JP2007082636A - Video game device utilizing image information on printed card - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a video game device capable of executing a game using various kinds of cards distributed and used for other purposes than playing the game. <P>SOLUTION: The video game device comprises a game computing control device 13, a card identification information memory 19 in which the identification information of a card is recorded, a card printed information take-in device 17 for taking in the information printed on the card 24 presented by a player, a card recognition device 18 for comparing the taken-in card printed information and the card identification information recorded in the card identification information memory 19 and outputting a prescribed card recognition signal if the information matches with each other, and a program memory 13b in which game programs correlated with specific card recognition signals are recorded. The game computing control device 13 is structured to read a game program from the program memory 13b based on the output signal from the card recognition device 18 to execute the game. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a video game apparatus that uses image information of a printed card.
More specifically, the present invention relates to cards distributed for purposes other than games (cash cards such as banks, various membership cards, credit cards, point cards, bonus cards, stickers used for direct mails, New Year's cards, A video game device that plays a video game determined in advance for each card using a gift card, a telephone card, a watermelon, a plastic card, or a card made of cardboard, such as a commercial card distributed for promotion. It is about.

Conventional card games are configured to play a game using information about the game recorded on the card. That is, a card used in a card game includes information necessary for the game in the card, and the game proceeds according to a predetermined rule based on the information.
For example, the invention described in Patent Document 1 below discloses a video game apparatus configured to play a game using a recording medium such as a card capable of recording play data including game parameters.

However, as mentioned above, however, there are stickers, direct mails, postcards such as New Year's cards, gift cards, telephone cards, watermelons used in cash cards such as banks, various membership cards, credit cards, point cards, and bonuses. There are many cards that are distributed and used for purposes other than games, such as commercial cards, trading cards, etc., distributed for advertising purposes. Since game data is not recorded on these cards, a video game apparatus capable of playing games using these cards has not been provided at all.
In other words, in the case of a card that only has a picture, such as a post card, it is not impossible to play something with the personal impression received from the picture. It is not possible to play a game under a specific and clear rule, and no video game apparatus capable of playing a game using a postcard has been proposed.

JP 2003-117245 A

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the object of the present invention is to play a game using various kinds of cards as described above that are distributed and used for purposes other than games. This is to provide a new video game device that can sell the card, thereby providing a sales promotion effect and an advertising effect to the merchant who sells and provides those cards. Is to increase.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention uses a card that is not manufactured for a game by electronically linking and associating it with game information on various existing cards on which no game information is recorded. Thus, a new card game can be realized.
In the present invention, for example, for a plurality of cards sold in a certain series, a partnership with the seller is made, and information on a specific game is associated with specific print information printed on the surface of each card. The game device enables the game by capturing the print information of the card as a video, identifying the card, and separately acquiring information necessary for the game associated with the card.
Thereby, the card seller can obtain sales promotion and advertisement effect by using this game.

Specifically, the present invention provides:
A game operation unit that is operated by a player and generates a game control signal, a game calculation control device, an image processing circuit that organizes a video signal for displaying a game image, and a video display device that displays the progress of the game The game calculation control device includes at least a CPU, a program memory, and a work RAM, and a game program for game execution is installed in the program memory. In response to a game control signal from the computer, the game program is calculated and executed in cooperation with the program memory and work RAM, and the calculation result is displayed as a game image on the display device via the image processing circuit. In a video game device;
A card identification information memory in which identification information of at least one predetermined card is recorded;
A card print information capturing device for capturing print information on the surface of the card presented by the player;
The card print information captured by the card print information capture device is compared and collated with the card identification information recorded in the card identification information memory, and the type of the card presented by the player is identified. A card recognition device that outputs a card recognition signal corresponding to the type,
In the program memory, at least one game program is recorded in association with a specific card recognition signal,
The game arithmetic control device reads a game program corresponding to a specific card recognition signal output from the card recognition device from the program memory, and responds to the game control signal from the game operation unit according to the game program. A video game using image information of a printed card, characterized in that a game calculation is performed and a game image is displayed on the video display device via the image processing circuit based on the calculation result Device.

  The card print information capturing device may be a scanner that reads print information of a card set at a predetermined position, or may be a digital camera that captures print information of a card placed at a predetermined position. .

It is recommended that the card identification information recorded in the card identification information memory be configured so that it can be updated by card identification information downloaded from a database communicable with the video game device.
Alternatively, the card identification information memory itself may be provided in a database that can communicate with the video game apparatus.

