JP3762947B2 - Network game system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention is connected to a game application management server for registering and managing game applications, a first mobile phone terminal connected to the game application management server through an Internet line, and a first mobile phone terminal through short-range communication means . The present invention relates to a network game system including a plurality of second mobile phone terminals.

Conventional network game system, each of the members went to get the application to the game server, because it can not download the game applications to be an accounting application, had Soi gameplay willingness of customers (for example, patent literature 1) . Also, when downloading, some participants may not be able to download due to line conditions.
JP 2001-344434 (paragraph 0002)

  An object of the present invention is to provide a network game system in which customers who are provided with a game application can download and play a network game without accessing the server.

The network game system according to claim 1 is a game application management server for registering and managing a game application whose start condition is participation of a plurality of mobile phone terminals, and a game application management server connected to the game application management server through an Internet line. A mobile phone terminal and a second mobile phone terminal that is connected to the first mobile phone terminal through a short-range communication means, wherein the game application management server is connected to the first mobile phone terminal Receiving means for receiving a holding request for the game from the requesting means, and requesting means for requesting the first mobile phone terminal to transmit member information and the scheduled distribution number of the game application in response to receiving the holding request. , the game Apu Rikeshi on the basis of the member information and the number of the distribution plan has been received from the first mobile telephone terminal An approval means for approving the download of the application, and the game application and the second mobile phone terminal distributed to the first mobile phone terminal upon receipt of the download request from the first mobile phone terminal after the approval Transmitting means for transmitting the upper limit number of possible game applications, wherein the first mobile phone terminal receives the game application received from the game application management server only within the range of the upper limit number, and the short distance Distributing means for distributing to the second mobile phone terminal through communication means is provided.

According to the configuration of the first aspect, the game application management server for registering and managing the game application, the first mobile phone terminal connected to the game application management server through the Internet line, and the first through the short-range communication means. The game application management server is configured by a plurality of second mobile phone terminals that are communicatively connected to the mobile phone terminal, and the game application management server, when requested to hold a game from the first mobile phone terminal, the other hand, the second along with the requests transmission of the distribution plan the number of game applications to be distributed to the member information and the second mobile telephone terminal, when receiving the number of distribution plans of member information Ho及 beauty game application, to approve the download of the game application 1 Wait for the download request from the mobile phone terminal. And the upper limit number of game applications that can be distributed to the second mobile phone terminal are transmitted to the first mobile phone terminal, and the first mobile phone terminal passes through the short-range communication means only within the range of the upper limit number of game applications. Since the game application is distributed to the second mobile phone terminal, as long as the person who holds the game is the first, the game application can be distributed to the other second, and the customers who provide the game application can Network games can be downloaded and played without server access. As a result, since the communication means between the first mobile phone terminal and the second mobile phone terminal uses the short-range communication means, the application download and the game by the application are played without being affected by the general communication line status. be able to. In addition, the burden on the customer is reduced by performing the work that has been troublesome in general network games such as application acquisition and billing by the participants on behalf of one member who holds the game.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of a network game system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The network game system 1 includes a game application management server 2 for registering and managing game applications , a member mobile phone terminal 4 serving as a first mobile phone terminal connected to the game application management server 2 through the Internet line 3, and a short distance It is constituted by non-member mobile phone terminals 6a, 6b, 6c,... Which are second mobile phone terminals that are connected to the first mobile phone terminal 4 through the communication network 5.

  A plurality of game programs (so-called game applications and game software) are registered and stored in the game application management server 2. The game application management server 2 receives a request for holding a registered game from a member (member mobile phone terminal 4), a request for sending a scheduled distribution number of game applications for the held game that has received the request, a game application, Processing such as downloading to the member mobile phone terminal 4 with the upper limit number of game applications that can be distributed to the non-member mobile phone terminal 6 is performed.

