JP2007075265A - Game machine, storage medium, and main body of game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game machine where a using value of the storage medium such as a game card is improved while its price is suppressed, and to provide a storage medium and a main body of the game machine. <P>SOLUTION: The game machine is provided with: the portable game card 20 in which data (character data) for specifying a game character is recorded; and the game machine main body 1 for reading the character data from the game card 20 mounted by a player to advance a game. When the player rotate-operates a dial controller 10b, the mounted game card 20 is rotated with the controller 10b to constitute a part of the operation means of the game. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a game machine in which a portable storage medium is mounted to advance a game, a storage medium for the game machine, and a game machine main body.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, so-called card game machines are widely known in which a game card purchased in advance by a player is mounted on a game machine body and played. This game card is a kind of storage medium that stores game character identification information and information indicating available items and strengths. The player owns a plurality of such game cards and competes for victory or defeat by using different cards according to the opponent or the situation.

  Because game cards have a gambling property that you do not know what type is included at the time of purchase, and rare species called `` secret items '' and `` rare items '' where hidden items etc. are recorded are often mixed, In addition to the players who actually play, it attracts collectors' willingness to collect and has a persistent popularity among a wide range of ages.

  As such a card-type game machine or game card, for example, those described in the following patent documents are helpful.

JP 2000-5439 A JP 2005-46649 A

  By the way, in the conventional card type game machine, after the game card is mounted on the game machine body and the game data is read, the game program recorded on the hard disk or the like of the game machine body is read to advance the game. It has become. That is, the game card is only required at the start of play and does not function at all during game play. The identification information of the game character recorded on the game card can be substituted by inputting a player ID such as a number or a symbol or a password on the touch panel of the game machine body or transmitting it to the host computer via a communication network. Therefore, it can be said that the game card has a relatively low value as an original storage medium.

  On the other hand, it is also conceivable to enhance the function as a storage medium by recording a game program or game data being played on a game card as in Patent Document 1. However, in this case, the card becomes expensive, such as a built-in IC chip, and it is not compatible with a card game that uses a large number of cards. In particular, since the main players (card purchasers) of card games are elementary and junior high school students, it is difficult to purchase a large number of expensive cards, which may hinder the spread of card games.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a game machine, a storage medium, and a game machine main body capable of enhancing the utility value while suppressing the price of a storage medium such as a game card. For the purpose.

  According to the first main aspect of the present invention, a portable storage medium in which data (character data) for specifying a game character is recorded and the character data is read from the storage medium worn by the player to advance the game. There is provided a game machine characterized in that the attached game medium constitutes part or all of the operation means of the game.

  According to the second main aspect of the present invention, data for identifying a game character (character data) to be read by the game machine main body is recorded, and a part of the game operation means is attached to the game machine main body. Alternatively, a portable storage medium is provided that is configured entirely.

  According to a third main aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game machine body for a game machine that reads data (character data) for specifying a game character from a portable storage medium worn by a player and advances the game. When the attached storage medium constitutes part or all of the game operation means and the player operates the attached storage medium, the game program is selectively selected based on the read character data and operation behavior. There is provided a game machine main body characterized by reading and advancing the game.

  According to the present invention, since a storage medium such as a game card attached to the game machine main body constitutes a part or all of the operation means (controller) of the game, the storage medium is a necessary tool even during game play. It becomes. Therefore, the value of the storage medium can be increased. In addition, if only data (character data) for specifying a game character is recorded in the storage medium, necessary game data (program or the like) can be read from the game machine body and the game can proceed. Therefore, it is not necessary to increase the storage capacity of the storage medium, and the cost can be reduced. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a game machine, a storage medium, and a game machine main body that can increase the utility value while suppressing the price of a storage medium such as a game card.

(First embodiment)
DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1A is an overall perspective view of a game machine main body according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is an enlarged view of a main part of a card mounting portion and a dial type controller. In the following, a disk-type game card will be described as an example of a portable storage medium. However, the present invention is also applied to a rectangular / star / polygonal game card, a stick / chip-shaped storage medium, and the like. It can be suitably applied.