  The card presented by the player may be a sticker attached to the product as a bonus or appendix of the specific product.

  A video game device is provided with a magnetic data writing / reading device, and magnetic data that can be read / written is recorded on the card, and the magnetic data is also used together with the print information of the card. Is also recommended.

An expiration date may be displayed on the card, and a game may not be played depending on the card after the expiration date.
In addition, the use number limit is recorded on the card, and the record of the use number limit is decremented for each play. When the remaining use number limit recorded on the card is not 0, the use number limit signal is used. It is also recommended that the video game device be activated and configured to be exempt from game fees.

  Since the present invention has the above-described configuration, it recognizes the card based on the print information of various cards as described above that are distributed and used for purposes other than games, and associates the card with the card in advance. Since the specified game program is executed, it is possible to play a game using these cards. As a result, it is possible to bring a sales promotion effect and an advertising effect to a merchant who sells and provides those cards, and can greatly increase the utility value of general cards.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of a video game apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a video game apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a baseball card print information capture mode when a game is played using a baseball card by the video game apparatus according to the present invention;
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a game screen when a game is played using a baseball card by the video game apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a time is requested and a rescuer is employed when a game is played using a baseball card by the video game apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a display state of a screen when updating a game program or the like when a game is played using a baseball card by the video game apparatus according to the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a flowchart for playing a game using a character sticker in the video game apparatus according to the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, 1 is a video game device according to the present invention, 11 is a game operation unit of the video game device, 12 is a video display device, 16 is a speaker, 17 is a card print information capturing device, 20 is a fee collection device, Reference numeral 24 denotes a card having a printed portion on the surface.

  FIG. 2 shows a circuit configuration of a video game device according to the present invention, in which 11 is a game operation unit, 12 is a video display device, 12a is a video display screen, 13 is a game calculation control device, Reference numeral 13a is a CPU, 13b is a program memory comprising a storage device such as a hard disk drive, 13c is a work RAM, 13d is a ROM, 13e is a clock circuit, 14 is an image processing circuit, 15 is a sound circuit, 16 is a speaker, 17 is a scanner, etc. Card print information capturing device 18, card recognition device 18, card recognition information memory 19, charge collection device 20, communication circuit 21, data bus 22, central server device 23, database 23 a, database 24 A card having a portion.

The game operation unit 11 is operated by a player and generates a game control signal.
The image processing circuit 14 organizes a video signal for displaying a game image.
The CPU 13a in the game calculation control device 13 executes a game program recorded in a program memory 13b such as a hard disk drive, and performs calculation processing necessary to advance the game according to the program.
The RAM 13c exchanges and records data necessary for the operation of the CPU 13a.
The ROM 13d stores character data, image data, audio data, and the like displayed on the video display device 12 for a game, as well as various data and programs of relatively small size necessary for backing up the operation of the CPU 13a. . If the program memory 13b is a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk drive, character data, image data, etc. may be recorded there.
The clock circuit 13e oscillates clock pulses necessary for performing time management from the start of the game to game over, other time management necessary for the progress of the game, and the like.
A game program for game execution is installed in the program memory 13b, and the CPU 13a calculates the game program in cooperation with the program memory 13b and the work RAM 13c in response to a game control signal from the game operation unit 11. The calculation result is displayed on the display device 12 via the image processing circuit 14 as a game image.

The card identification information memory 19 stores identification information of at least one type of card determined in advance.
The card print information capturing device 17 is configured by a scanner or a digital camera, and captures print information on the surface of the card 24 presented by the player.
The card recognition device 18 compares and collates the card print information taken in by the card print information take-in device 17 with the card identification information recorded in the card identification information memory 19, thereby presenting the card presented by the player. 24 types are identified, and a card recognition signal corresponding to the type of the card is output.
In the program memory 13b, at least one game program is recorded in association with a specific card recognition signal.
The game calculation control device 13 reads a game program corresponding to a specific card recognition signal output from the card recognition device 18 from the program memory 13b, and follows the game program and receives a game control signal from the game operation unit 11. The game calculation is performed in response to the calculation result, and the game image is displayed on the video display device 12 via the image processing circuit 14 based on the calculation result.

