JP3439204B2 - Video game equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention allows a player and an opponent character displayed on a monitor to virtually compete with each other,
The present invention relates to a video game device that detects the movement of a simulated racket associated with a player .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a role-playing type battle in which an opponent character displayed on a monitor and controlled by a computer and a self-character which is also displayed on the monitor and operated through a game controller are played. Various types of video game devices are known.

As a controller for operating a self-character in this type of video game device, a hand-held type controller provided with operation buttons and a joystick, and a human body for accommodating a player equipped with an acceleration sensor to detect movements of an arm or the like. A mounting type, an image processing type that analyzes the movement of the player from the imaged means mounted on the game machine housing and the captured image, and a load detection type that detects which of a plurality of step positions is stepped on by the player's load It has been known. Further, there is known a remote detection type in which infrared light is emitted corresponding to the operation area by the player, and the presence or absence of an operation in the operation area is detected by blocking the infrared light with an arm or the like. In this way, by detecting the movement of the player, the game is advanced by giving an instruction to the movement of the self character appearing in the competitive game.

[0004]

However, among the above-mentioned conventional battle-type video game devices, the hand-held type does not provide a realistic sensation, and the human-body mounting type does not require complicated sensor mounting on the human body and smooth movement of the player. However, the image processing type is expensive, and the load detection type has a problem that the type of game is limited because a stepping motion with a foot is performed.

On the other hand, in the remote detection type, although the above-mentioned problems are solved, optical sensors for emitting and receiving infrared light in the vertical direction are respectively arranged at left and right positions of the game machine housing, and the left side light is detected. Sensors are used to detect movements of the left arm or left leg and optical sensors on the right side to detect movements of the right arm or right foot, and sensors are individually placed at the positions corresponding to the operation area. However, there is a problem in that a mounting structure must be provided at each position of the housing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and makes it possible to integrate the sensor structure to be applied to various games, and does not require a direct positional relationship with the game machine housing. and to provide a Ibi Deogemu device.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a ball key hit by an opponent character appearing in the game space is hit.
The motion of swinging a simulated racket that the player holds
Display a tennis game that you can virtually hit back by doing
Front of the game console with the monitor
It is placed at the bottom and tilts downward from the back side to the front side.
A base body having a sensor mounting surface on its upper surface, and a back sensor having a detection range upward at least at three positions of at least a back side position, a middle position, and a front position in the direction from the back side to the front side of the sensor mounting surface. , and a sensor unit for middle sensor and the front sensor is disposed, the sensor sends a detection medium upward, simulated in the base upper receiving dislike of detection medium to be reflected by the simulated racket With a motion detection device that detects the presence of a racket and each sensor of the motion detection device
The type of movement of the simulated racket from the order of detection of
The motion determination means and the motion determination means
Ball hitting back based on the type of movement of the simulated racket
Determine the seed, and based on this pitch, the game program
Therefore, the game progress control hand that controls the progress of the tennis game
And a tennis game controlled by the game progress control means.
Game image table for displaying game images of games on the monitor
And a means for indicating the inside of the sensor,
In the direction from the back to the front, the middle first sensor and the middle second sensor
And the back sensor and the middle first sensor are sensors.
The detection medium is sent out in the direction normal to the mounting surface, and
The sensor and the front sensor send out the detection medium in the vertical direction, and
The sensor, the first middle sensor, and the front sensor have a predetermined length.
The second sensor has a different detection distance.
Bidet characterized by being shorter than the detection distance of the sensor
It is an Ogame device .

[0008] According to this arrangement, provided with a sensor unit to the sensor mounting surface of the upper surface of the substrate, so that detecting the presence or absence of simulated racquet by performing the transmission of the detection medium from the sensor unit, the simulated racket remotely To be detected. Since the base body is provided with the sensor section, it can be handled as an independent article and can be applied to various uses. Further , according to this configuration, since the sensor portion is arranged with an inclination,
The detection medium from the back sensor is also effectively sent to the simulated racket located above or in front of it, and the object can be effectively detected . According to this configuration, display on the monitor
The player operates according to the progress of the competitive game
And the content of this operation is detected and reflected in the game progress.
Be done. Then, according to this configuration, it is associated with the player.
The movement of the simulated racket follows the detection (generation) order of the sensor
It is possible to judge, so by using that type the game
It is possible to add variety to. With this configuration
For example, in a tennis game, various hit balls are virtually
Because it can be realized, it is suitable for application to advanced tennis games.
Become. According to this configuration, the sensor mounting surface is inclined
In addition, since the middle sensor has a two-stage configuration,
It is possible to detect even finer movements of the simulated racket
Becomes According to this configuration, the sensor mounting surface is inclined.
By utilizing the fact that
Set the pointing direction of the sensor on the front side to be different from each other.
With, the detection of the simulated racket located in front is more detailed
Done. According to this configuration, the middle first sensor and the middle second sensor
It is possible to prevent the interference of the detection range with the sensor.

The invention according to claim 2 is the video signal according to claim 1.
In the video game device , the sensor portions are arranged symmetrically on the sensor mounting surface.
With this configuration, even the left and right movements of the simulated racket can be accurately detected.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the video game device according to the first or second aspect , the detection medium is infrared light. According to this configuration, the pointing direction can be easily adjusted, the pointing width can be easily adjusted, and the adjustment for preventing interference is also facilitated.

The invention according to claim 4 is the same as claims 1 to 3.
In the video game device according Zurekani includes a pitch type storage unit which the pitch type and stored in association with the order of occurrence of the detection signal of the Uchikaeshi, the motion determination means, the pitch type corresponding the pitch type storage unit It is characterized by selecting. According to this configuration, since the corresponding sphere type is selected and output from the sphere type storage unit, the sphere type selection process is facilitated.

