JP5261810B2 - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game machine in which influence on a reporting form is little even when communication between a sub integrated board and a reporting control board fails. <P>SOLUTION: The reporting control board uniquely determines an operation mode from a reporting instruction command received from the sub integrated board and stores it in a storage means. When the operation mode is a "big winning mode" and a "low probability winning variation" command not to be received in the mode usually is received (S321:YES), the number of times of reception is managed as history information (S323), and in the case of receiving it continuously for the total of three times (S325:YES), it is determined that there is abnormality in the communication of the reporting instruction command, and the operation mode is corrected to a "normal mode" (S327). On the basis of a command to be received in the "big winning mode", an equivalent reporting form is displayed on a display screen (S331, S335, S339, S343). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a gaming machine, and more particularly, to a gaming machine in which a notification control board that drives notification means uniquely determines a notification mode.

  Conventionally, a sub-integration for controlling a main control board that controls main control of games such as detection of winning prizes of a gaming machine and determination of jackpot, and a display screen, a lighting device, a speaker, etc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as “notification means”). 2. Description of the Related Art A gaming machine is known that includes a substrate and a notification control substrate that drives the notification means to enhance the interest of the player. In this gaming machine, various signals are transmitted from the main control board to the sub-integrated board in accordance with various controls such as detection of a winning game ball and determination of jackpot. Then, in the sub-integrated board, the effect is determined based on the received signal, and a signal indicating the notification mode is transmitted to the notification control board. In the notification control board, various effects synchronized with the progress of the game are performed by actually driving the notification means.

  Here, transmission and reception of signals between the main control board and the sub-integrated board and between the sub-integrated board and the notification control board are performed via harnesses that connect connectors provided on both boards. However, since the harness has a structure that is easily affected by electromagnetic noise, there is a possibility that the noise is superimposed on the signal and the gaming operation of the gaming machine becomes unstable. In particular, the notification control board drives the notification means in accordance with the electrical signal from the sub-integrated board. Therefore, when noise is superimposed on the electrical signal between the sub-integrated board and the notification control board, the game operation is greatly affected. .

On the other hand, generally known is a method of suppressing noise superposition on a harness by taking measures such as signal retransmission control and addition of an error correction code. In addition, a gaming machine has been proposed that includes a buffer circuit that inverts an electrical signal on the harness, thereby making it difficult for noise to be superimposed on the electrical signal on the harness (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-215850 A

  However, countermeasures such as signal retransmission control and addition of error correction codes have the problem of causing longer signal transmission. In addition, the gaming machine disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a problem in that the cost of the board is increased because a buffer circuit for inverting an electric signal must be added to the board.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a gaming machine that is less likely to be affected by gaming operations when noise is superimposed on a signal at low cost.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a gaming machine according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a gaming board that forms a gaming area, an informing means for informing a player of a gaming state of the gaming board, and a main game A main control board for controlling the control; a sub-integrated board for receiving a signal from the main control board and controlling a notification mode of the notification means; and the notification means, and the notification means is controlled by control from the sub-integration board A gaming machine including at least a notification control board to be driven, wherein the main control board includes at least main transmission means for transmitting gaming state information, which is information on a gaming state, to the sub-integrated board, Determines the notification mode of the notification means from the sub reception means for receiving the gaming state information transmitted by the main transmission means and the gaming state information received by the sub reception means. Sub notification mode determining means, and sub transmission means for transmitting notification mode information, which is information of the notification mode determined by the sub notification mode determination means, to the notification control board, wherein the notification control board includes Notification receiving means for receiving notification mode information transmitted by the transmission means, storage means for storing notification mode information received by the notification receiving means as history information, and notification mode information stored as history information in the storage means From a notification mode, a gaming state determination unit that determines a gaming state corresponding to the notification mode, a gaming state determined by the gaming state determination unit, and a notification mode of notification mode information received by the notification reception unit, A drive notification mode determination unit that determines a drive notification mode that is a notification mode for driving the notification unit; and the drive notification mode determination unit. To perform notification by the determined driving notification manner, a notification driving means for driving the informing means, the notification manner information stored as history information in the storage unit, informing the notification manner information received by the broadcast receiving means A notification mode prediction unit that predicts a mode, wherein the drive notification mode determination unit is different from a notification mode of the notification mode information received by the notification reception unit and a notification mode predicted by the notification mode prediction unit, The drive notification mode is determined from the notification mode predicted by the notification mode prediction means.

  The gaming machine according to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the invention according to the first aspect, the notification control board further includes drive notification mode storage means for storing a drive notification mode, and the gaming state determination A plurality of drive notification modes are determined in advance from the gaming state determined by the means, stored in the drive notification mode storage unit, and when the notification mode information is received by the notification reception unit, the drive notification mode determination unit Of the drive notification modes stored in the notification mode storage means, the drive notification mode corresponding to the notification mode of the received notification mode information is selected and determined.

The gaming machine of the invention according to claim 1 is a game board that forms a game area, an informing means for informing a player of a game state of the game board, a main control board that controls main control of the game, At least a sub-integrated board that receives a signal from the control board and controls the notification mode of the notification means, and a notification control board that includes the notification means and drives the notification means by control from the sub-integrated board. Then, the sub-integrated board receives the gaming state information that is the gaming state information transmitted from the main control board. And the alerting | reporting mode of an alerting | reporting means is determined from the received game state information, and it transmits to alerting | reporting control board as alerting | reporting mode information. When receiving the notification mode information, the notification control board stores the notification mode information as history information and determines the gaming state from the stored notification mode information. Then, a drive notification mode that is a notification mode for driving the notification unit is determined from the determined gaming state and the notification mode of the received notification mode information, and the notification unit is driven according to the drive notification mode. Therefore, the notification control board can uniquely determine the drive notification mode for driving the notification means by storing and referring to the history information of the notification mode information received from the sub-integrated board.
Further, the notification control board predicts the notification mode of the received notification mode information from the notification mode information stored as the history information, and predicts when the notification mode of the received notification mode information is different from the predicted notification mode. The drive notification mode is determined from the notification mode. Therefore, since the notification control board stores the history information of the notification mode information received from the sub-integrated board, the drive notification mode can be uniquely predicted, so even when a communication failure of the notification mode information occurs It is possible to perform notification in the drive notification mode along the notification mode.

  In the gaming machine according to the second aspect, the notification control board preliminarily determines and stores a plurality of drive notification modes from the determined gaming state. And when alerting | reporting mode information is received, the drive alerting mode corresponding to the alerting | reporting mode of the received alerting | reporting mode information is selected and determined among the memorize | stored drive alerting | reporting modes. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1, the notification control board stores and refers to the history information of the notification mode information received from the sub-integrated board, so that the drive notification mode is uniquely determined, and the game Notification can be performed in the drive notification mode according to the state.

  Hereinafter, a pachinko machine 1 which is an embodiment of a gaming machine according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention includes a main control board that controls the main control of the game, a sub-integrated board that controls notification means (lighting, audio output, illumination, display screen, etc.), and a notification control board that directly drives the notification means. It relates to gaming machines. Of these, the notification control board independently determines the operation mode from various notification instruction commands received from the sub-integrated board, and corrects the operation mode as necessary, so that the notification instruction command communication fails for some reason. Even in such a case, it is possible to perform notification by an appropriate notification method. First, the mechanical configuration of the pachinko machine 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG. 1 is a front view of the pachinko machine 1, FIG. 2 is a front view of the game board 2, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the symbol display device 8.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the upper half of the front surface of the pachinko machine 1, a game board 2 is provided in which a game ball as a game medium launched from a launcher (not shown) flows by operating the launch handle 7. ing. This game board 2 is substantially square (see FIG. 2) and is protected by a front frame 11 holding a transparent glass plate. In the lower part of the game board 2, an upper plate 5 is provided for supplying game balls to the launcher and receiving prize balls. A lower plate 6 for receiving a prize ball is provided immediately below the upper plate 5, and a launch handle 7 for adjusting the launch of the game ball is provided on the right side of the lower plate 6. Further, an illuminating device 35 is formed on the upper portion of the front frame 11 so as to bulge forward substantially over the entire length in the left-right direction, and speakers 48 are provided at the left and right corners of the upper portion of the front frame 11, respectively. It has been. A large number of lighting lamps for production are provided on the front surface of the front frame 11.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a substantially circular game area 4 surrounded by a guide rail 3 is provided on the front surface of the game board 2. In the approximate center of the game area 4, there is provided a symbol display device 8 having a display screen 28 composed of an LCD, various lamps, LEDs and the like. An ordinary symbol starting gate 12 is provided on the left side of the symbol display device 8, and an ordinary electric accessory 13 is provided below the ordinary symbol starting gate 12. In addition, a second big prize opening 17 is provided below the symbol display device 8, and a first big prize opening 16 is provided below the second big prize opening 17. Note that the ordinary electric accessory 13, the first big prize opening 16, and the second big prize opening 17 are provided with opening / closing members that are opened at a predetermined timing. The game ball can be won only when the opening / closing member is opened (when the ordinary electric accessory 13, the first grand prize opening 16, and the second big prize opening 17 are opened). The game ball cannot be won at the time of closing (when the ordinary electric accessory 13, the first grand prize opening 16, and the second big prize opening 17 are closed).

  A game ball guiding member 22 for guiding a game ball flowing down the game board 2 toward the two large winning ports 16 and 17 is provided on the left side of the second large winning port 17. Further, the normal winning openings 18, 19, and 20 are provided on the left side of the first grand prize opening 16, and the normal winning opening 21 is provided on the right side. In addition to the above, the game board 2 is provided with various illumination lamps, other illumination LEDs, a windmill, a number of game nails, and the like.

  Next, the symbol display device 8 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the symbol display device 8 includes a display screen 28 in the center. Various images such as moving images and messages are displayed on the display screen 28. In particular, in order to notify the result of the normal hit determination, the demo symbol display unit D1 is arranged on the display screen 28 side by side, left, right, and center. There are provided three display areas, a demo symbol display part D2 and a demo symbol display part D3. The demo symbol display portions D1 to D3 occupy a wider area than a normal symbol display portion 24 and a special symbol display portion 25 described later so as to attract the player's eyes. In addition, during the normal hit game, whether or not the next normal hit determination is performed in the short-time game state (in the normal hit high probability state) is determined by the player using the display screen 28, the speaker 48, the lighting device 35, and the like. The details will be described later.

  Further, the symbol display device 8 is provided with a normal symbol memory number display LED 59 composed of four LEDs below the display screen 28, and a normal symbol display unit 24 composed of one LED is provided on the right side thereof. ing. In the normal symbol display unit 24, the lighting state indicates normal winning, the unlit indicates normal winning, and the blinking state is a fluctuating state indicating that the determination result of the normal winning determination will be notified from now on. Yes. Further, the normal symbol memory number display LED 59 passes through the normal symbol start gate 12 (see FIG. 2), and the number of game balls for which the normal symbol determination result is not yet displayed on the normal symbol display unit 24, so-called normal symbols. The number of operation hold balls is displayed by the number of LEDs to be lit.

  In addition, the symbol display device 8 is provided with a special symbol memory number display LED 60 composed of four LEDs above the display screen 28, and above that a special symbol display unit 25 composed of two seven segments. Is provided. The special symbol display unit 25 displays a special symbol consisting of alphabets and numbers that can be displayed in 7 segments, or a combination thereof. For this special symbol, a “bonus special symbol” and a “offset special symbol” are predetermined for each combination, and the “bonus special symbol” is further provided with a “probability variation symbol” and a “non-probability variation symbol”. ing. Also, the special symbol memory number display LED 60 wins the ordinary electric accessory 13 (see FIG. 2), and the number of game balls for which the result of the big hit determination is not yet displayed on the special symbol display unit 25, so-called special symbol operation suspension. The number of balls is displayed by the number of LEDs that are lit.

  Here, the game and effect in the pachinko machine 1 of this Embodiment are demonstrated. In the pachinko machine 1, when the game ball passes the normal symbol start gate 12, the normal hit determination is performed. In the present embodiment, the normal hit low probability state (non-temporary gaming state) in which the probability of being determined to be “win” in the normal hit determination is 5/719, and the normal hit high probability state (short time game) that is 718/719. State) can occur. If the determination result of the normal hit determination is “winning”, the pachinko machine 1 is in the normal hit state, the normal electric accessory 13 is opened, and the game ball can be won in the normal electric accessory 13. Become. The ordinary electric accessory 13 is closed when a predetermined time (4.5 seconds) elapses or when five game balls are won. Here, the determination result of the normal hit determination is displayed on the normal symbol display unit 24 and further displayed on the demo symbol display units D1 to D3 of the display screen 28. The demo symbol display units D1 to D3 are configured to attract the player's eyes more than the normal symbol display unit 24, and further synchronize with the background screen of the display screen 28, the lighting device 35, the speaker 48, and the like. Thus, the result of the normal hit determination is informed to increase the player's interest and expectation.

  Next, when a game ball wins the ordinary electric accessory 13, a jackpot determination is performed. In the present embodiment, a jackpot low-probability state (normal state) in which the probability of being a jackpot determination is 2009/2011 and a jackpot high-probability state (probability variation state) in 2010/2011 are generated. be able to. If the determination result of the jackpot determination is “Big jackpot”, the pachinko machine 1 is in the jackpot gaming state, and the jackpot game in which the first big winning opening 16 and the second big winning opening 17 are sequentially opened once is executed, The game ball is ready to be awarded to the first grand prize opening 16 and the second big prize opening 17. Then, both the first grand prize winning port 16 and the second grand prize winning port 17 are closed when a predetermined time elapses or one game ball is won. Therefore, every time it is determined as “winning” once by the normal hit determination, a maximum of 5 jackpot games are played.

  Further, when it is determined that the jackpot is “big jackpot”, it is determined whether the jackpot is a probability variation jackpot or a non-probability variation jackpot according to the selected special symbol. When it is determined as “big hit”, the probability that “probability variation symbol” is selected and the probability variation is determined as big hit is 81/84. Then, if it is determined that the probability variation jackpot, the probability variation state and the short-time gaming state that continue until the stop display time after the next special symbol variation ends are simultaneously generated after the jackpot game ends (this game The state is referred to as “short state when probability change”. On the other hand, if it is determined that the non-probability variation jackpot, the above-described normal state and non-time-saving gaming state are caused (this gaming state is referred to as “normal state”).

  Accordingly, when it is determined as “winning” in the normal winning determination and the game ball wins the normal electric accessory 13, it is determined as “big hit” with a probability of 2009/2011 or 2010/2011. Then, if this jackpot is a probability variation jackpot determined with a probability of 81/84, and if a normal hit determination is made during the subsequent short-time gaming state, the next immediately with a probability of 718/719 The normal hit game and up to five jackpot games will be played. That is, a normal hit game and a jackpot game are continued. Details of this will be described later with reference to a flowchart.