As shown in FIG. 2, the video game apparatus 1 according to the present invention is preferably provided with a communication circuit 21, and the card identification information recorded in the card identification information memory 19 is downloaded from the database 23 a of the central server apparatus 23. The card is configured so that it can be updated by the card identification information.
Alternatively, the card identification information memory 19 itself may be provided in the database 23 a that can communicate with the video game apparatus 1.

  Although not depicted in the illustrated embodiment, the video game apparatus 1 is provided with a magnetic data writing / reading device, and the card 24 is configured to record magnetic data that can be read and written, It is also recommended that the magnetic data be used together with the print information of the card 24.

An expiration date may be displayed on the card 24, and a game may not be played depending on the card after the expiration date.
Further, the use limit is recorded on the card 24, and the record of the use limit is decremented for each play. When the remaining use limit recorded on the card is not 0, the use limit signal is The video game apparatus 1 may be activated and the game fee may be exempted.
Specific examples will be described below.

The character sticker attached as a candy appendix or a bonus (in the present invention, the sticker is also considered as a card), in cooperation with a confectionery sales company, to develop a card game using the characters written on the sticker Exchange the contract.
Corresponding to each character seal, card game data provided at the game center is set and registered in the database 23a of the central server device 23 shown in FIG.
The game center video game apparatus 1 connected to the database 23a via a network is provided with a card print information capturing device 17 for scanning the surface images of the stickers and cards. Then, the image of the sticker brought by the player is scanned after the game starts, and the scanned video information is acquired through the network and collated with the video information recorded in the card recognition information memory 19, and as a result, for example, 90% If there is matching video information, information necessary for the game corresponding to the matching video information is acquired via the network for the read sticker and recorded in the program memory 13b.
When the sticker is thus scanned and the necessary number of pieces of game information are acquired, the player can execute the game using the game information corresponding to the read sticker.
For example, if the image of the scanned sticker belongs to a certain person, the game can proceed with that person as the operation character of the game. You can progress the game with your sword.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of the player and the operation of the game device when playing a game using such a character sticker.

Among the cards that are sold in large numbers as card games, the ones that have already been sold for a considerable period of time, and the sales and popularity have declined, select the ones with the most popular characters and those with collection characteristics, Using these cards, data for a computer card game is set so that a game can be played on a consumer game device, and this data is registered in the database 23a of the central server device 23.
A card print information capturing device 17 having a function of scanning an image printed on the surface of the cards is connected to the home game device connected to the database 23a via a network. This scanner function Is used to scan the title character of the card possessed by the player, and the scanned video information is collated with the data in the card information memory 19 or the video information of the card sticker obtained via the network, and the result matches. If there is video information, information necessary for the game corresponding to the read card is read from the program memory 13b or downloaded from the database 23a, and the game is executed.

Next, an embodiment in which a game is played with the video game apparatus of the present invention using a so-called “baseball card” will be described.
The card used in this game is a baseball player card that is released at the same time that the Pennant Race is held every year, and the photo, profile, results, etc. of a 12-team team 1 player are printed on the surface. On the back, a common logo is printed on all cards that change every year.
This baseball card is planned and put on the market regardless of the present invention, and is not created or used in consideration of the present invention in card contents, design specifications, and the like.

In the present invention, in providing an amusement called a game using the above-mentioned baseball card, first of all, after entering into a business alliance contract with a card sales company and receiving all types of cards on sale, The print information is hard-copied as digital video data by a scanner or the like and stored as digital image data in the database 23a of the central server 23 shown in FIG.
As a game that can be played by the video game apparatus of the present invention using such a baseball card, an action-type baseball game is typically suitable, and the player can use a direction indicator lever provided on the game operation unit 11 or a plurality of By operating a push button and operating players such as batters, pitchers, and defensive players during offense and defense, a game simulating baseball as a video game can be played.
And for each baseball player to be used there, data that quantifies the ability of baseball players such as batting, defensive, running, throwing, ball type, etc. is set with reference to the past results of each existing player. The player data is stored in the storage device 13b or the like in association with the digital video data of the card stored in the card recognition information memory 19.
This association is based on information such as the player's picture and player name in the video data, and identifies that the video data belongs to a player named A, and associates various numerical data of abilities corresponding to the player named A. Is.

