JP2010057981A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To determine a fraudulent exchange of an arithmetic processing unit for games and an exchange of a game machine per se in external devices (a ball dispensing machine and a management device for a hall). <P>SOLUTION: The game machine includes a first terminal and a second terminal for outputting information to the external devices from the game machine, determines the validity of a game program before starting controlling progress of a game, outputs game information through the first terminal, and outputs individual information for discriminating the game machine and information on a determined result of validity through the second terminal. The game machine outputs the game information as a signal in outputting the game information and outputs the individual information and the information on a determined result of validity as serial data while concurrently outputting the game information. Consequently, the game machine transmits discrimination information and the information on a determined result of validity to the outside of the game machine without any problem. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a gaming machine such as a pachinko machine or a spinning cylinder type gaming machine.

  Conventionally, pachinko machines are provided with a discharge control device that controls the discharge of game balls and various devices such as a game control device equipped with a game processing unit that controls games on the game board. In particular, in a pachinko machine equipped with a game control device equipped with a game processing device called an amuse chip, a CPU core, main memory, program ROM, etc. (hereinafter referred to as “CPU core, etc.”) ) Is mounted on-chip (integrated CPU core on a common semiconductor substrate), so that it is physically impossible to use a so-called back ROM (program ROM containing a modified game program) In addition to preventing fraud, the gaming arithmetic processing device itself is provided with a game program legitimacy determination function to take more reliable fraud prevention measures.

As a game program validity determination function, for example, when an amusement chip is activated, a game program stored in a program ROM on the chip is read out and encrypted with a predetermined algorithm, and a check generated at the time of the encryption The code and the check code generated in the same procedure in advance and stored in the program ROM are compared, and if they match, it is determined that the game program is legitimate, that is, the game program has not been tampered with. One that starts execution of a game program stored in a ROM is known.
An example of such a conventional gaming machine is disclosed in the following Patent Document 1.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-4950

  By the way, in the pachinko machine provided with the above-described game program correctness determination function, the game program stored in the game processing unit is determined to be correct, but the game processing unit itself is illegal. However, there is a problem that there is no way of knowing this when it is exchanged (including game control device exchange or pachinko machine exchange).

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a gaming machine that can solve the above-described problems.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a gaming machine comprising a game control unit capable of controlling the progress of a game based on a game program.
A first terminal and a second terminal for outputting information from the gaming machine to an external device;
The game control unit
Game program validity determination means for determining the validity of the game program before starting to control the progress of the game;
Game information output means capable of outputting game information based on the progress of the game via the first terminal;
Individual information storage means for storing the individual information that can identify the gaming machine in a non-rewritable state,
Information output means capable of outputting the individual information stored in the individual identification information storage means via the second terminal and the game program validity determination result information by the game program validity determination means; With
The game information output means, when outputting the game information, outputs the game information as a signal,
The information output means is configured to be capable of outputting the individual information and the validity determination result information in parallel with the output of the game information by the game information output means,
When outputting the individual information and the validity determination result information, the individual information and the validity determination result information are output as serial data.

According to the present invention, in a gaming machine having a game control unit capable of controlling the progress of a game based on a game program, the first terminal for outputting information from the gaming machine to an external device And a second terminal, wherein the game control unit determines the validity of the game program before starting the control of the progress of the game, and the game program validity determination means through the first terminal. Game information output means capable of outputting game information based on the progress of the game, individual information storage means for storing individual information capable of identifying the gaming machine in a non-rewritable state, and via the second terminal Information output means capable of outputting the individual information stored in the individual information storage means and the validity determination result information of the game program by the game program validity determination means; When the game information is output, the game information output means outputs the game information as a signal, and the information output means outputs the game information in parallel with the output of the game information by the game information output means. Individual information and the validity determination result information are configured to be output, and when outputting the individual information and the validity determination result information, the individual information and the validity determination result information are output as serial data. The identification information and the validity determination result information can be transmitted to the outside of the gaming machine without any trouble.
Therefore, it can be reliably determined outside the gaming machine whether the gaming machine or the gaming control unit has been illegally exchanged.

It is a block diagram of a game device and a ball lending network. It is a front view of a gaming machine. It is a block diagram of a ball lending machine and a gaming machine. It is a block diagram of a game control device. It is a block diagram of the arithmetic processing unit for games. It is a state transition diagram of the game arithmetic processing unit. It is a flowchart figure which shows the operation | movement for every block of the arithmetic processing unit for games. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the memory content of program ROM and boot ROM. It is a flowchart (1/3) of a ball lending control program. It is a flowchart (2/3) of a ball lending control program. It is a flowchart (3/3) of a ball lending control program. FIG. 5 is a connection diagram of a gaming machine and a ball lending machine equipped with a type A amuse chip and a connection diagram of a gaming machine and a ball rental machine equipped with a type B amuse chip.

Hereinafter, the embodiment of the present invention is applied to a game store (hereinafter also referred to as a “hall”) in which a large number of pachinko machines (a kind of ball game machine, also referred to as a “pachinko machine”; hereinafter referred to as a “game machine”) is installed. An applied embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
A. Overall Configuration of Game Store As shown in FIG. 1, a gaming device 1 according to the present embodiment includes a gaming machine 2 (in this embodiment, a pachinko machine) and a gaming medium lending device provided alongside the gaming machine 2. A plurality of gaming machines 1 (a pair of gaming machine 2 and ball lending machine 3 is counted as one; two in the figure for convenience) are provided. Generally, a predetermined number of gaming devices 1 constitute one island (pachinko island), and game balls are replenished and collected for each gaming machine 2 on each island.

  In the hall, one ball rental management device 4 and a main relay device 5 are provided, respectively, and an appropriate number of card issuing machines 6, a money adding device 7 and a sub-relay device 8 are provided respectively. . These ball rental management device 4, main relay device 5, card issuing machine 6, money addition machine 7 and sub-relay device 8 together with the ball rental machine 3 of the gaming machine 1, together with the additional money information by the prepaid card 9, A ball lending network 10 for collecting and managing ball lending amount information and the like is configured.

  The prepaid card 9 will be described. In general, a prepaid card is a kind of portable storage medium, and an electronic method (an electronic method or a magnetic method or other methods that cannot be recognized by human perception) on a voucher or other object (hereinafter referred to as a “voucher etc.”). For example, valuable value information recorded by means of a method for printing the recorded information that can be read by irradiating an invisible light beam, that is, an amount of money (amount of money “ "Prepayment-type vouchers such as vouchers issued with consideration (generally cash) according to the degree" or including the number of units that are deemed to be converted into other units) Purchases, borrows, or receives services from the issuer of the voucher, etc., or the person designated by the issuer (hereinafter referred to as the “issuer, etc.”) In the case, presented for payment of these price, it refers to those that can be used to deliver other methods.

The prepaid card 9 according to the present embodiment is used to pay for the borrowing price of game media (game balls and coins) used in the game machine where a game machine such as a pachinko machine or a revolving game machine is installed. For that purpose, it means what is used at the game hall. There are two types of prepaid vouchers: one that can only be updated by subtracting the amount each time it is paid, and one that can be added and updated in exchange for additional consideration payment. The prepaid card 9 in this embodiment may be of any type, but in this embodiment, it belongs to the latter type. In other words, the prepaid card 9 in the present embodiment updates the amount recorded on the voucher etc. every time the price is paid, and adds and updates the amount recorded on the voucher etc. every time additional payment is made (“Add "Consideration payment" and "Additional update of amount" are equivalent to a type of prepaid voucher that can be made using the above-mentioned amount adding machine 7).
The card issuing machine 6 newly issues a prepaid card 9 in which the same amount information as the consideration is recorded on a voucher or the like by an electromagnetic method in exchange for the consideration, and the amount adding machine 7 In the issued prepaid card 9, the same amount information as the consideration is added and stored in exchange for the new consideration.

The ball lending management device 4 obtains information (card identification information, issuer information, amount information, etc.) of the prepaid card 9 issued by the card issuing machine 6 from the card issuing machine 6 and issues it by the money adding machine 7 The amount information (including card identification information and issuer information) additionally recorded in the prepaid card 9 is acquired from the amount adding device 7 and the acquired information is issued by the card total sales amount of the hall (by the card issuing device 6). Information (hereinafter referred to as “total sales amount information”) obtained by adding the total amount of money recorded on the prepaid card 9 and the total amount of money additionally recorded on the prepaid card 9 issued by the amount adder 7 In addition to managing the ball lending information from each ball lending machine 3, this acquired information is used as the total amount of ball lending amount for the hall (hereinafter referred to as "total ball lending amount information"). To manage as) called.
Further, the ball lending management device 4 uses validity information (valid game calculation processing device) from each ball lending machine 3 to the gaming machine 2 (more precisely, the game processing processing device of the gaming machine 2). Information on whether or not the game processing unit is equipped with a legitimate game program).