  When the member mobile phone terminal 4 downloads the game application from the game application management server 2, the member mobile phone terminal 4 activates the game application, and only within the range of the upper limit number of game applications, the non-member mobile phone terminals 6 a and 6 b through the short-range communication network 5. , 6c,... Distribute game applications. The short-range communication network 5 includes infrared communication, Bluetooth, and the like. When the non-member mobile phone terminal 6 receives the game application sent from the member mobile phone terminal 4, the non-member mobile phone terminal 6 activates the game application and transmits a game entry to the member mobile phone terminal 4 through the short-range communication network 5. Each time the member mobile phone terminal 4 receives a game entry from the non-member mobile phone terminal 6, the member mobile phone terminal 4 approves the entry to the game. When the game start is selected in the member mobile phone terminal 4, a network game in which the non-member mobile phone terminals 6a, 6b, 6c participate is started under the sponsorship of the member mobile phone terminal 4. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the upper limit number of game applications that can be distributed to the non-member mobile phone terminal 6 is 3 (excluding the member mobile phone terminal 4).

  Hereinafter, in the network game system 1 of the present invention, a member mobile phone terminal (hereinafter simply referred to as a member terminal) 4, a game application management server (hereinafter simply referred to as a game server) 2, and a game participant who are the game organizers. A specific operation of the non-member mobile phone terminal (hereinafter simply referred to as a non-member terminal) 6 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart of processing relating to a game providing service performed by the game server according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of processing related to the game providing service performed by the member terminal serving as the organizer. As a premise, the organizer of the game registers in advance with the business company that provides the game providing service. Member registration is required for only one organizer among the members (organizers and participants) who perform the game, and not all members need to register as members.

  When a game is held, the member terminal requests connection to the game site of the game server through the Internet line (step A01). When the game server starts processing, it determines whether or not there is a connection request (step S01). If there is no connection request, the game server repeats the processing of step S01 and waits until there is a connection request. It becomes a state.

  When there is a connection request from the member terminal, the game server determines that step S01 is true, transmits a game site menu to the partner terminal of the partner who requested the connection (step S02), and proceeds to step S03.

  On the other hand, when the member terminal is connected to the game site, it determines whether or not there is data transmission from the game server (step A02). When the game site menu is transmitted from the game server, it is sent from the game server. A game site menu is received (step A03), and a game site menu screen as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the display screen (step A04).

  As shown in FIG. 9, a list of games that can be held is displayed on the game site menu screen, and when a game is held, a favorite game is selected and input from the “list of games that can be held” (step A04). ). FIG. 9 shows an example in which four types of games that can be held, for example, “Net DE Bingo”, “Net DE Amida”, “Net Submarine”, and “Net Hide and Seek” can be selected. In the following description, it is assumed that “net DE bingo” is selected.

  When the favorite game is selected (step A05), the member terminal stores the game selection content (in this example, “net DE bingo”) (step A06), and corresponds to the game selection content as shown in FIG. The “game top” screen is displayed on the display screen (step A07). The game top screen displays “game explanation / operation method” and “game holding” as selection items. By selecting “game description / operation method” on the game top screen, detailed explanation of the game And the explanation screen of the operation method is displayed. Further, when “game holding” is selected and input on the game top screen (step A08), the member terminal displays a “distribution authentication” screen as shown in FIG. 12 on the display screen (step A09).

  Note that the distribution authentication screen displays that the scheduled number of distributions of the selected game is input and that the application can be transferred to other mobile phones up to the number of input persons. The member terminal determines whether or not the planned distribution number of the selected game has been input (step A10). The member terminal repeats Step A10 until the game distribution schedule number is input. Here, the member inputs the number of people who play together (the number of people except himself). For example, when the game is played by four people including myself, the number of people “3” is input. The “number of persons to be distributed” defines the number of persons who can distribute and distribute this game by short-range communication, and distribution beyond the number of persons who have been authenticated cannot be made.

