JP7145026B2 - Amusement center management system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a game arcade management system.

In response to recent demands for the prevention of passive smoking and health promotion, smoking is prohibited during play at each game hall, and we are working to set up a smoking area in one corner of the game hall. In this case, a player who smokes must temporarily stop playing and move to a smoking area. There is a risk that a situation may occur in which a member of staff sorts out the situation. Also, for the game arcade side, there is also the problem that the longer the smoking time of each player, the lower the operating rate of the game machine.

JP 2015-029690 A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a game hall management system that allows players to appropriately take a smoking break.

By performing a smoking start operation at the start of the smoking break, it is possible to clearly indicate that the player is in the smoking break, so that his/her own game machine is not rearranged due to being regarded as an empty table during the smoking break. In addition, since the identification information of the gaming machine during the smoking break is displayed in the smoking area, it is possible to clearly indicate to the player that they are taking a smoking break and to make them conscious of returning to the gaming machine as soon as possible after smoking. can.

FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention; Front view of game information display device Functional block diagram mainly showing the game information display device Functional block diagram showing mainly the display device for smoking area A diagram showing a screen when the smoking break button is pressed on the game information display device A diagram showing a screen during a smoking break displayed on the game information display device A diagram showing a screen of the serial number list displayed on the display device for the smoking area Flowchart showing flow of display processing in display device for smoking area

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 schematically shows the overall configuration of a game arcade management system 100. As shown in FIG. A large number of game machines 1 are installed in the game hall, and each game machine 1 is provided with a counting and lending unit 2 and a game information display device 3 . The game machine 1, the counting lending unit 2, and the game information display device 3 are connected to the relay device 4 two by two. The relay device 4 is connected to the management device 6 via the LAN5.

A gift exchange terminal (hereinafter referred to as POS) 7 is installed in the game hall, and this POS 7 is also connected to the management device 6 via the LAN 5 . The POS 7 reads general cards and membership cards (see reference numerals 8 and 9 in FIG. 1) with an attached card processing machine 7a to specify the game value (the number of counting balls and the number of accumulated balls), and performs prize exchange processing based on the game value. I do.
The management device 6 is installed, for example, in an office in the game hall, and is connected to a monitor 6a, a keyboard 6b, and the like. The management device 6 receives game signals output from the various devices such as the game machine 1, the counting and lending unit 2, the game information display device 3, and manages the operation status of the various devices.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, several hundred game machines 1 including so-called slot machines in addition to the pachinko machines shown in the figure are managed by the management device 6, and a plurality of game machines 1 formed in the game hall are managed. , the equipment on the gaming machine 1 side is installed on the gaming machine island. In addition, in the amusement arcade of this embodiment, smoking is prohibited during a game on the gaming machine 1, and smoking is prohibited in the arcade at a position different from the gaming machine 1 (a position away from the gaming machine island). There is a smoking area SA in one corner. In the smoking area SA, a smoking area display device 10 for players who smoke is installed, and the smoking area display device 10 is also connected to the management device 6 via the LAN 5 . The configuration of the smoking area SA and the display device 10 will be described later in detail.

The game machine 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a CR pachinko machine, and has an operating handle 12, an upper receiving tray 13, and a lower receiving tray 14, which constitute a shooting device for shooting balls onto a board surface 11. It has a starting port 16 and a big prize winning port 17 .

When a player operates an operation handle 12, balls are shot to a board surface 11, and when the balls win a prize at a starting port 16, the number of balls corresponding to the prize is paid out or a jackpot lottery is conducted. In the jackpot lottery, the liquid crystal display unit 15 executes a pattern variation by a so-called special pattern (special pattern), and a jackpot is generated when the stop-displayed pattern is the jackpot pattern. When a big hit occurs, the big prize opening 17 is opened for 15 rounds, for example. In addition, the gaming machine 1 specifies an out signal that can specify the number of inserted media, which is the number of balls that have been hit, and the number of payout media, which is the number of balls that have been paid out, as the game progresses by the player. Various game signals such as a possible safe signal and a jackpot signal that can specify the jackpot state are output.