The invention according to claim 5 is the same as that of claims 1 to 4.
The video game device according to any one of the above, further includes a hit-back determination unit that determines whether or not the ball character is virtually hit back, and the game progress control unit monitors a trajectory of the ball character hit by the opponent character. And
The timing determination means determines whether to strike back based on the correlation between the time when the ball character hit by the opponent character reaches a predetermined position in the game space and the time when the detection signal from each sensor of the motion detection device is generated. It is characterized by doing. According to this configuration, since a missed swing or the like is adopted as the operation timing for virtually hitting back the ball character displayed on the monitor, the player has a sense of realism.
Tennis games can be offered.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the video game device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the game image display means displays the hit-back timing as a guide. According to this configuration, by referring to the guide, the player can easily perform an operation for virtually hitting back.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the video game device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the game progress control means has a detection signal generated by any one of the motion detection devices. It is characterized in that the competition game is started by. With this configuration, it is possible to start the game using the motion detection device.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the video game apparatus according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, a horizontal movement detecting device for detecting a lateral movement of the player is provided, and the game progress control means is a player. The left and right movement information of is used for the progress of the game. According to this configuration,
Furthermore, since the left and right movements of the player are adopted for the progress of the game, the game becomes versatile.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the video game apparatus according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, a forward / backward movement detecting device for detecting forward and backward movements of the player is provided, and the game progress control means is a player. It is characterized in that the movement information before and after is used for the progress of the game. According to this configuration,
Further, since the forward and backward movements of the player are adopted for the progress of the game, the game is diversified.

[0017]

1 is a perspective view for explaining a schematic configuration showing an embodiment of a video game device according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the present video game device includes a game machine housing 10 as a console box having an upright shape.
And a motion detection device 20 arranged on the front side of the game machine housing 10, and a movement detection device 30 for detecting the front, rear, left, and right movements of the player in a play area prepared in front of the motion detection device 20. Have. The mat 40 is laid in the play area and is adopted as necessary.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a pair of left and right components having the same structure and function are arranged so that two persons can play. Hereinafter, the left side portion will be described as a representative.

The game machine housing 10 has a symmetrical shape,
A structure portion for operating and charging charges is arranged in the center, and an upper portion is a crown portion 10 for arranging acoustic and electric decoration members across the left and right.
a is provided. On the left side of the game console 10,
A monitor 11 for displaying an image, which is tilted slightly rearward in the center of the front surface, is installed, and a speaker 12 for sound is provided above the monitor 11.
Is provided. The left and right monitors 11 and 11 'are integrated with each other with a narrow width, and between them, an operation section 13 for each of the left and right and a coin insertion section 1 shared below are provided.
4 are provided. Inside the game machine housing 10, there is provided a circuit board on which a control unit and the like necessary for controlling game operations are mounted.

As the monitor 11, a CRT, an LCD, a plasma display, a liquid crystal projector or the like can be adopted. The operation unit 13 is composed of selection buttons 13a and 13b and an enter button 13c. Coin slot 14
The coin insertion sensor 141 for detecting the presence or absence of an inserted coin in the middle of the coin passage communicating with the insertion slot 14a (see FIG. 9).
(See) is provided.

The game machine housing 10 has monitors 11, 11 '.
The motion detectors 20 and 20 'are installed on the front floor corresponding to the above through a connecting portion 50 having a cylindrical shape for crawling the power supply line and the signal line. Further, in the lower center of the front side of the game machine housing 10, between the motion detecting devices 20, 20 ', the movement detecting device 30 has a tubular connecting portion 60 for crawling a power supply line, a signal line and the like. Is installed through.

The motion detecting device 20 comprises a cylindrical base body 21 and a plate body 22 covering the upper opening thereof. The base body 21 has a shape in which the upper end edge is inclined at about 20 ° from the back side to the front side, and the plate body 22 placed on this is also inclined at the same angle. The plate member 22 has a substantially semicircular shape and is positioned so that the chord portion is located on the front side. A plurality of holes are formed in the plate member 22 at symmetrical positions, and an optical sensor as a remote sensor is embedded in each hole. The optical sensors are one upper sensor 23 provided at the center in order from the back side of the plate member 22,
Two middle upper and lower sensors 24L, 24 provided symmetrically
Two middle and lower sensors 25 symmetrically provided with R
L, 25R and three lower sensors 26L, 26C, 26R provided at the forefront. Each optical sensor is formed by integrating a light emitting portion that emits a beam of infrared light and a light receiving portion that receives the infrared light. The direction of infrared light from each photosensor will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Protective arm 27
Is for preventing the player who is playing from stepping on the plate member 22 with too much momentum, and is formed such that both ends are fixed to the base body 21 and a horizontal portion having a required height.

Speakers 28 are arranged on the right and left sides of the plate member 22 of the motion detecting device 20. Speaker 2
8 is in charge of directing the sound at the time of self-play, and the speaker 1
Reference numeral 2 is in charge of producing the sound of the opponent character displayed on the monitor 11.