  When the planned distribution number of the game is input (step A10), the member terminal stores the planned distribution number (step A11), and displays the “member information input” screen as shown in FIG. 13 on the display screen (step A11). A12). On the member information input screen, for example, a phone number and a password are input as information that can be confirmed as a member, and a “OK” button is displayed. These pieces of information are used for confirming a member for billing. The member terminal determines whether or not member information has been input (step A13), and repeats step A13 until the member information is input. When the member information is input, the member terminal transmits the member information, game selection contents, and distribution schedule number to the game server in order to specify the billing request destination (step A14).

  The member information is registered and stored in the game server when the owner of the member mobile phone terminal registers as a member of the game providing service company. When the game server transmits the game site menu, the game server proceeds to step S03 to determine whether or not there is data transmission. When data is transmitted from the other member terminal, the data (member information, game selection content, distribution) (Scheduled number) is received (step S04), and the registered member file is searched to determine whether or not the received member information is registered (step S05). In step S05, if there is no member information that matches the received member information in the registered member file, it is determined that the member is not a member. In this case, a non-member as a determination result for the registered member is shown in FIG. A “notice” screen is transmitted to the member terminal (step S06), the current process is terminated, and the process returns to step S01.

  On the other hand, if the registered member file contains member information that matches the received member information in step S05, it is determined that the member is a member. In this case, the member as the authentication result for the registered member and the “download confirmation” screen as shown in FIG. 14 are transmitted to the member terminal (step S07).

  When the member terminal transmits member information, game selection contents, and the number of distributions to the game server, it determines whether or not there is data transmission from the game server (step A15). The transmitted data (authentication result of whether it is a registered member or a non-member) is received (step A16), and it is determined whether or not the member is authenticated based on the content of the received data (step A17). If the member authentication result is a non-member, step A17 is determined to be false, a notification screen is displayed (step A24), and the process returns to step A01. The notice screen displays that if the member registration is not performed, the game holding service cannot be used and the member registration is entered from the main menu (see FIG. 10).

  On the other hand, if the member authentication result is a member, step A17 is determined to be true, and a download confirmation screen is displayed (step A18). In this description, it is assumed that the “Net DE Bingo” application has been selected. Note that the download confirmation screen displays that the download button displayed on the screen is selected and input. The member terminal repeats Step A19 until the download button is operated and input. When the download button is operated and input, the member terminal transmits a download request to the game server (step A20).

  When the game server performs the process of step S07, the billing process charges the members for (scheduled number of distributions + 1) (including the members themselves; in the example of FIG. 1, for four persons) (steps). S08). Therefore, the burden on the customer is reduced by performing the work that has been troublesome in the general network game such as the application acquisition and billing of the participant on behalf of one member holding the game.

  Next, the game server determines whether or not there is a download request (step S09). When there is a download request, the game server transmits the game application and the upper limit number of distributable applications to the member terminal (step S10). After the process is completed, the process returns to step S01.

  When the member terminal transmits a download request to the game server, the game server transmits the game application and the upper limit number of distributable applications, and downloads the game application and the upper limit number related to application distribution (step A21). . When the download of the game application is completed, the upper limit number (total number of distribution rights) related to application distribution is set to the number of remaining distributions (number of remaining distribution rights) (step A22), and a download completion screen as shown in FIG. 15 is displayed. Displaying and notifying that the game application has been downloaded (step A23), the member terminal ends the communication connection (WEB) with the game server, and shifts to an application activation process. As for the application activation process, there is also a method of manually activating after WEB is terminated.

  Next, the process of the member terminal from the start of the application to the start of the game and the process of the non-member mobile phone terminal 6 (hereinafter simply referred to as the non-member terminal) for the game start preparation will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of application activation processing executed by the member terminal. When the application activation process is started in the member terminal, first, a “game start preparation” screen as shown in FIG. 16 is displayed (step A31). The game start preparation screen includes information such as “type of game”, “number of remaining distribution rights”, “total number of distribution rights”, and buttons for “send application”, “entry acceptance”, and “game start”. It is displayed, and depending on the situation at that time, each button is pressed to start processing.