The counting lending unit 2 is arranged on the left side of each gaming machine 1 and has a so-called machine counting function. The counting and lending unit 2 includes a status display section 21 that indicates the current operating status (for example, normal status, error status, etc.), a banknote insertion slot 22 into which banknotes are inserted, a touch panel type liquid crystal display section 23, and one unit (units are given). number), a payout nozzle 26 through which the paid out balls pass, a card insertion slot 27 into which a general card 8 or a membership card 9 is inserted, and a lower receiving tray 14 of the gaming machine 1. A removable counting pan 28 or the like is provided. In addition, the counting lending unit 2 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a control unit having I/O, and a transmitting/receiving unit for transmitting/receiving various signals (not shown).

In the general card 8, a general ID that can identify the card is recorded, and the deposit balance and the number of balls that have been deposited in the counting lending unit 2 are recorded. The number of balls possessed by the general card 8 is valid only on the day, and the deposit balance can be used from the next day onward.
In the member card 9, a member ID capable of identifying a player who has registered as a member is recorded, and the balance of payment is also recorded. The number of owned balls and the number of stored balls corresponding to the member card 9 are stored in the member account of the management device 6. - 特許庁The number of balls held, the number of stored balls, and the deposit balance of the membership card 9 can be used from the next day onwards.

The counting lending unit 2 has the following functions.
(1) When a deposit is made from the banknote slot 22 with no cards 8, 9 inserted, the general card 8 stored in the card stock section (not shown) is drawn out to the card RW (not shown), and the amount of the deposit is received. (in units of 1,000 yen) is stored, and the amount of money received (balance of money received) is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 23 . At this time, one point (500 yen) is 125 balls for a pachinko machine with a loan unit price of 4 yen and 500 balls for a pachinko machine with a loan unit price of 1 yen. may be displayed.
(2) Carry out a lending process of lending out balls corresponding to one number of times within the deposit balance from the payout mechanism inside the gaming machine 1 according to the operation of the lending button (not shown) of the gaming machine 1 . At this time, since the game machine 1 sends a signal indicating that one credit has been paid out to the counting and lending unit 2, the balance displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 23 is reduced by one credit. A sales signal capable of specifying the number of lent balls indicating the number of lent balls is transmitted.

(3) Balls dropped from the lower receiving tray 14 of the gaming machine 1 and received by the counting receiving tray 28 flow into a counting unit (not shown) to count the balls that have flowed in, and the counted number of balls is the number of balls counted. is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 23 .
(4) In accordance with the operation of the payout button 25, the payout mechanism pays out one by one within the range of the number of counting balls (number of balls held) or the number of stored balls (in the case of a member player).

(5) Record the deposit balance and the number of balls held in the general card 8 inserted into the card insertion slot 27 in response to the operation of the return button (not shown) of the gaming machine 1, and issue the card. When the membership card 9 is inserted, the membership card 9 is issued after recording the balance of payment in the membership card 9 and transmitting the number of balls held to the management device 6.例文帳に追加When issuing (returning) the cards 8 and 9, the issuing information is transmitted to the management device 6 and stored on the management device 6 side as well.
(6) When the general card 8 is inserted into the card slot 27 , the balance and number of balls recorded in the general card 8 are read out and displayed on the liquid crystal display section 23 . When the membership card 9 is inserted, the balance recorded in the membership card 9 is read out and displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 23, and the number of balls held is received from the management device 6 and displayed. The number of accumulated balls is received from the management device 6 and displayed on the condition of input.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the game information display device 3 and illustrates a basic game information screen displaying various game information. The game information display device 3 can display not only the game information shown in FIG. The game information display device 3 corresponds to the game machine 1 on a one-to-one basis and is arranged above each game machine 1 .

