corresponds to the start winning opening 48 even when the game ball that has been driven into the game area 41 wins the starting winning opening 48 and disappears from the board image displayed on the image display 5. The added ball number information obtained by adding the constant prize ball number information to the current ball number information is output to the possessed ball number display 19, and the possessed ball number display 19 displays the number of balls corresponding to the added ball number information as a numerical value. indicate. Also in this case, the numerical value displayed on the number-of-balls display 19 is a numerical value obtained by adding a numerical value subtracted every time a game ball is fired and a constant number of winning balls corresponding to the start winning opening 48.

The starting winning ball holding / digesting means 6j holds up to four new starting winning balls when a new starting winning ball is generated during the opening operation of the opening / closing body 50 or the change of the design as described above. The accumulated balls are stored as spheres, and the number of holding sphere lamps 54 corresponding to the number is turned on.
The starting winning ball holding / digesting means 6j displays a symbol change start signal related to the starting winning ball, with the subsequent holding ball as the starting winning ball after the change display of the symbol related to the preceding starting winning ball or the holding ball or the end of the jackpot state. S4 and the design variation pattern designation signal S5 are transmitted to the image display control device 7.

The image display control device 7 that has received the signals S4 and S5, specifically, the symbol display control means 7j, causes the symbol display unit 43 to start the variable display of the three symbols (L, C, R) for a predetermined time. Later, it is stopped at the stop symbol corresponding to the jackpot lottery result related to the starting winning ball. The main controller 6 performs an operation corresponding to the stop symbol.
The number of stored balls is decremented by one each time starting or ending the variable display of the symbol for the starting winning ball related to the stored ball, that is, every time the ball is digested, Accordingly, the holding ball lamps 54 are also turned off one by one.

When ending the game, the player operates the settlement switch 32 via the settlement operation unit 31. As a result, a settlement signal is output from the settlement switch 32 to the card controller 8, and the card controller 8 outputs the settlement signal to the main controller 6. The main control device 6 outputs ball number information corresponding to the number of balls displayed on the held ball number display 19 to the card control device 8 and sets the value of the held ball number display 19 to “0”. The number-of-balls display 19 is controlled to clear the number of balls held.
The card control device 8 adds the amount information corresponding to the number-of-balls information input from the main control device 6 to the amount information of the card 22 taken into the inside of the gaming machine frame 1, and then uses the information rewriter 26. Control. By this control, the information rewriter 26 rewrites the amount information of the card 22 taken into the inside of the gaming machine frame 1 to the amount information added above.
Thereafter, the card control device 8 controls the card transport mechanism 24 to return. That is, the card 22 with the amount information rewritten is transported by the transport mechanism 24, a part of the card 22 is projected from the card insertion slot 14, and the card 22 can be taken out from the gaming machine frame 1. That is, the card 22 is discharged out of the machine and the settlement process is completed.

Hereinafter, FIG. 9, FIG. 3, FIG. 5 are used together, and the ball strength table of the above-mentioned game ball firing strength, ball attributes (game ball disappearance position, survival time), launch signal S1, and ball attributes. The relationship 7c3 will be described.
Among the ball attributes, the extinction position of the game ball is determined by the ball attribute determination means 6e of the main controller 6 based on the launch strength of the game ball. Here, a disappearance position determination counter (not shown) that counts numerical values from 0 to 9999 in an endless manner is used as the disappearance position of the game ball, and the count value of the counter when the firing ON signal is generated and the game It is determined based on the launch intensity of the sphere.