  When the member terminal displays the game start preparation screen, whether or not there is an input for application transmission (step A32), and if there is no input for application transmission, next, whether or not there is an input for entry acceptance (step A33). If there is no entry acceptance input, it is sequentially determined whether or not there is a game start input (step A34). If there is no game start input, the process returns to step A31. Therefore, the member terminal stands by by repeating the processing loop of step A31 to step A34 until any one of the buttons “application transmission”, “entry reception”, and “game start” is operated.

  In addition, each process other than pressing the “game start” button, that is, “application transmission” and “entry reception” is to return to the game start preparation screen after the process, Basic. If “game start” is selected, the application on the member terminal shifts to the game start state regardless of the number of remaining distribution rights.

  When there is a participant (non-member) who wants to provide an app, the organizer (member) can distribute the app by performing short-range communication by pressing the “App Send” button. When the “app transmission” button is pressed, the member terminal determines that step A32 is true and proceeds to the application transmission process. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of application transmission processing executed by the member terminal. When the application terminal starts the application transmission process, the member terminal checks whether or not there is an “authentication checker (distributable remaining number)” attached to the application (step A41). As a result of the check, if there is a remaining number that can be distributed, a “send” button is displayed (step A 42), it is determined whether or not the “send” button is pressed (step A 43), and the system is ready for near field communication. . Note that short-range communication refers to communication means such as infrared rays and Bluetooth. Also, any mobile phone carrier (type of mobile phone operator) that can participate in the game is irrelevant. When the “send” button is pressed, the member terminal determines that step A43 is true and starts application transmission by short-range communication (step A44). On the other hand, if there is no remaining distributable number (if the remaining distributable number = 0), a message “Distributable” is displayed (step A48), and the member is notified that the application cannot be transmitted any more.

  On the other hand, when a non-member (participant) participates in the game, an environment of “short-distance communication” is first prepared in order to receive an application from the member (game organizer). FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of application reception processing executed by a non-member mobile phone terminal (referred to as a non-member terminal). When “Near Field Communication” is selected by a non-member operation (step B01), the non-member terminal displays a near field communication screen (step B02), and further, by a non-member operation on the near field communication screen. When “Short-range reception” is selected (step B03), a reception state by short-range communication is set. When the member terminal (game organizer) is ready for near field communication (game preparation screen), the non-member terminal (game participant) is ready to receive by pressing the “Receive” button on the near field communication screen. Application download is executed via short-range communication (step B04). When the application reception is completed, the non-member terminal transmits a reception confirmation to the member terminal (step B05) and displays a download completion (step B06). After notification of the completion of downloading of the application, the participant manually activates the application. Only then will the game application be launched and the “game start preparation” screen will be displayed.

  On the other hand, when the application transmission is completed, the member terminal determines whether or not a reception confirmation is transmitted from the non-member terminal (step A45). In step A46), a message “transmission complete” is notified on the screen (step A47). The message notification is displayed for a predetermined time, and after the predetermined time has elapsed, the screen returns to the “game start preparation” screen again. The member provides the application to the non-member (participant) within the range of the remaining number of distributions by repeating the operations related to the application transmission described above. FIG. 1 shows an example in which an application is provided to three participants (non-member terminals 6a, 6b, 6c).

  When accepting the entry of a participant (non-member), the game organizer (member) needs to confirm the entry by performing near field communication by pressing the “entry acceptance” button. In this case, press the “Entry Accept” button on the game preparation screen. When the “entry acceptance” button is pressed, the member terminal determines that step A33 is true and proceeds to the entry acceptance process. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of entry acceptance processing executed by the member terminal. When starting the entry acceptance process, the member terminal sets the reception state by the short-range communication (step A51), and determines whether or not the entry is received (step A52). As a result, near field communication is started and entry information is received.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of application activation processing executed by the non-member terminal. On the other hand, when the non-member (participant) activates the application, a “game start preparation” screen for the participant as shown in FIG. 17 is displayed (step B11). On the game start preparation screen for participants, a bingo card and an “Send Entry” button are prepared. Here, an “Send Entry” button is used to send an “entry” message to the organizer (member terminal). Is pressed (step B12). Participants press the “Send Entry” button in time with the “Entry Acceptance” of the member (organizer). Thereby, near field communication is started and entry information is transmitted (step B13).