  In order to acquire such information, the ball lending management device 4 performs a periodic polling operation, that is, the address of the card issuing machine 6, the money adding machine 7 and the ball lending machine 3 (for example, in the ball lending machine 3). Is the operation of sequentially outputting information requests while designating the gaming machine 1), and the ball rental management device 4 stores the information acquired by polling and accesses from the card company 11 (for example, In response to the access after the hall is closed), the total sales amount information and the total ball amount information are notified, and if necessary, each gaming machine 2 (more precisely, for each gaming machine 2's gaming) The validity information of the arithmetic processing unit) is also notified to the card company 11. The notification information can be taken out of the ball lending management device 4 to a hole management device (for example, a hall computer described later) and confirmed, and the notification information is displayed on the ball lending management device 4. It is also possible to check by providing a part.

  The main relay device 5 performs data connection between the ball lending management device 4 and the card issuing machine 6, the money adding machine 7, and the ball lending machine 3 via the sub-relay device 8. The main relay device 5 Are connected by wire (for example, Ethernet (registered trademark)), and between the main relay device 5 and the sub relay device 8, as well as the sub relay device 8 and the card issuing machine 6, and the money adding machine. 7 and the ball lending machine 3 are connected by wireless (for example, infrared rays or radio waves). The reason for wireless connection is to increase the flexibility of layout in the halls of the gaming device 1, the card issuing machine 6, and the money adding machine 7. If the trouble of redrawing the cable due to the layout change is not taken into consideration, the main relay device 5, the sub relay device 8, the card issuing machine 6, the money adding machine 7 and the ball lending machine 3 may be wired. By the way, the number of sub-relay devices 8 installed is an appropriate installation position where wireless connection can be made among all the card issuing machines 6, the money adding machine 7 and the ball lending machine 3 in the hall, for example, in the case of infrared communication If there is an installation position where all the communication partners can see from the secondary relay device 8, the number of installations can be one.

B. Next, a payment mechanism between the card company 11 and the hall will be briefly described. As described above, the card company 11 accesses the ball lending management device 4 periodically or at any time, and the total sales amount corresponding to the total sales amount of the card recorded in the prepaid card 9 by the card issuing machine 6 or the money addition machine 7. Collect and grasp information and total sphere lending amount information lent by using the prepaid card 9. Then, the card company 11 asks the hall to pay the amount indicated by the total sales amount information, while the hall asks the card company 11 to pay the amount indicated by the total ball lending amount information. As a result, settlement is performed between the hall and the card company 11.

C. FIG. 2 is a view showing the gaming apparatus 1 (corresponding to an enlarged view of the gaming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1). The gaming apparatus 1 includes the gaming machine 2 and the gaming machine 2 as described above. And a ball lending machine 3 attached to. The gaming machine 2 is provided below a frame-shaped front frame 71, a metal frame (glass frame) 72 that supports glass, a game board 73 in which a game area is formed, a front display panel 74, and a front display panel 74. The front frame 71 is supported to be openable and closable with respect to a wooden machine frame (not shown) on which the gaming machine 2 is installed, and the metal frame 72 is opened and closed to the front frame 71. Supported as possible.

  One end of the display panel 74 is supported by the front frame 71 so as to be openable and closable, and an upper plate 81 for receiving a prize ball and a rental ball is formed, and the ball of the upper plate 81 is moved to a ball storage plate (also called a tray) An opening / closing lever 83 is provided for opening and closing a passage connecting the two. On the upper plate 81, a balance indicator 81a for displaying the unused amount of the prepaid card, a ball lending indicator 81b for displaying a ball lending possible state (a state in which the prepaid card has an unused amount and no fraud is detected). The ball lending switch 81c operated when requesting the ball lending machine 3 for a predetermined amount of ball lending and the return switch 81d operated when requesting the return of the prepaid card (discharge from the ball lending machine 3) Is provided. These balance indicator 81a, ball lending possible indicator 81b, ball lending switch 81c and return switch 81d correspond to the game medium lending operation unit described in the gist of the invention.

  The operation panel 75 is provided with an ashtray 84 and the above-described sphere storage tray 82, and is provided with a sphere extraction lever 85 for extracting the sphere stored in the sphere storage tray 82 downward. Further, an operation handle 86 for launching a ball is provided on the right end side of the operation panel 75. The game board 73 is formed with a game area in which a substantially circular area on the front surface is surrounded by a guide rail 88, and a plurality of rows of identification information (so-called special symbols; hereinafter referred to as “special figures”) are arranged in the game area. Special display device 89 for variable display, special variable winning device 90 having a large winning opening, special drawing starting port 91, a plurality of general winning ports 94, a plurality of hitting direction changing members 96 called windmills, and left and right side lamps 97 98, out hole 99 and the like. In addition, one of the above-described general winning openings 94 is arranged at the upper part of the special figure display device 89, and below that, four special figure start memory displays for displaying the number of special figure start memories. 105 is provided.

  The special figure starting port 91 is provided with a special figure starting switch 101 (see FIG. 4 for switch symbols; the same applies hereinafter), and the plurality of general winning openings 94 are provided with a winning switch 102 for each winning opening. Yes. Further, a continuation switch 103 is provided in the continuous winning channel in the large winning opening of the special variable winning device 90, and a count switch 104 is provided in the general winning channel of the special variable winning device 90. The special figure start switch 101 detects that a ball has won the special figure start port 91, and the win switch 102 detects that a ball has won each of the plurality of general winning ports 94. In addition, the count switch 104 detects all balls that have entered the grand prize opening of the special variable prize winning device 90, and the continuous switch 103 detects a ball that has been continuously awarded (so-called V prize) among the balls that have entered the big prize opening. .

  The game area of the game board 73 is provided with a number of obstacle nails called top nails and armor nails (not shown). In addition, the game board 73 is provided with other various decorative lamps, LEDs, and the like. Further, in this embodiment, the types of game areas in the game board 73 are those belonging to the so-called “first type”, but other types, that is, “second type”, “third type”, or The present invention can also be applied to those belonging to “other species”.

  On the other hand, the ball lending machine 3 has an infrared light receiving window 3a (provided on the front surface of the transmitter / receiver 24 in FIG. 3), a prepaid card insertion slot 3b (into the card insertion slot of the card R / W device 26 in FIG. 3). And a display window 3c (provided on the display surface of the display device 27 in FIG. 3) for displaying the unused amount of the prepaid card and the unauthorized state.

D. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a gaming apparatus 1 including a gaming machine 2 and a ball lending machine 3. The gaming machine 2 includes a gaming control apparatus 12 (details will be described later), and the gaming control apparatus 12 An external communication terminal 13, a discharge control device (corresponding to the discharge control unit described in the gist of the invention) 14, a discharge device 15, a relay board 16, and a connection terminal 17 provided on the relay board 16. For example, a balance indicator 81a made of, for example, a three-digit 7-segment element provided on the upper plate 81, a ball lending possible indicator 81b made of, for example, an LED, a ball lending switch 81c, and a return switch 81d are provided. In addition to this, a power supply device, a launch control unit, a launch control device, a display control device, a decoration control device, and the like are provided, but are omitted for convenience of illustration.

  On the other hand, the ball lending machine 3 includes a one-chip microcomputer 18, an oscillator 19, a nonvolatile memory (corresponding to the storage means described in the gist of the invention) 20, an output interface 21, an input interface 22, a communication control device 23, and a transceiver 24. , A card R / W (read / write) control device 25, a card R / W device 26, a display 27, a chip terminal (corresponding to the second connection portion described in the gist of the invention) 28 and a ball lending terminal (invention) 29) (corresponding to the first connecting portion described in the above). In addition, the alphabetical code (ad) with a circle in a figure shows that the signal line | wire of the same code | symbol is connected.

  The one-chip microcomputer 18 corresponds to the lending control means, the control unit judging means, and the lending state management means described in the gist of the invention, and executes a later-described ball lending control program (see FIGS. 9 to 11). A ball lending control and an amuse chip (a game processing unit 200 to be described later; equivalent to a game control unit described in the gist of the invention) are performed for legitimacy determination processing, fraudulent exchange determination processing for the chip, and the like. An operating clock for the microcomputer 19 is generated.

  The non-volatile memory 20 is a storage device that can hold stored contents even while the power is turned off. For example, the nonvolatile memory 20 is an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Memory) or a battery-backed volatile semiconductor memory (SRAM). Etc.). This non-volatile memory 20 is identification information for determination (reference information for individual identification of an amuse chip) input from an external device (in this embodiment, the ball rental management device 4) as necessary. , Corresponding to the determination information described in the gist of the invention; hereinafter referred to as “determination ID code”) is written and held in a predetermined storage area.

  The output interface 21 and the input interface 22 control data input / output between an internal bus (not shown) of the one-chip microcomputer 18, the communication control device 23 and the card R / W control device 25, and a chip terminal 28 controls the data input / output between the ball rental terminal 29 and the internal bus of the one-chip microcomputer 18. The output interface 21 and the hall management device (hereinafter referred to as the hall computer 30) may be connected as shown in the figure to output required information to the hall computer 30. In this case, the required information may include ball rental information, legitimate information of the amuse chip, unauthorized exchange information of the chip, status information of the ball lending machine 3 (valid / invalid information of the ball lending function), and the like. it can. The above ball lending information may represent the amount of money (for example, 1 pulse = 100 yen, n pulse = n × 100 yen) by the number of pulses.