A video game apparatus that executes such a baseball game is preferably a case-type game apparatus having a general specification of a tie installed in a game center as described with reference to FIGS. In addition to the video display device 12, the speaker 16, the game operation unit 11, the fee collection device 20, the power supply device, and the like, which are necessary for providing users with a video game for business use, general baseball cards that are not for games Devices and circuits necessary for executing a game using the are newly provided.
That is, a color scanner device 17 (similar to a peripheral device such as a general personal computer) for fetching print information of a baseball card as digital image data into a storage device of a game device, or a server device 23 that controls the system. And a communication circuit 21 for transmitting and receiving data through a wide area information network such as the Internet.

In the video game apparatus 1, the latest game program and game data are recorded in the internal storage device 13b and installed in the installed state at the time of installation. Thereafter, new programs and data are additionally updated. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 6, a new program or the like can be acquired from the central server device 23 and updated. However, even if this is not performed, the game itself can be executed although it is not the latest data.
For example, when the year of the pennant league is changed, the data recorded in the storage device 13b or the card recognition information memory 19 of the video game apparatus 1 is the data of the previous year. On the other hand, since the card of the latest fiscal year is newly released, in such a case, the card data is scanned again, the data is updated, the program is upgraded, and these card data, game The program and other latest data are recorded in the database 23 a of the central server device 23. Then, by providing those game programs and data from the database 23a to each terminal video game apparatus, a baseball game corresponding to the latest version of the baseball card can be provided to the player.

The actual game procedure is as follows.
(1) The player pays the game price by inserting coins or inserting a prepaid card.
(2) When the game is started, the baseball card reading mode is set. It is also possible to cancel this mode, in which case a team prepared in advance is selected to play the game.
When a hand-held baseball card is read, it is played using a team composed of nine starting members.
As shown in FIG. 1, the baseball card is read by placing it at a fixed position on the card print information capturing device (scanner) 17 of the video game apparatus 1 with the print side of the card facing down and pressing a read start button. Executed. This operation is performed for nine different baseball cards. When a baseball card of the same player is read, the player is informed of that fact and the baseball card is not registered.
Even if the card is placed upside down, the apparatus automatically recognizes this and installs a program that can be identified.

FIG. 3 shows a display on the video display screen 12a when the print information of the baseball card is taken in that way.
The card image on the upper right side of the screen is a card image captured by scanning. The lower image on the right side of the screen is an image recorded in advance in the card recognition information memory 19 as a card image, and an effect of displaying the image while scrolling in the horizontal direction like a roulette game is performed.

(3) When the team used by the player is determined, the screen display as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed and the game is started in earnest.
The main game is a general action baseball video game. For example, when the player is on the attacking side, the computer automatically operates the players on the defensive team. That is, the batter hits the ball thrown by the computer pitcher by moving the target cursor with the operation lever of the game operation unit 11 and pressing the hit button at the right time according to the trajectory of the ball. In addition, stealing is performed with a scissor button and an operation lever.
On the other hand, when the player becomes the defensive side, the player mainly operates the pitcher, and designates the ball type and the course with the operation lever and the pitch button of the game operation unit 11 and pitches. The computer is operated semi-automatically by defensive, but some lever operation is required at the timing of catching.

(4) When the pitcher, batter, and runner are to be rescued, after pressing the time button, the selection of relief → throwing is performed. When a team prepared in the game device is used, the selection is made from the players displayed on the monitor.
When a team made by reading a baseball card is used, as shown in FIG. 5, the card print information capturing device (scanner) 17 is used again, and the player's baseball card to be rescued is read here. The program identifies the read player, and uses the player of the game data associated with the image data as a rescue player.

  (5) Since three games can be played for each credit, one game can be played nine times with three credits. In the case of an extension, for example, the game is set to be free up to 12 times.

As described above, in the present invention, the card recognition device 18 recognizes the identity between the digital image of each baseball card registered in the card recognition information memory 19 of the game device and the digital image captured by the scanner 17 of the game device. By determining, it is determined whether the card presented by the player is a registered card or not.
In the case of a baseball card, there are at least 120 cards, and it is necessary to collate all of them. Therefore, although it depends on the processing speed of the computer, it takes a certain amount of time for collation.
Therefore, it is possible to divide the above comparison and collation operations into several stages, perform image simplification processing by mosaicing the images by digital processing, and perform collation by dividing into stages according to the degree of simplification. desirable. That is, first, the images with high degree of simplification are compared with each other through a coarse screen, and the degree of simplification is gradually reduced (= the screen is made finer) so that the candidate images can be efficiently obtained in a short time. You can narrow down.