The movement detecting device 30 has a box body 31 arranged at the back side at the center of the mat 40 in the left-right direction, and on the left and right side surfaces thereof, the forward and backward movements of the player are more surely taken as the movements of the feet. Two optical sensors 32 and 33 are provided for detection. Further, some of the sensors of the movement detecting device 30 are the plate members 22 of the movement detecting device 20.
It is arranged by utilizing. That is, a pair of left and right optical sensors 34 and 35 that detect the left and right movements of the player as movements of the chest of the player are disposed on the surface of the plate member 22. Each of the optical sensors 32 to 35 has a light emitting unit that emits infrared light in the form of a beam and a light receiving unit that receives the infrared light.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the directivity directions of the respective optical sensors 32 to 35. The optical sensors 32 and 33 respectively send out infrared light to the left as indicated by the arrows so that the player's feet or knees can be detected. The presence or absence of the vicinity is detected (more specifically, the detection direction of the optical sensor 32 is diagonally upward, the detection direction of the optical sensor 33 is substantially horizontal), and the optical sensors 34 and 35 are diagonally upward in the front-rear direction as indicated by arrows. Infrared light is sent toward the player to detect the presence or absence of the player's chest. Each of the light sensors reflects light from the feet or chest of the player and receives the returning light to detect that the player has moved to that position. For example, when the photosensors 32 and 33 (only one of them may receive infrared light) (turn on), the player is moving forward, and when only the photosensor 34 is turned on, the player moves left. Detect that there is. Optical sensor 3
When both 4 and 35 are turned on (or when neither is turned on), it is determined to be in the central position.

FIG. 3 shows each optical sensor 23 of the motion detecting device 20.
26A and 26B are views for explaining the arrangement and the detection (orientation) direction, where (a) is a top view seen from above in the normal direction of the plate member 22, and (b) is a top view showing the rows in the left-right direction. Figure showing,
(C) is a side view showing a detection direction and a distance. In (a), the optical sensor 23 adopts a horn shape having a light receiving characteristic I that spreads in an elliptical shape, and the optical sensors 24L and 24R respectively spread in an elliptical shape and partially intersect at the center.
The horn shape with II is adopted, and the optical sensor 25L, 2
Each of the 5Rs has a horn shape having a light receiving characteristic III that spreads in an elliptical shape and partially intersects at the center.
Each of 6L, 26C, and 26R spreads in an elliptical shape, and has a horn shape having a light receiving characteristic IV that partially intersects at each boundary portion.

Further, as shown in (b), the optical sensor 23
The rows 26 to 26 are arranged in the row direction by at least two rows, and the optical sensor 26L forms a row.
4L, 25L form a row, and the optical sensors 26C, 23
Form a row, the optical sensors 24R and 25R form a row, and the optical sensor 26R forms a row. The reflection of the detection results of the columns from to on the game process will be described later.

Then, as shown in (c), the optical sensor 2
3, 24L, 24R have a detection distance of a predetermined length above the plate body 22 in the normal direction, and have optical sensors 26L, 26C, 26R.
Has a predetermined detection distance in the vertical direction, and the optical sensor 25
L and 25R emit light in the vertical direction and are set to a shorter detection distance than the former two.

In the present embodiment, a known triangulation type optical sensor is used as the optical sensor. That is, from a light emitting section which is composed of a light emitting element and a lens and which emits parallel light, and a light receiving section which is composed of a line sensor as a light receiving element arranged adjacent to the light emitting section and a converging lens for converging returning light on the line sensor. The intersection area is set as the detection distance by directing the converging lens of the light receiving unit so that the directing directions on the light receiving side intersect at a predetermined position in the emission direction of the light from the light emitting unit. When the player as an obstacle or the operation object possessed by the player is located at the intersection point, when the returning light is reflected by this obstacle and received by the light receiving section, the central position of the line sensor in the longitudinal direction. In this method, the received light intensity (amount) is maximized, and thereby the reflection position (detection distance) is calculated based on the triangulation method. When there is an obstacle in the area closer to the light emitting part than the intersection, the maximum position of the received light intensity appears on one side of the line sensor, and when there is an obstacle in the area farther from the light emitting part than the intersection, the other side of the line sensor appears. Since the maximum position of the received light intensity appears, the distance of the obstacle can be calculated from this.

The optical sensor may be configured to detect the presence or absence of an obstacle depending on whether the light from the light emitting portion is reflected by the obstacle and the returning light is received by the light receiving portion. , The detection distance is set by the emission power,
Either a mode in which a threshold value is set for the light reception level or a mode in which light is repeatedly emitted in a pulse shape and is limited by a time gate from each light emission point may be used. By setting the detection distance in this way, interference does not occur in each of the light receiving characteristics I to IV as shown in (c).

In the present embodiment, the video game device is
It is assumed that the opponent character appearing on the screen of the monitor 11 and the player who is the opponent virtually play a tennis game. Briefly explaining the progress process of this tennis game, a virtual three-dimensional game space (tennis field) is monitored 11
A simulated racket (obstacle) that the player held in response to the fact that the opponent character appeared on the screen and the tennis ball character as the game medium hit by the opponent character reached a predetermined position in the game space By performing a motion of shaking the tennis ball character, the tennis ball character is virtually hit back, and the tennis game is progressed. Then, in the present tennis game, the player determines what kind of movement the swinging movement of the simulated racket (type) obtained from the detection results of the optical sensors 23 to 26, and the movement (type) of the simulated racket obtained from the detection results of the optical sensors 23 to 26. It is determined whether or not it has been hit back, and it is added to the progress of the game.