  The communication control device 23 controls wireless communication (in this embodiment, infrared communication but wireless communication) performed between the transmitter / receiver 24 and the sub-relay device 8, and the card R / W The control device 25 controls reading and writing of stored information (security information and money amount information such as individual identification information and issuer information of the card) of the prepaid card inserted into the card R / W device 26, and also the prepaid card Control the prohibition of discharge or insertion.

  The chip terminal 28 is connected to the internal bus of the one-chip microcomputer 18 through the output interface 21 and the input interface, and a later-described second terminal is provided between the chip terminal 28 and the external communication terminal 13 of the gaming machine 2. By connecting with the harness 31, a management information request exchanged between the one-chip microcomputer 18 and the gaming arithmetic processing unit 200 of the gaming machine 2 (validity of an ID code or a gaming program performed on the gaming machine 2) Sex determination result acquisition request; request source is ball lending machine 3) and management information response (response to request source, ie, ID code returned from gaming machine 2 and game program validity determination result) Can be done.

  Similarly, the ball lending terminal 29 is also connected to the internal bus of the one-chip microcomputer 18 via the output interface 21 and the input interface, and the ball lending terminal 29 and the connection terminal 17 of the gaming machine 2 are connected to each other. By connecting them with a first harness 32 described later, various information exchanged between the one-chip microcomputer 18 and the relay board 16 of the gaming machine 2 (lending requests from the gaming machine 2, Lending response, balance display, and information for display of ball lending) can be transmitted.

  Here, the chip terminal 28 and the ball lending terminal 29 are placed at appropriate positions that do not hinder the connection work of the first harness 32 and the second harness 31 described later (for example, at a predetermined interval on the back side of the ball lending machine 3). And the other is arranged on the back surface and the other on the side surface, etc., independently of each other, and the physical shapes of the two are different. For example, the physical shape of the chip terminal 28 is a modular shape, and the physical shape of the ball lending terminal 29 is a D-sub shape. This is because a connection mistake between the first harness 32 and the second harness 31 can be reliably prevented by making the physical shapes of the chip terminal 28 and the ball lending terminal 29 different. In addition, it is desirable to apply this concept (the physical shapes of the two differ) to the external communication terminal 13 and the connection terminal 17 of the gaming machine 2. This is because the first harness 32 and the second harness 31 are also connected to the external communication terminal 13 and the connection terminal 17.

  The first harness 32 includes a number of signal lines 32a necessary for transmission of signals exchanged between the ball lending terminal (first connection portion) 29 of the ball lending machine 3 and the connection terminal 17 of the gaming machine 2, Similarly, the second harness 31 includes a chip terminal (second connection portion) 28 of the ball lending machine 3 and the gaming machine 2. The number of signal lines 31a required for transmission of signals exchanged with the external communication terminal 13 and connectors (connection terminals) 31b and 31c attached to both ends of the signal line 31a.

  The shape of the connectors 32b and 32c of the first harness 32 and the shape of the connectors 31b and 31c of the second harness 31 must be adapted to the shape of each connection destination terminal. For example, when the ball lending terminal 29 and the connection terminal 17 are formed in a D-sub male shape, the connectors 32b and 32c of the first harness 32 are formed in a D-sub female shape. If the terminal 28 and the external communication terminal 13 are formed in a modular male shape, the shape of the connectors 31b and 31c of the second harness 31 becomes a modular female type.

  A “harness” generally refers to a wiring component formed by bundling a plurality of signal lines and connecting connectors at both ends thereof, but is not limited to this structure. For example, a plurality of signal lines may be combined into a strip shape, or a printed wiring may be provided on a flexible strip-shaped thin film material. Further, the number of signal lines and printed wirings is not particularly limited. There may be only one, that is, information may be sent in a time-sharing manner using a single line, or information may be sent as serial data. Further, the type of signal line is not particularly limited. Of course, it may be a single-wire metal conductor, a coaxial wire, or an optical fiber.

  The gaming machine 2 and the ball lending machine 3 having such a configuration receive the amount information and security information of the prepaid card inserted into the card R / W device 26 of the ball lending machine 3 under the control of the one-chip microcomputer 18. The card R / W device 26 reads out, and in particular the amount information of the read information is sent to the gaming machine 2 through the first harness 32, and the balance indicator 81a provided on the upper plate 81 of the gaming machine 2 Can be displayed.

  When the player confirms the display on the balance indicator 81a and presses the ball lending switch 81c, that is, when a lending request is performed, a signal indicating the lending request (hereinafter referred to as a “lending request signal”) is displayed in the first harness. The amount information of the prepaid card is reduced by the card R / W device 26 according to the operation of the ball lending switch 81c (for example, under the control of the one-chip microcomputer 18) 200 yen for each operation; this amount can be set for each hall) and is also updated to the discharge control device 14 of the gaming machine 2 via the first harness 32 to represent a lending response corresponding to the above operation (hereinafter “lending” A response signal ”is sent, and under the control of the discharge control device 14, a number of game balls corresponding to the above operation are discharged from the discharge device 15 to the upper plate 81 of the gaming machine 2.

  When the amount information of the prepaid card becomes zero, the unused amount of the balance indicator 81a is set to zero, the prepaid card is discharged from the card R / W device 26, and the ball lending possible indicator 81b. Is in a non-ball rental state (for example, turned off). Further, even when the return switch 81d is pressed, the prepaid card is discharged from the card R / W device 26 as a matter of course.

  The ball lending machine 3 has not only the above-mentioned ball lending function but also a function for determining the validity of the amuse chip. This legitimacy determination function includes information (ID code of the game processing unit 200) that contributes to the individual identification of the amuse chip from the game processing unit 200 of the game control device 12 via the second harness 31, and the game calculation. Information that contributes to the validity determination of the game program stored in the processing device 200 (game program validity determination result information executed by the game processing device 200) is acquired, and the nonvolatile memory of the ball lending machine 3 is acquired in advance. The ID code for determination stored in 20 and the above ID code are compared, and if they match, it is determined to be OK (determined to be an amusement chip of a specific individual; hereinafter referred to as “true”), and if they do not match, NG (Determining that it is an amusement chip of another individual with a different ID code; hereinafter referred to as “false”), and further determining the validity of the acquired gaming program According to the result, OK (determined as an amusement chip storing a legitimate game program; true) and NG (determination as an amusement chip storing an illegal game program; false) are determined. The ball lending function is enabled when determined, while the ball lending function is disabled when NG is determined (ie, the ball lending machine 3 is disabled) (in this case) , The state is notified to the ball lending management device 4 together with the stop).

  Then, the ball lending machine 3 responds to an information request from the ball lending network 10 and information related to the identification and determination processing (information on whether or not it is a specific individual amusement chip storing a legitimate game program) Also, it has a function of sending the information related to the above-mentioned ball lending function (prepaid card amount information, security information and ball lending amount information) to the requesting ball lending management device 4.

  Setting of the determination ID code (determination identification information) in the non-volatile memory 20 of the ball lending machine 3 is artificially performed by remote operation from the ball lending management device 4. Specifically, when the gaming machine 2 is replaced, when the replaced gaming machine 2 is a specific model, that is, the amusement chip mounted on the gaming machine 2 is a specific type (the type described at the beginning). In the case of A), the same ID code as that of the amusement chip (ascertained by the delivery manufacturer) is set in the ball lending management device 4 together with the address of the gaming machine 2. Then, by pressing an ID code write start button (not shown) provided on an operation panel (not shown) of the ball rental management device 4, the ball rental machine attached to the gaming machine 2 at the address from the ball rental management device 4 3 receives an ID code setting request. Upon receiving this ID code setting request, the ball lending machine 3 uses the ID code sent at the same time as the request for identification of the individual amuse chip. The identification information is written in a predetermined area of the nonvolatile memory 20.

  Therefore, for example, when an amusement chip (or the game control device 12 or the gaming machine 2) is illegally exchanged, a determination ID code written in the nonvolatile memory 20 and a game attached to the ball lending machine 3 are provided. Since the ID code of the amusement chip of the machine 2 no longer matches, the ball lending machine 3 can determine the coincidence / mismatch so that an illegal exchange can be detected without fail. It is possible to send information to the network 10 and display a warning on the display 27 provided on the front surface of the ball lending machine 3, and quickly disable the ball lending machine 3 to stop the ball lending control. And avoid the economic loss of the hall.

  On the other hand, the replaced gaming machine 2 is a model other than a specific model, that is, the amusement chip mounted on the gaming machine 2 is a type other than a specific type (see type A described at the beginning) (described at the beginning). In the case of Type B), a predetermined dummy ID code is set in the ball rental management device 4 together with the address of the gaming machine 2. Then, by pressing the start button, the ball lending management device 4 sends an ID code setting request to the ball lending machine 3 attached to the gaming machine 2 at the address. The received ball lending machine 3 writes the ID code (in this case, a dummy ID code) sent simultaneously with the request in a predetermined area of the nonvolatile memory 20.

