JP5522888B2 - Controller switching device with automatic switching function - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a controller switching device that automatically switches and connects a plurality of input devices such as game pads to a game machine.

  In a home game device, when there are a plurality of players, there is no problem as long as a game to be played can be operated by a plurality of players at the same time and all the players can participate. However, in the case of an action game that can only be played by one person, other players will watch while one person is playing, and will pass the controller if the player changes halfway through. .

There has been proposed an electronic device body that connects a plurality of operation terminals as a game machine in which a plurality of players can participate (Patent Document 1).
It is an object of the present invention to provide a repeater that can ensure high-speed communication between an electronic device main body and an operation terminal or an external storage device and can be easily connected to the electronic device main body. The object is achieved by providing a pair of external storage devices in the repeater.
This repeater describes that a plurality of players can participate, but details of how the plurality of players can participate in the game are not clarified.
JP 2001-202168 A

  Against this background, all participating players have their own controllers and are connected to all the switching devices. If the set time is, for example, 30 seconds, the connection destination is automatically switched every 30 seconds. It is desirable to be able to add new play elements that are not in the participation format. It is also required to add more thrilling elements by switching randomly and randomly selecting the controller to be connected next.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a controller switching device with an automatic switching function that can meet the above-mentioned requirements.

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention provides a controller switching device that is connected to a game device and connects between the game device and a plurality of operation controllers. The switching device includes a plurality of connectors that respectively connect the plurality of operation controllers, and the controller switching device transmits connector connection information of the currently connected operation controller to the game device, and executes a program on the game device. In accordance with an instruction from the operating control unit, a timer switching mode for automatically switching the connection of the plurality of operation controllers to the game device in a predetermined order every predetermined time and irregularity every predetermined time Random switching that automatically switches the connection of the plurality of operation controllers to the game device in order. Has a mode switching means for switching a mode, the has a display panel controller switching device, and the display of the display and the current switched connection modes of time of the operation controller of the timer in the switch to the display panel, further wherein The controller switching device includes a first display unit that indicates a state in which the respective operation controllers are connected, and a second display unit that is displayed when connected to the game device, and the game device is displayed by the second display unit. When the connection is displayed, the player of the operation controller can operate, and each of the plurality of operation controllers has an operation unit provided in the operation controller body having a different shape and appearance of button arrangement. An operation controller that enables games with operation controllers with different appearances. And features.
A second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect of the present invention, a timer setting unit is provided, and the time during which the operation controller is connected can be set by the timer setting unit.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the first or second aspect, the timer time is displayed by displaying a set timer countdown value.
Claim 4 of the present invention, the planar shape of the controller switching device in the invention of claim 1, wherein is a pentagon, the game device on the back which constitutes one of the sides of the controller changeover device It has a connection part which connects the connection cable for connecting, It has the connector which connects each operation controller to each of the other side of this controller switching device, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to the above configuration, a new play element is added because the player is automatically and forcibly changed from one to the next, and a thrilling element is also added because the player is switched at random.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a state in which a controller switching device with an automatic switching function according to the present invention is connected to a game machine body.
The controller switching device 6 includes a connection cable 7 having a connector female 8 and four connector males 13a to 13d (see FIG. 2). The connector female 8 is connected to the game machine body 1.
The controllers 2a to 2d are connected to connection cables 3a to 3d having connector females 4a to 4d, and the connector females 4a to 4d are connected to connector males 13a to 13d, respectively. Each of the controllers 2a to 2d has a different shape and appearance of button arrangement.
In the timer connection switching mode, the controllers 2a to 2d are connected to the game machine main body 1 in order for a predetermined time during the game, and this connection switching state is repeated. In the random connection switching mode, the controllers 2a to 2d are randomly switched for the same time, and this state is repeated. While connected, the user can operate the game machine body.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing details of the appearance of the controller switching device with an automatic switching function according to the present invention.
The controller switching device 6 has a connection cable extended from the connection portion 18 on the back surface, and has a connector female 16 at its tip. The planar shape of the controller switching device 6 is a pentagon, and connector males 13a to 13d are installed on the left and right side surfaces and the two surfaces on the front side. Active lamps 11a to 11d and connect lamps 12a to 12d are provided above the male connectors 13a to 13d on each side to inform the player of the connection state of each controller.
The active lamps 11a to 11d are turned on when the game machine and the controller are connected. The connect lamps 12a to 12d are lit when the controller connector is connected.