The game information display device 3 includes a liquid crystal display section 31, a lamp section 32, a call button 33a, a menu button 33b, an operation button group 33 including a reset button and the like, a remote control light receiving section 34, and the like. The call button 33a is an operation button for the player to call an employee of the game hall, the menu button 33b is an operation button for pop-up displaying a predetermined menu, and the reset button is for personal game information. This is an operation button for initializing the The remote control light receiving unit 34 receives a remote control signal transmitted from an operation remote control 35 (shown only in FIG. 3) carried by an employee of the game arcade.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing mainly the game information display device 3. As shown in FIG. The control unit 30 of the game information display device 3 is mainly composed of a microcomputer having a memory unit 30m such as a CPU 30a, a ROM 30b and a RAM 30c, and an I/O 30d. The control unit 30 includes a transmission/reception unit 30e for transmitting/receiving various signals and various information to/from the management device 6 and the gaming machine 1, as well as the liquid crystal display unit 31, the lamp unit 32, the call button 33a, and the operation button group 33. , the remote control light receiving unit 34 and the like are connected. A touch panel 36 that overlaps the front side of the liquid crystal display section 31 is connected to the control section 30 , and the touch panel 36 receives a touch operation by a player or the like.

The game information display device 3 divides the display area of the liquid crystal display unit 31 into a plurality of display areas (for example, the main display area shown in FIG. 2) under the display control of the control unit 30 (hereinafter abbreviated as the "game information display apparatus 3"). 40 and first to sixth sub display areas 41 to 46). The game information display device 3 receives game signals from the game machine 1 via the relay device 4, creates various game information, and displays the information in the respective display areas 40 to 46 or stores it in the storage section 30m. . In addition, the game information display device 3 displays various information received from the management device 6 in the respective display areas 40 to 46 and stores them in the storage section 30m.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the basic game information screen is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 31, the main display area 40 displays the number of big wins in units of corresponding periods (the day of the business day, one day before, two days before). , when there is a game information switching operation with the operation button group 33, the display is switched to a display state in which other game information (not shown) is displayed. The first sub-display area 41 displays the number of initial jackpots that occur in the normal state (that is, the number of jackpots excluding the number of jackpots in the variable probability state) in units of corresponding periods. The second sub-display area 42 displays the number of big wins, ie, "Super", which means that the number of balls released during the big win is equal to or greater than a reference value (for example, 1000 balls), and "Small", which means that it is less than that. The third sub-display area 43 displays the maximum number of winning balls per business day from a predetermined reference time (for example, when the corresponding model was introduced). The fourth sub-display area 44 displays the start (symbol variation number) after the establishment of the initialization condition (the establishment of the opening of the business, the end of the special state, etc.). The fifth sub-display area 45 displays a so-called start history graph in which the start of each jackpot is graphed. A sixth sub-display area 46 displays the model name.

The control unit 60 of the management device 6 shown in FIG. 3 is mainly composed of a microcomputer having a CPU, a storage unit 60m such as ROM and RAM, and I/O. The control unit 60 is connected to a monitor 6a and a keyboard 6b (see FIG. 1), as well as a transmission/reception unit for transmitting/receiving various signals, and a printer (both not shown).

In addition, the control unit 60 of the management device 6 (hereinafter abbreviated as the “management device 6” as appropriate) operates based on various game signals transmitted from the gaming machine 1, the counting lending unit 2, the game information display device 3, and the like. , manages and aggregates various information including game information, and stores it in the storage unit 60m of itself 60. FIG.

By the way, as described in "Background Art", in response to the recent demand for the prevention of second-hand smoke, there is a growing movement to prohibit smoking during games in game halls and to set up a smoking area SA in a corner of the game hall. . However, if such an approach is taken by the game arcade, the player who smokes will be forced to stop playing the game and move to the smoking area SA. There is a risk that the remaining balls and deposit balance will be sorted out by the employee. In addition, there is also a problem for the game arcade side that the operating rate of the game machine 1 decreases as the smoking time of each player increases.