4 to 8 are diagrams for explaining the relationship between the swing of the simulated racket and the type of pitch. In the present embodiment, as the type of ball, FIGS. 4A and 4B correspond to “smash” that is swiftly struck in front of the opponent's court. This is the case where only 23 detects the simulated racket.
5 (a) and 5 (b) correspond to a "lob" in which a mountain-shaped ball falls behind the opponent's court, and swing the simulated racket from the bottom to the top to detect the optical sensors 26, 2.
This is a case where the simulated racket is detected in the order of 5, 24, and 23. 6 (a) and 6 (b) are equivalent to a "drop" in which the ball is dropped to the front of the opponent's court with almost no bounce, and the simulated racket is swung below the ball and the backspin is applied. In this case, the simulated racket is detected in the order of the optical sensors 26 and 25. 7 (a) and 7 (b) are for hitting from the center to the back of the opponent's court by swinging the racket beside the body. When the player is near the net, "volley", and when the player is far from the net. Is called "flat", optical sensor 2
The case where the simulated racket is detected in the order of 6, 24 is “volley”, and the case where the simulated racket is detected in the order of the optical sensors 24, 26 is “flat”.

FIG. 8 is a table showing the relationship between the type of ball and the detection order (pattern), which is stored in the ROM 121 in advance. The order of detection is determined within a predetermined time after the first photosensor detects. Further, as will be described later, when a pattern other than the patterns shown in the table of FIG. 8 occurs, the detection of the sensor shown in the pattern of FIG. 8 is ignored and the pattern determination is performed. For example, within a predetermined time range,
If the optical sensors 23 and 24 are turned on in this order,
Since there are no patterns of “upper” and “middle (upper)”, “middle (upper)” is ignored and judged as “smash”.

FIG. 9 is a control block diagram of the video game apparatus. In FIG. 9, the control unit 100 is composed of a CPU and the like, and integrally controls the progress of this game. The ROM 121 stores a game program and various game images, and also stores table data and the like necessary for processing. The RAM 122 temporarily stores data during processing.

The VRAM 131 updates and stores the image displayed on the monitor 11 at predetermined intervals and reads it. The coin insertion sensor 141 detects the number of coins inserted prior to the start of the game and the authenticity of the coins if necessary.

The control unit 100 includes various function executing units. The game progress control unit 101 controls the game progress using the detection results of the game program, the movement detection device 20, and the movement detection device 30. Prior to the start of the game, the selection processing unit 102 displays a screen for selecting the game type (self-character, difficulty level, etc.) and executes processing according to the selection result.

The left / right movement determination unit 103 includes the optical sensors 33, 3
According to the detection result of 4, it is determined whether the player is located on the left, the center, or the right. The forward / backward movement determination unit 104 determines which side of the front and back the player is positioned, according to the detection result of the optical sensor 32.

The self character movement processing unit 105 moves the viewpoint of the pseudo camera in the game space according to the results of the left and right movement judgment unit 103 and the forward and backward movement judgment unit 104, and strikes the position of the viewpoint of the pseudo camera and the opponent character. Based on the trajectory (and speed) of the tennis ball character and (the closest distance between the two calculated from), whether or not to return the ball (so-called whether or not the racket reaches the tennis ball) is determined.

FIG. 10 shows the self character movement processing unit 105.
It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the process of. Explaining the example of this figure, now, assuming that the current position Po of the self character MC is the right rear of the self court, the expected drop point is the left rear position of the self court from the calculated trajectory Bo of the tennis ball character hit by the opponent character. In the case of B1, when the player leans the body to the left (may be moved to the left) and only the optical sensor 34 is turned on, the self character movement processing unit 105 can hit back from the trajectory Bo and the speed. The position Po of the self character MC is moved to the left. At this time, when the photosensors 32 and 33 are turned on, the current position Po of the self character MC is advanced in the direction of the position Pf, and when the photosensors 32 and 33 are not turned on, the self character M is turned on.
The current position Po of C is advanced in the direction of position Pb. The amount of movement of the self character MC may be made to correspond to the period in which each optical sensor is on, or may be controlled so as to move so as to approach the trajectory Bo without a sense of discomfort.

The strike-back judging section 106 is composed of the optical sensors 23-2.
The correlation between the detection time point of 6 and the time point when the opponent character hits the tennis ball character is at a predetermined position in the game space is determined. In the present embodiment, while the tennis ball character is moving within a predetermined distance range in the game space, the detection signals from the optical sensors 23 to 26 are obtained on condition that the self-character moving processing unit 105 can return the ball. When it is hit, it is determined that there is a correlation, that is, it is hit back.

The hit-back type determination unit 107 determines that the hit-back determination unit 106 has hit the ball,
Based on the detection order of the optical sensors 23 to 26 and the table of FIG. 8, it is determined which type of ball has been hit.

The ball movement calculation unit 108 calculates the movement locus of the tennis ball character hit by the opponent character and the movement locus of the tennis ball character virtually hit back by the self character, and takes into consideration gravity and the like. In addition to the determined ball type, the detection interval of the optical sensor is also used as the swing speed in the movement trajectory of the tennis ball character when the self-character strikes back, and the detection information in the above-mentioned columns 1 to 3 is also used. That is, the simulated racket in the left-right direction, in order from the row, the row,
When it is detected in a predetermined time with the row, the row, and the row surface, (-) is calculated as the maximum distance in the row direction,
Assuming that an amount of "3" is hit to the left, this amount is added to the trajectory calculation of the lateral hit of the tennis ball character.

On the other hand, the movement trajectory of the tennis ball character hit by the opponent character is calculated by using the initial velocity, the direction and the gravity so that the game program in which the normal tennis game rules and the like are reflected will not cause any discomfort. To be processed.

The toss determination unit 109 determines whether or not there is a toss movement when the player is on the service side (so-called hitting a tennis ball that has been tossed). This is when the game progress processing unit 101 is not in the rally state. During the determination, it is determined that the toss has occurred by detecting that any one or at least one of the optical sensors 23 to 26 is turned on.