  At the center of the upper surface of the controller switching device 6, a mode switch 15 for selecting a timer connection switching mode and a random connection switching mode is provided. Further, a display panel 10 is installed at the upper position. The display panel 10 includes a segment for displaying the current timer elapsed time and a display unit for displaying the current mode. A timer setting unit 9 for setting a timer time is provided on the side of the display panel 10.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of a circuit of a controller switching device with an automatic switching function according to the present invention.
The game machine connected in this embodiment shows only a circuit portion directly related to the present invention. The controller switching device 6 performs connection switching control under the control of the control unit 14. An electronic switch 19 is connected to the controller switching device 6, and the controllers 2 a to 2 d are connected and switched one by one based on a command from the control unit 14.
As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 14 includes a connection recognition unit 14a, a mode switching unit 14b, a random switching control unit 14c, a timer switching control unit 14d, and a timer unit 14e. The control unit 14 can realize the above functions by reading and executing a control program from a memory unit (not shown).

The connection recognition unit 14a is a function that determines whether each controller is connected to each of the four connectors. The mode switching unit 14b has a function of switching between random switching control and timer switching control according to switching information from the mode switching switch 15.
The random switching control unit 14c is a function for automatically switching the connection at random from the connector number at a set time for a connector to which the controller is currently connected. The timer switching control unit 14d is a function for automatically switching the connection in order from the smallest connector number at a set time for the connector to which the controller is currently connected. The timer unit 14e counts the time and supplies the information to the timer switching control unit 14d and the random switching control unit 14c every time a set time is reached.
The set time of the timer unit 14e is set by the timer setting unit 9, and for example, it can be set between 1 second and 999 seconds at 1 second intervals.

In FIG. 3, the electronic switching unit 19 switches to one of the controllers 2a to 2d according to switching information from the random switching control unit 14c or the timer switching control unit 14d, and an operation signal from the connected controller is sent to the game machine body 1. It is done. The display panel 10 is controlled by the control unit 14 and displays a display indicating the random switching mode or the timer switching mode, a current timer countdown value, and the like. The LED light emitting unit 22 is a light source that constitutes the active lamps 11a to 11d and the connect lamps 12a to 12d, and the light emission is controlled by the control unit 14.
The game machine body 1 communicates with the controller switching device 6 through the connector 16 by the communication unit 21. When the control unit 23 of the game machine body 1 receives operation information from each controller through the communication unit 21, the control unit 23 performs processing corresponding to the operation information. The memory unit 20 stores a game program and its data, and further stores temporary data generated during the game.

The controller switching device 6 provides this information to the game machine body 1 when the connection recognition unit 14a recognizes the information of the connector to which the controller is currently connected. When the control unit 23 of the game machine body 1 receives information on the connector to which the controller is currently connected from the controller switching device 6, the control unit 23 transmits a command for switching connection by the program to the controller switching device 6. The switching control by the program executed by the control unit 23 of the game machine main body can perform the same control as the random connection switching and the timer connection switching performed on the controller switching device side, and the set time at the random connection switching is randomly set It is possible to change. Whether to use connection switching control by a program on the game machine body 1 side or to use random connection switching control and timer connection switching control on the controller switching device side can be determined by initial setting. Therefore, when the random connection switching control and the timer connection switching control of the controller switching device 6 are used, the connection switching control by the program on the game machine body 1 side does not function, and the connection switching control by the program on the game machine body 1 side is used. In this case, the random connection switching control and the timer connection switching control on the controller switching device side do not function.

Next, the operation and control of the controller switching device will be described.
As a premise, it is assumed that controllers 1 to 3 of the controller switching device are connected, and the timer switch is selected for the mode switch 15 and the set time of the timer setting unit 9 is adjusted to 20 seconds.
Connect lamps 12a, 12b, and 12c installed corresponding to the first to third controllers 2a, 2b, and 2c are turned on.
At the beginning of the game, the control unit 14 controls the electronic switch 19 to connect the controller 2a and the game machine main body 1. The control unit 14 turns on the active lamp 11a corresponding to the controller 2a to indicate that the player of the controller 2a can operate. On the other hand, the timer connection switching mode is displayed on the panel display unit 10, and a signal for counting down from 20 seconds is sent to the control unit 14 by the timer setting unit 9 , and the countdown value is displayed in the segment.