  Next, the electrical configuration of the pachinko machine 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the pachinko machine 1. As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 40 includes a main board 41, a power supply board 42, an effect control board 43, a payout control board 45, an electrical decoration board 46, a relay board 47, and a sub integrated board 58. This control part 40 is provided in the back side (back side) of the pachinko machine 1 (refer FIG. 1).

  First, the main substrate 41 will be described. The main board 41 that performs main control of the pachinko machine 1 is provided with a main board CPU unit 50 that performs various processes according to a program. The main board CPU unit 50 includes a CPU 51 for performing various arithmetic processes, a RAM 52 for temporarily storing data values generated during the arithmetic processes, a control program, initial values of various data, and other boards. And a ROM 53 that stores commands and the like for instructing these, and these are integrally molded as one LSI. Further, an interrupt signal generation circuit 57 is connected to the CPU unit 50, and the CPU 51 executes a control program stored in the ROM 53 every time an interrupt signal is input from the interrupt signal generation circuit 57. To do.

  The main board 41 is provided with an I / O interface 54 to detect a sub-integrated board 58, a sub-board such as a payout control board 45, a relay board 47 and the like, and a game ball won in the ordinary electric accessory 13 A start port switch 72, which is a proximity switch for connecting, is connected. Further, the I / O interface 54 of the main board 41 is connected to an output port 55 for outputting information of the pachinko machine 1 to a game hall management computer (not shown).

  Next, the payout control board 45 and the relay board 47 will be described. The payout control board 45 incorporates a CPU 45 a, an input interface (not shown), a RAM and a ROM, and is connected to a prize ball payout device 49. Then, according to the command transmitted from the main board 41, the prize ball payout device 49 is controlled. Further, the relay board 47 has an electric accessory opening solenoid 69 for opening / closing the opening / closing member of the ordinary electric accessory 13 and a first big prize opening opening solenoid 70 for opening / closing the opening / closing member of the first big prize opening 16. The second big prize opening opening solenoid 71 for opening / closing the opening / closing member of the second big prize opening 17, the normal symbol operation switch 73 for detecting the game ball passing through the normal symbol starting gate 12, and the first big prize opening 16 The first big prize opening switch 75 for counting the number of game balls won, the second big prize opening switch 76 for counting the number of game balls won in the second big prize opening 17, and the normal winning openings 18 to 21 A winning port switch 77 for detecting a winning game ball, a normal symbol display unit 24, and a special symbol display unit 25 are connected. The relay board 47 relays wiring of switches and solenoids and relays from the main board 41 to a display unit or the like that is directly controlled. In addition, when a game ball wins the ordinary electric accessory 13, the first grand prize port 16, the second major prize port 17, and the normal prize ports 18 to 21, a predetermined number of game balls are paid out.

  Next, the sub integrated substrate 58 will be described. The sub integrated board 58 is provided with a CPU 581, a RAM 582, and a ROM 583, and is connected to the effect control board 43, the electrical decoration board 46, and the speaker 48. Then, in accordance with a command transmitted from the main board 41, comprehensive control such as production is performed.

  Next, the production control board 43 and the illumination board 46, which are notification control boards, will be described. The effect control board 43 includes a CPU 43a, a RAM 43b, a ROM 43c, and an input interface (not shown), and controls the display screen 28. The illumination board 46 incorporates a CPU 46a, a RAM 46b, a RAM 46c, and an input interface (not shown) to control the lighting device 35. In the following embodiment, an effect control board 43 that controls the display screen 28 among these notification control boards will be described in detail.

  Next, the power supply substrate 42 will be described. The power supply board 42 is connected to the main board 41 and the game ball launching device 37, and supplies DC stabilized power to each board and the game ball launching device 37. The game ball launching device 37 includes a launching motor (not shown), a touch sensor provided on the launching handle 7, a launching device stop switch, a firing strength adjustment volume, and the like. The game ball launching device 37 has a fixed interval (in this embodiment, 0.6 seconds). ) Launch one game ball into the game area every time.

  Next, the storage area of the ROM 53 of the main board 41 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing a storage area of the ROM 53 of the main board 41. As shown in FIG. 5, the ROM 53 has an initial setting storage area 5301 for storing initial values stored in the respective storage areas when the pachinko machine 1 is reset, and the CPU 51 for controlling the pachinko machine 1. Control program storage area 5302 for storing various control programs, control command table storage area 5303 for storing a table of control commands output from the main board 41 to the sub-integrated board 58, and a special symbol combination displayed on the special symbol display unit 25 A special symbol combination pattern storage area 5304 for storing information, a normal symbol variation pattern storage area 5305 for storing information such as a table regarding a variation pattern when notifying the determination result of the normal hit determination, a normal hit determination, a jackpot determination, and Each referenced when special symbols are determined Such determination table storage area 5306 for storing a table is provided. Further, the ROM 53 is provided with various storage areas not shown.

  Next, the storage area of the RAM 52 of the main board 41 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing a storage area of the RAM 52 of the main board 41. As shown in FIG. 6, the RAM 52 stores a counter storage area 5201 for storing various counters, a winning ball flag storage for storing a flag indicating whether or not a game ball has won a normal symbol starting gate 12 or each winning opening. Area 5202, normal winning relation information storage area 5203 for storing a random number acquired when winning a game ball to the normal symbol start gate 12, normal symbol operation reserved ball number storage area 5204 for storing the normal symbol operation reserved ball number, normal Sub-integration from the main board 41, a jackpot related information storage area 5205 for storing random numbers acquired when winning a game ball to the electric accessory 13, a special symbol operation reserved ball number storage area 5206 for storing a special symbol operation reserved ball number Command-related storage error that stores control commands output to the board 58, the payout control board 45, the electrical decoration board 46, the relay board 47, etc. A 5207, flag relation storage area 5208 for storing various flags. Further, the RAM 52 is provided with various storage areas not shown.

  Next, each counter stored in the counter storage area 5201 of the RAM 52 will be described. The counter stored in the RAM 52 includes a random number acquisition counter for acquiring a random number, a timer counter for measuring time, a winning ball counter for counting the number of winning balls, and the like.

  First, the random number acquisition counter will be described. As the random number acquisition counter, there are a normal hit determination counter, a variation pattern determination counter, a big hit determination counter, a hit special symbol creation counter, an extra special symbol generation counter, and the like. The values of these counters are determined at regular intervals (for example, in the counter update process of the main process (S12, see FIG. 11)) that is executed based on the interrupt signal from the interrupt signal generation circuit 57 (see FIG. 4). , A predetermined amount (for example, “1”) is added every 2 ms which is an interval of interrupt signal generation. Each counter has a minimum value (lower limit value) and a maximum value (upper limit value), and is configured to circulate in a numerical value in a range from the minimum value to the maximum value. In other words, if the counter value becomes the same as the maximum value as a result of the update, the counter value takes the minimum value in the next update. In each random number acquisition counter, “0” is stored as an initial value when the pachinko machine 1 is activated. When the value is rounded to the same value as the initial value “0” by updating, a new initial value is set. Acquired and “1” is added to the initial value. This new initial value is repeatedly executed while the CPU 51 does not perform the main process (see FIG. 11) (until the main process ends and a new main process is started by an interrupt signal). A random number generated by an initial value random number process (a process for generating a random number by a predetermined algorithm) not shown is used.

  For example, the maximum value of the normal hit determination counter used for determining the normal hit is “719”, and the minimum value is “0”. Then, “1” is added every interrupt (every 2 ms), and when it becomes “720” or more, it returns to “0”. When the random number generated last time by the initial value random number processing is “18”, “0” is added to “1”, “2”, and when it becomes “18”, a new one is added. An initial value is acquired, and “1” is added to the initial value. These random number acquisition counters are used in normal symbol processing (see FIGS. 12 and 13) and special symbol processing (see FIGS. 15 and 16) of the main process described later.

  Next, the timer counter will be described. The timer counter is a counter used for measuring time, and a predetermined value is stored as an initial value at the start of time measurement. For example, when measuring 1 second, “500” is stored as an initial value. Then, “1” is subtracted by “1” in the counter update process (S12, see FIG. 11) performed every 2 ms that is the interval of interrupt signal generation, and it is determined that the time is being measured unless the value is “0”. When the value becomes “0”, it is determined that a predetermined time has elapsed. The value of the timer counter is programmed not to be updated after it becomes “0”. Although a large number of timer counters are used in this embodiment, the description of each timer counter will be described later.

  Next, the winning ball counter will be described. In this embodiment, an ordinary electric accessory winning ball counter is used as the winning ball counter. The value of the number of winning counters for the ordinary electric accessory winning ball counts the number of game balls won to the ordinary electric accessory 13 while the opening / closing member provided in the ordinary electric accessory 13 performs one opening / closing operation. Used for. Then, when the value of the ordinary electric accessory winning ball counter reaches “5” or more, or when a predetermined time elapses, the ordinary electric accessory 13 is closed. The initial value of the ordinary electric accessory winning ball counter is “0”. In the main process switch reading process (S11, see FIG. 11) described later, every time a game ball wins the ordinary electric accessory 13 “ 1 ”is added.

  Next, the normal hit relation information storage area 5203 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing the ordinary hit relation information storage area 5203 of the RAM 52. This normal hit relation information storage area 5203 is used in the normal symbol processing (see FIGS. 12 and 13) of the main processing described later. As shown in FIG. 7, the normal hit relation information storage area 5203 is provided with a determination area, a first storage area, a second storage area, a third storage area, and a fourth storage area. In the first to fourth memory areas, random numbers obtained by the game balls (ordinary symbol operation holding balls) that have passed the normal symbol start gate 12 and have not yet been notified of the determination result of the normal hit determination are stored. Is done. In the determination area, a result of the normal hit determination currently being performed and a random number based on the normal hit game are stored. Each of the determination area and the first to fourth storage areas is provided with a normal hit random number column and a variation pattern determination random number column. The normal hit random number column stores the value of the normal hit determination counter, and the variation pattern The value of the variation pattern determination counter is stored in the determined random number column.

  When it is confirmed that the game ball has passed through the normal symbol start gate 12 in the normal symbol processing, the value of the normal symbol operation reserved ball number storage area 5204 in the first memory area to the fourth memory area. Two values are stored in the storage area of the number corresponding to (ordinary symbol operation holding ball number). For example, if the number of normal symbol actuated balls is “3”, it is stored in the third storage area. Then, when the processing for the value stored in the determination area is completed, the next processing for the number of normal symbol actuated balls is performed. Therefore, the value stored in the first storage area is shifted to the determination area, and the jackpot determination result is notified based on the value stored in the determination area. In addition, as the first storage area is shifted to the determination area, each value in the second to fourth storage areas is shifted to a young storage area with one number, and the value in the fourth storage area is cleared. Here, the number of storage areas is four. In other words, the number of game balls that have passed through the normal symbol start gate 12 can be stored in random numbers and can be suspended. Therefore, the upper limit of the number of normal symbol operation reserved balls is four, and the value of the normal symbol operation reserved ball number storage area 5204 does not take a value larger than “4”.

  Next, the jackpot relation information storage area 5205 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram showing the jackpot relation information storage area 5205 of the RAM 52. The jackpot relation information storage area 5205 is used in a special symbol process (see FIGS. 15 and 16) of the main process described later. As shown in FIG. 8, the jackpot relation information storage area 5205 is provided with a determination area and first to fourth storage areas in the same manner as the ordinary hit relation information storage area 5203 described above. In the area, a random number obtained for a game ball (the number of special symbol actuated holding balls) that has won the ordinary electric accessory 13 and has not yet been notified of the result of the jackpot determination is stored. The determination area stores information on the result of the jackpot determination that is currently being performed and random numbers that are the basis of the jackpot game.

  In each of the determination area and the first to fourth storage areas, a jackpot random number field in which the value of the jackpot determination counter is stored, a special symbol determination random number field in which the value of the hit special symbol creation counter is stored, and an extra special A special symbol determination random number field for storing the value of the symbol creation counter is provided. When the winning of the game ball to the ordinary electric accessory 13 is confirmed, each value is stored in the storage area corresponding to the value (special symbol operation reserved ball number) in the special symbol operation reserved ball number storage area 5206, Based on this value, jackpot determination and special symbol determination are performed. Note that, depending on the determined special symbol, it is determined whether the gaming state that occurs after the end of the jackpot determination is the probability variation short state or the normal state, which will be described in detail later.

  Next, the storage area of the ROM 43c of the effect control board 43 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing a storage area of the RAM 43 c of the effect control board 43. As shown in FIG. 9, the ROM 43 c has an initial setting storage area 4301 for storing initial values stored in the respective storage areas when the pachinko machine 1 is reset, and the CPU 43 a for controlling the pachinko machine 1. A control program storage area 4302 for storing various control programs, a display mode storage area 4303 for storing display data for display on the display screen 28 in accordance with various notification instruction commands received from the sub-integrated board 58, and the like are provided. Yes. In the display mode storage area 4303, display data is stored for each operation mode (see FIG. 10) of the effect control board, and it is easy to refer to display data corresponding to the operating mode (see FIG. 10) during operation. It is feasible. Further, the ROM 43c is provided with various storage areas not shown.

  Next, the storage area of the RAM 43b of the effect control board 43 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram showing a storage area of the RAM 43 b of the effect control board 43. As shown in FIG. 10, in the RAM 43b, a counter storage area 4304 that stores the number of receptions as history information of various notification instruction commands received from the sub-integrated board 58, and an operation mode information storage area that stores an operation mode in operation. 4305 etc. are provided. Further, the RAM 43b is provided with various storage areas not shown.

  Next, details of the operation of the main board 41 of the pachinko machine 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 17. FIG. 11 is a flowchart of main processing in the main board 41. FIGS. 12 and 13 are flowcharts of a subroutine of normal symbol processing performed in the main process, and FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a subroutine of ordinary electric accessory processing performed in the main process. FIGS. 15 and 16 are flowcharts of a subroutine of special symbol processing performed in the main process, and FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a subroutine of special electric equipment processing performed in the main process. Hereinafter, each step of the flowchart is abbreviated as “S”.

  The control of the pachinko machine 1 is performed by a control program stored in the control program storage area 5302 of the ROM 53. The main process of the control program is executed by the CPU 51 when the CPU 51 senses an interrupt signal generated by the interrupt signal generation circuit 57 (see FIG. 4). Since the interrupt signal is generated at regular intervals (2 ms in the present embodiment), the main process is repeatedly executed every 2 ms.

