JP7447666B2 - Gaming machine management system and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a gaming machine management system and program for managing gaming machines.

2. Description of the Related Art As a measure to prevent players from becoming addicted to playing a game machine such as pachinko and investing a large sum of money, a game machine is known that has a function of displaying a warning message (Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-8184

However, in the gaming machine described in Patent Document 1, there is no actual limit (force) on the warning message, so it is possible to continue playing the game without worrying about it, which means that it is less effective in preventing addiction. be.

The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and its purpose is to improve the effect of preventing players from becoming addicted to the use of gaming machines, rather than displaying warning messages.

The present invention is a gaming machine management system that manages gaming machines that allow players to change rates, and includes a threshold storage means for storing a threshold value of gaming information to prevent players from becoming addicted to the gaming machine, and a threshold storage means for storing a threshold value of gaming information to prevent players from becoming addicted to the gaming machine, and a system that aggregates gaming information of the players. a gaming information aggregation means for determining whether or not the value of the gaming information aggregated by the gaming information aggregation means is equal to or greater than the threshold value; rate limiting means for limiting games to low rate games in a stepwise manner according to the number of gaming information determined to be equal to or higher than a threshold by the determining means. It is a gaming machine management system that limits
The present invention also provides a gaming machine management system for managing gaming machines in which rates can be changed by a player, and includes a threshold storage means for storing a threshold of gaming information to prevent addictive play, and gaming information of the player. a gaming information aggregating means for aggregating the gaming information; a determining means for determining whether the value of the gaming information aggregated by the gaming information aggregating means is equal to or greater than the threshold; and when the determining means determines that the value is equal to or greater than the threshold; , a rate limiting means for limiting games to relatively low rate games, and the rate limiting means is a gaming machine management system that performs rate limiting when a combination of a plurality of game information reaches a threshold value.

According to the present invention, the effect of preventing players from becoming addicted to the use of gaming machines can be improved more than displaying warning messages.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a gaming system including a gaming machine management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the inter-machine machine. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of a management device. It is a figure showing a rate limit notification screen. It is a flowchart showing an example of the general operation of the gaming machine management system. It is a flowchart showing another example of the general operation of the gaming machine management system. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a table used by the management device to perform rate limiting in stages. 12 is a flowchart showing a process in which the management device performs rate restriction in stages.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
<Game system configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a gaming system including a gaming machine management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This gaming system consists of n gaming machines 1-1, 1-2,...1-n (here, n is an integer of 3 or more), and gaming machines 1-1, 1-2,...・N inter-machine machines 2-1, 2-2, ... 2-n connected to 1-n and inter-machine machines 2-1, 2-2, ... through the network NW. 2-n and a management device 3 configured to be able to communicate with each other. The inter-machine machines 2-1, 2-2, . . . 2-n and the management device 3 constitute a gaming machine management system. In the following description, when each gaming machine is not distinguished, it is referred to as gaming machine 1, and when each inter-machine machine is not distinguished, it is referred to as inter-machine machine 2.

The gaming machine 1 is a gaming machine that allows a player to change the rate, and is, for example, an enclosed pachinko machine.

The inter-machine machine 2 controls or monitors the gaming machine 1 when a player plays a game on the gaming machine 1. The inter-machine machine 2 performs authentication when a player performs a login operation. Authentication of the player at the time of login operation is, for example, biometric authentication such as face authentication or vein authentication, and the inter-stand machine 2 transmits the read biometric information to the management device 3. For a player who has a membership card, the intermachine machine 2 may transmit a card ID containing the player's identification information read from the membership card instead of transmitting the biometric information. For players who do not have a membership card, the authentication password input by the player may be transmitted to the management device 3. When the authentication is completed, the player enters a login state, and in the login state, the player can play games on the gaming machine 1.

Further, the inter-machine machine 2 generates game information and transmits it to the management device 3 together with the player's identification information (here, the card ID of the membership card). Gaming information includes the start of symbol fluctuations, the occurrence of reach effects, the occurrence of jackpots, the occurrence of probability fluctuation states, the date and time of visits to the store for each predetermined period (1 day, 1 week, 1 month, etc.), playing time, number of visits to the store, and investment. Including amount.