Now, it is assumed that the launch intensity value 505 is acquired by the ball attribute determining means 6e, and the count value when the firing ON signal is generated by the disappearance position determining counter is 250. In such a case, the ball attribute determining means 6e searches for the winning rate in the column of the firing strengths 501 to 510 of the winning rate table 6c3 shown in FIG. 4, and determines the extinction position of the game ball therefrom.
Specifically, numerical values 1, 2, 2, 1, 450... Are sequentially obtained by multiplying the winning ratios of the winning ports 44 to 49 in this column by 10,000 respectively in order from the winning port 44 side toward the large winning port 49 side. Add. Then, a total value of 6 is obtained at the position of the winning prize opening 47 and a total value 456 is obtained at the position of the start winning prize opening 48.
The count value of the annihilation position determination counter is 250, and this value exceeds the total value 6 of the position of the winning opening 47 and is within the range of the total value 456 of the position of the starting winning opening 48. The mouth 48 is determined as the disappearance position of the game ball.

  Thereby, the extinction position of the game ball is determined based on the launch strength of the game ball and according to the win rate set in the win rate table 6c3, but based on the launch strength of the game ball and in accordance with the win rate. If there is, the disappearance position of the game ball may be determined by a method other than the above-described method.

  Among the ball attributes, the survival time of the game ball has a certain width as shown in FIG. 8, but a specific survival time within the width is determined according to the disappearance position of the game ball. As shown in FIG. 9, a plurality of different survival times may be set in the same extinction position, but in this case, a plurality of randomly determined random lots using an extinction position determination counter are used. A specific survival time is determined according to one type of annihilation position.

  The ball attribute determined in this way is included in the firing signal S1 and transmitted from the signal transmission means 6g of the main control device 6 to the image display control device 7. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the four-digit numbers with the initial letter “S1” represent the firing signal S1 including the ball attribute.

The sphere route table 7c3 for each sphere attribute is stored in the ROM 7c of the image display control device 7. The ball route table 7c3 includes a firing signal S1 transmitted from the signal transmission unit 6g of the main control unit 6, in other words, a ball attribute, and the image display control unit 7 (game ball movement display unit 7h) on the board image. It is the comparison table | surface with the movement path | route of the game ball to display, ie, a ball | bowl route.
In the example shown in FIG. 9, the ball route is represented by a four-digit number with an initial “RT”. Specifically, the game route is displayed on the board image and disappears. This is a set of position coordinate data (position coordinate data group) every unit time, for example, every 16 milliseconds.

The position coordinate data is, for example, the image display surface (two-dimensional plane) of the image display 5 including the game board surface as the X and Y planes, taking the X axis in the horizontal direction and the Y axis in the vertical direction in FIG. The lower left corner of the display surface in FIG. 1 is represented as a reference position, that is, X = 0, Y = 0.
The Z-axis may be taken in the direction of the front side (player side) of the game board surface orthogonal to the game board surface, and the position coordinate data may be represented by three-dimensional coordinates of X, Y, and Z.
FIG. 9 illustrates a part of the sphere attribute. A part of the sphere route table 7c3 for each sphere attribute is also exemplified.

When the player operates the firing operation unit 33 shown in FIG. 1 at a certain operation amount, for example, a rotation angle θx between 35 ° and 45 °, the main controller 6 sets a value corresponding to the rotation angle θx. The ball attribute determining means 6e in the apparatus 6 obtains the launch intensity Fx of the game ball according to the launch operation quantity.
The ball attribute determining means 6e obtains the game ball extinction position Px corresponding to the calculated launch strength Fx by lottery using the winning rate table 6c3 and the extinction position determination counter, and subsequently, this extinction position Px (specifically, From the firing intensity Fx and the extinction position Px), the game ball survival time Tx to each extinction position is obtained.

The signal transmission means 6g of the main control device 6 transmits to the image display control device 7 a firing signal S1 including a ball attribute consisting of the game ball extinction position Px determined by the ball attribute determination means 6e and the survival time Tx.
The firing signal S1 is transmitted to the image display control device 7 for each game ball to be fired. Each time the image display control device 7 (game ball movement display means 7h) receives this launch signal S1, each launch signal S1 is transmitted. The ball route corresponding to the inside ball attribute is read from the ball route table 7c3 for each game ball disappearance position and survival time.

  Next, in this embodiment, a series of processing operations from when the launch operation unit 33 shown in FIG. 1 is operated until the game ball is displayed on the board image and then disappears (display ends) from the board image. 10 and FIG. 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 3, 5, and 9. FIG.