  First, main processing performed on the main board 41 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 11, when the main process is started by sensing an interrupt signal, a command output process is first performed (S10). In this command output process, a control command is output to the sub-integrated board 58, the payout control board 45, the electrical decoration board 46, the relay board 47, etc. via the I / O interface 54. The control command includes a command for instructing the determined normal symbol variation pattern, a command for instructing the timing for stopping the normal symbol, a command for instructing the opening / closing timing of the electric accessory, and the determination result of the jackpot determination. There are a number of commands such as a command for notifying to the sub-integrated board 58 and a command for notifying the number of special symbol actuated spheres. The control command output here is a control command stored as an output command in the command relation storage area 5207 in the main process executed last time.

  Next, a switch reading process is performed (S11). In this switch reading process, a process of detecting the winning of a game ball to the normal symbol start gate 12, the ordinary electric accessory 13, the first grand prize opening 16, the second major prize opening 17, and the normal prize winning openings 18 to 21 is performed. Is called. Specifically, the normal symbol operation switch 73 provided at the normal symbol start gate 12, the start port switch 72 provided at the normal electric accessory 13, and the first large prize provided at the first grand prize winning port 16. The winning opening switch 75, the second large winning opening switch 76 provided in the second winning opening 17, and the winning opening switch 77 provided in the normal winning openings 18 to 21 are used. If it is determined that a winning is made, the flag corresponding to each switch stored in the winning ball flag storage area 5202 of the RAM 52 is turned ON. At the start of the switch reading process, all the flags in the winning ball flag storage area 5202 are reset.

  When the switch reading process ends, a counter update process is then performed (S12). As described above, in this counter update process, each value of the random number acquisition counter stored in the counter storage area 5201 of the RAM 52 is added by a predetermined amount, and each value of the timer counter is subtracted by a predetermined amount.

  When the counter update process ends, a special electric accessory process is performed (S13). In this special electric accessory process, a process for controlling the operation of the jackpot game, a process related to the game state generated after the jackpot game is finished, and the like are performed. Refer to the flowchart shown in FIG. 17 for details. It will be described later.

  When the special electric accessory process is completed, a special symbol process is performed (S14). In this special symbol processing, determination of jackpot, determination of special symbol displayed on the special symbol display unit 25, storage of a command for notifying the sub-integrated board 58 of the jackpot determination result and the number of special symbol operation hold balls, special Processing such as storing a command for controlling the fluctuation of the symbol is performed. This special symbol process will be described later with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.

  When the special symbol process is completed, the ordinary electric accessory process is performed (S15). In this ordinary electric accessory process, a process for controlling the opening and closing operation of the ordinary electric accessory 13 is performed in the case of a normal hit. The details will be described later with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. .

  When the normal electric accessory processing is completed, normal symbol processing is performed (S16). In the normal symbol process, when the flag corresponding to the normal symbol operation switch 73 is “ON” in the switch reading process (S11), a normal random number is obtained and displayed on the display screen 28 as a normal hit determination. Such as determining the demo pattern variation pattern, storing commands for controlling the demo symbol and normal symbol variation, and setting the normal hit gaming state flag indicating whether or not the normal hit gaming state is “ON”, etc. Done. This normal symbol processing will be described later with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.

  When the normal symbol process is completed, a payout process for paying out prize balls is performed (S17), and then an error check is performed (S18). If an error has occurred in the pachinko machine 1, an error is displayed on the display screen 28, the lighting device 35 is lit or blinked, or an error sound is generated from the speaker 48. Therefore, an error command for transmission to the sub-integrated board 58 in the command output process of S10 is stored in the command relation storage area 5207. Next, an information output process is performed (S19). In this information output process, various types of information such as jackpot information and starting information of the pachinko machine 1 are output via the output port 55 to a game hall management computer (not shown). When the information output process ends, the main process ends. When the interrupt signal is received from the interrupt signal generation circuit 57, the main process is executed again from the beginning.

  Here, an example of the operation of the pachinko machine 1 when a certain game ball passes the normal symbol start gate 12 and is determined to be a normal hit will be described as an example, and a series of main processes will be described. When the player operates a launch handle 7 provided on the lower side of the game board 2 to launch a game ball into the game area 4, the game ball flows down the game area 4. When the game ball passes through the normal symbol start gate 12, passage of the game ball is detected in the switch reading process, and the corresponding flag in the winning ball flag storage area 5202 is set to “ON” (S11). Then, the normal symbol and the demo symbol in the display screen 28 are stopped, and the symbol indicating the normal hit is displayed. When the normal winning symbol stop display time elapses, the normal hit gaming state flag in the flag related storage area 5208 is set to “ON” (S16). Then, the command for opening the ordinary electric accessory 13 is stored in the normal electric accessory process (S15) of the main process to be executed next, and the main process is repeatedly performed. When a winning of five game balls is detected or a predetermined opening time (4.5 seconds) has elapsed, a command for closing the ordinary electric accessory 13 is stored.

  When the winning of the game ball to the ordinary electric accessory 13 is detected by the switch reading process (S11) and the corresponding flag is set to “ON”, the jackpot determination and the special symbol determination are performed in the special symbol process (S14). Is performed, and a process related to the variation of the special symbol is performed. In this jackpot determination, the probability of being determined as “big hit” is 2009/2011 or 2010/2011. If it is determined that the jackpot is won, the jackpot gaming state flag in the flag relation storage area 5208 is set to “ON”. , 17 are stored. If the determined special symbol is a probability variation symbol, that is, “probability variation jackpot”, both the probability variation flag and the hour / medium flag are set to “ON” after the jackpot gaming state. If the next normal hit determination is performed when the hour / short flag is “ON”, the normal hit is made again with a probability of 718/719 (S16). It is expected that the next ordinary electric accessory 13 will be opened (S15) and an opportunity for a jackpot determination to be made (S14) at a time interval shorter than the probability 5/719). That is, when the hour / middle flag is “ON”, normal hits and jackpots are continuously generated at shorter time intervals than when “OFF” is set, and a large number of game balls are paid out to the player.

  Next, details of the normal symbol process (S16) of the main process will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the flags used in normal symbol processing will be described. The flag-related storage area 5208 stores a normal symbol display state flag, a normal winning game state flag, a short / medium time flag, and the like. The normal symbol display state flag is a flag indicating the state of the normal symbol display unit 24, and is “1” when the normal symbol display unit 24 is changing (during change), and when stopped (during stop display). ) Is stored as “2”, and “0” is stored when neither change nor stop display is displayed. The normal hit game state flag is “1” stored in the normal hit game state and is “ON”; otherwise, “0” is stored and “OFF”. ing. In addition, the “short / middle flag” stores “1” when the “probability variation short-time state” occurs and becomes “ON”, and “0” when the “normal state” occurs. " It should be noted that the normal symbol fluctuation time is shorter in the short time state (short time) during the probability variation time short flag ("short time short") when the short time flag is "ON", and in the normal hit determination The probability of being determined as “ordinary hit” is higher than in the normal state. The initial value of each flag is “0”.

  As shown in FIG. 12, when the normal symbol process of the main process is started, a process related to the passing of the game ball to the normal symbol start gate 12 is performed. First, it is determined whether or not the game ball has passed through the normal symbol start gate 12 (S21). In the main process switch reading process (S11, see FIG. 11), when the normal symbol operation switch 73 provided in the normal symbol start gate 12 detects the passing of the game ball, the normal winning flag flag storage area 5202 The flag corresponding to the symbol operation switch 73 is “ON”. Therefore, in S21, it is determined whether or not the flag corresponding to the normal symbol operation switch 73 is “ON”. If the flag is not “ON” (S21: NO), the game ball is the normal symbol start gate 12. Since it has not passed, it transfers to determination of S25 as it is.

  When the flag corresponding to the normal symbol operation switch 73 is “ON” (S21: YES), since the game ball passes through the normal symbol start gate 12, a random number for the game ball is acquired and the normal symbol is acquired. It is stored in the hit relation information storage area 5203. However, the number of normal symbol actuated holding balls that can acquire and store random numbers is four. Therefore, it is determined whether or not the value of the normal symbol operation reserved ball number storage area 5204 is “4” (S22). If the value of the normal symbol operation reserved ball number storage area 5204 is “4” (S22: YES), since the random number for this game ball cannot be stored, the process proceeds to S25 as it is.

  When the value of the normal symbol operation reserved ball number storage area 5204 is not “4”, that is, between “0” and “3” (S22: NO), “1” is added to the value (S23). Then, a random number is stored in the storage area of the number corresponding to the value of the normal symbol operation reserved ball number storage area 5204 in the normal hit relation information storage area 5203 (see FIG. 7) (S24). Specifically, the value of the normal hit determination counter is stored in the normal hit random number column, and the value of the fluctuation pattern determination counter is stored in the fluctuation pattern determination random number column.

  Next, based on the normal hit game state flag, it is determined whether or not the normal hit game state is set (S25). In the normal hit gaming state, the normal hit determination and the determination result notification are not performed. Therefore, when the normal hit game state flag is “ON” and the normal hit game state is set (S25: YES), the process returns to the main process without doing anything.

  If the normal hit game state flag is not “ON” (S25: NO), the normal symbol display unit 24 is controlled because it is not the normal hit game state. First, it is determined whether or not the normal symbol display unit 24 is changing based on the normal symbol display state flag (S26). If the normal symbol display state flag is not “1” and is not changing (S26: NO), it is determined whether or not the normal symbol display state flag is being stopped (S27). When the normal symbol display state flag is not “2” and the stop display is not being performed (S27: NO), the normal hit determination is performed.

  Therefore, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 13, it is confirmed whether or not there is a game ball to be subjected to the normal hit determination (S28). If the value of the normal symbol operation reserved ball number storage area 5204 is not “1” or more (S28: NO), there is no game ball to be subjected to the normal hit determination, and the process directly returns to the main process. If it is “1” or more (S28: YES), there is a game ball to be determined for normal hit, so “1” is subtracted from the value of the normal symbol operation reserved ball number storage area 5204 (S29), and the normal hit relationship The value stored in the information storage area 5203 is shifted. That is, the random number stored in the first storage area is shifted to the determination area, the random number stored in the second to fourth storage areas is shifted to the storage area one number lower, and the value in the fourth storage area Is cleared (S30).

  Next, a normal hit determination is performed. The normal hit determination is performed using the value stored in the normal hit random number column of the determination area according to whether or not the probability variation time short state is in effect, that is, whether or not the time is short. The time / short flag indicating whether the time is short or short is switched between “ON” and “OFF” in the special electric accessory process and the special symbol process described later. When the hour / short flag is set to “ON” and “1” is stored, and the hour / hour / hour flag is set to “ON” (S31: YES), the number of specific values determined as normal hits is a non-hour / hour / temporary table. The normal hit determination table (not shown) having a higher probability than that is referred to, and the normal hit determination is performed (S32).

  Next, when it is determined as “ordinary hit” (S33: YES), a variation pattern determination process is performed when it is determined as normal hit in a short time (S34). Specifically, first, a fluctuation pattern determination table (not shown) for normal hits in a short time is referred to, and a change pattern is determined by a change pattern determination random number stored in the determination area of the normal hit relation information storage area 5203. One is determined. Then, a variation pattern designation command indicating the determined variation pattern is stored in the command relation storage area 5207. This fluctuation pattern designation command is transmitted to the sub-integrated board 58 and the relay board 47 in the command output process (S10, see FIG. 11), designates the decided fluctuation pattern, and displays the demo symbol display section D1 in the display screen 28. ~ D3 and normal symbol display unit 24 start to change. If it is not determined as “normal hit” in the normal hit determination (S33: NO), the fluctuation pattern is determined by referring to the fluctuation pattern determination table when the normal hit determination is out of time. A variation pattern designation command indicating the determined variation pattern is stored in the command relation storage area 5207 (S35).

  On the other hand, in the case of a non-temporary time in which “0” is stored in the hour / middle flag and is “OFF”, that is, in a normal hit low probability state (S31: NO), it is determined as a normal hit. A normal hit determination table is determined with reference to a low probability ordinary hit determination table in which a specific value is lower than that of the table in the time reduction (S36). Next, when it is determined that “ordinary hit” (S37: YES), the change pattern is determined by referring to the change pattern determination table for the normal hit during non-time saving, and the change pattern indicating the determined change pattern The designated command is stored in the command relation storage area 5207 (S38). In addition, when it is not determined as “ordinary hit” (S37: NO), the variation pattern is determined and determined by referring to the variation pattern determination table when the normal hit determination during non-time saving is out of place. The fluctuation pattern designation command is stored (S39).

  Next, the variation time of the normal symbol determined by the determined variation pattern is stored in the normal symbol variation time counter TC1 (S40). This variation time is preset for each variation pattern. In the present embodiment, all the fluctuation patterns during the time reduction are set to 2 seconds, whereas the fluctuation patterns during the non-time reduction are assigned a plurality of fluctuation times for each fluctuation pattern. The time setting can be changed as appropriate. Then, “1” indicating that the normal symbol display unit 24 is changing is stored in the normal symbol display state flag (S41), the normal symbol process is terminated, and the process returns to the main process.

  In the determination of S26 shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12, when “1” is stored in the normal symbol display state flag and it is determined that the normal symbol display unit 24 is changing (S26: YES). Then, it is determined whether or not the variation time has elapsed (S47). This determination is normally made based on the value of the symbol variation time counter TC1. If the value of the normal symbol variation time counter TC1 set in S40 (see FIG. 13) becomes “0”, the variation time of the ordinary symbol has elapsed (S47: YES), so the command relation storage area 5207 A normal symbol stop command is stored (S48). The normal symbol stop command is transmitted to the sub-integrated board 58 and the relay board 47 in the command output process (S10, see FIG. 11), and the demonstration symbol display units D1 to D3 and the normal symbol display unit 24 in the display screen 28 are stopped. Instruct. Then, the predetermined stop display time (0.8 seconds in the present embodiment) is stored in the normal symbol stop time counter TC2 (S49), and “2” indicating that the normal symbol display unit 24 is displaying the stop is displayed. It is stored in the normal symbol display state flag (S50). Then, the normal symbol process is terminated and the process returns to the main process. On the other hand, if it is determined in S47 that the value of the normal symbol variation time counter TC1 is not “0” and the variation time has not yet elapsed (S47: NO), the variation of the normal symbol display unit 24 is continued. . Therefore, the process returns to the main process as it is.