The score processing unit 110 manages scores according to the rules of tennis competition. Evaluation unit 111
Is for accumulating points for each operation of the simulated racket by the player in the game and accumulating characteristics such as a habit for the operation of the player for each of a predetermined number of items. Further, this characteristic is normalized for display (see FIGS. 27 and 28) at the end of the game.

Next, of the processing in the control unit 100, each functional unit for image display processing will be described. The game space display unit 112 displays various objects (mainly static objects such as tennis courts, nets, and scenery around the court) that are included in the game space and are stored in the ROM 121 in advance, and display the game space on the screen. It is developed and generated. The opponent character, the self character, the tennis ball character, and the bird character as the third party character are developed in the game space.

Each of these objects and characters is composed of a required number of polygons, and RO
Each polygon and texture are stored in M in association with each other. In the display process, polygons within the display range are read out to construct the world coordinate system, and then the local coordinate system with the camera viewpoint and the line of sight as the origin are replaced by using a well-known matrix arithmetic expression (and expansion / contraction, rotation, and hidden). VRAM1 by applying surface treatment, etc., and converting it into two dimensions and pasting texture
This is performed by performing drawing processing on 31. At the same time, the light source calculation process is also executed and the shading is performed.

The character display section 113 displays the opponent character, the self character, the tennis ball character, and the bird character at predetermined positions in the game space or makes them fly according to the progress of the game. The camera viewpoint is appropriately set according to the progress of the game, but the basic position is behind the head of the self character. Note that the player's eyes may be set as the camera viewpoint and the self character may not be displayed on the game screen.

The service timing display section 114 displays a long power gauge image 114a (see FIG. 16) and a power meter image 1 which are vertically oriented in proper positions on the screen during service operation.
14b (see FIG. 16), which can be distinguished from each other, are displayed in different colors, for example, and FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 5, the power meter image 114b is raised and lowered from the lower end to the upper end of the power gauge image 114a, and a single round trip display is performed. The ascending / descending position of the power meter image 114b corresponds to the power at the time of serving (corresponding to the height of the tennis ball tossed in this embodiment). For example, the power meter image 114b.
Reaches the upper end of the power gauge image 114a (when the tossed tennis ball is at the highest position on the screen), if the simulated racket is operated by, for example, "smash", the service is performed at full power. . It should be noted that the power of the service and the success of the service have a preset correlation table, and the correlation corresponding to the power of the service (for example, in random number processing, the number of numerical values indicating success is set in inverse proportion to the power. It has been decided that success and failure will be determined by the probability of success under. Alternatively, only the power may be changed and the success or failure may be all successful.

The guidance display section 115 is for giving advice to the player on the operation contents in order to smoothly advance the game. The ball effect display unit 116 is for performing an effect display for guiding the hit-back timing to the tennis ball character, and for performing a specific effect display for a specific hit-back operation (such as smash decision). The result display unit 117 displays the evaluation result obtained by the evaluation unit 111 in a predetermined form. Timer 118
Is for performing aging processing for measuring various timings.

Next, the game screens shown in FIGS. 11 to 28 will be described. The display of these images is performed by each functional unit of the image display unit. FIG. 11 is a self character selection screen displayed after inserting a coin. A required number of characters are displayed in a list on the selection screen, and a desired character is selected by the selection processing unit 102 by operating the selection buttons 13a and 13b, and is determined by the confirm button 13c. The attribute of the selected character is displayed in the attribute display area 201. The attributes are “power”, “speed”, “technique”, “type” as a special skill, and comprehensive comments. Displaying attributes facilitates selection.

FIG. 12 shows an example of a screen for selecting a difficulty level for an operation. There are "easy" mode and "difficult" mode in operation difficulty, and the contents of those modes are displayed. When the “simple” mode is selected, the pattern shown in FIG. 8 is not used, and if the player swings the simulated racket at a required timing, the control unit 100 automatically creates a pattern according to the tennis competition. The program that advances the game is selected and executed. Moreover, the swing timing of the simulated racket for determining that the player has hit the ball back is also set to a longer time width than in the "difficult" mode.

FIG. 13 is a course selection screen. The course selection corresponds to the strength of the opponent character, and has a predetermined number of difficulty levels, from "Easy" to "Pro" in this embodiment.
There are 4 levels of difficulty. The strength of the opponent character is changed depending on the selected course, so that a game that does not get tired is provided.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the game start screen. The background, the tennis court, the net, the player player MC, the opponent character AC, and the bird character BC are displayed by the respective functions of the image display processing unit, and the score display unit is displayed. On this screen, guidance indicating that the player is the side performing the service is displayed.

FIG. 15 is a screen following FIG. 14, in which a power gauge image 114a is displayed at an appropriate place on the screen. This screen is displayed immediately after the guidance in FIG. 14 and prompts a toss. FIG. 16A is a screen following FIG. 15, and is a screen immediately before it is determined that the player has tossed by shaking the simulated racket to turn on any of the optical sensors 23 to 26. When it is determined that there is a toss, FIG. 16 (b)
As shown in, the power meter 114b rises upward from the lower end of the power gauge 114a corresponding to the rise of the tennis ball character.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a scene in which the tennis ball character TB hit by the opponent character AC is heading toward the court side of the player character MC. A first display form, for example, a white ring WR is displayed around the tennis ball character TB, which indicates that it is before the timing for the player to swing (return) the simulated racket. FIG. 18 shows a situation corresponding to FIG. 17, in which the tennis ball character TB is struck in the opposite direction of the court against the self character MC. In this case, an arrow AR pointing to the left is displayed at a suitable position on the screen, for example, on the left side, and guides the player to tilt (move) the posture to the left so as to turn on the optical sensor 34.