  The game machine body 1 includes a vertically long box-like housing 2 in which a control mechanism 3 is built, and a game unit 4 provided on the front side of the housing 2. Reference numeral 5 in the figure denotes an inspection port for repair and maintenance work of the control mechanism 3, reference numeral 6 denotes a name plate for displaying a game outline, and reference numeral 7 denotes a coin insertion slot. This game machine body 1 and a game card 20 described later constitute a game machine.

  The game unit 4 includes a liquid crystal display 8 for displaying a game progress state, a pair of left and right speakers 9, 9, a game card mounting unit 10 as an operation means (controller), a game select button 11, and a game card vendor 12. And. As shown in FIG. 2, the game machine 1 according to the present embodiment is a battle game machine in which two players form a tag and can play against the other two (1 to 4 players can be selected). ). Therefore, in this game machine 1, the game card mounting unit 10 is provided at a total of four locations, two on each side of the game card vendor 12, and two select buttons 11 are arranged in front of the game card vendor 12.

  The game card mounting unit 10 is formed in a concave shape into which the disc-shaped game card 20 shown in FIG. 3 can be mounted, and is configured by a dial type controller capable of performing a game operation with the card 20 mounted. That is, the player wears the mark 10 a indicating the origin position of the game card mounting unit 10 together with the command mark 20 a of the game card 20, and moves the ring-shaped dial controller 10 b around the game card mounting unit 10 left or right. When the game card 20 is rotated by an arbitrary angle in this direction, the game card 20 is also rotated at the same time by an engagement claw or a small protrusion (not shown). Thereby, since the game card 20 constitutes a part of the operation means (controller), the game card 20 becomes indispensable even during play, and the presence value of the game card 20 can be increased.

  On the surface of the game card 20, as shown in FIG. 2, a picture or the like indicating a command (item or the like) that is different for each of a plurality of angles is displayed. The player determines the direction and angle of rotation while looking at the command picture. Such a relationship between the rotation angle and the command, the type of command, and the like are set to be different for each of the plurality of game cards 20 (game characters) as shown in FIG. In this figure, circle numbers 1 to 6 indicate the types of commands. The game card 20 shown in FIG. 3 is an example of FIG. Also, as shown in FIGS. 4D and 4E, it is preferable to set different rotation angles and commands even for the same type of game card 20 (the same game character D). That is, the character in this embodiment is specified by the characters (narrow sense game characters) on the game shown in FIG. 2 and various items possessed by the person. As a result, the rarity value of the game card 20 is increased, so that the player's willingness to collect can be stimulated, and the game cards 20 of the same type can be played against each other, and the battle results will differ from card to card. Can be sustained.

  The above-described code data indicating the relationship between the rotation angle and the command is stored in a storage medium (hard disk, ROM, etc.) of the game machine 1 described later in association with the game character data stored in the game card 20.

  A two-dimensional barcode 21 indicating the game character data is printed on the back surface of the game card 20. The bar code 21 is read from the reflected light of a laser irradiated by an LED (Light Emitting Diodes) 13 built in the housing 2 through the transparent plate 15 by the camera 14, so that the game machine 20 can be read from the attached game card 20. The main body 1 acquires character data. In the present embodiment, the two-dimensional barcode is adopted so that the data can be reliably read even when the game card 20 is rotated, but other recording means such as a one-dimensional barcode or an ID tag may be adopted.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the control mechanism 3 acquires the character data of the card 20 from the barcode data read by the camera 14 when the player wears the game card 20, and the rotation angle associated with the game character. In addition, the game program is read out based on the command (item or the like), game data is generated, and output to the display 8 to control the entire game operation of the game machine body 1. Therefore, the control mechanism 3 has a configuration in which a RAM 32, a ROM 33, and a drive circuit (driver) 34 are connected to the CPU 31 via a communication bus 35. The ROM 33 stores game data (characters, items, background images, timers, etc.) to be displayed on the display 8, control programs (win / loss determination programs based on basic values and items used, operation command programs for each functional unit, etc.) and the like. Is done.