  Although not shown in the illustrated video game apparatus, the video game apparatus 1 is provided with a magnetic data writing / reading device, and the card 24 is provided with a readable / writable magnetic data recording portion. It is also recommended that the configuration be such that the magnetic data can be used along with the print information on the 24 surfaces.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes all modified embodiments that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art from the above description within the scope of the object.

  Since the present invention is configured as described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to play a game using various types of cards that are distributed and used for purposes other than games. It can bring about sales promotion effect and advertising effect to the business that sells and provides the card, and can greatly increase the utility value of such general cards. It is what you have.

It is explanatory drawing which shows one Example of the video game device which concerns on this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the circuit structure of the video game device which concerns on this invention. When playing a game using a baseball card with the video game device according to the present invention, it is an explanatory diagram showing a mode for taking in print information of the baseball card. It is explanatory drawing which shows the game screen in the case of playing a game using a baseball card with the video game device which concerns on this invention. When playing a game using a baseball card by the video game device concerning the present invention, it is an explanatory view showing the state where time is demanded and a rescuer is adopted. When playing a game using a baseball card with the video game apparatus according to the present invention, it is an explanatory diagram showing a display state of a screen when the game program or the like is updated. 6 is a flowchart for playing a game using a character sticker in the video game apparatus according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Video game apparatus 11 Game operation part 12 Video display apparatus 12a Video display screen 13 Game calculation control apparatus 13a CPU
13b Program memory (storage device)
13c Work RAM
13d ROM
13e clock circuit 14 image processing circuit 15 sound circuit 16 speaker 17 card print information capturing device 18 card recognition device 19 card recognition information memory 20 fee collection device 21 communication circuit 22 data bus 23 central server device 23a database 24 card having print portion

Claims (9)

A game operation unit (11) that is operated by a player and generates a game control signal, a game calculation control device (13), an image processing circuit (14) that organizes a video signal for displaying a game image, and a game The game calculation control device (13) includes at least a CPU (13a), a program memory (13b), and a work RAM (13c). A game program for game execution is installed in the program memory (13b), and the CPU (13a) loads the game program in the program memory (in response to a game control signal from the game operation unit (11)). 13b) and the work RAM (13c) are operated in cooperation, and the result of the calculation is stored in the image processing circuit. (14) in the produced video game device to display a game image on a display device (12) (1) through;
A card identification information memory (19) in which identification information of at least one kind of predetermined card is recorded;
A card print information capturing device (17) for capturing print information on the surface of the card (24) presented by the player;
The card print information taken in by the card print information fetching device (17) and the card identification information recorded in the card identification information memory (19) are compared and collated, and the card (24) presented by the player And a card recognition device (18) that outputs a card recognition signal corresponding to the type of the card,
In the program memory (13b), at least one game program is recorded in association with a specific card recognition signal,
The game calculation control device (13) reads out a game program corresponding to a specific card recognition signal output from the card recognition device (18) from the program memory (13b), and follows the game program and the game operation unit. The game calculation is performed in response to the game control signal from (11), and the game image is displayed on the video display device (12) via the image processing circuit (14) based on the calculation result. A video game apparatus using image information of a printed card, characterized in that   The video game device according to claim 1, wherein the card print information capturing device (17) is a scanner for reading print information of a card set at a predetermined position.   2. The video game apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the card print information capturing device (17) is a digital camera that captures the print information of a card placed at a predetermined position.   The card identification information recorded in the card identification information memory (19) can be updated by card identification information downloaded from a database (23a) communicable with the video game apparatus (1). A video game device according to claim 1.   The video game device according to claim 1, wherein the card identification information memory (19) is provided in a database (23a) capable of communicating with the video game device (1).   The video game device according to claim 1, wherein the card (24) presented by the player is a sticker attached to the product as a bonus or an appendix of the specific product.   The video game device (1) is provided with a magnetic data writing / reading device, and the card (24) stores magnetic data that can be read and written. The video game device according to claim 1, which is also used.   The video game device according to claim 1, wherein an expiration date is displayed on the card (24), and the game cannot be played depending on the card after the expiration date.   When the usage limit is recorded on the card (24) and the record of the usage limit is decremented for each play, and the remaining usage limit recorded on the card is not 0, the usage limit signal The video game device according to claim 1, wherein the video game device (1) is activated and the game fee is exempted.

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