First, FIG. 10 will be used in conjunction with FIGS. 1 and 3 to describe the game ball firing process in the main controller 6.
In FIG. 10, in step 301, it is determined whether or not the launch operation mechanism 18 is ready to launch a game ball.
That is, it is determined whether or not the touch sensor (not shown) of the firing operation unit 33 is ON, the firing stop switch is OFF, and the operation amount of the firing operation unit 33 exceeds the range of play. This is to determine whether or not the player is actually operating the launch operation unit 33 to launch the game ball. If the determination result in step 301 is No (negative), the firing process is terminated, and if Yes (positive), the process proceeds to the next step 302.

  In step 302, it is determined whether or not a fixed time has elapsed since the previous launch. This is in order not to fire more than 100 shots per minute, for example, and the fixed time is 0.6 seconds here. If it is determined in step 302 that the predetermined time has not elapsed, the firing process is terminated. That is, the main controller 6 does not perform any processing regarding the launch of the game ball. If it is determined that a certain time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step 303.

  In step 303, it is determined whether or not there is a number of balls held (whether the number of balls displayed by the ball holding number display 19 is 1 or more). An idle sound generation signal for generation is transmitted to the voice control device (step 304).

  If the determination result in step 303 is Yes, the sphere attribute is determined by the sphere attribute determining means 6e (step 305). Here, the launch intensity of the game ball is obtained according to the operation amount of the launch operation unit 33, and the survival time is obtained based on the launch intensity and the extinction position of the game ball. Is done.

When the sphere attribute is determined, the process proceeds to step 306, where the firing signal S1 including the determined sphere attribute is transmitted from the signal transmission means 6g to the image display control device 7, and the firing process is terminated.
The above processing is performed for each shot ball.

In the present embodiment, in step 306, the firing number measurement original signal S <b> 6 is transmitted from the main controller 6 to the firing ball number measurement signal output circuit 9.
Since step 306 is executed for each shot ball, transmission of the shot number measurement original signal S6 to the shot ball count signal output circuit 9 is also performed for each shot ball, and the shot ball count signal output circuit 9 For each ball launch (transmission of the launch signal S1), a game ball launch number measurement signal S7 is output to a hall computer (not shown).
The game ball firing number measurement signal S7 is used in the hall computer to measure the total number of balls launched by the pachinko machine that sent the signal S7, and to determine the operating status of the pachinko machine.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining display processing by the image display control device 7 shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the display processing by the image display control device 7 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 3, 5, and 9 in FIG. 11.

First, in step 501, the image display control device 7 receives various signals from the main control device 6. In addition to the firing signal S1 transmitted in step 306 in FIG. 10, this signal includes a symbol variation start signal S4, a symbol variation pattern designation signal S5, an opening signal S2 of the opening / closing body 50, and a closing signal S3 transmitted in a timely manner. There are signals for effect display control.
The firing signal S1 is received by the image display control device 7 for each launch ball, and the other signals are received every time they are transmitted according to the gaming state controlled by the main control device 6.

In step 502, the game ball movement display means 7h acquires a ball route based on the ball attribute in the received launch signal S1, and here selects the ball route RT from the ball route table 7c3 (see FIG. 9), and the ball A game ball is displayed on the image display 5 at position coordinates corresponding to the route RT.
Specifically, based on the ball route RT selected by the CPU 7a shown in FIG. 5 from the ball route table 7c3, the GPU 7d reads out the position coordinate data of the game ball that moves when the next frame is updated, and writes it into the video RAM 7e.

In step 503, it is determined whether or not the processing in step 502 has been completed, that is, whether or not the current frame has been moved. If not completed, the processing in step 503 is repeated, and if completed, step 504 is executed.
When a plurality of game balls are displayed on the board image, the above-described display processing is performed in parallel. In such a case, the determination in step 503 is a determination as to whether or not the processing in step 502 has been completed for all the positions of the plurality of game balls, and if completed, step 504 is executed.