When the count value becomes 0, the control unit 14 sends a signal for connection from the controllers 2a to 2b to the electronic switch 19, and then the controller 2b is connected to the game machine main body 1, and the player of the controller 2b is connected to the game machine main body 1. Can be operated. At this point, the player of the controller 2a cannot operate. In this way, the player of the controller 2c is switched, and when the count value becomes 0 for the player of the controller 2c, the connection to the game machine body 1 is connected again to the controller 2a, and this connection is continued until the game is over. Such switching is repeated.

  As a premise, when the timer connection switching is changed to random connection switching and the other conditions are not changed, the connections of the controllers are similarly switched, but the control is performed by the random switching control unit 14c, and the controller to be connected next Are randomly connected based on a predetermined random connection setting. Compared to timer connection switching, random connection switching can not be predicted when it can be operated, so that a more thrilling game can be enjoyed.

Further, switching control similar to the timer connection switching and the random connection switching can be performed by the switching connection control by the program on the game machine body side. In such a case, the functions of the random switching control unit 14c and the timer switching control unit 14d of the controller switching device 6 are not used.
Although the above embodiment has shown an example showing a display for counting down the set time, a display for counting up the set time may be performed.

  A controller switching device that switches a plurality of input devices such as game pads to a game machine, and is used for a home game device or the like.

It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the state which connected the controller switching apparatus with an automatic switching function by this invention to the game machine main body. It is a figure which shows the detail of the external appearance of the controller switching apparatus with an automatic switching function by this invention. It is a circuit diagram which shows embodiment of the circuit of the controller switching apparatus with an automatic switching function by this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the detail of the control part of a controller switching apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

1 Game console
2a to 2d controller (operation controller)
3a-3d, 7,17 Connection cable
4a-4d, 8, 16 female connector
5a-5d connection
6 Controller switching device 9 Timer setting unit 10 Display panel 11a to 11d Active lamp
12a-12d Connect lamp
13a to 13d Connector male 14, 23 Control unit 15 Mode switch
18 Connection Unit 19 Electronic Switch 20 Memory Unit
21 Communication part 22 LED light emission part

Claims (4)

In a controller switching device separate from the game device, connected to the game device and connecting between the game device and a plurality of operation controllers,
The controller switching device includes a plurality of connectors for connecting the plurality of operation controllers,
The controller switching device transmits connector connection information of the currently connected operation controller to the game device,
A timer switching mode for automatically switching the connection of the plurality of operation controllers to the game device in a predetermined order every predetermined time according to an instruction from a control unit that operates by executing a program in the game device. Mode switching means for switching between a random switching mode for automatically switching the connection of the plurality of operation controllers to the game device in an irregular order every time of
The controller switching device has a display panel, and displays the time of the timer of the operation controller being switched and the current switching connection mode on the display panel,
The controller switching device further includes a first display unit that indicates a state in which each operation controller is connected, and a second display unit that is displayed when connected to the game device.
When the second display unit indicates that the game device is connected, the player of the operation controller becomes operable,
Each of the plurality of operation controllers is an operation controller in which operation units provided in the operation controller body have different shapes and appearances of button arrangements, and a game by operation controllers having different appearances has been made possible. Controller switching device with automatic switching function.   The controller switching device with an automatic switching function according to claim 1, further comprising a timer setting unit, wherein the time during which the operation controller is connected can be set by the timer setting unit.   3. The controller switching device with an automatic switching function according to claim 1, wherein the display of the timer time displays a set countdown value of the timer. The planar shape of the controller switching device is a pentagon,
The back surface constituting one of the side surfaces of the controller switching device has a connection portion for connecting a connection cable for connection to the game device,
4. The controller switching device with an automatic switching function according to claim 1, wherein each of the other side surfaces of the controller switching device has a connector for connecting each operation controller.

Images