  In the determination of S27, “2” is stored in the normal symbol display state flag, and when it is determined that the normal symbol display unit 24 is in a stop display (S27: YES), the stop display time is set. A determination is made as to whether or not the time has elapsed (S51). This determination is normally made based on the value of the symbol stop time counter TC2. If the value of the normal symbol stop time counter TC2 set in S49 is subtracted to “0” in the counter update process (S12, see FIG. 11), the stop display time has elapsed (S51: YES). ), “0” indicating that the normal symbol display unit 24 is neither stopped display nor fluctuating is stored in the normal symbol display state flag (S52).

  If the normal winning random number is a random number determined in advance as “normal winning” (S53: YES), “1” is stored in the normal winning game state flag stored in the flag relation storage area 5208 of the RAM 52. Then, “ON” is set (S54), the normal symbol process is terminated, and the process returns to the main process. This normal winning game state flag is used when it is determined whether or not to perform a process for opening / closing the ordinary electric accessory 13 in an ordinary electric accessory process (see FIG. 14) described later. On the other hand, if it is not normal (S53: NO), the normal symbol process is terminated as it is, and the process returns to the main process. If it is determined in S51 that the value of the normal symbol stop time counter TC2 is not “0” and the stop display time has not yet elapsed (S51: NO), the normal symbol display unit 24 displays Will continue to display symbols. Therefore, the process returns to the main process as it is.

  As described above, when the game ball passes through the normal symbol start gate 12 (S21: YES), a random number is acquired (S24), and a normal hit determination is performed according to whether the time is short or not (S32). , S36), the variation pattern is determined, and the variation pattern designation command is stored (S34, S35, S38, S39). Then, while the main process is repeatedly performed, the normal symbol process is also repeatedly performed. When the variation time has elapsed (S26: YES, S47: YES), the normal symbol stop command is stored (S48). Further, when the normal symbol processing is repeatedly executed and the stop display time has elapsed (S27: YES, S51: YES), the notification of the determination result of the normal hit determination is terminated, and when it is normal hit (S53: YES). In order to shift to the normal hit gaming state, the normal hit gaming state flag is set to “ON” (S54), and the process returns to the main process.

  Next, the details of the normal electric accessory process (S15) of the main process will be described with reference to FIG. First, the flag used in the ordinary electric accessory processing will be described. As main flags used here, there are a normal electric accessory opening flag and a normal symbol variation waiting flag. The normal electric accessory opening flag is a flag indicating whether or not the normal electric accessory 13 is open. During the opening of the normal electric accessory 13, “1” is stored and becomes “ON” and closed. “0” is stored therein and “OFF” is set. The normal symbol fluctuation waiting flag is a flag that indicates whether or not the normal electric accessory 13 is waiting until the next normal symbol can be changed after the normal electric accessory 13 is closed. “1” is stored and “ON” is stored, and “0” is stored and “OFF” is stored unless the variation is on standby. The initial values are both “0”.

  As shown in FIG. 14, when the normal electric accessory process of the main process is started, a determination is made as to whether or not the normal hit gaming state is made based on the normal hit gaming state flag (S61). When it is not in the normal hit gaming state, the normal electric accessory 13 is not opened / closed. Therefore, when the normal hit game state flag is “OFF” and the normal hit game state is not set (S61: NO), the process directly returns to the main process.

  On the other hand, when the normal hit gaming state flag is “ON” and the normal hit gaming state is set (S61: YES), processing related to opening / closing of the normal electric accessory 13 is performed. First, a determination is made as to whether or not the normal symbol variation waiting flag is awaiting, based on the normal symbol variation waiting flag (S62). If the normal symbol variation waiting flag is “OFF” and the variation standby is not in progress (S62: NO), it is determined whether or not the ordinary electric accessory 13 is being opened by the ordinary electric accessory releasing flag. Performed (S63). If the normal electric accessory opening flag is “OFF” and the normal electric accessory 13 is not yet opened (S63: NO), the normal electric accessory release command for opening the ordinary electric accessory 13 is the RAM 52. Is stored in the command relation storage area 5207 (S64). Then, the maximum opening time (4.5 seconds) of the ordinary electric accessory 13 is stored in the ordinary electric accessory opening time counter TC3 (S65), and “1” indicating that the ordinary electric accessory 13 is being opened is displayed. It is stored in the normal electric accessory opening flag and is set to “ON” (S66).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the value of the ordinary electric accessory winning ball counter is 5 (S67). Every time a game ball wins the ordinary electric accessory 13, “1” is added to the value of the ordinary electric accessory winning ball counter in the switch reading process of the main process (see FIG. 11). If the value of the normal electric accessory winning ball counter is less than 5, that is, “0” to “4” (S67: NO), the normal electric accessory opening time counter TC3 set in the process of S65 It is determined whether the maximum opening time of the electric accessory 13 has elapsed (S68). If the maximum opening time of 4.5 seconds has not elapsed (S68: NO), the process returns to the main process.

  Then, in the normal electric accessory process of the main process performed after that, the normal hit gaming state (S61: YES), the normal symbol fluctuation waiting is not made (S62: NO), and the normal electric accessory 13 is open. (S63: YES), these determinations are repeated until the number of winning balls reaches “5” or until the maximum opening time of the ordinary electric accessory 13 has elapsed (S67: NO, S68). : NO). When the number of winning balls is “5” (S67: YES), or when the opening time of 4.5 seconds has elapsed (S68: YES), a process of closing the ordinary electric accessory 13 is performed. Is called. Therefore, a normal electric accessory closing command for closing the ordinary electric accessory 13 is stored in the command relation storage area 5207 (S69). Next, the standby time (23.2 seconds) until the next normal symbol can be changed is stored in the normal symbol change standby time counter TC4 (S70), and the value of the normal electric accessory winning ball counter is the initial value. Is initialized to "0" (S71). Next, “0” is stored in the flag indicating that the normal electric accessory is being released in the flag-related storage area 5208 and is set to “OFF” (S72), and “1” indicating that the normal symbol is on standby is changed. It is stored in the waiting flag and is set to “ON” (S73). Then, the process returns to the main process.

  If the normal symbol variation standby flag is “ON” and the normal symbol variation standby is in progress (S62: YES), whether or not the standby time has elapsed is determined by the value of the normal symbol variation standby time counter TC4. Is determined (S74). When it is determined that the value of the normal symbol variation standby time counter TC4 is not “0” and the standby time is being measured (S74: NO), the process returns to the main process. If the time elapses while the main process is repeatedly performed, and the value of the normal symbol variation waiting time counter TC4 is “0” and it is determined that the waiting time has elapsed (S74: YES), the flag “0” is stored in the normal winning gaming state flag in the relation storage area 5208 and set to “OFF” (S75), and the normal symbol variation waiting flag is set to “OFF” indicating that the variation waiting flag is not waiting (S76). Then, the ordinary electric accessory processing is terminated and the processing returns to the main processing.

  As described above, when the determination result of the normal hit determination is “normal hit” and the normal hit gaming state is reached (S61: YES), the normal electric accessory 13 is released (S64). When the winning of five game balls is detected (S67: YES) or when the maximum opening time of 4.5 seconds has elapsed (S68: YES), the ordinary electric accessory 13 is closed (S69). However, the normal hit gaming state flag is continuously “ON” until the standby time of 23.2 seconds measured from that time elapses (S74: NO), and “OFF” when the standby time elapses. (S74: YES, S75). Here, as described above, when the normal hit gaming state flag is “ON”, the normal hit determination is not performed, so the normal hit relation information storage area 5203 (see FIG. 7) is stored in the first storage area. Even if a random number is stored, the normal hit determination is not performed for 23.2 seconds after the normal electric accessory 13 is closed. Then, the length of the standby time of 23.2 seconds continues until the time when the special symbol change / stop and the jackpot game, which will be described later, are performed up to five times per one normal hit, and the time when the jackpot game ends. It is set assuming length.

  Next, details of the special symbol process (S14) of the main process will be described with reference to FIGS. The flags used in the special symbol process include a special symbol display state flag, a jackpot gaming state flag, a probability variation flag, and the like. The special symbol display state flag is a flag indicating the state of the special symbol display unit 25. When the special symbol display unit 25 is changing, “1” is displayed, “2” is displayed during stop display, and when neither change nor stop display is displayed. Stores “0”. The jackpot gaming status flag is “1” stored and “ON” when the jackpot gaming state is set, and “0” is stored and “OFF” otherwise. . The probability variation flag stores “1” when the probability variation is in progress (when the “probability variation short state” has occurred) and is “ON”; otherwise (“normal state”). "Is generated)," 0 "is stored and" OFF ". It should be noted that during probability fluctuation (during the jackpot high probability state), the probability of being determined to be a “big hit” in the jackpot determination is higher than in the normal case (in the jackpot low probability state). The initial value of each flag is “0”.

  As shown in FIG. 15, when the special symbol process of the main process is started, a process related to winning a game ball to the ordinary electric accessory 13 is performed. First, it is determined whether or not a game ball has won the ordinary electric accessory 13 (S80). Among the flags stored in the winning ball flag storage area 5202, when the flag corresponding to the start port switch 72 provided in the ordinary electric accessory 13 is “OFF” (S80: NO), Since the game ball has not won the ordinary electric accessory 13, the process proceeds to the determination of S85 as it is.

  When the flag corresponding to the start port switch 72 is “ON” (S80: YES), the game ball is won to the ordinary electric accessory 13, and therefore the value of the special symbol operation reserved ball number storage area 5206 is It is determined whether or not “4” (S81). If it is “4” (S81: YES), since the random number for this game ball cannot be stored, the process proceeds to S85 as it is.

  When the value of the special symbol operation reserved ball number storage area 5206 is not “4”, that is, between “0” and “3” (S81: NO), the special symbol operation reserved ball number storage area 5206 “1” is added to the value (S82). Then, a random number is stored in the storage area of the number corresponding to the value of the special symbol operation reserved ball number storage area 5206 in the jackpot relation information storage area 5205 (see FIG. 7) (S83). Specifically, the value of the jackpot determination counter is in the jackpot random number column, the value of the hit special symbol creation counter is in the bonus special symbol determination random number column, and the value of the special bonus symbol creation counter is in the outlier special symbol determination random number column. Each is remembered. Then, a special symbol operation reservation ball number notification command for notifying the value of the special symbol operation reservation ball number storage area 5206 to the sub-integrated board 58 is stored in the command relation storage area 5207 (S84).

  Next, based on the jackpot gaming status flag, it is determined whether or not the jackpot gaming status is set (S85). When it is a jackpot game state, the jackpot determination and the notification of the determination result are not performed. Therefore, when the jackpot gaming state flag is “ON” and the jackpot gaming state is set (S85: YES), the process returns to the main process without doing anything.

  When the jackpot game state flag is not “ON” (S85: NO), the game is not in the jackpot game state, and therefore processing related to the control of the special symbol display unit 25 is performed. First, it is determined whether or not the special symbol display unit 25 is changing based on the special symbol display state flag (S86). If the special symbol display state flag is not “1” and is not changing (S86: NO), it is determined whether or not the special symbol display state flag is being stopped (S87). When the special symbol display state flag is not “2” and stop display is not being performed (S87: NO), a big hit determination is performed.

  Therefore, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 16, it is confirmed whether or not there is a game ball for which a jackpot determination is to be made (S88). If the value of the special symbol operation reserved ball number storage area 5206 is not equal to or greater than “1” (S88: NO), there is no game ball to be subjected to the jackpot determination, and the process directly returns to the main process. If it is “1” or more (S88: YES), there is a game ball for which a jackpot determination is to be made, and therefore the value in the special symbol actuated holding ball number storage area 5206 is subtracted by “1” (S89), The value stored in area 5205 is shifted. That is, the random number stored in the first storage area is shifted to the determination area, the random number stored in the second to fourth storage areas is shifted to the storage area one number lower, and the value in the fourth storage area Is cleared (S90).

  Next, a jackpot determination is performed. The jackpot determination is performed using a value stored in the jackpot random number column of the determination area depending on whether the probability is changing, that is, whether the jackpot is in a high probability state. If the probability variation flag stores “1” and the probability variation is “ON” (S91: YES), the number of specific values determined as jackpots is higher than in the normal state. A jackpot determination is made with reference to a probability jackpot determination table (not shown) (S92). On the other hand, if the probability variation flag is “OFF” and non-probability variation is being performed (S91: NO), the low probability that the number of specific values determined as jackpots is smaller than the high probability jackpot determination table The jackpot determination table is referred to to determine the jackpot determination (S93).

  Next, when it is determined as “big hit” (S94: YES), in the special winning symbol determination process (S95), a plurality of winning symbols are determined based on the values stored in the special symbol determining random number column of the determination area. One of the special symbols is determined, and a special symbol designating command indicating the determined special symbol is stored in the command relation storage area 5207. Then, it is determined whether or not the jackpot is a probability variation jackpot (S96). If it is determined that the special symbol determined in S95 is a probability variation symbol and a probability variation jackpot (S96: YES), it indicates that a “probability variation short state” will occur after the jackpot game ends. The notification command is stored in the command relation storage area 5207 (S97). Also, if the special symbol is a non-stochastic variation symbol and is normally determined to be a big jackpot (S96: NO), a non-temporal jackpot notification command indicating that the “normal state” is to be generated after the jackpot game ends is stored. (S98).

  On the other hand, when the result of the jackpot determination is “missing” (S94: NO), in the special symbol determination process (S99), based on the value stored in the special symbol determination random number column in the determination area. Thus, one of the plurality of special symbols for losing is determined, and a special symbol designating command indicating the determined special symbol for losing is stored in the command relation storage area 5207. Then, a loss notification command indicating that the determination result of the jackpot determination is “loss” is stored (S100).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the value of the special symbol operation reserved ball number storage area 5206 is “0” (S101). If it is “0” (S101: YES), the first of the special symbols is stored. The variation time (0.4 seconds) is stored in the special symbol first variation time counter TC5 (S102). If there is a holding ball and the value of the special symbol operation holding ball number storage area 5206 is not “0” (S101: NO), the second variation time (1.8 seconds) of the special symbol is the special symbol number. It is stored in the two variation time counter TC6 (S103).

  Next, a special symbol change start command for starting the change of the special symbol display unit 25 is stored in the command relation storage area 5207 (S104), and “1” indicating that the special symbol display unit 25 is changing. Is stored in the special symbol display state flag (S105). Then, a special symbol operation reservation ball number notification command for notifying the value of the special symbol operation reservation ball number storage area 5206 to the sub-integrated board 58 is stored in the command relation storage area 5207 (S106), and the process returns to the main process. . In the same main process of the same time, in the process of S84 (see FIG. 15), when the special symbol operation pending ball number notification command is already stored, the contents of the command in S106 are overwritten.