  When a coin (coin) is inserted into the game card vendor 12, the control mechanism 3 ejects one game card 20 and shifts from the standby mode to the play mode. Specifically, a fixed message “Please insert the card” is displayed on the display 8 for a predetermined time. When the player places the discharged game card 20 on the game card mounting unit 10, the camera 14 reads the barcode 21 on the back side of the card and specifies the game character of the card 20. Based on the identified character, the rotation angle and command information are read out from the ROM 33 and temporarily stored in the RAM 32. When the card 20 held by the player is used, the camera 14 is caused to read the barcode 21 on the condition that the coin has been inserted into the coin insertion slot 7 of the housing 2. The subsequent processing is the same as described above.

  Next, a competition number selection screen is displayed on the display 8, and selection from the player is accepted. You can also select single battle or tag battle. When all the selection information has been input, necessary game data is read from the ROM 33 and RAM 32 to generate game data and display it on the display 8 to start the game. At this time, a predetermined sound effect is output from the speakers 9 and 9.

  When the player rotates the dial controller 10b while looking at the pattern on the surface of the game card 20, the control mechanism 3 detects the rotation angle and rotation direction, reads the corresponding command data from the RAM 32, and generates game data. . The stop position of the card 20 may be detected by a sensor.

  When the energy of the player character (character) is exhausted or a predetermined game end condition such as time over is satisfied, the control mechanism 3 generates a game end screen including a message prompting the user to remove the game card 20. Displayed on the display 8.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the structure which is the same as that of 1st Embodiment, or equivalent, and duplication description is abbreviate | omitted.

  This embodiment is characterized in that one player can use (switch) a plurality of game cards 20 while playing, or can use a plurality of cards 200 and 201 at the same time. That is, as shown in FIG. 5B, the game machine main body 40 includes a first card mounting portion 41 for “car (corresponding to a character)” and a second for “action (items)”. Card mounting part 42, and one player attaches a plurality of cards 200, 201 to each mounting part 41, 42, so that the behavior of the car (traveling direction etc.) and the item (the car of the opponent) And can be operated independently in combination. It should be noted that in the first card mounting portion 41 for “car”, each command is not allowed to function, and therefore it is not necessary to recognize the rotation angle from the origin of the game card 20. Therefore, the first card mounting portion 41 is not marked with a mark indicating the origin position.

  In this example, as shown in FIG. 5B, a police car game card 200 is mounted on the first car mounting section 41 for “car”, and a track is mounted on the second card mounting section 42 for “action”. Thus, as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the command associated with the truck card can be used by the traveling police car. Thereby, it is possible to play by using a completely different game character by combining a plurality of held cards, and it is possible to dramatically increase the variation of the game.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, when the player rotates the dial controller 41a of the first card mounting unit 41 in either the left or right direction, the control mechanism 43 detects the rotation direction and angle to detect the police car. The game data for changing the traveling direction is generated and displayed on the display 8. Also, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the player rotates the dial controller 42a of the second card mounting portion 42 in either the left or right direction, the control mechanism 43 changes the rotation angle and direction from the origin. The command data associated with the detected position is read from the RAM 32, and game data including options according to the command is generated and displayed on the display 8.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the control mechanism 43 is used when the card 200 attached to the first card attachment unit 41 is changed to another card 201,. The control mechanism 43 causes the camera 14 to read the barcode 21 of the character data of the new card 201,... And switches the player's car instantaneously. The same applies when the card 201 of the second card mounting unit 42 is changed. Thereby, the player can use a plurality of cards properly according to the progress of the game, and can continue the interest of the game.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible in the range which does not change the summary of invention.