In step 504, a special gaming state or a special gaming state such as a symbol change / stop in the symbol display unit 43 on the board image, an opening / closing operation of the opening / closing body 50 of the special prize opening (function) 49, etc. Perform production display control.
In step 505, other than the display control performed in step 504, for example, the side lamp 52 in the board image, and lighting / extinguishing control such as electric decoration attached to the front face of the front decorative frame 11 (not shown) (general effect control processing) I do.
In step 506, the processing (control) results of steps 502, 504, and 505 are combined and drawn on the image display 5, that is, displayed.

  Since steps 501 to 506 are repeated at a constant cycle, the image display 5 displays various effects such as opening / closing operation of the opening / closing body 50 of the prize winning opening 49, symbol variation, blinking of the side lamp 52, and the like. A game ball (image) is superimposed and displayed on the image.

As described above, in the present embodiment, in the video pachinko machine, the game ball is received for a certain period of time every time the firing signal S1 is transmitted from the main control device 6 upon receiving the firing number measurement original signal S6 from the main control device 6. The configuration was made so as to output a firing number measurement signal S7.
Therefore, by giving this game ball firing number measurement signal S7 to the hall computer (not shown), the hall computer can measure the total number of balls launched (number of outs) of the pachinko machine that sent the signal S7. Become. In other words, even in a video pachinko machine, it is possible to measure the number of outs and thus determine the operating status.

  In addition, in the present embodiment, the game ball firing number measurement signal S7 can be sent using the wiring from the conventional game ball (real ball) sensor to the hall computer as it is, and the configuration for that, that is, launch The configuration of the ball count measurement signal output circuit 9 is also very simple as shown in FIG. 6, for example, and can be realized at low cost.

In particular, according to the configuration in which the game ball firing number measurement signal S7 is output for a certain period of time, the hall computer can reliably detect the game ball launch number measurement signal S7 and manage a large number of pachinko machines. Useful for computers.
Further, according to the configuration in which the input and output of the shot ball number measurement signal output circuit 9 are electrically insulated, for example, the influence of noise between the shot ball number measurement signal output circuit 9 and the hall computer is transferred to the main controller 6 side. The effect of preventing noise generation, such as not giving, can be obtained.

In addition to the total number of fired balls, the number of symbol rotations (number of symbol fluctuations) and the number of jackpots (number of times the jackpot lottery results were jackpots) are included in the data used to judge and manage the operating status of each pachinko machine by the hall computer. , The number of start winnings (the number of winnings to the start winning port 48), the number of probability changes (the number of times the jackpot probability has changed from a low probability to a high probability), the number of winning balls, and the like.
Therefore, in addition to the total number of fired balls, the number of symbol rotations, the number of jackpots, the number of winning prizes, the number of probability changes, the number of winning balls, and the like may be sent to the hall computer.
In this case, the number of symbol rotations, the number of jackpots, the number of start winnings, the number of probability changes, the number of winning balls, etc. are the ball attributes (disappearing positions on the board image of the game balls) in the firing signal S1, the symbol variation start signal S4, the symbols It is obtained from the variation pattern designation signal S5 or the like. Therefore, for example, by sending these signals S1, S4, S5, etc. to the hall computer or by detecting these signals S1, S4, S5, etc., the symbol rotation start operation, the big hit state, the start winning prize, the probable change state, by the winning mouth By sending each signal related to a winning operation etc. to the hall computer, it becomes possible to more precisely judge and manage the operation status of each pachinko machine by the hall computer.

In addition, the board surface image displayed on the image display 5 is not limited to the aspect shown in FIG. For example, a board is added to the board image, and a lottery is performed by passing a game ball through the gate, and a movable body (not shown) incorporated in the start winning opening 48 is opened when the lottery is won. An image may be displayed. In such a case, the ball route along which the game ball moves more realistically can be determined by adding to the ball attribute whether or not the game ball passes through the gate.
Although the above-described embodiment is roughly imitating a first type pachinko machine, the present invention can be applied to other pachinko machines and other ball game machines.