  Further, in the determination of S86 shown in the flowchart of FIG. 15, when it is determined that “1” is stored in the special symbol display state flag and the special symbol display unit 25 is changing (S86: YES). Whether or not the variation time has elapsed is determined based on whether or not the value of the special symbol variation time counter set in S102 or S103 (see FIG. 16) is “0” (S111). When the value of the special symbol variation time counter is “0”, since the variation time of the special symbol has elapsed (S111: YES), a special symbol stop command for stopping the variation of the special symbol display unit 25 is stored. (S112). Then, the stop display time of 0.5 seconds is stored in the special symbol stop time counter TC7 (S113), and “2” indicating that the special symbol display unit 25 is in the stop display is stored in the special symbol display state flag. (S114), the process returns to the main process. On the other hand, if it is determined in S111 that the value of the special symbol variation time counter is not “0” and the variation time has not yet elapsed (S111: NO), the variation of the special symbol display unit 25 is continued. Therefore, the process returns to the main process as it is.

  If it is determined in S87 that “2” is stored in the special symbol display state flag and the special symbol display unit 25 is stopped (S87: YES), it is set in S113. Whether or not the stop display time has elapsed is determined based on the value of the special symbol stop time counter TC7 (S115). When the value of the special symbol stop time counter TC7 is “0”, since the stop display time has elapsed (S115: YES), “0” indicating that the special symbol display unit 25 is neither in the stop display nor in the fluctuation state. It is stored in the special symbol display state flag (S116). In the present embodiment, the “probability change short state” once generated ends when the next special symbol change and stop display are completed, and the subsequent game state shifts to the “normal state”. Therefore, when the probability variation flag and the hour / mid-time flag in the flag-related storage area 5208 are “ON”, a process of switching to “OFF” is performed (S117).

  Then, when it is determined that the jackpot is determined as “big hit” (S118: YES), “1” is stored in the jackpot gaming state flag in the flag relation storage area 5208 and is set to “ON” ( S119), the special symbol process is terminated and the process returns to the main process. This jackpot game state flag is used when determining whether or not to perform a process of opening and closing the first big prize opening 16 and the second big prize opening 17 in the special electric accessory process (see FIG. 17) described later. The If it is not a big hit (S118: NO), the special symbol process is terminated as it is, and the process returns to the main process. If it is determined in S115 that the value of the special symbol stop time counter TC7 is not “0” and the stop display time has not yet elapsed (S115: NO), the special symbol display unit 25 displays Will continue to display symbols. Therefore, the process returns to the main process as it is.

  As described above, when the game ball wins the ordinary electric accessory 13 (S80: YES), a random number is acquired (S83), and a jackpot determination is performed (S91 to S93). Then, a command for notifying the determination result to the sub-integrated board 58 is stored according to whether the result of the jackpot determination is a probability variation jackpot, a normal jackpot, or a loss (S94 to S100). Further, when the number of special symbol operation reservation balls is added and when the big hit determination is made, a command for notifying the sub integrated board 58 of the special symbol operation reservation balls at that time is stored (S84). , S106).

  Next, details of the special electric accessory process (S13) of the main process will be described with reference to FIG. First, the flag used in the special electric accessory processing will be described. Main flags used here include a big prize opening open flag, a big prize opening waiting flag, a first big prize opening completion flag, and the like, which are stored in the flag relation storage area 5208 of the RAM 52. The big prize opening open flag is a flag indicating whether one of the first big prize opening 16 and the second big prize opening 17 is opened, and when either one of the big prize opening is opened. “1” is stored and becomes “ON”, and when both are closed, “0” is stored and becomes “OFF”. Further, the waiting flag processing waiting flag is set to 0.4 seconds from when the first grand prize opening 16 or the second big prize opening 17 is closed until the next processing relating to the big prize winning openings 16 and 17 is performed. It is a flag indicating whether or not it is in the standby time. “1” is stored and turned “ON” during the standby time, and “0” is stored and “OFF” when it is not in the standby time. The first big prize opening / closing end flag is a flag indicating whether or not the opening / closing operation of the first big prize opening 16 that was performed first during the jackpot gaming state has ended. When the operation is finished, “1” is stored and turned “ON”, and when not finished, “0” is stored and turned “OFF”. The initial values are all “0”.

  As shown in FIG. 17, when the special electric accessory process of the main process is started, it is determined whether or not the jackpot gaming state is based on the jackpot gaming state flag (S121). When it is not a jackpot gaming state, the two big winning openings 16, 17 are not opened / closed. Therefore, when the jackpot gaming state flag is “OFF” and the jackpot gaming state is not set (S121: NO), the process directly returns to the main process.

  On the other hand, when the jackpot gaming state flag is “ON” and the jackpot gaming state is set (S121: YES), the processing related to the two jackpots 16 and 17 is performed. First, it is determined whether or not it is during the waiting time until the next processing related to the big winning openings 16 and 17 is performed by the big winning opening process waiting flag (S122). When the big prize opening waiting flag is “OFF” and not in the waiting time (S122: NO), whether or not one of the two big prize winning openings 16, 17 is opened by the big prize opening open flag. Is determined (S123). When the big prize opening opening flag is “OFF” and the big prize winning openings 16 and 17 are both closed (S123: NO), a process of opening one of the two big prize winning openings 16 and 17 is performed. Done.

  Therefore, it is determined whether or not the opening / closing operation of the first big prize opening 16 which is performed prior to the opening / closing operation of the second big prize opening 17 is ended by the first big prize opening / closing end flag (S124). ). If the first grand prize opening / closing end flag is “OFF” and the opening / closing operation of the first big prize opening 16 has not been completed yet (S124: NO), the first big prize opening 16 is opened. The first big prize opening release command is stored in the command relation storage area 5207 (S125). This command is output to the relay board 47 in the command output process (S10, see FIG. 11) of the main process to be performed next. Then, the maximum opening time (1.5 seconds) of the special winning openings 16, 17 is stored in the special winning opening open time counter TC8 (S127), indicating that one of the special winning openings 16, 17 is open. “1” is stored in the big prize opening open flag and is set to “ON” (S128).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the game ball has won the first grand prize opening 16 (S129). In the winning ball flag storage area 5202, the flag corresponding to the first big winning port switch 75 provided at the first big winning port 16 is “OFF”, and the game ball wins the first big winning port 16. If it is determined that it has not been made (S129: NO), it is determined whether or not the maximum opening time of the first big winning opening 16 has passed by the big winning opening opening time counter TC8 set in the process of S127. Is performed (S130). If the maximum opening time of 1.5 seconds has not elapsed (S130: NO), the process returns to the main process.

  And it is a big hit game state by the special electric accessory process of the main process performed after that (S121: YES), and it is not during the waiting time until the next process regarding the big prize winning holes 16, 17 is performed (S122: NO) When one of the two big winning openings 16, 17 is open (S123: YES), the game ball wins the first big winning opening 16 or the maximum of the first big winning opening 16 These determinations are repeatedly performed until the opening time elapses (S129: NO, S130: NO). Then, when the game ball wins the first grand prize opening 16 (S129: YES) or when the maximum opening time of 1.5 seconds has passed (S130: YES), the first big prize opening 16 is closed. Processing is performed. Therefore, a big winning port closing command for closing the opened first big winning port 16 or the second big winning port 17 is stored in the command related storage area 5207 (S131). This command is transmitted to the relay board 47 in the next command output process (S10, see FIG. 11).

  Next, the waiting time (0.4 seconds) until the next process relating to the winning prize openings 16 and 17 is performed is stored in the winning prize opening process waiting time counter TC9 (S132), and the winning prize opening in the flag related storage area 5208 is stored. “0” is stored in the open flag and is set to “OFF” (S133). Then, “1” indicating that it is during the waiting time until the next processing relating to the big winning openings 16, 17 is stored in the big winning opening processing waiting flag and is set to “ON” (S134). Return to processing.

  In addition, when the big prize opening process waiting flag is “ON” (S122: YES), it is determined whether or not the waiting time has elapsed based on the value of the big prize opening process waiting time counter TC9 ( S136). If it is determined that the value of the big prize winning process waiting time counter TC9 is not “0” and the waiting time is being measured (S136: NO), the process directly returns to the main process. Then, when time passes while the main process is repeatedly performed, and the value of the big prize opening waiting time counter TC9 becomes “0” and it is determined that the waiting time has passed (S136: YES). Then, “0” indicating that it is not during the waiting time is stored in the big prize opening waiting flag and is set to “OFF” (S137).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the first big prize opening / closing end flag indicating that the opening / closing operation of the first big prize opening 16 has been completed is “ON” (S138). If the first big prize opening / closing end flag is “OFF” (S138: NO), this flag is switched to “ON” (S139), and the process returns to the main process.

  Then, in the next special electric accessory processing to be performed, it is a jackpot gaming state (S121: YES), not during the waiting time until the next processing related to the big winning opening 16, 17 (S122: NO), Since the two big winning openings 16, 17 are both closed (S123: NO), a process of opening either of the two big winning openings 16, 17 is performed. Here, in the process of S139 of the special electric accessory process performed previously, the first big prize opening opening / closing end flag indicating that the opening / closing operation of the first big prize opening 16 has been completed is set to “ON”. (S124: YES), the second big prize opening opening command for opening the second big prize opening 17 is stored in the command relation storage area 5207 (S126). Next, as in the case where the first big prize opening 16 is opened, the maximum opening time of 1.5 seconds is stored in the big prize opening time counter TC8 (S127), and the big prize opening open flag is “ON”. (S128). Then, while the main process is repeatedly performed, whether the winning ball flag corresponding to the second big prize opening switch 76 provided in the second big prize opening 17 is “ON” (S129: YES), or When the maximum opening time of 5 seconds has elapsed (S130: YES), a winning prize closing command is stored (S131), and a waiting time of 0.4 seconds is stored in the winning prize processing waiting time counter TC9. (S132). Next, the big prize opening open flag is set to “OFF” (S133), and the big prize opening waiting flag is set to “ON” (S134).

  Then, in the special electric accessory process that is repeatedly performed after that, when the waiting time of 0.4 seconds set in S132 has elapsed (S121: YES, S122: YES, S136: YES), the special winning opening process waiting flag is set. Is set to “OFF” (S137). Next, when the first big prize opening / closing end flag is “ON” (S138: YES), the first big prize opening / closing end flag is set to “OFF” (S140), and the two big prize winning openings. Since both the opening and closing operations 16 and 17 have been completed, “0” is stored in the jackpot gaming state flag and is set to “OFF” (S141).

  Next, processing of a flag relating to the gaming state is performed. In the process of S95 (see FIG. 16) in the special symbol process described above, a winning special symbol is determined. If this special symbol is a probability variation symbol (S142: YES), “1” indicating that the probability variation is in progress is stored in the probability variation flag and set to “ON” (S143), and the time is being shortened. “1” indicating this is stored in the hour / middle flag and is set to “ON” (S144). As a result, a “probability change short state” is generated, and the process returns to the main process. On the other hand, when the determined special symbol is a non-stochastic variation symbol (S142: NO), the special electric accessory process is terminated as it is, and the process returns to the main process, and the gaming state becomes the “normal state”.

  As described above, if the result of the jackpot determination is “big jackpot” and the jackpot gaming state is reached (S121: YES), the first big winning opening 16 is opened first (S124: NO, S125). When the game ball wins the first grand prize opening 16 (S129: YES) or when the maximum opening time of 1.5 seconds has elapsed (S130: YES), the first big prize opening 16 is closed ( S131). Next, after the waiting time of 0.4 seconds elapses, the second big prize opening 17 is opened (S124: YES, S126), and the waiting time of 0.4 seconds is measured again after the second big prize opening 17 is closed. When it is made, the jackpot gaming state flag is set to “OFF” (S141). If the probability variation is a big hit (S142: YES), both the probability variation flag and the hour / short time flag are set to “ON” (S143, S144).

  As described above, in the pachinko machine 1 according to the present embodiment, every time a normal winning game is performed, a maximum of five large winning games are performed. Here, once it is determined that the normal hit is made, the normal hit determination is not performed during the standby time of 23.2 seconds when the measurement is started after the normal electric accessory 13 is closed. And the length of this waiting time is after the point when the special symbol change / stop and jackpot game, which are performed at most 5 times per ordinary hit, all take the longest time to finish. The length is set to continue. Accordingly, among the random numbers stored in the jackpot relation information storage area 5205 during one normal winning game, if the short / long flag is “ON” after the last stored random number processing is completed, The probability of being determined as “normal hit” in the normal hit determination performed is 718/719. Then, the time until the next normal hit game and big hit game are shortened compared to the case of the “normal state” in which the hour / short flag is “OFF”. That is, the jackpot game continues.

  Next, processing in the sub integrated substrate 58 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 18 is a flowchart of the sub-integrated board process performed by the CPU 581 of the sub-integrated board 58, and FIG. 19 is a flowchart of the subroutine of the time-shortening effect determining process performed in the sub-integrated board process. In the pachinko machine 1 according to the present embodiment, when the first game ball wins the ordinary electric combination 13 released as a normal hit, measurement of a predetermined waiting time is started and a plurality of times are started. The pre-notification effect with continuity across the jackpot determination and the jackpot game is started. After that, when the waiting time measurement is finished and the number of special symbol operation holding balls is “0”, out of the jackpot determination that is performed five times at the maximum, based on the short-time win at the last jackpot determination Thus, the contents of the short-time winning effect for notifying the player of the short-time winning are determined. The sub-integrated board 58 performs comprehensive control for causing the display screen 28, the speaker 48, and the lighting device 35 to execute the determination of the content of the effect and the determined effect.

  First, the ROM 583 of the sub integrated substrate 58 will be described. The ROM 583 stores various programs for the CPU 581 to assist the control of the pachinko machine 1. In addition, a control command table storage area for storing a table of control commands and control signals output from the sub-integrated board 58 to the effect control board 43, the electrical decoration board 46, and the speaker 48, and information on the variation pattern are stored. A variation pattern storage area and an effect pattern storage area in which a pre-notification effect, an effect for notification extension, and a pattern of a short-time effect are stored are provided. Further, the ROM 583 is provided with other various storage areas.

  Next, the RAM 582 of the sub integrated substrate 58 will be described. In the RAM 582, a variation pattern storage area for storing a variation pattern designated by the main board 41, a counter storage area for storing various counters, a special symbol operation reserved ball number storage area for storing a special symbol operation reservation ball number, Storage areas such as a command related information storage area for storing control commands output to the effect control board 43 and the like and a flag related storage area for storing various flags are provided.