Therefore, in the game arcade management system 100 of the present embodiment, when a player starts a smoking break at each game machine 1, a smoking start operation means is provided which is operated by the player or an employee. Based on the operation of the smoking start operation means, the game information display device 3 displays that the game machine 1 is in the smoking rest state, or the machine number of the game machine 1 currently in the smoking state is displayed in the smoking area. It is configured to be displayed on the display device 10 for SA. The configuration will be described in order of "1. Smoking break start operation and display processing on game information display device" and "2. Configuration and display processing of display device for smoking area".

<1. Smoking Break Start Operation and Display Processing on Game Information Display Device>
When a player wants to smoke while playing a game on the gaming machine 1, for example, by pressing the menu button 33b on the corresponding game information display device 3, the display unit 31 displays a menu screen (not shown). An item related to "smoking" is selected by a touch operation on the menu screen. At this time, when an item relating to "smoking" is selected by the player, the game information display device 3 changes from the menu screen to the smoking break button display screen of FIG.

In the smoking break button display screen of FIG. The game information is displayed in the remaining sub-display areas 41-46. Here, when the player touches the "NO" button 52 on the display screen of FIG. 5, the game information display device 3 returns to the original menu screen or the basic game information screen of FIG.

On the other hand, when the "yes" button 51 is touched on the display screen of FIG. The display screen transitions to the smoking break screen shown in FIG. 6 .

It should be noted that when the game information display device 3 determines that there are cards 8 and 9 to be ejected at the time the "yes" button 51 is touched (for example, the general card 8 whose deposit balance or number of balls is not 0 is 5), a message "please eject the card" is displayed on the display screen in FIG. When discharged, the screen transitions to the smoking break screen shown in FIG. 6 . In this way, the liquid crystal display section 31, the operation button group 33, the touch panel 36, or the return button in the game information display device 3 serves as a smoking start operation means operated by the player when the player starts a smoking break. Equivalent to.

On the smoking break screen of FIG. Game information is displayed in areas 41-46. That is, the game information display device 3 (game information display means) displays a message M on the screen as shown in FIG. Along with the display, time measurement is started with the point of time when the touch operation is performed as the starting point (start time), and the "elapsed time" t from the start time is displayed on the screen. 6, the gaming information display device 3 includes the number of the gaming machine 1 in the smoking rest state (machine number as identification information) and the start time (smoking rest start time). Smoking information is transmitted to the management device 6 .

In this way, when the player leaves the seat to smoke, the game information display device 3 is notified by operating the button 51 on the display screen in FIG. (on the smoking break screen in FIG. 6). On the other hand, the management device 6 associates the start time transmitted from the game information display device 3 with the machine number of the game machine 1 based on the operation of the button 51, which is the smoking break start operation, and stores it in the storage unit 60m (smoking (information storage means), and the relevant smoking information (smoking rest state) is managed for each gaming machine 1 .

After that, when the player finishes smoking in the smoking area SA and tries to restart the game on the gaming machine 1, the gaming information display device 3 continues to display the smoking break screen of FIG. Therefore, it is possible to grasp the time t (5 minutes and 27 seconds in the example of FIG. 6) required for the smoking break. In this case, when the player performs an operation of inserting the cards 8 and 9 into the insertion slot 27 as an operation for canceling the smoking break, the game information display device 3 displays the original basic game information screen (FIG. 2) from the smoking break screen. ), and transmits release information including the fact that the release operation has been performed (or the fact that the smoking break state has ended) and the machine number of the gaming machine 1 to the management device 6 .

Further, the game information display device 3 is configured so that the game information after the above-described smoking break state is terminated can be distinguished and totaled, and can be displayed on the display unit 31 . Specifically, the game information display device 3 displays the number of games from the start of business (the start of the fourth sub-display area 44 in FIG. 2) when the game is restarted after the player cancels the smoking break Separately, the number of games that have been reset to zero (the number of starts is 0) is displayed in another display area 43 or the like, and totaling is started.