In FIG. 19, the white ring WR around the tennis ball character TB has changed to a second display form, for example, a red ring RR, and the state (period) of the timing of swinging (returning) the simulated racket by the player. It is shown in. When the distance between the tennis ball character and the player himself / herself falls within a predetermined distance range, the timing guide is provided so as to notify that the player can hit back. The guide function can be achieved even if one of the white ring WR and the red ring RR is not displayed.

FIG. 20 shows a screen in which a third flare, for example, a gold flare, is displayed on or around the tennis ball character TB itself. This is an effect display when the opponent character AC is a smash-hit sphere, and in this case, if you hit "smash",
This shows that the score can be increased. The perfect ball that is easily hit back by the opponent character AC is generated by reflecting the ability of the opponent character or the hit back situation from the immediately preceding player. For example, it is assumed that the player hits the opponent character AC at a position far enough to finally pick it up. In FIG. 20, since the white ring WR is displayed around the tennis ball character TB, it can be seen that it is before the hit timing.

FIG. 21 is a screen that follows FIG. 20 and shows that "smash" is possible. The white ring WR is changed to a red ring RR, and as a result, it is mixed with gold flare and is partially changed to orange.

FIG. 22 is a screen following that of FIG. 21, showing a scene in which the self-character drives in "smash". When "smash" is hit, the tennis ball character TB is rendered with a fifth display form, for example, a rainbow-colored afterimage FC.

FIG. 23 shows a scene in which the player side has scored, and the bird character BC is projected from the central position of the reference and carrying the score "15" to the score display area on the player side. . In addition, the guidance display unit 115
As one of the processes, the process of notifying the score from the speaker 13 is performed.

FIG. 24 shows a scene in which the player wins the game. Also on this screen, the guidance display unit 115 causes the bird character BC to fly toward the score display area on the player side or inside the player's display area (right half in the figure) so as to carry the character "WIN". Are doing

FIG. 25 is a scene for notifying a court change, in which the viewpoint of the camera moves upward and the guidance display section 115 displays the characters "CHANGE COUNT".

FIG. 26 shows a scene in which the game result is displayed and the play result is displayed. The evaluation items are “player score”, “service ace”, “net play score”, “maximum serve speed”, “misplay count”, “special bonus” and “total score”. Each is evaluated by the evaluation unit 111 for each play and accumulated. The "serv maximum speed" is obtained by comparing the immediately preceding value with the current value and updating the larger value.

FIG. 27 shows a screen displayed after FIG. 26 when it receives a “rank A” evaluation, and FIG. 28 shows when it receives a higher “rank S” evaluation. On these screens, the evaluations of the five elements are displayed as a radar chart and comments according to ranks or radar charts. As the comment, contents corresponding to the rank or the level of each element are prepared in advance, and these may be read in a combined form.

FIG. 29 is a flow chart showing the basic operation procedure of this tennis game. In the figure, when the power is turned on, it is determined whether or not a coin has been inserted (step S
T1), when a coin is inserted, a game selection process as shown in FIGS. 11 to 13 is executed (step ST3).
Next, a game execution process is performed (step ST
5). Until the game ends (step ST7), the game execution process is continued, and when the game ends, FIG.
The game result display as shown in FIG. 28 is performed (step ST9), and the present flow ends.

FIG. 30 is a flow chart showing a processing procedure regarding movement which is a part of the game execution processing of the flow chart of FIG. In the figure, it is judged whether or not the ball TB is flying from the opponent character to the self character side (step ST11). If it is not flying, the ball is passed through as it is, and if it is flying, the ball TB is flying.
The predicted fall point (B1, FIG. 10) is calculated (step ST13). It is determined whether or not the calculated predicted drop point is to the right of the current position of the self character (step ST15). If it is right, the process proceeds to step ST17, and if not, the process proceeds to step ST19. Step ST17
Then, it is judged whether or not the rightward movement sensor, that is, the optical sensor 35 is turned on. If it is not turned on, the sensor is passed through. If it is turned on, the process proceeds to step ST21.

On the other hand, if the predicted drop point calculated in step ST15 is not to the right of the current position of the self character, it is determined whether or not the leftward movement sensor, that is, the optical sensor 34 is turned on (step ST19), and turned on. If not, go through as it is, and if it is on, step S
Proceed to T21.

In step ST21, it is judged whether or not the forward / backward movement sensor, that is, the optical sensors 32 and 33 are turned on. If the sensors are turned on, the predicted drop position B1 or the vicinity Pb thereof is detected as shown in FIG. Processing for moving the self-character MC toward (step ST23), and if not turned on, processing for moving the self-character MC to the net vicinity Pf on the trajectory Bo to the expected drop position (step ST25). .

FIG. 31 is a flow chart showing a processing procedure relating to the swinging operation of the simulated racket by the player, which is a part of the game execution processing of the flow chart of FIG. In the figure, it is determined whether or not any of the optical sensors 23 to 26 in the motion detection device 20 has responded, that is, whether or not it has been turned on (step ST31). If there is no response, it is determined whether or not there is a reaction history of the optical sensor. (Step ST33).
If there is no reaction history, the flow directly ends. On the other hand, if there is a reaction in the optical sensor, the process proceeds to step ST35, the position of the reacted optical sensor is acquired as a history, and R
The reaction time of the photosensor that has reacted (accurately, the time at which the reaction starts (change to ON)) is acquired as a history, is stored in the AM 122, is stored in the RAM 122 (step ST37), and exits from this flow. .