  Next, the flags stored in the flag related storage area of the RAM 582 will be described. As main flags used in the sub-integrated board processing, there are an effect determination gaming state flag, a special symbol pre-change flag, and a notification extension effect flag. The effect determination game state flag indicates whether the game state after the special symbol change or after the jackpot game executed after the change is “probability change short state” (short time medium) or “normal state” (non-short time medium) ) Is a flag indicating whether or not. When “1” is stored in the effect determination game state flag and is “ON”, it indicates that a “probability change short state” is subsequently generated. On the other hand, if “0” is stored and “OFF”, it indicates that the subsequent gaming state is “normal state”. Further, the special symbol pre-change flag is a flag indicating whether or not the first special symbol after the normal hit is determined, and if it is “ON”, the change is still performed. If it is “OFF”, it indicates that it is after the first change. The notification extension effect flag is a flag indicating whether or not a notification extension effect is being performed between the time when the effect start standby time elapses and the number of special symbol operation reserved balls reaches “0”. When it is “ON”, it indicates that the notification extension effect is being performed, and when it is “OFF”, it indicates that the notification extension effect is not being performed.

  Hereinafter, sub-integrated substrate processing performed on the sub-integrated substrate 58 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. In the sub-integrated board process, when a command for controlling the effect screen displayed on the display screen 28 is transmitted to the effect control board 43, the sound and light synchronized with the operation of the display screen 28 are controlled at the same time. Although commands and signals are transmitted to the electrical decoration board 46 and the speaker 48, only the transmission of commands to the effect control board 43 will be described for the sake of simplicity.

  As shown in FIG. 18, when the sub-integrated board process is started, first, it is determined whether or not an ordinary electric accessory release command has been received (S201). If it is determined that it has been received (S201: YES), the fluctuation pattern specified by the command is stored in the fluctuation pattern storage area of the RAM 582 (S211), and the fluctuation of the demo symbol display portions D1 to D3 on the display screen 28 is changed. Is transmitted to the effect control board 43 (S212), and the process proceeds to S225.

  Further, when the normal electric accessory release command has not been received (S201: NO), it is determined whether or not the normal symbol stop command has been received (S202). If it is determined that it has been received (S202: YES), a demo symbol stop command for stopping the demo symbol display portions D1 to D3 that are changing is transmitted to the effect control board 43 (S213). Transition to processing.

  If a normal symbol stop command has not been received (S202: NO), it is determined whether or not a normal hit start screen display command has been received (S203). If it is determined that it has been received (S203: YES), a normal hit start screen display command for displaying the normal hit start screen on the display screen 28 is transmitted to the effect control board 43 (S214). Then, “1” indicating that the special symbol has not been changed yet is stored in the pre-special symbol change flag and set to “ON” after the determination of the normal hit (S215), and the process proceeds to S225. To do.

  Further, when the normal hit start screen display command has not been received (S203: NO), it is determined whether or not the time and bonus hit notification command has been received (S204). If it is determined that it has been received (S204: YES), “1” indicating that the “probability variation short state” will occur after the end of the jackpot game is stored in the effect determination game state flag and set to “ON”. (S216), the process proceeds to S218. In addition, when the time and jackpot notification command has not been received (S204: NO), it is determined whether or not a non-time and jackpot notification command and a loss notification command have been received (S205, S206). If neither command has been received (S205: NO, S206: NO), the process proceeds to a time-shortening effect determination process (see FIG. 19) described later (S207). On the other hand, if it is determined that either a non-time-saving jackpot notification command or a loss notification command is received (S205: YES or S206: YES), the game after the special symbol changes or after the jackpot game ends “0” indicating that the state becomes “normal state” is stored in the effect determination game state flag and is set to “OFF” (S217), and the process proceeds to S218. Thus, since the subsequent game state determined by the main board 41 is determined by the effect determination game state flag, the effect according to the command can be controlled even after the command is received.

  Next, it is determined whether or not it is a state before the first special symbol change after the special symbol change flag is determined to be a normal hit (S218). In the present embodiment, when the first special symbol variation is started on the main board 41, the production start waiting time is measured until the execution of the short-time winning effect indicating the short-time winning effect becomes possible. At the same time, the pre-notification effect is started. Then, the time-saving jackpot notification command, the non-time-saving jackpot notification command, and the loss notification command are transmitted from the main board 41 simultaneously with the start of the change of the special symbol. Therefore, if the special symbol change flag is “OFF” in S218 and it is determined that the special symbol has been changed (S218: NO), the process proceeds to S225 as it is. When the special symbol pre-change symbol is “ON” and it is determined that the special symbol has not been changed (S218: YES), the production start waiting time (20.0 in this embodiment) is determined. Seconds) is stored in the short-time winning effect start standby time counter (S219). Next, a pre-notification effect start command for starting a pre-notification effect using a long time spanning multiple jackpot determinations and jackpot games is transmitted to the effect control board 43 (S220). Next, “0” indicating that the special symbol has been changed is stored in the pre-special symbol change flag and is set to “OFF” (S221), and the process proceeds to S225. Then, after other processing is performed in S225 (S225), the process returns to the determination in S201.

  On the other hand, when none of the hourly / temporary jackpot notification command, the non-time / temporary jackpot notification command, and the loss notification command have been received (S204: NO, S205: NO, S206: NO), the hourly / shortest bonus presentation determination process is performed. (S207).

  As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 19, in the short time winning effect determination process, when the effect start waiting time until the execution of the short time winning effect becomes possible and the special symbol operation reserved ball number is “0”. The contents of the short-time winning effect are determined based on the value of the effect determination game state flag. Then, a command corresponding to the determined content is transmitted. First, it is determined whether or not a special symbol operation reservation ball number notification command is received from the main board 41 (S231). If it is determined that it has been received (S231: YES), the special symbol operation reserved ball number notified by the command is stored in the special symbol operation reserved ball number storage area of the RAM 582 (S232). Then, it is determined whether or not the notification extension effect is being performed based on the notification extension effect flag (S233). When the notification extension effect flag is “OFF” and it is determined that the notification extension effect is not being performed (S233: NO), the process directly returns to the sub-integrated substrate processing.

  If it is determined that the special symbol operation reserved ball number notification command has not been received (S231: NO), the effect is determined according to the value of the short-time winning effect start standby time counter set in S219 (see FIG. 18). It is determined whether the start waiting time has elapsed (S234). If it is determined that the value of the short-lived effect start waiting time counter is not “0” and the effect start waiting time is being measured (S234: NO), the process returns to the sub integrated substrate process. If the value of the short-time winning effect start standby time counter is “0” and it is determined that the effect start standby time has elapsed (S234: YES), the special symbol stored in the special symbol operation reserved ball number storage area is stored. A determination is made as to whether or not the number of symbol actuated balls is “0” (S235).

  When the number of special symbol actuated balls is “0” (S235: YES), the contents of the short-time winning effect are determined and the command is transmitted. First, it is determined whether or not the effect determination game state flag is “ON” (S236). When it is determined that the effect determination game state flag is “ON” and the “probability variation state” occurs after the jackpot game is finished (S236: YES), the next normal hit determination is short (probability variation state). The execution of the short-time winning effect indicating that it will be performed is determined. Then, a short time winning effect start command for executing the short time winning effect is transmitted to the effect control board 43 (S237), and the process returns to the sub integrated board process. In addition, when it is determined that the effect determination game state flag is “OFF” and the subsequent game state is “normal state” (S236: NO), the next normal hit determination is non-short time (in normal state) ) Is determined to execute the time-shortening effect. Then, a time-shortage selection effect start command for executing the time-shortage selection effect is transmitted to the effect control board 43 (S238), and the process returns to the sub integrated board process.

  Even if it is determined that the production start standby time has elapsed (S234: YES), the content of the short-time winning production cannot be determined unless the number of special symbol operation reservation balls is “0”. Therefore, when the number of special symbol actuated balls is not “0” (S235: NO), “1” indicating that the notification extension effect is being performed is stored in the notification extension effect flag and is set to “ON”. (S239). Next, a notification extension effect start command for starting the notification extension effect until the short-lived effect is performed is transmitted to the effect control board 43 (S240), and the process returns to the sub-integrated board process.

  Then, when the sub-integrated board processing is repeatedly performed, the special symbol operation reservation ball number notification command is received (S231: YES), and the special symbol operation reservation ball number is stored (S232), the notification extension effect flag If “ON” is set to “ON” (S233: YES), it is determined whether or not the number of special symbol operation reserved balls stored in the special symbol operation reserved ball number storage area is “0” (S241). ). If the number of special symbol actuated balls is not yet “0” (S241: NO), the process returns to the sub integrated substrate process. If the number of special symbol actuated balls is “0” (S241: YES), “0” indicating that the notification extension effect is not being performed is stored in the notification extension effect flag and is set to “OFF” (S242). Then, the content of the short-time winning effect and the transmission of the command are performed according to the value of the effect determination game state flag (S236 to S238), and the process returns to the sub integrated board process. Then, as shown in FIG. 18, when the time-shortening effect determination process (S207) is completed, the effect type displayed in the display screen 28, which is determined in the time-shortening effect determination process (see FIG. 19), is displayed. If it is judged (S208) and the time-shortening effect is displayed (S208: YES), then the time of the time-shortening effect display is monitored. The time is monitored by a time monitoring counter that is initialized when the time-shortening effect display is started. This time monitoring counter is updated at any time during display. When it is determined that the display time has elapsed from the value of this time monitoring counter (S209: YES), the effect control board 43 (see FIG. 4). In order to notify that the jackpot game has ended, a jackpot end command is transmitted (S210), the process ends, and after other processes are performed (S225), the process returns to the determination of S201.

  Next, processing in the effect control board 43, which is a main part of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIGS. In the effect control board 43 (see FIG. 4), the display screen 28 is controlled to display various symbols in accordance with commands from the sub-integrated board 58 (see FIG. 4). The main commands received by the production control board 43 (see FIG. 4) from the sub-integrated board 58 (see FIG. 4) are “Demo Symbol Variation Start Command”, “Demo Symbol Variation Stop Command”, “Normal Hit Start Screen” These are “display command”, “pre-notification effect start command”, “notification extension effect start command”, “short-time winning effect start command”, “short-time winning effect start command”, and “big hit end command”.

  Among these commands, the “demo symbol variation start command” indicates that the game ball passes through the normal symbol start gate 12 (see FIG. 1) (S21, see FIG. 12) and the normal hit determination (S33, S37, see FIG. 13). ) Is a command for starting the fluctuation of the demo symbol display units D1 to D3 based on the fluctuation pattern of the result of the above, “high fluctuation probability pattern” “high probability deviation fluctuation pattern” “low probability fluctuation pattern” Any information of “low-probability deviation variation pattern” is attached. The “demo symbol variation stop command” is a command for stopping the demo symbol display portions D1 to D3 that are fluctuating. In addition, the “normal hit start screen display command” is a normal hit on the display screen 28 (see FIG. 2) when the normal hit determination (S33, S37, see FIG. 13) results in “normal hit”. This command is used to display the start screen. Further, the “pre-notification effect start command” is a command for causing the display screen 28 (see FIG. 2) to display a pre-notification effect using a long time spanning multiple jackpot determinations and jackpot games. The “notification extension effect start command” is a command for causing the display screen 28 (see FIG. 2) to display the notification extension effect until the time-shortening effect is performed.

  In addition, the “short-time winning effect start command” is a jackpot determination that is performed when the number of special symbol actuated holding balls is “0” (S235: YES, see FIG. 19), and the probability variation jackpot is determined. This is a command for causing the display screen 28 (refer to FIG. 2) to display a short-time winning effect indicating that the next normal hit determination is performed in a short time (in the probability variation state). In addition, the “short time selection effect start command” is issued when the special symbol operation holding ball number is “0” (S235: YES, see FIG. 19), when the jackpot determination is performed, and when it is determined that the normal jackpot or out of play. This is a command for causing the display screen 28 (see FIG. 2) to display a time-shortening effect indicating that the next normal hit determination is performed in a non-time-short time (in a normal state). In addition, the “big hit end command” changes the operation mode of the effect control board when it is determined that the big hit gaming state is ended and the next normal hit judgment is performed in a non-short time (in the normal state). It is a command to make it.

  In the effect control board 43 (see FIG. 4) according to the present invention, when these commands are received, it is determined whether the operating mode during operation is the “normal mode” or the “big hit mode”. The effect control board 43 (see FIG. 4) operates by switching the operation mode according to the command received from the sub-integrated board 58 (see FIG. 4), and when the “normal hit start screen display command” is received. The subsequent operation mode is positioned as “big hit mode”, and the subsequent operation mode when the “big hit end command” is received is set as “normal mode”, and always operates in one of the operation modes. Then, referring to the determined operation mode and a newly received command, a notification mode suitable for the situation is selected, and a symbol is displayed on the display screen 28 (see FIG. 4). Here, in order to prevent these commands from dropping for some reason, such as noise, and operating in the wrong operation mode, the display design on the display screen 28 (see FIG. 2) is erroneous. The operation mode is corrected when an unexpected command is received in the operation mode. 20 and 21 are flowcharts of processing executed by the CPU 43a (see FIG. 4) of the effect control board 43.

  As shown in FIG. 20, in the effect control board process, first, a command is received from the sub-integrated board (S301). Next, before executing processing for each command, it is determined whether the current operation mode is the “normal mode” or the “hit mode”. The operation mode is stored in the operation mode information storage area 4305 (see FIG. 10) of the RAM 43b included in the effect control board 43, and the operation mode is determined by reading this area. The initial state is “normal mode”.

  Here, when the operation mode is “normal mode” (S305: YES), the commands to be processed are “demo symbol variation start command”, “demo symbol variation stop command”, and “normal hit start screen display command”. Thus, processing is not performed for commands that correspond only to the “big hit mode”. Among these, when a “demo symbol variation start command” is received (S307: YES), the accompanying designated variation pattern (“variation per high probability”, “fluctuation out of high probability”, “variation per low probability”, In accordance with “low probability deviation fluctuation”), the display pattern storage area 4303 (see FIG. 9) of the ROM 43c is referred to display the demo symbol fluctuation screen (S309), and the process is terminated. In addition, when a “demo symbol variation stop command” is received (S307: NO, S311: YES), the display mode storage area 4303 (see FIG. 9) of the ROM 43c is referred to, and the stop screen for the currently displayed demo symbol variation screen Is displayed (S313), and the process is terminated. When the “ordinary hit start screen display command” is received (S307: NO, S311: NO, S315: YES), the operation mode stored in the operation mode information storage area 4305 (see FIG. 10) of the RAM 43b is “ The “normal mode” is changed to “big hit mode” (S317), the normal hit screen is displayed with reference to the display mode storage area 4303 (see FIG. 9) of the ROM 43c (S319), and the process is terminated.