  The member terminal transmits a reception confirmation when the reception of the entry information is completed (step A53), and displays an “entry confirmation” message as shown in FIG. 18 (step A54). After a predetermined time has elapsed from the message notification, the screen returns to the “GAME START PREPARATION” screen of FIG.

  When the non-member terminal receives the reception confirmation (step B14), it displays an “entry complete” message as shown in FIG. 19 (step B15). In the “game start preparation” screen of the participant, after the entry is transmitted, “entry transmission” is changed to a “game start” button and displayed. The participant selects “game start” and shifts to a game start state.

  Next, a game played mainly between the member terminals 4 and the non-member terminals 6a, 6b, 6c through the short-range communication will be briefly described by taking “Net DE Bingo” as an example. When the “game start” button is pressed on the game start preparation screen of the member terminal, the member terminal determines that step A34 is true and proceeds to a game start process.

During game holding (member terminal)
When the game is started, a game start screen for the organizer (see FIG. 20) is displayed. In addition to the bingo card, “Lottery”, “Hole”, “Send”, and “End” are displayed on the game start screen for the organizer. Can do. When “lottery” is selected on the game start screen for the organizer, an effect screen during the lottery is displayed (see FIG. 21), and the number is determined. When the lottery number is determined by lottery, the lottery number is registered as data in the lottery number list. When “Send” is pressed, the organizer's member terminal is in a short-range communication state, and data can be distributed to non-member terminals that are participants. When the organizer presses “Send”, the application starts near field communication between the member terminal and the non-member terminal (participant). Check the other party and start sending data when it is confirmed. When notification from the non-member terminal is received informing that the transmission has been successfully completed, a message “transmission completed” is displayed on the member terminal to notify the organizer (see FIG. 22), and after a certain time, the organizer's screen is displayed. Return. When “Hole drilling” is selected on the organizer screen, the number selected so far is displayed, and by selecting the number from the card, drilling is completed (see FIG. 23). If bingo is established on the hole punching screen, bingo establishment is registered in the internal database. When the game is over, a bingo establishment effect appears, but since there is a lottery of numbers, it is necessary to draw a number on the organizer screen until the end. When “End” is selected on the “Organizer” screen, the “End Confirmation” screen (see FIG. 24) is displayed, and the game is ended by pressing the “Confirm” button.

During game (non-member terminal)
When the game is started, a game start screen for participants (see FIG. 25) is displayed. In addition to the bingo card, “drilling” and “number acquisition” are displayed on the game start screen for the participants, and the numbers cannot be drawn by themselves. When a lottery number is acquired, pressing “number acquisition” makes a short-distance reception state for short-range communication, and a number can be acquired. When the participant presses “Acquire number”, the application starts near field communication between the non-member terminal and the member terminal. Check the receiving party and start receiving data when it is confirmed safely. When the reception is completed successfully, a reception completion notification is sent to the member terminal, and the message “Number obtained” is displayed on the non-member terminal, which is a participant (see Fig. 26), and the participant is notified and joined after a certain period of time. Return to the user's screen. When “Drill” is selected on the screen for participants, the lottery number data currently stored in the terminal is read, the lottery numbers so far are displayed, and the number is selected from the card, and the hole is opened. Is completed (see FIG. 27). When bingo is established on the hole-piercing screen, an “end” button is displayed on the screen (see FIG. 28), and the game can be freely ended.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described above. In the present invention, the member who downloaded the application from the game application management server 2 (gameme organizer) wants to increase the number of people who want to play the game together (the number of people). If the user wants to add), the member mobile phone terminal 4 connects to the game site of the game application management server 2 again by the above-described procedure, transmits member information, game information, and the number of distributions of the application to be added, and downloads the application. It is only necessary to download the upper limit number (additional number) of applications that can be distributed from the game application management server 2. In addition, the game application management server 2 stores the type of application performed by the member and the history of download. In this way, in response to a request for downloading the same application by the same member, whether or not there is a request for downloading the same application by the same member in the billing process (see step S08 in FIG. 2). Is checked based on the application type and download history, and if the same member requests download of the same application, the distribution amount will be charged to the member. Because it is paid by the billing process.) As a result, the number of people who distribute the application can be added by the member paying an additional fee.