Here, the dummy ID code is an ID code having a content corresponding to an initial value of the nonvolatile memory 20 (for example, EEPROM blank data). By writing this dummy ID code into the nonvolatile memory 20, the stored contents of the nonvolatile memory 20 can be returned to the initial values. Therefore, the stored contents of the non-volatile memory 20 are examined by the ball lending machine 3, and when the initial value (dummy ID code) is obtained, the above-described determination operation is not performed, so that the gaming machine after the replacement Even when 2 is a model other than a specific model, at least the lending control function of the ball lending machine 3 can be used without hindrance. It is preferable to provide a dummy ID code generation circuit inside the ball lending management device 4 because it saves the trouble of manually setting the code one by one.
Thus, in the present embodiment, the determination ID code is used as setting information described in the gist of the invention. That is, the determination ID code is commonly used as setting information and determination information described in the gist of the invention. The setting information and the determination information are not limited to common use, and the setting information may be provided separately. For example, the setting information is set as a specific code, and the specific code and the determination ID code as determination information are set in the nonvolatile memory 20. When a specific code is set in the nonvolatile memory 20, the ID code of the amuse chip is determined based on the determination ID code set in the nonvolatile memory 20. When a dummy ID code is set, the ID code is not determined.

E. Configuration of Game Control Device FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the game control device 12. The game control device 12 includes an amuse chip (game processing device 200) for performing an accessory control necessary for a pachinko game, etc., and an oscillator 111 that divides a highly accurate oscillation frequency to generate a predetermined clock signal CLK. , Further dividing CLK to generate a reset signal RST having a predetermined period (for example, 2 ms period), an input interface 113 for inputting various sensor signals, and an output interface 114 for outputting various driving signals; A sound generator 115 that generates sound effects (electronic sound and synthesized sound) necessary for the game, and an amplifier that amplifies the sound effect signals from the sound generator 115 and outputs the amplified sound signals to speakers 116 provided at appropriate locations of the gaming machine 2 117 and the external communication terminal 13, and the space between the external communication terminal 13 and the ball lending machine 3 is Connected by the harness 31, and between the external communication control circuit 220 (see FIG. 5) of the gaming arithmetic processing device 200 and the chip terminal 28 (see FIG. 3) of the ball lending machine 3 through the second harness 31. Enable signal transmission.

  The input interface 113 selectively receives each signal from each winning sensor provided on the game board 73, that is, the special figure start switch 101, the winning switch 102, the continuation switch 103, and the count switch 104, and the arithmetic processing unit for gaming. 200 is input to the external bus interface 204 (see FIG. 5), and the selection operation is performed in accordance with chip select signals CS0 to CS7 (see FIG. 5) from the game arithmetic processing unit 200. Note that “1 to n” described in the rectangular figure representing the winning switch 102 indicates that n winning switches 102 are provided. However, n is the number of the general winning openings 94.

  The output interface 114 outputs signals taken from the external bus interface 204 (see FIG. 5) of the gaming arithmetic processing device 200 to each part of the gaming machine 2, that is, the external information terminal 118, the display control device 119, and the special figure start memory display. Is selectively output to the device 105, the special prize opening solenoid 121, the discharge control device 14, the decoration control device 123, and the like, and the selection operation is the same as the input interface 113, and the chip select signal from the game processing unit 200 is used. This is performed according to CS0 to CS7 (see FIG. 5).

  By the way, the function of each part will be described. The external information terminal 118 is for outputting game information to the hall computer 30, the display control device 119 is for performing display control of the special figure display device 89, and the special figure. The start memory indicator 105 is for displaying the start memory number of the special figure, the big prize opening solenoid 121 is for opening and closing the big prize opening of the special variable prize winning device 90, and the discharge control device 14 is for the discharge device 15. The decoration control device 123 is for driving and controlling the discharge of game media (game balls), and the decoration control device 123 is for performing lighting control of decoration lamps, LEDs and the like of each part of the game board.

F. Configuration of Game Processing Unit FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the game processing unit 200. The game processing unit 200 is divided into a game block 200A for performing game control and a management block 200B for managing information. The components of each block described below are mounted on a common semiconductor substrate to form a single chip. An amusement chip manufactured by packaging (synonymous with amuse chip). The game block 200A includes components such as a CPU core 201, a program ROM 202, and a user work RAM 203, an external bus interface 204, a clock generator 205, a reset / interrupt control circuit 206, an address decoder 207, an input / output control circuit 208, a random number. It includes components such as a generation circuit 209, a reset timing unit 210, and an attribute register 211, and a CPU bus 212 that connects these components.

Although not shown, the CPU core 201 includes various register groups, arithmetic and logic units (ALU), instruction registers (IR: Instruction).
Register, decoder, program counter (PC: Program Counter), stack pointer (SP: Stack Pointer), a data bus connecting them, an address bus, and various control units are included in the core. And based on a game program stored in the program ROM 202 (see the game program 202a in FIG. 8), various functions necessary for game control of the gaming machine 2 are realized in software. The program ROM 202 is a non-volatile semiconductor memory (for example, one-time PROM) in which data is written only once. As shown in FIG. 8, the stored contents are a game program 202a and a check code 202b (game program). Data generated by encryption with a predetermined encryption algorithm). The user work RAM 203 corresponds to the main memory of the CPU core 201, and is composed of, for example, a high-speed semiconductor device such as SRAM, and is used as a work area (work area) when executing processing based on the game program in the game block 200A. Is.

  The external bus interface 204 is connected to the input interface 113 and the output interface 114 in FIG. 4 with a plurality of bits (for example, 16 bits) of external address signals A0 to A15 and a plurality of bits (for example, 8 bits) of the external data signal D0. ˜D7, memory request signal MREQ, input / output request signal IORQ, memory write signal WR, memory read signal RD, mode signal MODE, and other signal interface processes.

  For example, when the external data signals D0 to D7 are added from the outside while the external address signals A0 to A15 are sequentially incremented while the MODE signal is activated, the writing mode to the program ROM 202 is set, and the manufacturer of the gaming machine (Hereinafter referred to as “manufacturer”) or a third party organization can write a game program. However, when the writing of the game program to the program ROM 202 is completed, a write end code is recorded in a predetermined area of a hardware parameter ROM 214 (abbreviated as HW parameter ROM in the figure) described later, When the write end code is recorded in the hardware parameter ROM 214, the game program cannot be written into the program ROM 202.

  Further, when the WR signal is activated while the MREQ signal or the IOREQ signal is activated, the external data signals D0 to D7 can be written to a predetermined external I / O, and when the RD signal is activated, the predetermined external I / O is activated. External data signals D0 to D7 can be taken in from / O. The predetermined external I / O refers to the state of the chip select signals CS0 to CS23 and the state of the WR signal or RD signal among the ports of the input interface 113 or the ports of the output interface 114 or the sound generator 115 in FIG. One element selected according to

  The clock generator 205 generates an internal clock signal based on the clock signal CLK from the outside (the oscillator 111 in FIG. 4) and supplies it to each block of the game processing unit 200 including the CPU core 201. The reset / interrupt control circuit 206 performs system reset of the CPU core 201 in response to a reset signal RST input from the outside (reset generator 112 in FIG. 4), and initializes various resources inside the gaming arithmetic processing device 200. Set to state.

  The address decoder 207 decodes information on the address bus of the CPU bus 212 and generates an internal signal for selecting an I / O resource corresponding to the decoding result. The input / output control circuit 208 controls the active / inactive state of the chip select signals CS0 to CS7 based on the I / O resource selection internal signal from the address decoder 207, and controls one of the ports of the input interface 113 in FIG. One of the ports of the output interface 114 or the sound generator 115 is selected.

  The random number generation circuit 209 generates a random number related to whether or not to add a game value (for example, jackpot) in the game execution process (the random number is used for determining a jackpot or determining a symbol at a stop). A mathematical method (for example, a congruent method or an M-sequence method) for generating a uniform random number is used. The reset timing unit 210 generates a user periodic reset signal for the CPU core 201, and the reset interval is determined by a value set in the attribute register 211.

  The attribute register 211 holds hardware parameter setting values such as a user periodic reset interval. The output port of the attribute register 211 is connected to the reset timing unit 210, and the input port is connected to the management block 200B via the management bus 221. It is connected. Writing of the user periodic reset interval setting value to the attribute register 211 is performed from the management block 200B via the management bus 221, and the setting timing is at the time of the system reset of the game processing unit 200. is there.

  Although not shown, the CPU bus 212 includes a data bus, an address bus, and a control bus. The CPU core 201 and peripheral circuits, that is, a program ROM 202, a user work RAM 203, an external bus interface 204, a clock generator 205, a reset / interrupt control circuit. 206, the address decoder 207, and the random number generation circuit 209 are connected to each other, and are also connected to some components (the boot ROM 213, the hardware parameter ROM 214, and the bus monitor circuit 216) of the management block 200B.