  As described above, the effect control board 43 (see FIG. 4) determines and stores the operation mode, and when the command is received from the sub-integrated board 58 (see FIG. 4), the operation mode is “normal mode”. In this case, a command to be processed is selected, and display processing is performed with reference to a notification mode corresponding to the command stored in the ROM 43c (see FIG. 4). This makes it possible to reduce unnecessary processing, and to prevent erroneous display by not performing the corresponding processing for commands that are not normally received in the “normal mode”. Is possible.

  On the other hand, as a result of reading the operation mode information storage area 4305 (see FIG. 10) of the RAM 43b, if the operation mode is “big hit mode” (S305: NO), as shown in FIG. , “Pre-announcement effect start command”, “Notification extension effect start command”, “Short-time winning effect start command”, “Short-time defeat effect start command”, “Large hit end command” No processing is performed for. However, when the received command is a “demo symbol variation start command” and the accompanying designated variation pattern is “low probability out-of-range variation” (S321: YES), the sub-integrated board 58 It is determined that there is a possibility that communication of the “big hit end command” to the effect control board 43 (see FIG. 4) has failed from (see FIG. 4). This is because “low probability out-of-range fluctuation” is a command that should be received in “normal mode” during normal operation and not a command that should be received in “hit mode” as already processed in S309. It is. Therefore, it is necessary to correct the operation mode to a normal “normal mode”. Therefore, in order to confirm that the command communication of the “big hit end command” has failed, next, the low probability outlier variation counter stored in the counter storage area 4304 (see FIG. 10) of the RAM 43b is updated. The number of times “low probability deviation fluctuation” is received in the “big hit mode” is stored (S323). Next, when the updated result has a low probability of out-of-range fluctuation count of 3 or more (S325: YES), command communication between the sub-integrated board 58 (see FIG. 4) and the effect control board 43 (see FIG. 4) is performed. It is determined that the operation has failed, and the operation mode is corrected from the “big hit mode” to the normal “normal mode” (S327). In the event that “big hit mode” ends and “normal mode” is entered again immediately after “big hit mode” is reached, the possibility of receiving “low probability out-of-range fluctuation” during “big hit mode” Therefore, it is determined that the command communication is failed only when “low probability deviation fluctuation” is received three times in succession, and the operation mode is prevented from being easily corrected. Then, the process ends. On the other hand, if it is less than 3 (S325: NO), the process is terminated as it is.

  Note that even if the variation pattern of the received “pre-announcement effect start command” is “variation per low probability”, the command that should be received in “normal mode” is the same as in the case of “low probability deviation variation”. Therefore, it is assumed that the operation mode needs to be corrected. However, the operation mode should be shifted to the “big jackpot mode” by receiving the fluctuation pattern of “fluctuation per low probability”, and it is not necessary to correct the operation mode in the above (the “big jackpot mode” may be left). Therefore, in the above description, the operation mode correction process is executed only when the variation pattern of “low probability deviation variation” is received.

  In the present embodiment, when the operation mode is corrected, the reception history of the target command is stored. In this case, as the history management, the operation mode correction flag can be updated in the range of 0 to 3. Variable management may be performed. In this case, the initial value of the operation mode correction flag is set to 0, and 1, 2, and 3 are stored as the number of continuous receptions every time the target command is received, and when the operation mode correction flag reaches 3, the operation mode To correct. In this case, when a command specific to the current operation mode is received, the operation mode correction flag is reset to 0. Further, history management may be performed by storing the target command as it is. In this case, every time a new target command is received, the history information up to that time is confirmed to determine the current operation mode. Also in this case, when a command specific to the current operation mode is received, the command history up to that time is cleared.

When the variation pattern of the received “pre-notification effect start command” is not “low probability deviation variation” (S321: NO), the low probability deviation variation counter is initialized. Next, when the received command is a pre-notification effect start command (S329: YES), the pre-notification effect screen is displayed with reference to the display mode storage area 4303 (see FIG. 9) of the ROM 43c (S331), and the process is performed. finish. When the received command is a notification extension effect start command (S329: NO, S333: YES), a notification extension effect screen is displayed with reference to the display mode storage area 4303 (see FIG. 9) of the ROM 43c. (S335), the process ends. If the received command is a short-time winning effect start command (S329: NO, S333: NO, S337: YES), the display mode storage area 4303 (see FIG. 9) of the ROM 43c is referred to and the short-time winning effect screen is displayed. Display (S339), and the process ends. If the received command is a time-shortening effect start command (S329: NO, S333: NO, S337: NO, S341: YES), refer to the display mode storage area 4303 (see FIG. 9) of the ROM 43c to shorten the time. A disapproval effect screen is displayed (S343), and the process is terminated.

  If the received command is a jackpot end command (S329: NO, S333: NO, S337: NO, S341: NO, S345: YES), it is stored in the operation mode information storage area 4305 (see FIG. 10) of the RAM 43b. The operation mode being changed is changed from the “big hit mode” to the “normal mode” (S347), the normal state screen is displayed (S349), and the process is terminated.

  As described above, the effect control board 43 (see FIG. 4) determines and stores the operation mode, and when the command is received from the sub-integrated board 58 (see FIG. 4), the operation mode is “big hit mode”. In this case, a command to be processed is selected, and display processing is performed with reference to a notification mode corresponding to the command stored in the ROM 43c (see FIG. 4). As a result, unnecessary processing can be reduced. Further, it is possible to prevent erroneous display by not performing the corresponding processing for a command that is not normally received in the “hit mode”. Further, when commands that are not received in the “hit mode” during normal operation are continuously received, between the sub integrated board 58 (see FIG. 4) and the effect control board 43 (see FIG. 4). It is determined that the command communication has failed, and the operation mode is corrected to the normal “normal mode”. This makes it possible to prevent subsequent erroneous display.

  Next, game contents controlled by the main board 41, the sub-integrated board 58, and the effect control board 43 (see FIG. 4) of the pachinko machine 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the timing chart of FIG. . FIG. 22 is a timing chart showing an example of each control of the pachinko machine 1 corresponding to the passage of time.

  First, game contents controlled by the main board 41 will be described. In FIG. 22, as a control by the main board 41 of the pachinko machine 1, a normal symbol operation SW (normal symbol operation switch 73), a normal symbol (normal symbol display unit 24), a normal electric accessory 13, a start port SW (start port) Switch 72), special symbol (special symbol display unit 25), special winning opening (first big winning port 16 and second big winning port 17), and probability variation flag. Further, as an effect that is controlled by the sub-integrated board 58 and is actually driven by the effect control board 43, an effect executed on the display screen 28 or the like (demonstration variation effect, normal hit effect, pre-notification effect, notification extension effect) Representation of production, short-time winning effect (short-time winning effect, short-time winning effect)). In FIG. 22, it is determined as “normal hit” by the normal hit determination for the first game ball that has passed through the normal symbol start gate 12, and all five consecutive big hit determinations performed thereafter are “probability variation”. The control in the case where it is determined that the “big hit” and the normal hit determination performed thereafter is also “normal win” is illustrated.

  First, when it is detected by the normal symbol operation switch that the game ball has passed through the normal symbol start gate 12 (S21), the probability variation flag and the hour and middle flag are in the “OFF” state in the “normal state”. Therefore, a normal hit determination with a low probability for the game ball is performed (S36). Then, the normal symbol starts to change (S38). Here, the variation time of the normal symbol in the normal state varies depending on the determined variation pattern (S40). In addition, the probability of determining “normal hit” in the normal hit determination with low probability is 5/719. Note that three game balls pass through the normal symbol start gate 12, but the number of the normal symbol actuated balls is other than the first one.

  Next, when the variation time of the normal symbol specified by the determined variation pattern elapses, the normal symbol is stopped (S48), and the normal winning game is executed after a stop display time of 0.8 seconds. In the normal winning game, first, the ordinary electric accessory 13 is released (S64), and a game ball can be won. When the winning of five game balls is detected, the ordinary electric accessory 13 is closed (S69). The normal winning game state continues until the normal symbol variation waiting time of 23.2 seconds elapses after the normal electric accessory 13 is closed, and no new normal winning determination is made during the normal winning game.

  Next, when the winning of the first game ball to the ordinary electric accessory 13 is detected by the start port switch 72, the probability variation flag is “OFF”, so that the low probability (2009/2011) regarding the game ball ) Is determined (S93), and the special symbol starts to change (S104). Then, when the variation time of 0.4 seconds elapses, the special symbol is stopped (S112), and when the stop display time of 0.5 seconds elapses, the jackpot gaming state is entered. When it is determined that the jackpot is a jackpot, the probability that the jackpot is a “probability variation jackpot” is 81/84.

  In the jackpot game, the first grand prize opening 16 is opened first (S125), and when 1.5 seconds elapses or at least one game ball is detected, the first big prize opening opened. 16 is closed (S131). Then, after passing the processing waiting time of 0.4 seconds, the second big prize opening 17 is opened (S126), and after the second big winning prize opening 17 is closed, a series of big hit games are played again after the processing waiting time of 0.4 seconds. finish. Since the jackpot is “probability variation jackpot”, both the probability variation flag and the hour / medium flag are set to “ON” at the end of the jackpot game (S143, S144).

  Next, when the first jackpot game is over, the probability variation flag is “ON”, so the jackpot with the high probability (2010/2011) regarding the second game ball won to the ordinary electric accessory 13 A determination is made (S92), and the special symbol starts to change (S104). Then, the special symbol is stopped after the fluctuation time of 1.8 seconds has elapsed (S112), and after the stop display time has elapsed, the same processing as the first jackpot game described above is performed. Thereafter, similar to the first and second special symbol variations, the third to fifth special symbol variations are controlled, and after the special symbol is stopped, the jackpot game is performed.

  Next, the normal hit game state is completed, and the normal hit determination regarding the second game ball that has passed through the normal symbol start gate 12 is performed. Here, as described above, the length of the standby time of 23.2 seconds after the ordinary electric accessory 13 is closed is the variation of the special symbol that is performed at most five times per ordinary time. It is set assuming a length that continues until after the stop and jackpot game ends. Specifically, the length of the waiting time is the last special symbol operation hold, assuming that the maximum time will be spent for the special symbol change / stop and jackpot game that will be played five times at the maximum. The waiting time is set in a range that is longer than the time when the fifth special symbol change ends and shorter than the time when the fifth jackpot game to be performed after the special symbol change ends. However, in each jackpot game in the actual game, the first big prize opening 16 and the second big prize opening 17 are closed when the game ball wins before reaching the maximum opening time (1.5 seconds). Since there are many cases, as described above, during the waiting time of 23.2 seconds, a special symbol change / stop and a jackpot game are performed five times at the maximum.

  Here, as described above, the probability fluctuation state and the short-time gaming state once generated continue until the stop display of the next special symbol is completed. Accordingly, if the result of the jackpot determination performed at the closest time before the normal hit determination is made is “probability variation jackpot”, the normal hit determination is determined as “normal hit” with a probability of 718/719. The normal hit game and the jackpot game are continued at shorter intervals than in the case of “non-probability change jackpot”, and a large number of game balls are paid out. On the other hand, if the result of the jackpot determination performed before the normal hit determination is “non-stochastic variation jackpot” or “out of”, the gaming state becomes “normal state”, so The probability to be determined is 5/719, which is lower than in the case of the “probability fluctuation state”. In addition, since the gaming state does not shift with the normal hit determination as an opportunity, when the normal hit determination is determined to be “out”, or the normal electric accessory 13 that has been released after being determined as “normal hit”. If no game ball is won, the game state at that time is continued as it is.

  Accordingly, once it is determined that the normal hit is made, the player plays the game while strongly expecting that the next normal hit determination will be made in a short time (in the probability variation state). And whether or not the next normal hit judgment is made in a short time is whether or not the jackpot judgment made at the nearest time before the normal hit judgment will be a probability variation jackpot, that is, won in the short time It is determined by whether or not. Therefore, it is possible to attract the player's interest by notifying the player whether or not he / she has won in the short time at the time of the last jackpot determination among the jackpot determinations performed five times continuously. In addition, when a plurality of game balls wins the ordinary electric game 13 during one normal hit game and a plurality of big hit determinations are made, the time reduction at the time of the big hit determination other than the last big hit determination is made. The fall does not affect the continuation of jackpots. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a pre-notification effect with continuity across multiple jackpot determinations and jackpot games is performed without considering the determination result of the jackpot determination other than the final jackpot determination. Thereafter, a short-time win effect is provided to notify the player of the short-time win at the time of the final jackpot determination. Thereby, the player can be more entertained. Control of the sub-integrated board 58 and the effect control board 43 (see FIG. 4) related to these effects will be described below.

  Next, game contents controlled by the sub integrated board 58 will be described. As shown in FIG. 22, when the game ball wins the normal symbol start gate 12, the sub-integrated board 58 receives the variation pattern designation command (S201: YES, see FIG. 18). Then, in order to display the designated variation pattern on the display screen 28 (see FIG. 4), a demonstration symbol variation start command is transmitted to the effect control board 43 (see FIG. 4) (S212, see FIG. 18). Further, after the demo symbol variation time has elapsed, a normal symbol stop command is received (S202: YES, see FIG. 18). Then, a demo symbol variation stop command for stopping the demo symbol variation that is fluctuating on the display screen 28 (see FIG. 4) is transmitted to the effect control board 43 (see FIG. 4), followed by a normal hit start screen display command. Is received (S203: YES). Then, in order to display the normal hit screen on the display screen 28 (see FIG. 4), a normal hit start screen display command is transmitted to the effect control board 43 (see FIG. 4) (S214).

  Next, when the normal winning is determined and the first game ball wins the released ordinary electric accessory 13, the sub integrated board 58 performs the effect determination game state flag processing (S216 or S217), 20 Measurement of the production start standby time in seconds is started (S219). At the same time, in order to display a pre-notification effect using a long time spanning multiple jackpot determinations and jackpot games on the display screen 28 (see FIG. 4), a pre-notification effect start command is sent to the effect control board 43 (FIG. 4). (See S220).

  Next, when the production start standby time has passed, it is immediately after the end of the fourth special symbol change, and the number of special symbol actuated balls is “1” (S235: NO). Therefore, in order to display on the display screen 28 (see FIG. 4) a notification extension effect that is an effect until the short-lived effect is performed, a notification extension effect start command is transmitted to the effect control board 43 (see FIG. 4). (S240).

  Next, when the fifth variation of the special symbol is started, the number of special symbol actuated balls is “0” (S241: YES), and at this point, the next normal hit determination is short (in the probability variation state). In order to display a short-time winning effect on the display screen 28 (see FIG. 4), a short-time winning effect start command is transmitted to the effect control board 43 (see FIG. 4) (S237).