On the other hand, if there is a reaction history of the optical sensor in step ST33, it is determined that the player has shaken the simulated racket (step ST39), and then the type of ball is determined based on the history of the position of the reacted optical sensor. Done (step ST
41). Subsequently, the position of the reacted optical sensor, that is, the direction in which the simulated racket is shaken is determined based on the history of the column information shown in FIG. 3B (step ST43). Then, the swing speed of the simulated racket is calculated based on the history of the reaction time of the optical sensor (step ST45), and the present flow is exited. Each piece of information on the type of ball, the swing direction, and the swing speed obtained in this way is used for the processing of the ball movement calculation unit 108 and the evaluation unit 111.

The present invention can employ the following modes. (1) In the present embodiment, the middle and upper sensors 24L, 24R
And the lower middle sensors 25L and 25R which are symmetrically provided
And functioned separately, but the upper and middle sensors 24L, 24R
And the lower middle sensors 25L and 25R which are symmetrically provided
It is also possible to combine and, or to have only one function as the middle sensor. (2) Various remote type (proximity) sensors can be adopted in place of the optical sensor, and radio waves or ultrasonic waves may be used as the detection medium in addition to light. (3) Not only the simulated racket (corresponding to an obstacle), but also a part of the human body (for example, hand, finger, foot) may be used. (4) The present invention is not limited to tennis games, but can be applied to various competitive games. For example, in a game played with a tool, a simulation tool is used, and in a game without a tool, a part of the body, for example, movement of an arm or leg may be detected. Further, the game is not limited to the battle game, and may be a game in which the type of operation content is remotely detected by using a tool or a part of the body and reflected in the game progress. (5) The motion detecting device is not limited to the one composed of the cylindrical substrate and the plate member, and may be any member having an arrangement structure for arranging the sensor. The mounting surface is not limited to one having a wide surface, and it is sufficient if the plurality of mounted sensor positions are substantially flush with each other. (6) In the present embodiment, the battle between one player and the computer side is shown. However, the present video game device uses two game machines on the left and right of the integrated game machine to allow two players. It is also possible to run a game that competes between them.

[0073]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the simulated racket is provided.
Tsu door can be remotely detected. Further, since the sensor portion is provided on the base body, it can be handled as an independent object and can be applied to various uses. Since the sensor portion is arranged so as to be inclined, the detection medium from the back sensor can also be effectively delivered toward the human body located in front of it, and human body detection can be effectively performed. When the player performs an operation in accordance with the progress of the competitive game displayed on the monitor, the content of this operation is detected and reflected in the game progress. Simulated associated with the player
Since the movement of the racket can be determined in accordance with the detection order of the sensors, it is possible to add variety to the game by using the type. Since various hitting balls can be virtually realized in a tennis game, it is suitable for application to an advanced ball game. In addition to the inclination of the sensor mounting surface, the middle sensor has a two-stage structure, so it is possible to detect even finer movements of the simulated racket . By utilizing the inclination of the sensor mounting surface, the direction of the sensor on the back side of the center and the direction of the sensor on the front side are made different from each other, and the simulated racket located on the front side is detected more finely. be able to. It is possible to easily prevent interference between the detection ranges of the middle first sensor and the middle second sensor.

According to the invention of claim 2 , the simulated racket
It is possible to accurately detect the movement of the camera to the left and right.

According to the third aspect of the invention, in addition to facilitating the adjustment of the pointing direction, the pointing width can also be easily adjusted.
Also, adjustment for preventing interference becomes easy.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, it is only necessary to select the corresponding sphere type from the sphere type storage unit, and the sphere type selection can be easily processed.

According to the invention described in claim 5, it is possible to provide a tennis game with a realistic sensation by adopting a missed swing or the like as the operation timing for virtually hitting back the ball character displayed on the monitor. it can.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, by referring to the guide, the player's operation for virtual hit back can be facilitated.

According to the invention described in claim 7 , it is possible to start the game by using the motion detecting device.

According to the invention described in claims 8 and 9 , since the left and right movements and the front and back movements of the player are further adopted for the progress of the game, the game can be diversified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration showing an embodiment of a video game device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a directing direction of each optical sensor.

3A and 3B are views for explaining the arrangement and detection (orientation) direction of each optical sensor of the motion detection device, where (a) is a top view seen from above the normal direction of the plate body, and (b) is a top view. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a row in the left-right direction, and FIG. 6C is a side view showing a detection direction and a distance.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the swing of the simulated racket and the type of ball, (a) is a diagram for explaining the detection situation from the side,
(B) is an image diagram of hitting a ball, and is a diagram in the case of "smash".

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the swing of the simulated racket and the type of ball, (a) is a diagram for explaining the detection situation from the side,
(B) is an image diagram of hitting a ball, and is a diagram in the case of "lob".

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the swing of the simulated racket and the type of ball, (a) is a diagram for explaining the detection situation from the side,
(B) is an image diagram of hitting a ball, and is a diagram in the case of "drop".

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the swing of the simulated racket and the type of ball, (a) is a diagram for explaining the detection situation from the side,
(B) is an image diagram of hitting a ball, and is a diagram in the case of "volley" and "flat".

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a table showing a relationship between a ball type and a detection order (pattern).

FIG. 9 is a control block diagram of the video game device.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing an example of processing of a movement processing unit of a self character.

FIG. 11 is a self-character selection screen view displayed after inserting a coin.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for selecting a difficulty level for an operation.

FIG. 13 is a screen diagram of course selection.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a game start screen.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a screen following FIG. 14, in which a power gauge image is displayed at an appropriate position on the screen.