  Next, the configuration of a management block 200B that performs information management in the gaming arithmetic processing device 200 will be described. The management block 200B includes a boot ROM 213, hardware parameter ROM 214, management work RAM 215, bus monitor circuit 216, security memory 217, ID property RAM 218, control circuit 219, external communication control circuit 220, and management bus 221, and a game block The CPU bus 212 extends from 200A, and the CPU bus 212 is connected to the boot ROM 213, hardware parameter ROM 214, and bus monitor circuit 216.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the boot ROM 213 stores a self-diagnostic program, a boot program (hereinafter referred to as “boot program etc. 213a”) of the management block 200B executed at the time of system reset, a predetermined encryption algorithm 213b, and the like. Storing. The purpose of using the encryption algorithm 213b will be described later.

  The hardware parameter ROM 214 stores a predetermined write end code and hardware parameter setting information for setting in the attribute register 211 of the game block 200A at the time of system reset. The write end code is information indicating that the game program 202a is written in the program ROM 202 as described above. The hardware parameter setting information includes the operating speed (so-called clock speed) of the CPU core 201, the used address range (address upper and lower limit values) of the program ROM 202 and the user work RAM 203, and the usage (input) of the chip select signals CS0 to CS7. Use / output), a set value of the user periodic reset interval, and the like. These hardware parameters are read into the control circuit 219 of the management block 200B through the CPU bus 212 and the bus monitor circuit 216 when the system of the gaming arithmetic processing device 200 is reset, and are used as hardware parameter setting values necessary for game control. For example, the set value of the user periodic reset interval is set in the attribute register 211 of the game block 200A via the management bus 221.

  The management work RAM 215 is a storage area for temporarily holding information of the game block 200A read via the bus monitor circuit 216 (such as the storage contents of the program ROM 202 and the storage contents of the user work RAM 203). The bus monitor circuit 216 monitors the state of the CPU bus 212, and when the CPU bus 212 is not used by the CPU core 201 (for example, the system reset period of the gaming arithmetic processing device 200 or the refresh period of the user work RAM 203). If necessary, the program ROM 202 and user work RAM 203 of the game block 200A are accessed via the CPU bus 212, and necessary data (such as the contents of the game program and user work RAM 203) is taken into the management block 200B.

  The security memory 217 is an individual number of the game processing device 200, that is, a unique ID code assigned in advance by the manufacturer (at least a unique ID code among all manufactured individuals of the game processing device 200). In addition to this ID code, various identification information such as information such as game type code, rank code, manufacturer code, model code, and inspection number is stored in a non-rewritable state. is doing.

  Here, the game type code is information for distinguishing between a pachinko machine, a revolving game machine, and the like. For example, “P” is used for a pachinko machine, and “G” is used for a revolving game machine. It is information to represent. The rank code is information indicating the model rank code of the gaming machine (a code for distinguishing the first type, the second type, the third type, or the other type), and the manufacturer code is the gaming machine's model code. It is information representing a manufacturer ID (or manufacturer number) for identifying the manufacturer, the model code is information representing the product code of the gaming machine set by the manufacturer, and the inspection number (or verification code) is This is information representing a number assigned to a gaming machine that has passed inspection by a third party organization.

  The ID property RAM 218 copies and stores all or a part (at least the ID code) of the storage contents of the security memory 217, and at the same time, determines the validity of the game program performed in the boot process described later (FIG. 7). Result information (refer to step P2), that is, "game program validity determination result information" is stored, and the stored content is retained during the power-on period. The copy timing is when the gaming machine 2 is turned on or when the gaming arithmetic processing device 200 is reset, for example, an initialization process (step of FIG. 7) executed in the management block 200B immediately after the system reset. Copy is performed in (see C3).

  The control circuit 219 executes a predetermined sequence to control the operation of the management block 200B. For example, when the system is reset (in the initialization process executed in the management block 200B immediately after the system reset), the security memory The contents of 217 are copied to the ID property RAM 218, the bus release period of the CPU core 201 is detected via the bus monitor circuit 216 during the game, and the contents of the program ROM 202 of the game block 200A (especially the game program) during the synchronization. In addition, the contents of the user work RAM 203 are read and written to the management work RAM 215, and the contents stored in the management work RAM 215 and the ID property RAM 218 in response to the information request command from the ball lending machine 3 (particularly the ID code) And legitimacy of game programs To transfer a constant result information) to the outside, and set in the communication buffer (not shown) of the external communication controller 220.

  The external communication control circuit 220 performs communication between the ball lending machine 3 (see FIG. 3 or FIG. 4) and the game processing unit 200 via the external communication terminal 13 (see FIG. 4) and the second harness 31. For example, in response to a management information request from the ball lending machine 3, information in a communication buffer (not shown), that is, storage contents of the management work RAM 215 and storage contents of the ID property RAM 218 (especially an ID code) Or a control information request from the ball lending management device 4 of the ball lending network 10 (this information) is sent to the requesting ball lending machine 3. The request is made via the ball lending machine 3), and corresponds to the information in the communication buffer (not shown), that is, the storage contents of the management work RAM 215 (particularly the game program). In which or performs control of transmitting a broadcast to the requesting sphere rental management device 4.

G. System Reset Operation of Game Arithmetic Processing Device 200 Next, a system reset operation of the game arithmetic processing device 200 will be described. FIG. 6 is a state transition diagram of the gaming arithmetic processing device 200, in which 230 to 233 are states, and 234 to 243 are transition lines. First, when a system reset occurs due to power-on (transition line 234), the management block 200B executes self-diagnosis and initialization processing (state 230). If the result is NG (transition line 235), a required alarm is issued. Or the like, and shifts to a standby state. If OK (transition lines 236, 237), the management block 200B is set in an idle state (transition line 238: a waiting state for management information request) and stored in the boot ROM 213. The boot program being executed is executed (state 232). The detailed operation of the boot program will be described later.

  If the boot result is NG (transition line 241), a necessary alarm or the like is generated to enter a standby state, and if OK (transition line 242), a boot reset (generation of a start address of the game program) is performed. The game program generated and stored in the program ROM 202 is executed (state 233), and thereafter the game program is repeated every time a user periodic reset occurs (transition line 243). The transition line 239 input to the state 231 represents a management information request from the ball lending machine 3 (or the ball rental management device 4), and the transition line 240 output from the state 240 represents a management information response to the request source. To express. For example, if the management information request is from the ball lending machine 3, the game program validity determination result information and the ID code are returned to the ball lending machine 3, and if the management information request is from the ball lending management device 4. The game program is returned to the ball rental management device 4.

  These management information request (transition line 239) and management information response (transition line 240) are both for the external communication control circuit 220 of the game processing device 200, the external communication terminal 13 of the game control device 12, and the second harness 13. The game processing device 200 and the ball lending machine 3 are exchanged via the chip terminal 28 of the ball lending machine 3.

H. Operations of Management Block 200B and Game Block 200A Next, details of operations of the management block 200B and the game block 200A of the game arithmetic processing device 200 will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operations of the management block 200B and the game block 200A. The operation flow of the management block 200B is shown on the left side, and the operation flow of the game block 200A is shown on the right side.

  As described above in “System Reset Operation of Game Arithmetic Processing Device 200”, the two blocks (game block 200A and management block 200B) of game arithmetic processing device 200 respond to a system reset at power-on. First, the management block 200B starts operation. The operation of the management block 200B is controlled in sequence by the control circuit 219 as follows. That is, the control circuit 219 first executes the self-diagnosis of the management block 200B at step C0, and if the diagnosis result is OK, whether or not the write end code is recorded in the hardware parameter ROM 214 at step C1. judge.

  As described above, since the write end code is written to the hardware parameter ROM 214 when the writing of the game program 202a to the program ROM 202 is completed, the determination in step C1 is basically a program. It is determined whether or not the game program 202a has already been stored in the ROM 202. If the game program 202a is not stored in the program ROM 202, the subsequent game process cannot be executed. Therefore, the process proceeds to step C2, the process of writing the game program 202a into the program ROM 202 is executed, and the flowchart is ended. And waits for the game processor 200 to restart (system reset).

  On the other hand, if the game program 202a has already been stored in the program ROM 202, the stored content of the program ROM 202 is in the state shown in FIG. 8, and the result of “game program validity determination processing” to be described later is OK. The game program 202a is periodically executed by the CPU core 201 (see step P6 described later) to perform the required game control.

  If it is determined in step C1 that the game program has been stored, then in step C3, the initialization process of the management block 200B is executed. In this initialization processing, for example, the management work RAM 215 and the ID property RAM 218 are initialized, the data is copied from the security memory 217 to the ID property RAM 218, and the hardware parameter setting value of the hardware parameter ROM 214 is stored in the attribute register 211 of the gaming block 200A. The process of setting to etc. is performed.

  When the initialization process is completed, next, the boot program stored in the boot ROM 213 is started (see state 232 in FIG. 6) in step C4, and the management block 200B is set in the idle state (transition line 238 in FIG. 6) in step C5. See). When a management information request is received from the ball lending machine 3 during the idle state, a required management information response (particularly, an ID code and game program validity determination result information) is returned to the request source.