In this way, during the period from when the game is resumed after the smoking break until the big win occurs, the game information such as the start is collected separately and displayed side by side in the display areas 43 and 44 (or by the operation button group 33). alternately displayed by switching the game information), it is possible to grasp the number of starts after the end of the smoking break, in addition to the number of starts from the start of business. As a result, it is possible to provide objective information for judgment to the player who believes that there is some kind of causal relationship between the smoking break and the big win.

<2. Configuration and Display Processing of Display Device for Smoking Area>
A smoking area SA defined as a space for smoking in the game hall is provided with a smoking area display device 10 (smoking area display means) in addition to an ashtray and the like. One or more smoking area display devices 10 are installed in the smoking area SA, and FIG. 1 shows an example in which a plurality of (two) smoking area display devices 10 are installed. Moreover, in FIG. 4, the functional block diagram of the display apparatus 10 for smoking areas is shown.

As shown in FIG. 4, the control section 70 of the smoking area display device 10 is mainly composed of a microcomputer having a storage section 70m such as a CPU 70a, a ROM 70b and a RAM 70c, and an I/O 70d. A liquid crystal display unit 71 is connected to the control unit 70 (hereinafter referred to as the “smoking room display device 10” as appropriate) in addition to a transmission/reception unit 70e that transmits and receives various signals and various information to and from the management device 6 and the like. there is The liquid crystal display section 71 is composed of a relatively large display for displaying information regarding the gaming machine 1 during a smoking break to the player who is smoking in the smoking area SA.

FIG. 7 shows a serial number list screen displayed on the liquid crystal display section 71 of the smoking area display device 10 . As shown in the figure, the machine number list screen displays the "machine number" of the gaming machine 1 that is currently in the smoking state, as well as the "start time" at which the smoking break start operation was performed for that machine number. , and the "elapsed time" t from the start time to the current time are displayed in minutes. This display is based on the smoking information transmitted from the management device 6, and is displayed based on the content stored in the storage section 70m of the device 10 itself. In this way, the smoking information is also stored in the storage section 70m of the smoking area display device 10 side, and the storage sections 60m and 70m of the devices 6 and 10 correspond to smoking information storage means.

Also, the serial number list screen of FIG. 7 shows an example of the display when "call" of serial numbers "552" and "6" is displayed. When the smoking room display device 10 determines that the elapsed time t from the start of the smoking break state for each gaming machine 1 has reached a predetermined time t0 (for example, 10 minutes) pre-stored in the storage unit 70m, , the corresponding "series number" is displayed as "call". In the example of FIG. 7, the columns of serial numbers "552" and "6" are highlighted by hatching. Anything is fine. The predetermined time for the smoking break is arbitrarily set by the game hall, and when the elapsed time t reaches 10 minutes, the player is put in a "call" state and promptly returns to the game machine 1. prompt.

FIG. 8 shows an example of processing executed at predetermined intervals by the smoking room display device 10 regarding the display of the machine number list screen described above. Here, the management device 6 transmits the smoking information (or cancellation information) transmitted from the game information display device 3 to the smoking area display device 10 in response to the player's smoking break start operation (or smoking break cancellation operation). It shall be.

First, when the smoking area display device 10 determines that smoking information has been received from the management device 6 (S1: YES), it obtains the elapsed time t from the start time for the received serial number (S2). Then, the smoking area display device 10 creates display data representing, in minutes, t that enables identification of the "start time" and the "elapsed time" for the corresponding "serial number", and displays it on the screen (S3, See FIG. 7) and return. Instead of (or in addition to) displaying the elapsed time itself as a numerical value t, the screen display may be displayed as a chart such as an indicator. Information (display data) in such a display mode may be used.

When the smoking area display device 10 has not received smoking information from the management device 6 (S1: NO), for the machine number that created the display data (that is, for the gaming machine 1 that measures the elapsed time t), It is determined whether or not the elapsed time t has reached the predetermined time t0 of 10 minutes (S4). When the smoking area display device 10 determines that the elapsed time t has reached 10 minutes (S4: YES), it displays a "call" for the relevant machine number (S5).