16A is a screen following FIG. 15, which is a screen view immediately before it is determined that the player has tossed by swinging a simulated racket to turn on one of the optical sensors, and FIG. It is a figure which shows that a power meter goes up from the lower end of a gauge corresponding to the ascent of a tennis ball character.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a scene in which a tennis ball character hit by an opponent character is facing the court side of the player character.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a situation where the tennis ball character is struck in the opposite direction of the court against the self character in the scene corresponding to FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a scene diagram in which a white ring around a tennis ball character is changed to a red ring.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a state in which a white ring is displayed around the tennis ball character.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing that it is a possible timing for “smash” on the screen following FIG. 20.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a scene in which the self character drives “smash” on the screen following FIG. 21.

FIG. 23 is a scene diagram when a score is entered on the player side.

FIG. 24 is a scene diagram in which the player wins the game.

FIG. 25 is a scene diagram for notifying a court change.

FIG. 26 is a scene view showing a play result after the game is over.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a case where “Rank A” evaluation has been performed on the screen displayed following FIG. 26.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a case where “Rank S” evaluation has been performed on the screen displayed subsequent to FIG. 26;

FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing a basic operation procedure of the present tennis game.

30 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure regarding movement, which is a part of the game execution processing of the flowchart in FIG. 29. FIG.

31 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure relating to a swing operation of the simulated racket by the player, which is a part of the game execution processing of the flowchart of FIG. 29. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Game console housing 11, 11 'monitor 20, 20 'motion detection device 21 Base 22 Plates 23 Upper sensor (optical sensor) 24L, 24R Upper middle sensor (optical sensor) 25L, 25R middle lower part sensor (optical sensor) 26L, 26C, 26R Lower sensor (optical sensor) 30 movement detection device 32-35 optical sensor 100 control unit 101 Game progress control unit 102 selection processing unit 103 Left / right movement determination unit 104 Forward / backward movement determination unit 105 Self character movement processing unit 106 Strike-back determination unit (timing determination means) 107 Strike-back type determination unit 108 Ball movement calculation unit 109 Toss judgment section 110 Score processing unit 111 Evaluation Department 112 Game space display 113 character display 114 Service timing display 115 Guidance display section 116 Ball performance display 117 Result display section 118 timer 121 ROM

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Kazuma Konishi 4-3-1 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo Konami Co., Ltd. (72) Kazunori Ito 4-3-1 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo Konami Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-11-316646 (JP, A) JP-A-2001-239054 (JP, A) JP-A-2000-300839 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A63F 13/00-13/12 A63F 9/00-9/30 A63B 69/00 G09B 9/00

Claims (9)

(57) [Claims] 1. The opponent character appearing in the game space
A simulated racket held by the player
A tennis game that virtually strikes back by performing a swinging action
The game console is equipped with a monitor that displays the system, and is located in the lower front of the game console, from the back to the front.
A base body having a sensor mounting surface on its upper surface, which is inclined downward , and at least three positions, namely, a back position, a middle position, and a front position in the front direction from the back side of the sensor mounting surface. The sensor includes an inner sensor having a detection range, a middle sensor, and a front sensor, and each sensor sends the detection medium upward and receives the return of the detection medium reflected by the simulated racket. Simulated la above the substrate
The motion detection device that detects the presence or absence of a ket and the simulation sequence from the detection order of each sensor of the motion detection device.
Motion determining means for determining the type of movement of the racket, and the simulated racket determined by the motion determining means
Determine the type of hit ball based on the type of movement of
Tennis game according to game program, based on pitch
Game progress control means for controlling the progress of the game and the tennis game controlled by the game progress control means.
Game image display means for displaying a game image on the monitor
And the middle sensor is located from the back side of the sensor mounting surface to the front side.
It is composed of a middle first sensor and a middle second sensor, and the back sensor and the middle first sensor are normals to the sensor mounting surface.
A detection medium in the direction of
The sensor sends the detection medium in the vertical direction, and the back sensor, the middle first sensor, and the front sensor are
It has a detection distance of a predetermined length, and the middle second sensor is a detection distance.
It is characterized in that the separation is shorter than the detection distances of other sensors.
Video game device . Wherein said sensor unit includes a video game apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that it is arranged symmetrically in the sensor mounting surface. 3. A video game apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the detection medium is infrared light. 4. A ball type storage unit that stores the hit ball type in association with the generation order of the detection signals, and the motion determination means selects the corresponding ball type from the ball type storage unit. The video game device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the video game device is provided. 5. A hit-back determining unit that determines whether or not the ball character is virtually hit back is provided, and the game progress control unit monitors the trajectory of the ball character hit by the opponent character, and the hit-back is performed. The determination means determines whether or not the ball can be hit back based on the correlation between the time when the ball character hit by the opponent character reaches a predetermined position in the game space and the time when the detection signal from each sensor of the motion detection device is generated. Claim 1 to 4 characterized by
The video game device according to any one of claims. Wherein said game image display means according to claim 1, characterized in that the guide display timings Uchikaeshi ~
5. The video game device according to any one of 5 . Wherein said game progress control means, of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that one of the sensors of the movement detection device is intended to perform the start of the competition game by that generates a detection signal The video game device according to any one of claims. 8. includes left and right movement detecting device for detecting the movement of the left and right of the player, the game progress control means, any of claims 1 to 7, characterized by using the movement information of the left and right of the player to the game progress The video game device according to claim 1. 9. comprises a movement detecting device before and after detecting the movement of the front and rear of the player, the game progress control means, any of the claims 1-8, characterized by using the movement information before and after the player in the game progress The video game device according to claim 1.