1 is a block diagram showing an outline of a network game system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart of the process which concerns on the game provision service which the game server which concerns on embodiment of this invention performs Flow chart of processing related to game providing service performed by member terminal as organizer The flowchart which shows the subroutine of application starting processing which member terminal executes Flowchart showing a subroutine of application transmission processing executed by the member terminal A flowchart showing a subroutine of entry acceptance processing executed by the member terminal A flowchart showing a subroutine of application reception processing executed by a non-member terminal A flowchart showing a subroutine of application activation processing executed by a non-member terminal The figure which shows the game sight menu screen which is displayed on the member terminal The figure which shows the information screen which is displayed on the member terminal The figure which shows the game top screen which is displayed on the member terminal Figure showing the distribution authentication screen displayed on the member terminal The figure which shows the member information input screen which is displayed on the member terminal Diagram showing download confirmation screen displayed on member terminal The figure which shows the download completion screen which is displayed on the member terminal The figure which shows the game start preparation screen which is displayed on the member terminal The figure which shows the game start preparation screen which is displayed on the non-member terminal The figure which shows the message display of “entry confirmation” in the game start preparation screen which is displayed on the member terminal The figure which shows the message display of “entry completion” in the game start preparation screen which is displayed on the non-member terminal The figure which shows the game start screen which is displayed on the member terminal (organizer) The figure which shows the production screen during the lottery which is displayed on the member terminal during the game The figure which shows the message display of “transmission completion” displayed on the member terminal during the game The figure which shows the drilling screen which is displayed on the member terminal during the game The figure which shows the end confirmation screen which is displayed on the member terminal during the game The figure which shows the game start screen displayed on a non-member terminal (participant) Figure showing the message "Number obtained" displayed on a non-member terminal during the game The figure which shows the drilling screen which is displayed on the non-member terminal during the game The figure which shows the “end” button display which is displayed when bingo is established on the punching screen in the non-member terminal

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Network game system 2 Game application management server 3 Internet line 4 Member mobile phone terminal 5 Short-distance communication network 6 Non-member mobile phone terminal

Claims (5)

A game application management server for registering and managing game applications having the participation condition of a plurality of mobile phone terminals as a starting condition, a first mobile phone terminal connected to the game application management server through an Internet line, and the first mobile phone A network game system comprising a second mobile phone terminal that is communicably connected to a terminal through short-range communication means, wherein the game application management server receives the game holding request from the first mobile phone terminal Receiving means, request means for requesting the first mobile phone terminal to transmit member information and the scheduled distribution number of the game application upon receipt of the holding request, and receiving from the first mobile phone terminal accept the download of the game application on the basis of the said member information and to the number of distribution plans And the game application that can be distributed to the first mobile phone terminal and the game application that can be distributed to the second mobile phone terminal upon receiving a download request from the first mobile phone terminal after the approval. And transmitting means for transmitting the game application received from the game application management server only within the range of the upper limit number, through the short-range communication means. 2. A network game system provided with distribution means for distribution to mobile phone terminals.   The network game system according to claim 1, wherein the first mobile phone terminal includes a display unit that updates and displays the remaining number to which the game application can be distributed together with the upper limit number.   3. The network game according to claim 1, wherein the first mobile phone terminal includes means for setting the game application in a game start state regardless of whether or not there is a remaining number of the game applications that can be distributed. system.   The network game system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the game application management server performs a billing process according to the scheduled distribution number received from the first mobile phone terminal.   5. The network game system according to claim 1, wherein the second mobile phone terminal is a terminal of a communication carrier different from the first mobile phone terminal.