In addition, the smoking area display device 10 determines whether or not release information has been received for the machine number for which display data has been created (NO in S1 and S4, respectively) (S6). When the smoking area display device 10 determines that the release information has been received (S6: YES), it clears the display of the corresponding serial number (S7), and terminates (returns) this process.

According to the above embodiment, the following effects are obtained.
In the game arcade management system 100, by performing a smoking start operation (smoking break start operation) at the start of the smoking break, the game information display device 3 can clearly indicate that the smoking break is in progress. There is no possibility that one's game machine 1 is arranged as an empty machine inside. In addition, in the smoking area SA, the identification information of the game machine 1 during the smoking break is displayed on the smoking area display device 10, so that the player can clearly see that the smoking break is taking place, and the player can immediately play the game after smoking. You can be conscious of returning to machine 1.

When the smoking break start operation is performed on the game information display device 3, the smoking break is disabled while the cards 8 and 9 are inserted into the card insertion slot 27 of the counting lending unit 2, and the cards 8 and 9 are ejected. , it is possible to prevent card theft during a smoking break.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may be modified or expanded as follows, each modification may be combined with the above embodiments, or each modification may be combined.

When the smoking break start operation is performed, the smoking break is permitted on the condition that the cards 8 and 9 are ejected from the counting lending unit 2. However, if the "yes" button 51 in FIG. A smoking break may be permitted as a condition (transition to the smoking break screen in FIG. 6). In this case, various operations on the corresponding counter lending unit 2 are restricted in the smoking break state. Specifically, the ball payout, the lending process, the issuing process of the cards 8 and 9, etc., in the counting lending unit 2 are prohibited, and the smoking break cancellation operation is performed on the game information display device 3 to cancel the prohibited state. continue until The smoking break cancellation operation at this time may be performed by, for example, touching the display section 31 of the game information display device 3 to display a smoking break end button (not shown) and touching the same button.

Although the player himself/herself performs the operation to start the smoking break, the employee of the game arcade may perform the operation to start the smoking break. In this case, for example, the player presses the call button 33a of the game information display device 3 to call the employee and declare a smoking break. In response to this, the employee operates the remote control 35 (smoking start operating means) to transmit a signal indicating the start of the smoking break to the game information display device 3, thereby making the start of the smoking break recognized. It is possible to transition from the game information screen to the smoking break screen shown in FIG.

Although a pachinko machine is exemplified as the game machine 1, it may be a slot machine or a rock-paper game machine.
Moreover, each numerical value described above is an example, and of course any numerical value may be adopted.

In the drawings, 1 is a game machine, 3 is a game information display device (game information display means), 10 is a smoking room display device (game information display means), 31 is a liquid crystal display (smoking start operation means), and 33 is an operation button. A group (smoking start operation means), 36 is a touch panel (smoking start operation means), 60m and 70m are storage units (smoking information storage means), 100 is a playground management system, and SA is a smoking area.

Claims (3)

A game hall management system for a game hall in which a plurality of game machines are installed and a smoking area is provided at a position different from the game machine,
In each gaming machine, a smoking start operation means operated by the player or employee when the player starts a smoking break;
smoking information storage means for storing identification information of the gaming machine in the smoking rest state based on the operation of the smoking start operation means;
game information display means provided in each game machine for displaying information that enables identification of the game machine being in a smoking rest state based on the operation of the smoking start operation means;
a smoking area display means provided in the smoking area for displaying identification information of a gaming machine currently in a smoking state based on the stored content of the smoking information storage means. . 2. The game arcade management system according to claim 1, wherein said smoking area display means displays, for each game machine, information capable of identifying an elapsed time from the start of the smoking break state. 3. The game information display means according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the game information display means is configured to be capable of distinguishing, totaling and displaying the game information from the time when the smoking break state is terminated. management system.

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