  In the above-described embodiment, the main part of the control means of the video game machine is configured by separating the main control device 6 and the image display control device 7 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. You may comprise by one control means, without isolate | separating. In this case, as an example, the signal transmission means 6g generates a firing signal including a ball attribute for each game ball to be launched, starts symbol variation, and designates the type of symbol variation pattern. Instead of a signal generation means for generating a fluctuation pattern designation signal.

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

The gaming state controlled by the main controller 6 shown in FIG. 1 includes, for example, a special gaming state in which the opening / closing body 50 of the special winning opening 49 is opened and more prize balls can be obtained, and other than this special gaming state. There is a basic gaming state in which, for example, a game ball is fired and enters the general winning ports 44 to 47 and the out port 53. In addition, even in the normal gaming state, there is a gaming state or the like in which the special gaming state can be invited, such as a gaming state in which the symbol display unit 43 displays the variation of the symbol.
The main control device 6 makes such a gaming state appear by the effect display control on the board image by the image display control device 7, and at the same time, the effect control by the sound and the lamp is added to entertain the player. The game state control includes the start, continuation, and end control of the state.

It is a principal part block diagram of one Embodiment of the image | video type pachinko machine to which this invention was applied. It is a block diagram which takes out and shows the principal part in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the main controller in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the winning rate table in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the image display control apparatus in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a shot ball number measurement signal output circuit in FIG. 2. It is a time chart which shows operation | movement of the shot ball number measurement signal output circuit shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the launching intensity | strength of a game ball determined as a ball attribute by the ball attribute determination means of the pachinko machine shown in FIG. 1, and survival time. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the relationship of the ball | bowl route table according to the launch intensity | strength of a game ball | bowl, a ball | bowl attribute, a launch signal, and a ball | bowl attribute for determining a ball | bowl route in a pachinko machine same as the above. It is a flowchart which illustrates the detail of the launching process of the game ball in the main controller shown in FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining display processing by the image display control device shown in FIG. 5.

Explanation of symbols

1: gaming machine frame, 5: image display, 6: main control device (main control means), 6e: ball attribute determination means, 6g: signal transmission means, 7: image display control device (image display control means), 7c3 : Ball route table, 7h: Game ball movement display means, 9: Fired ball number measurement signal output circuit, 61: Input terminal, 62, 63: Output terminal, 33: Launch operation unit, 44-47: Winning port, 48: Start winning opening, 49: Large winning opening, 53: Out opening, S1: Game ball launch signal, S6: Original signal for measuring the number of shots, S7: Signal for measuring the number of shots of the game ball.

Claims (2)

A game board surface including a winning mouth, an out mouth, and a game nail, and a game ball that is launched by the operation of the launch operation unit and moves on the game board surface are displayed on an image display mounted on the gaming machine frame to play a game. A video game machine to perform,
Main control means for controlling the gaming state in the game board surface image displayed on the image display;
Image display control means for performing display control in the game board surface image based on the control of the main control means,
The main control means includes
Sphere attribute determining means for determining the extinction position on the game board surface image of the game ball fired by the operation of the launch operation unit and the survival time from when it is displayed on the game board surface image until it disappears as the ball attribute; ,
Signal transmission means for transmitting a launch signal including the ball attribute for each game ball to be launched,
The image display control means includes
By receiving the launch signal, based on the ball attribute in the launch signal, obtain a ball route representing a route from the game ball displayed on the game board surface image until it disappears at the winning opening or the outlet, A game ball movement display means for moving and displaying each game ball on the game board surface image along the acquired ball route is configured.
A video game machine comprising a firing ball count signal output circuit that outputs a signal for measuring the number of shots of the game ball each time the launch signal is transmitted. The firing ball number measurement signal output circuit is configured by a circuit in which the output terminals are opened or closed for a certain time when the firing signal is transmitted, and the input and output are electrically insulated. The video game machine according to claim 1.

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