  The boot program is executed by the CPU core 201 of the game block 200A. That is, thereafter, the operation of the game block 200A is started. First, the CPU core 201 performs a self-diagnosis of the gaming block 200A at step P0, and if the diagnosis result is OK, an initialization process is performed at step P1. In this initialization process, for example, the process of initializing the user work RAM 203 and adjusting the operating conditions of the game block 200A using the hardware parameters set in the attribute register 211 is performed.

  When the initialization process is completed, a “game program validity determination process” is executed in step P2. In FIG. 8, the determination process is performed by encrypting the game program 202a written in the program ROM 202 by using the encryption algorithm 213b read from the boot ROM 213 in step P2a, and in the case of the encryption in step P2b. The generated check code is compared with the check code 202b written in the program ROM 202 to determine OK (legitimate game program) if they match, or NG (tampered illegal) if they do not match. Game program).

  When the game program validity determination process is completed, in step P3, the game program validity determination result (OK / NG) is stored in a predetermined area of the ID property RAM 218 of the management block 200B, and then in step P4. If the result of the legitimacy determination of the game program is NG, the boot program is stopped (therefore, no game control is performed), and if OK, the process proceeds to step P5 to process the start address of the game program Thereafter, the game control process of step P6 is repeatedly executed at predetermined intervals (reset signal RST cycle; for example, 2 ms).

  When the determination result of the game program is NG, the control of the game block 200A (game control) is stopped, but the control of the management block 200B (idle state) is the same as when the determination result of the game program is OK. It is maintained as it is. For this reason, even if the determination result of the game program is NG, a required management information response (particularly, the validity determination result information of the game program and the ID code) is requested in accordance with the management information request from the ball lending machine 3. It can be returned to the original without any problems. Note that the management block 200B is in an idle state even during the execution of the game control process in step P6.

I. Information contents that can be notified from the game processing unit 200 to the ball lending machine 3 The management block 200B of the game calculation processing unit 200 receives a management information request from the ball lending machine 3 during the idle state (see transition line 239 in FIG. 6). ), A required management information response is returned to the request source. As described above, the management information response is the storage content of the management work RAM 215 or the storage content of the ID property RAM 218. These storage contents may include the following.

<Storage contents of management work RAM 215 and storage timing thereof>
(1) Storage contents of program ROM 202:
For example, the game program 202a. The storage timing is an operation period of the bus monitor circuit 216 (a period in which the CPU bus 212 is not occupied by the CPU core 201).
(2) Storage contents of user work RAM 203:
For example, various kinds of dynamic information related to game control, and the timing of storage thereof is an operation period of the bus monitor circuit 216 (a period in which the CPU bus 212 is not occupied by the CPU core 201).

<Content stored in ID property RAM 218 and its storage timing>
(3) Same contents as the security memory 217:
For example, an individual number (ID code), a game type code, a rank code, a manufacturer code, a model code, an inspection number, and the like of the game processing unit 200 are stored at the time of system reset (more precisely, initialization processing) Time).
(4) Game program validity judgment result:
This is information indicating OK (legitimate game program) or NG (falsified game program), and the timing of the storage is when the result of the legitimacy determination process of the game program performed by the boot program is output.
Any of the above stored contents (1) to (4) can be included in the management information response and sent to the ball lending machine 3. In particular, as will be clear from the following explanation, the validity of the game program Sex determination result information and ID code are indispensable. When a game program request is issued from the ball lending management device 4, the game program is also indispensable as a management information response.

J. et al. Next, the operation of the ball lending machine 3 will be described. FIGS. 9 to 11 are flowcharts of a ball lending control program executed by the one-chip microcomputer 18 of the ball lending machine 3.
After the power is turned on, the ball lending machine 3 first executes an initialization process in step S1. In this initialization processing, for example, initialization processing of the communication control device 23, the card R / W control device 25, and the like is performed. In addition, when the untransmitted data to the ball rental management device 4 remains during the initialization process, the transmission process may be performed.

  When the initialization process is completed, it is next determined whether or not the determination ID code is stored in the nonvolatile memory 20 in step S2. If the determination ID code is stored, the TYPE flag is determined in step S3. If “A” is set to “No” and the determination ID code is not stored, “B” is set to the TYPE flag in step S4. These “A” and “B” correspond to the type A and type B of the amuse chip described at the beginning. However, the actual determination in step S2 is performed by examining whether or not the storage content of the nonvolatile memory 20 is an initial value. The reason is that the storage content of the unused nonvolatile memory 20 is of course the initial value, and even in the used nonvolatile memory 20, the initial value is written by writing a dummy ID code corresponding to the initial value. It is because it can return to. Therefore, when it is determined that the stored content other than the initial value is stored, the stored content may be regarded as an intentionally written ID code for determination.

  Upon completion of the determination ID code storage check and setting of the TYPE flag, next, in step S5, it is determined whether or not there is access from the ball lending management device 4 (access by polling). After performing processing according to the access type, the process proceeds to step S7, and if there is no access, the process proceeds to step S7 as it is. In addition, the presence or absence of access from the ball lending management device 4 is determined by, for example, monitoring the data packet flowing through the ball lending network 10 and the address of the gaming machine 2 attached to the ball lending machine 3 at the destination of the packet. Access is included if it is included.

  If there is an access, first, in step S6a, the access type code included in the access type part of the packet is checked. If the code is a code representing “ID code setting”, the information part of the packet is shown in step S6b. ID code for determination (the ID code for determination set in the ball lending management device 4 by a manufacturer engineer or an inspector of a third-party organization, and the gaming machine 2 attached to the ball lending machine 3 Is the same as the ID code written in the gaming arithmetic processing device 200.) is written in a predetermined area of the non-volatile memory 20 of the ball lending machine 3.

  On the other hand, if the access type code is a code indicating “information request”, it is determined in step S6c whether or not TYPE flag = B. If TYPE flag = B, the one-chip microcomputer is determined in step S6d. The “ball lending information” stored and held in the internal memory 18 is transmitted to the ball lending management device 4. On the other hand, if the TYPE flag is not B, in other words, if the TYPE flag is A, the one in step S 6 e Both “game machine legitimacy information” and “ball lending information” stored in the internal memory of the chip microcomputer 18 are transmitted to the ball lending management device 4. The contents of the “gaming machine legitimacy information” and “ball rental information” will be described later.

  Immediately after the power supply of the ball lending machine 3 is turned on, the “gaming machine legitimacy information” and the “ball lending information” are not yet stored and held in the one-chip microcomputer 18. This is because “gaming machine legitimacy information” is stored and held during execution of step S8 described later, and “ball rental information” is stored and held during execution of steps S11 and S12 described later. For this reason, if there is an “information request” from the ball rental management device 4 when step S8 or step S11 and step S12, which will be described later, have never been executed, valid transmission information is stored and retained. Therefore, for example, it is necessary to transmit a message indicating that valid transmission information is not stored or held to the ball lending management device 4 or to transmit dummy information. When the ball rental management device 4 receives this transmission data (the above-mentioned message or dummy data), the ball rental management device 4 does not make an information response to the ball rental machine 3 that transmitted the data, and shifts to polling for the next ball rental machine 3.

Next, in step S7, it is determined whether the “gaming machine validity determination condition” is satisfied. However, the determination result in step S7 is forcibly “NO” when the TYPE flag is not A, in other words, when the TYPE flag is B. Therefore, the gaming machine legitimacy determination process in step S8 described later is not executed when the TYPE flag = B.
One of the “game machine validity determination conditions” is immediately after the ball lending machine 3 is turned on. That is, when the power supply of the ball lending machine 3 is turned on, the determination result of step S7 becomes “YES”, and the gaming machine legitimacy determination process of step S8 is executed. Another one of the game machine validity determination conditions is input of a predetermined periodic signal (periodic signal generated by dividing the oscillation signal of the oscillator 19). That is, every time a predetermined periodic signal is input (for example, every F seconds when the periodic signal is set to an F second period), the determination result of step S7 becomes “YES”, and the gaming machine legitimacy determination process of step S8 is executed. To do. In addition to these conditions, an “information request” from the ball rental management device 4 may be added to one of the gaming machine validity determination conditions. That is, whenever there is an “information request” from the ball lending management device 4, the gaming machine legitimacy determination process of step S8 may be executed.

  In this gaming machine validity determination process, first, gaming machine information is obtained in step S8a. The gaming machine information is stored information in the management work RAM 215 and the ID property RAM 218 of the gaming arithmetic processing device 200 of the gaming machine 2 provided in the ball lending machine 3, and in particular, the validity determination result information of the gaming program And the ID code. The information acquisition procedure is as follows. First, a management information request signal is generated by the one-chip microcomputer 18, and the signal is output to the output interface 21 → chip terminal 28 (in the figure, output interface 21 → circled a → circled a → The information is transmitted to the management block 200B of the gaming arithmetic processing device 200 through the route of the chip terminal 28) → second harness 31 → external communication terminal 13 → external communication control circuit 220.