  Next, game contents controlled by the effect control board 43 (see FIG. 4) will be described. As shown in FIG. 22, when a game ball wins the ordinary electric accessory 13, a demo symbol variation start command is received from the sub-integrated board 58 (see FIG. 4) (S307: YES, see FIG. 20). Then, according to the accompanying variation pattern, the demo symbol variation screen is displayed on the display screen 28 (see FIG. 4) (S309, see FIG. 20). Further, after the demo symbol variation time has elapsed, a demo symbol variation stop command is received from the sub-integrated board 58 (see FIG. 4) (S311: YES, see FIG. 20). Then, the changing demo symbol variation on the display screen 28 (see FIG. 4) is stopped (S313, see FIG. 20). Subsequently, the normal hit start screen display command is received (S315, see FIG. 20), and the normal hit screen is displayed on the display screen 28 (see FIG. 4) (S319). Here, the effect control board 43 (see FIG. 4) sets the operation mode to the “big hit mode” (S317).

  Next, when the normal winning is confirmed and the first game ball wins the opened ordinary electric accessory 13, a pre-notification effect start command is received from the sub-integrated board 58 (see FIG. 4) (S <b> 329: YES, (See FIG. 21). Then, a pre-notification effect using a long time spanning multiple jackpot determinations and jackpot games is displayed on the display screen 28 (see FIG. 4) (see S331 and FIG. 21).

  Next, when the effect start standby time has passed, it is immediately after the completion of the fourth special symbol change, and therefore a notification extension effect start command is received from the sub-integrated board 58 (see FIG. 4) (S333: YES). FIG. 21). Then, a notification extension effect, which is an effect until the short-lived effect is performed, is displayed on the display screen 28 (see FIG. 4) (S335, see FIG. 21). This notice extension effect is configured to have visual continuity with the pre-notification effect performed before that. Then, by performing the notification extension effect, it is possible to entertain the player even when the short-time winning effect is not performed when the effect start standby time has elapsed.

  Next, when the fifth special symbol change starts, the number of special symbol actuated balls is “0”, and a short-time winning effect start command is received from the sub-integrated board 58 (see FIG. 4) (S337: YES). Then, a short-time winning effect indicating that the next normal hit determination is performed in the short time (during the probability variation state) is displayed on the display screen 28 (see FIG. 4) (see FIG. 21, S339). In the present embodiment, the short-time winning effect is configured to continue until the next normal hit determination is performed.

  As described above, the effect control board 43 uniquely determines and stores the operation mode from the notification instruction command received from the sub-integrated board 58. Then, the mode to be displayed on the display screen 28 is extracted and displayed with reference to the operation mode and the received notification instruction command. Further, when a notification instruction command that is not normally received in each operation mode is received, the reception history is managed, and the operation mode is corrected when a predetermined condition is met. As a result, even when the notification instruction command from the sub-integrated board 58 is dropped during communication, the notification can be continuously executed in the notification mode according to the gaming state.

  Note that the game board 2 in the front view of the pachinko machine 1 shown in FIG. 1 corresponds to the “game board” of the present invention. Further, the lighting device 35, the normal symbol memory number display LED 59, the special symbol memory number display LED 60, the display screen 28, and the speaker 48 in the block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the pachinko machine 1 shown in FIG. The main board 41 corresponds to the “main control board” of the present invention, the sub integrated board 58 corresponds to the “sub integrated board” of the present invention, and the illumination board 46 and the effect control board 43. Corresponds to the “notification control board” of the present invention, the RAM 43b corresponds to the “storage means” of the present invention, and the display mode storage area 4303 in the ROM 43c corresponds to the “drive notification mode storage means” of the present invention. . Further, various commands stored in the command relation storage area 5207 in the storage area of the RAM 52 of the main board 41 shown in FIG. 6 correspond to “gaming state information” of the present invention. Further, the operation mode stored in the operation mode information storage area 4305 in the storage area of the RAM 43b of the effect control board 43 shown in FIG. 10 corresponds to the “gaming state” of the present invention. Further, in S10 in the flowchart of the main process shown in FIG. 11, the CPU 51 that performs the process of outputting a command corresponds to the “main transmission unit”.

  Further, the commands transmitted in S212, S213, S214, S220, S237, S238, and S240 in the flowchart of the sub-integrated board processing shown in FIG. 18 correspond to the “notification mode information” of the present invention, and S201 to S206 and S226. In S235 and S236, the CPU 581 that performs the process of determining the command to be transmitted to the effect control board corresponds to the “sub notification mode determining means” of the present invention. In S201 to S206 and S226, the command from the main board is sent. The CPU 43a that performs the reception process corresponds to the “sub-reception unit” of the present invention. In addition, the CPU 43a that performs processing for transmitting a command in S212 to S214, S220 in the flowchart of the sub-integrated board processing shown in FIG. 18 and S237, S238, S240 in the flowchart of the subroutine for short-time winning effect determination processing shown in FIG. Corresponds to the “sub-transmission means” of the present invention.

  Further, in S317, S327, and S347 in the flowchart of the process executed on the effect control board 43 shown in FIG. 20, the CPU 43a that performs the process of setting the operation mode corresponds to the “game state determination means” of the present invention. In S307, S311, S315, S329, S333, S337, S341, and S345, the CPU 43a that performs the process of determining the command and determining the drive notification mode corresponds to the “drive notification mode determination means” of the present invention, and S309, S313. , S 319, S 331, S 335, S 339, S 343, and S 349, the CPU 43 a that performs the process of displaying on the display screen 28 corresponds to the “notification driving means” of the present invention, and performs the process of determining the operation mode in S 321 and S 325. The CPU 43a uses the “notification mode prediction means” of the present invention. Those were, in S301, CPU 43a to perform the process of receiving a command from the sub-integration substrate to "broadcast reception unit" of the present invention. Further, the low probability out-of-range fluctuation frequency counter corresponds to “history information” of the present invention. Further, in the timing chart shown in FIG. 22, the “demo symbol variation effect”, “ordinary hit effect”, “pre-notification effect”, “notification extension effect”, and “short-time effect” are displayed on the display screen 28. This corresponds to the “drive notification mode”.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, when the “demo symbol variation start command” of “low probability out-of-range variation” is received three times in the “big hit mode”, the operation mode is corrected to the “normal mode”. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of continuous receptions when the operation mode is corrected may be another number.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the normal hit determination is not performed for 23.2 seconds after the normal electric accessory 13 is closed. The length of the waiting time of 23.2 seconds is assumed to last until after the time when the special symbol changes / stops and the jackpot game is finished up to 5 times per ordinary hit. Is set. Specifically, the length of the waiting time is the last special symbol operation hold, assuming that the maximum time will be spent for the special symbol change / stop and jackpot game that will be played five times at the maximum. The waiting time is set in a range that is longer than the time when the fifth special symbol change ends and shorter than the time when the fifth jackpot game to be performed after the special symbol change ends. However, depending on the game state of the player (specifically, when the player interrupts the game despite the big hit game), the next normal symbol judgment will be made during the fifth special symbol big hit game. Occurs. In such a case, even if the command communication between the sub-integrated board and the production control board has not failed, the “low probability deviation fluctuation” which is the normal symbol determination result during the “big hit mode” operation mode. "Demo symbol variation start command" is received. In the present embodiment, in order to prevent the operation mode from being inadvertently corrected in such a case, the operation mode is corrected when the “low probability deviation fluctuation” is received three times in succession. (Even if the 5th special symbol change / stop and jackpot take the longest time, the next normal symbol judgment can not be performed three times, the normal symbol judgment during the fifth jackpot game It is impossible for control to be performed three times.In this embodiment, “three consecutive times” which is a condition for correcting the operation mode is determined based on this.)

  In the present embodiment, the operation mode is modified in response to the reception of the “demonstration variation start command” of “low probability out-of-range variation” during the “big hit mode”. If received, the operation mode may be corrected.

  For example, in a recent gaming machine, there is a gaming machine that includes a plurality of symbol display effect backgrounds, symbol aspects, sound effects, etc. (hereinafter referred to as effect mode) for notifying a player of the jackpot determination result. In such a gaming machine, when a predetermined condition is established on the sub-integrated board, a change is made to an effect mode different from the current effect mode among a plurality of effect modes for each notification control board such as an effect control board. After that, a symbol display effect is performed in the changed effect mode, and then a change to a different effect mode is instructed when a predetermined condition is satisfied. In this manner, the effects that change as needed in a plurality of effect modes are called mode transition effects, and the effect modes are, for example, normal mode A, normal mode B, chance mode,. Different unique names are used.

  Here, in a gaming machine having three different symbol effect modes, the normal mode A, the normal mode B, and the chance mode, the mode change instruction command from the sub-integrated board to each notification control board is changed to the different mode. Is done by. However, when each notification control board cannot receive the mode change instruction command due to a communication error or the like, there is a problem that the production continues in the production mode until then. Here, as in the present embodiment, the operation mode is corrected on each notification control board.

  Therefore, in such a gaming machine, an instruction command (hereinafter referred to as “addition command”) for adding an additional effect to the notification effect that is the basis of each effect mode is transmitted from the sub-integrated board to the effect control board. In addition, this may be used as an opportunity for correcting the operation mode. Specifically, an additional command specific to “normal mode A” (hereinafter referred to as “normal A additional command”), an additional command specific to “normal mode B” (hereinafter referred to as “normal B additional command”), and “ In the case where additional commands peculiar to the “chance mode” (hereinafter referred to as “chance additional commands”) are provided, when the production control board receives these from the sub-integrated board, When the “B additional command” is received, the operation mode is corrected to “normal mode B”, or when the “chance additional command” is received during “normal mode B”, the operation mode is corrected to “chance mode”. It is good to do. Further, the reception history of additional commands may be stored, and the operation mode may be corrected when additional commands specific to different operation modes are continuously received a predetermined number of times or more. Here, the reception history is managed, and when an additional command peculiar to a different operation mode is received continuously for a predetermined number of times or more, the operation mode is corrected to prevent the operation mode from being inadvertently corrected. It becomes possible to do. In addition, when there are multiple different operation modes, the operation mode is corrected only when an additional command specific to one operation mode among the different operation modes is received a predetermined number of times or more, and it is specific to another operation mode. When the additional command is received, the history up to that point is cleared and the reception history is newly managed. Also, when an additional command specific to the current operation mode is received, the history so far is cleared. By performing such history management, correction can be reliably performed even when there are a plurality of different operation modes.

  The gaming machine of the present invention is not limited to a pachinko machine, but can be applied to various gaming machines such as a pachinko machine.

1 is a front view of a pachinko machine 1. FIG. 2 is a front view of the game board 2. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the symbol display device 8. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the pachinko machine 1. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a storage area of a ROM 53 of a main board 41. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a storage area of a RAM 52 of a main board 41. FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing a normal hit relation information storage area 5203 of a RAM 52. FIG. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the jackpot relation information storage area 5205 of RAM52. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the storage area of RAM43c. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the storage area of RAM43b. 4 is a flowchart of main processing in the main board 41. It is a flowchart of the subroutine of the normal symbol process performed in the main process. It is a flowchart of the subroutine of the normal symbol process performed in the main process. It is a flowchart of a sub-routine of ordinary electric accessory processing performed in the main processing. It is a flowchart of a subroutine of special symbol processing performed in the main processing. It is a flowchart of a subroutine of special symbol processing performed in the main processing. It is a flowchart of the subroutine of the special electric accessory process performed in the main process. 10 is a flowchart of sub integrated substrate processing performed by a CPU 581 of the sub integrated substrate 58. It is a flowchart of a subroutine of a short time winning effect determination process performed in the sub integrated substrate process. 10 is a flowchart of processing executed by a CPU 43a of the effect control board 43. 10 is a flowchart of processing executed by a CPU 43a of the effect control board 43. 4 is a timing chart showing an example of each control of the pachinko machine 1 corresponding to the passage of time.

1 Pachinko machine 2 Game board 4 Game area 28 Display screen 35 Illumination device 48 Speaker 59 Normal symbol memory number display LED
60 Special symbol memory number display LED
41 Main board 43 Production control board 43a CPU
43b RAM
43c ROM
51 CPU
581 CPU
58 Sub integrated board 4301 Initial setting storage area 4302 Control program storage area 4303 Display mode storage area 4304 Counter storage area 4305 Operation mode information storage area

Claims (2)

A game board forming a game area;
Informing means for performing an effect of informing the player of the gaming state of the game board;
A main control board that controls the main control of the game;
A sub-integrated board that receives a signal from the main control board and controls a notification mode of the notification means;
A gaming machine comprising the notification means, and at least a notification control board that drives the notification means by control from the sub-integrated board,
The main control board is
Comprising at least main transmission means for transmitting game state information, which is information on a game state, to the sub-integrated board;
The sub-integrated substrate is
Sub-receiving means for receiving the gaming state information transmitted by the main transmitting means;
Sub notification mode determination means for determining the notification mode of the notification means from the gaming state information received by the sub reception means;
Sub-transmission means for transmitting notification mode information, which is information on the notification mode determined by the sub notification mode determination unit, to the notification control board;
The notification control board is:
Notification receiving means for receiving notification mode information transmitted by the sub-transmission means;
Storage means for storing notification mode information received by the notification receiving means as history information;
Gaming state determination means for determining a gaming state corresponding to the notification mode from the notification mode of the notification mode information stored as history information in the storage unit;
Drive notification mode determination means for determining a drive notification mode that is a notification mode for driving the notification unit from the gaming state determined by the gaming state determination unit and the notification mode of the notification mode information received by the notification reception unit; ,
In order to perform notification in the drive notification mode determined by the drive notification mode determination unit, notification drive unit that drives the notification unit ;
A notification mode prediction unit that predicts a notification mode of notification mode information received by the notification reception unit from notification mode information stored as history information in the storage unit;
The drive notification mode determination means includes
When the notification mode of the notification mode information received by the notification reception unit is different from the notification mode predicted by the notification mode prediction unit, the drive notification mode is determined from the notification mode predicted by the notification mode prediction unit. A gaming machine. The notification control board is:
Drive notification mode storage means for storing the drive notification mode;
A plurality of drive notification modes are determined in advance from the gaming state determined by the gaming state determination unit, and stored in the drive notification mode storage unit,
The drive notification mode determination means includes
When the notification mode information is received by the notification receiving unit, the drive notification mode corresponding to the notification mode of the received notification mode information is selected and determined from the drive notification modes stored in the drive notification mode storage unit. The gaming machine according to claim 1.

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