  For example, the type of card game, the type of command, the form of the game machine body, etc. are not limited to those described above. The present invention can also be suitably applied to a communication game machine in which a plurality of game machines at remote locations are connected to each other through a network and a battle game machine of a type in which a plurality of displays are arranged in parallel.

  Also. In the above embodiment, only the game character data is recorded on the game card and the command data is stored in the storage device of the game machine body, but the command data may be recorded on the game card. In this case, the game character and command data are recorded on a two-dimensional barcode or the like and read out.

FIG. 1A is an overall perspective view of a game machine body according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is an enlarged view of a main part of a card mounting portion and a dial type controller. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a game being played. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a game card. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing assignment of command data for each of a plurality of game cards. FIG. 5A is an overall perspective view of the game machine main body according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5B is a plan view of the card mounting portion and the dial type controller. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a game being played. FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating the operation behavior of the first card mounting unit (controller), and FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating the operation behavior of the second card mounting unit (controller). It is a figure for demonstrating switching of a game card.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Game machine body 2 ... Case 3 ... Control mechanism 4 ... Game unit 7 ... Coin slot 8 ... Liquid crystal display 9 ... Speaker 10 ... Game card mounting part 10a ... Mark 10b ... Dial controller 11 ... Game select button 12 ... Game Card vendor 13 ... LED
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 ... Camera 15 ... Transparent board 20 ... Game card 20a ... Command mark 21 ... Two-dimensional barcode 31 ... CPU
32 ... RAM
33 ... ROM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 34 ... Drive circuit 35 ... Communication bus 40 ... Game machine main body 41 ... 1st card mounting part 41a ... Dial controller 42 ... 2nd card mounting part 42a ... Dial controller 43 ... Control mechanism 200, 201 ... Game card

Claims (11)

A portable storage medium on which data (character data) for identifying a game character is recorded;
A game machine body that reads the character data from the storage medium worn by the player and advances the game,
The game machine body is characterized in that the attached storage medium constitutes a part or all of the game operation means. The game machine according to claim 1,
The game machine main body is configured to selectively read a game program based on the read character data and operation behavior and advance the game when a player operates a mounted storage medium. game machine. The game machine according to claim 2,
The game program includes a plurality of function option data of a game character, code data associating an operation behavior of the storage medium and a plurality of function option data,
The game machine main body, when a player operates a mounted storage medium, selectively reads function option data based on the read character data, operation behavior, and code data to advance the game. A game machine characterized by The game machine according to claim 2,
The game machine body includes a game program storage unit that stores a game program in association with character data,
The game machine main body reads a corresponding game program from a game program storage unit based on character data read from the storage medium, and advances the game. The game machine according to claim 2,
The storage medium is a disk type,
The game machine main body includes a dial type controller that selectively reads out a game program corresponding to a rotation angle and / or a stop position, which is an operation behavior, when a player rotates a disk-type storage medium to advance a game. A game machine characterized by having. The game machine according to claim 5,
In the disc type storage medium, in addition to the character data, code data for identifying a plurality of function option data assigned for each predetermined rotation angle and / or stop position is recorded. . The game machine according to claim 2,
The game machine, wherein the character data and operation behavior are set to different contents for each of a plurality of storage media. The game machine according to claim 1,
When the storage medium is exchanged while the game is in progress, the game machine body reads character data from the exchanged second storage medium and continues the game.   Data for identifying a game character (character data) to be read by the game machine main body is recorded, and a part of or all of the game operation means is configured in a state of being attached to the game machine main body. Storage medium. The storage medium according to claim 9.
This storage medium is a disk type, and in addition to character data, code data for identifying a plurality of function option data assigned for each predetermined rotation angle and / or stop position is recorded. Medium. A game machine main body for a game machine that reads data (character data) for specifying a game character from a portable storage medium worn by a player and advances the game,
When the attached storage medium constitutes part or all of the game operation means, and the player operates the attached storage medium, the game program is selectively read based on the read character data and operation behavior. The game console itself is characterized by allowing the game to progress.

Images