  When the management block 200B in the idle state receives the above signal (management information request signal), it reads the information stored in the management work RAM 215 and the ID property RAM 218 (particularly, the validity determination result information and ID code of the game program). The information is returned as a management information response to the requesting ball lending machine 3 through the reverse route. The gaming machine information acquired in step S8a is information returned from the gaming machine 2 in this way.

  When the gaming machine information is acquired, in step S8b, the “ID code” in the gaming machine information is compared with the determination ID code held in the nonvolatile memory 20, and they match (OK: valid). Game arithmetic processing device 200) / mismatch (NG: illegal gaming arithmetic processing device 200 with different ID code). In step S8c, the determination result and the “game program validity determination result information” in the gaming machine information are stored and held in the internal memory of the one-chip microcomputer 18 as “gaming machine validity information” (see step S6e). (If already stored, the stored contents are overwritten).

  Next, in step S8d and step S8f, it is determined whether the determination result of the ID code is NG or whether the “game program validity determination result information” in the gaming machine information is NG. Or when both are NG, an abnormality flag is set to ON (step S8e, step S8g). Next, the process proceeds to step S9, and when the abnormality flag is ON, the abnormality process of step S10 is executed. When the abnormality flag is not ON, the normal process, that is, the prepaid card process of step S11 and the step After executing the ball lending process in S12, the above-described step S5 and subsequent steps are repeated.

  In the abnormality process of step S10, first, an abnormality is displayed (notified) on the display 27 of the ball lending machine 3 in step S10a, and then whether or not a prepaid card is inserted in the card R / W device 26 in step S10b. Check out. If the card is not inserted, the insertion of the prepaid card is prohibited in step S10d, and the ball lending-inhibited display on the ball lending indicator 81b of the gaming machine 2 is displayed. If it is inserted, the card is not inserted in step S10c. After discharging the prepaid card, insertion of the prepaid card is prohibited in step S10d, and a ball lend-inhibited display is displayed on the ball lendable indicator 81b of the gaming machine 2.

  In the prepaid card process in step S11, a prepaid card security information check process, a prepaid card amount information (unused amount) reading process, a display update process of the balance indicator 81a of the gaming machine 2, a prepaid card discharge process ( However, when the unused amount is zero or the return switch 81d of the gaming machine 2 is operated), the display processing of the ball lending possible indicator 81b of the gaming machine 2 is performed.

  In the ball lending process in step S12, a signal (ball lending signal) instructing the discharge of the number of game balls is generated in accordance with the operation of the ball lending switch 81c of the gaming machine 2, and the ball lending signal is used as the discharge control of the gaming machine 2. A process of outputting to the device 14 is performed, and further, a process of subtracting / updating the amount information (unused amount) of the prepaid card according to the number of discharged game balls and the number of discharged game balls (that is, the number of balls lent) Is stored in the internal memory of the one-chip microcomputer 18 as “ball rental information”.

  Here, as described above, the gaming machine correctness determination process in step S8 described above is not executed when the TYPE flag = B, and when the TYPE flag = B, the abnormality flag is turned ON. There is no. Therefore, when the TYPE flag = B, the determination result in step S9 is always “NO”, and only the normal process, that is, the prepaid card process in step S11 and the ball lending process in step S12 is executed.

K. Example of operation of the ball lending machine 3 The ball lending machine 3 operates according to the above-mentioned ball lending control program, but the actual installation work including this operation is performed in specific cases, for example, “when opening a new store”, “opening a new store” It is as follows when divided into the cases of “time (or replacement due to failure)” and “when the power is turned on during the business period”.
<When a gaming machine 2 equipped with a type A amusement chip is installed>
First, an example will be described in which the gaming machine 2 installed in the ball lending machine 3 is a specific model, that is, a model equipped with the type A amuse chip described at the beginning.
(A) At the time of opening a new hall The work at the time of opening a new hall is mostly related to the game equipment (ball rental management device 4, main relay device 5, sub-relay device 8, card issuing machine 6, added money) Machine 7, ball lending machine 3 and gaming machine 2 etc.) are all installed in place, and power cables and other cables are routed, and the backside wiring of gaming device 1 is completed, and game balls to pachinko islands are completed. After completing the necessary preparations such as supply, the game equipment is turned on and various settings and operation tests are performed.

  Here, when the model of the gaming machine 2 provided alongside the ball lending machine 3 is a model equipped with a type A amusement chip (hereinafter referred to as “gaming machine 2A”), the previous “D. As described in the column “,” the gaming machine 2A is provided with a gaming medium lending control terminal (connection terminal 17), an amusement chip individual identification information (ID code), and a game program validity determination result. A terminal for acquiring information or the like (external communication terminal 13) is provided. The first harness 32 and the second harness 31 connect between these terminals (the connection terminal 17 and the external communication terminal 13) and the required terminals (the chip terminal 28 and the ball rental terminal 29) of the ball rental machine 3. By connecting (refer to FIG. 12 (a)), the game medium lending control using the ball lending machine 3 and the amusement chip legitimacy can be performed in the game period that is performed after “power-on during the business period” described later. Sex determination (individual identification of an amuse chip and legitimacy determination of a game program stored in the chip) can be performed.

  By the way, in the new store opening operation, at the stage when the gaming apparatus 1 is turned on, the determination ID code is not yet written in the nonvolatile memory 20 of the ball lending machine 3. Therefore, it is necessary to write the determination ID code first. The manufacturer's engineer, hall administrator or third-party inspector checks the ID code of the gaming machine 2A attached to the target ball lending machine 3 from the technical data issued by the manufacturer, and the ID code and The address of the gaming machine 2A is set in the ball lending management device 4, and a packet for ID code setting including the address and ID code in the information is poured from the ball lending management device 4 into the ball lending network 10.

  The ball lending machine 3 at this time is already turned on, and the ball lending machine 3 executes the initialization process (step S1) and then periodically determines whether or not there is an access from the ball lending management device (step S5). You are in a loop state to execute. In addition, although establishment determination (step S7) of an amusement machine legitimacy determination condition, an abnormality flag check (step S9), a prepaid card process (step S11), a ball lending process (step S12), etc. are performed periodically. The ID code setting process has no direct relationship and is ignored here. The TYPE flag at this time has not yet been written with the ID code in the nonvolatile memory 20 and is an initial value, so “B” is provisionally set (step S4).

  The ID code setting packet poured into the ball lending network 10 is captured in step S5 (determination of access from the ball lending management device) that is periodically executed. In step S6a, the access type = ID code setting is determined. In step S6b, the determination ID code transmitted from the ball lending management device 4 is stored in the nonvolatile memory 20. Then, in the first loop thereafter, it is determined that the determination ID code is stored in the nonvolatile memory 20 (step S2), and thereafter, the TYPE flag is set to “A” (step S3).

(B) When opening a new hall or exchanging due to failure The above determination ID code setting process is performed when the gaming machine 2A provided in the ball lending machine 3 is replaced (for example, replacement of the game control device 12 due to equipment failure). The same is true at the time of opening or reopening of the hall. The difference from when opening a new store is that the ID code for determination remains exclusively in the non-volatile memory 20 of the ball lending machine 3 (therefore, “A” is set in the TYPE flag from the first loop). In step S6b, when the determination ID code transmitted from the ball lending management device 4 is stored in the nonvolatile memory 20, the old determination ID code is overwritten with the new determination ID code. No change at all. The operation when the gaming machine 2A model is changed to a model equipped with a type B amuse chip (hereinafter referred to as "gaming machine 2B") will be described later.

(C) When the power is turned on during the business period Next, the operation when the power is turned on during the business period will be described. When the power supply of the ball lending machine 3 and the gaming machine 2A is turned on, the gaming machine 2A first starts the control operation of the management block 200B, self-diagnosis of the management block 200B (step C0), and determination of the write end code (step C1) The management block 200B is initialized (step C3) and the boot program is started (step C4), and then waits in an idle state (step C5). When the boot program is activated, the CPU core 201 of the game block 200A starts a control operation, and the game block 200A self-diagnosis (step P0), initialization processing (step P1), and game program validity determination processing (step After the process of storing the validity determination result of the game program P2) and the ID property RAM 218 of the management block 200B (step P3), if the game program validity determination result is OK, the process is passed to the game program. Thereafter, the game control process is periodically executed (step P6).

  On the other hand, the ball lending machine 3 executes the initialization process (step S1) during that time, sets “A” in the TYPE flag (step S3), and then determines whether the gaming machine validity determination condition is satisfied (step S7). You are in a loop that runs periodically. In addition, the presence / absence determination of access from the ball lending management device (step S5), the abnormality flag check (step S9), the prepaid card process (step S11), the ball lending process (step S12), and the like are also periodically executed. However, since there is no direct relationship with the game information acquisition process, it is ignored here.

  As described above, the gaming machine validity determination condition is when the power is turned on, when a predetermined periodic signal is input, or when information is requested from the ball rental management device 4. That is, when any of these conditions is satisfied, a management information request is output from the ball rental machine 3 to the gaming machine 2A via the second harness 31. Now, assuming that the processing of step P3 of the gaming machine 2A is completed when the first condition (power-on) is satisfied, the ID property RAM 218 of the gaming arithmetic processing device 200 of the gaming machine 2A stores the ID code and the game. The program validity determination result information is already stored. Therefore, when the management information request is output from the ball lending machine 3 to the gaming machine 2A when the first condition (power-on) is satisfied, the gaming machine 2A receives the “ID code” and the “gaming program” stored in the ID property RAM 218. The management information response including the “rightness determination result information” is returned via the second harness 31.

  If the processing of step P3 of the gaming machine 2A is not yet completed when the first condition (power-on) is established, a valid management information response is not returned from the gaming machine 2A. For example, since the input of a periodic signal and the information request from the ball lending management device 4 are established after a predetermined time after the power is turned on, as long as there is no failure in the gaming machine 2A, it is a matter of course. Then, the processing of step P3 of the gaming machine 2A should have been completed, and therefore, a valid management information response is returned from the gaming machine 2A. There is no obstacle to acquisition.

<When a gaming machine 2 equipped with a type B amuse chip> is installed>
Next, in the same case as described above, an example in which the gaming machine 2B equipped with the type B amuse chip described at the beginning is provided will be described.
(D) When opening a new hall The difference in installation work from the gaming machine 2A is that the first harness 31 is not used. This is because the amuse chip mounted on the gaming machine 2B is not configured to take out the legitimacy determination information of the amuse chip to the ball lending machine 3, as described at the beginning.

  For this reason, when newly installing the gaming machine 2B, the ball lending machine 3 and the gaming machine 2B are connected only by the first harness 32 (see FIG. 12B), Of the functions, only functions (typically lending functions) excluding the amusement chip validity determination function are used. When newly installing a gaming machine 2B, a dummy ID code must be written in the non-volatile memory 20 of the ball lending machine 3 attached to the gaming machine 2B. The stored contents of the non-volatile memory 20 are initial values at the time of shipment from the factory, and can be used as they are. However, for some reason (for example, due to cosmic rays), the non-volatile memory 20 Since it is impossible to deny that there is a possibility that the stored contents of the bit are garbled, in practice, the dummy ID code and the address of the gaming machine 2B are set in the ball lending management device 4, and the ball lending management device 4 An ID code setting packet including the address and ID code in the information is flowed into the ball lending network 10 and written to the nonvolatile memory 20 of the target ball lending machine 3 (憶 contents forcibly returned to the initial value) is desirable.

(E) When opening a new hall or exchanging due to a failure First, the gaming machine (or game control device) exchanged at the time of failure is exchange between the same models, that is, from gaming machine 2B to gaming machine 2B. There is no change in that the second harness 31 is not used after the replacement, and since the dummy ID code is already set in the nonvolatile memory 20 of the ball lending machine 3, it is simply possible to exchange the gaming machines 2B with each other. That's it. On the other hand, the exchange of gaming machines that is performed when a hall is newly opened involves, of course, a model change, so that there may be a change between models equipped with different types of amuse chips. That is, a change from the gaming machine 2B to the gaming machine 2A or a change from the gaming machine 2A to the gaming machine 2B may be performed. In this case, if the model after the change is the gaming machine 2A, the ball rental machine 3 and the gaming machine 2A are connected using the first harness 32 and the second harness 31 (see FIG. 12A), It is only necessary to set the ID code of the changed gaming machine 2A in the ball rental management device 4 and rewrite the stored contents of the nonvolatile memory 20 of the ball rental machine 3, or the changed model is the gaming machine 2B. Then, the first harness 32 alone is used to connect the two (see FIG. 12B), and a dummy ID code is set in the ball lending management device 4 so that the non-volatile memory 20 of the ball lending machine 3 The operation of returning the stored content to the initial value may be performed.

(F) When the power is turned on during the business period Regarding the operation when the power is turned on during the business period of the ball lending machine 3 attached to the gaming machine 2B, the amusement chip legitimacy determination process (step S6) and the amusement chip abnormality Except for not performing the notification process (step S10), it is the same as the description in “c. When power is turned on during business period” described above. That is, the ball lending machine 3 executes the initialization process (step S1), and then checks the stored content of the nonvolatile memory 20 (step S2). If the gaming machine 2B is used, the initial value is stored in the stored content. Since the corresponding dummy ID code is written, by setting “B” in the TYPE flag (step S2), the amusement chip is determined in the following amusement chip legitimacy determination process (step S6) and the amusement chip. The abnormality notification process (step S10) is not executed.

L. Summary As described above, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(A) Application to a gaming machine 2A equipped with a type A amusement chip The ball lending machine 3 of the present embodiment is connected to the gaming machine 2A using the first harness 32 and the second harness 31 (FIG. 12 (a )), A lending control is performed in which a lending request from the gaming machine 2A is received via the first harness 32 and a response (lending response) is returned to the gaming machine 2B via the first harness 32. In addition, a management information request is sent to the gaming machine 2A via the second harness 31, and a response (management information response) is received from the gaming machine 2A via the second harness 31 to the gaming machine 2A. It is possible to perform individual identification of the mounted amuse chip and the legitimacy determination process of the game program stored in the amuse chip.

(B) Application to a gaming machine 2B equipped with a type B amusement chip The ball lending machine 3 of the present embodiment is connected to the gaming machine 2B using only the first harness 32 (see FIG. 12B). In addition, by writing a dummy ID code in the nonvolatile memory 20 and initializing it, the lending control process, that is, the lending request from the gaming machine 2B is received via the first harness 32, and the response (lending) (Response) is returned to the gaming machine 2B via the first harness 32, while the lending control process is enabled, while various processes related to the amusement chip legitimacy determination, that is, the management information acquisition process for the gaming machine 2B and its relation Processing (step S6e, step S8, and step S10) can be invalidated.

(C) Improvement of versatility Accordingly, the ball lending machine 3 according to the present embodiment has the two usages (A) and (B) above, that is, the connection configuration shown in FIG. 12A and FIG. Therefore, it can be applied to other types of game machines 2B equipped with type A amuse chips, for example, game machines 2B equipped with type B amuse chips without any trouble. It is possible to provide a ball lending machine that has a particularly beneficial merit that it does not cause a decline in competitiveness in the market without selecting a type of gaming machine while enhancing functionality and preventing fraud.

  In addition, although embodiment of this invention made the pachinko machine into the example, it is not limited to this. In short, any gaming device installed in a game hall that uses a prepaid card (prepaid card) to pay for the borrowing of game media such as game balls and coins may be used. Other game machines may be used.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, a ball lending system using a prepaid card is taken as an example, and when the information recorded on the prepaid card is read or rewritten, the prepaid card is inserted into the card R / W device 26. Although the type (contact type) in which the reading / writing unit (not shown) of the card R / W device 26 and the information recording unit of the prepaid card are brought into contact with each other is taken as an example, it is not limited to this. As described above, the card R / W device 26 can read the recorded information by irradiating an invisible light beam with an electronic method, a magnetic method, or other methods that cannot be recognized by human perception. Any method can be used as long as it can read and rewrite information using a method for printing the recorded information, and the prepaid card is placed on the read / write unit as well as the contact type described above. It may be a non-contact type that brings the read / write unit and the information recording unit of the prepaid card close to each other. The term “wearing” in the summary of the invention is used to encompass all of these types.

  In addition, it should be considered that the embodiment disclosed this time is illustrative in all points and not restrictive. That is, the scope of the present invention should not be construed restrictively based on the description in the above embodiment. It is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the description of the claims and indicated by the description of the claims.

2 Game machines 3 Ball lending machines (game media lending device)
9 Prepaid card (storage medium)
14 Emission control device (emission control unit)
18 One-chip microcomputer (lending control means, control unit judging means, lending status management means)
20 Nonvolatile memory (storage means)
28 Chip terminal (second connection part)
29 Ball rental terminal (first connection part)
81a Balance indicator (game media lending operation section)
81a, ball lending possible indicator (game media lending operation part)
81c Ball rental switch (game media rental operation part)
81d Return switch (game media rental operation part)
200 Arithmetic processing device for game (game control unit)

Claims (1)

In a gaming machine having a game control unit capable of controlling the progress of a game based on a game program,
A first terminal and a second terminal for outputting information from the gaming machine to an external device;
The game control unit
Game program validity determination means for determining the validity of the game program before starting to control the progress of the game;
Game information output means capable of outputting game information based on the progress of the game via the first terminal;
Individual information storage means for storing the individual information that can identify the gaming machine in a non-rewritable state,
Information output means capable of outputting the individual information stored in the individual identification information storage means via the second terminal and the game program validity determination result information by the game program validity determination means; With
The game information output means, when outputting the game information, outputs the game information as a signal,
The information output means is configured to be capable of outputting the individual information and the validity determination result information in parallel with the output of the game information by the game information output means,
When the individual information and the validity determination result information are output, the individual information and the validity determination result information are output as serial data.

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