The management device 3 is a server capable of transmitting and receiving data to and from each of the plurality of inter-machines 2. The management device 3 stores the gaming information of each gaming machine 1 transmitted from each inter-machine machine 2 in association with the player's identification information (here, the card ID of the membership card).

In addition, the management device 3 stores in advance thresholds such as playing time, number of visits to the store, investment amount, etc. in the gaming information as monitoring items to prevent addiction, and aggregate values of monitoring items in the player's gaming information. When the amount reaches the threshold, the management device 3 transmits a rate limit notification to the inter-machine machine 2 to limit the game to a low rate.

<Internal configuration of inter-stand machine>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the inter-machine machine. The inter-machine machine 2 includes a control section 20, a storage section 21, a communication section 22, a gaming machine connection section 23, an operation section 24, a display section 25, and a card insertion section 26, each of which is connected to the control section 20.

The storage unit 21 is a storage medium such as RAM, ROM, or rewritable nonvolatile memory. The ROM stores control programs, fixed data, etc. necessary for operating the inter-machine machine 2. Further, the RAM stores programs being executed by the control unit 20, data necessary for executing the programs, and the like. Further, the rewritable non-volatile memory stores the current rate setting value and the like.

The communication unit 22 is a communication interface for transmitting and receiving information between the management devices 3. The communication unit 22 includes, for example, a LAN controller. The gaming machine connection section 23 includes an interface for interlocking with the gaming machine 1.

The operating unit 24 as an operating means has, for example, an operating button as a device for a player to perform an operation. The operation unit 24 may include a touch panel provided overlapping the display unit 25. The display section 25 as a display means is, for example, a liquid crystal display. The display unit 25 displays various information to be notified to the player. The card insertion section 26 is an insertion slot into which a player inserts a membership card or a general card.

The control unit 20 is, for example, a CPU, and functions as a communication control unit 201, a game control unit 202, an operation control unit 203, a display control unit 204, and a card control unit 205 by executing a program stored in the storage unit 21. do.

The communication control unit 201 performs data communication with the management device 3 via the communication unit 22. In this embodiment, the communication control unit 201 transmits the card ID and game information to the management device 3. It also receives rate limit notifications and the like from the management device 3.

The game control unit 202 controls the game machine 1 by performing data communication with the game machine 1 via the game machine connection unit 23.

The operation control unit 203 acquires information indicating the operation content performed on the operation unit 24 from the operation unit 24, and notifies each unit of the control unit 20 related to the operation content of the operation content based on the acquired information.

The display control unit 204 causes the display unit 25 to display various information. The display control unit 204 causes the display unit 25 to display, for example, the user's card balance, the number of balls held, and the number of stored balls that can be paid out.

The card control unit 205 reads information from a card that is a storage medium inserted into the card insertion unit 26, and writes information to the card. The card control unit 205 updates the balance information in the card when the player uses the operation unit 24 to pay cash used for lending balls.

<Internal configuration of management device>
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the management device. The management device 3 includes a control section 30, a storage section 31, an operation section 32, a display section 33, and a communication section 34, each of which is connected to the control section 30.

The operation unit 32 is a device, such as a keyboard and a mouse, that receives operations from a user (such as an administrator of a game hall). The communication unit 34 is part of a communication interface for transmitting and receiving data to and from the inter-machine device 2 via the network NW, and is configured by, for example, a LAN controller. The display unit 33 is a display that displays information input from the operation unit 32, information acquired from the inter-stand machine 2, and the like.

The storage unit 31 is a storage medium such as ROM, RAM, or hard disk. The ROM stores control programs, fixed data, etc. necessary for operating the management device 3. Further, the RAM stores programs being executed by the control unit 30, data necessary for executing the programs, and the like. Also, a large amount of data is stored on the hard disk. Here, a threshold value 311 of gaming information as monitoring items and gaming information to which "presence or absence of addiction" is added (hereinafter referred to as gaming information with an addiction flag) 312 are illustrated.

The monitoring items are gaming time, number of visits to the store, and investment amount for each predetermined aggregation period (one day, one week, one month, etc.), and the respective thresholds are 4 hours, 2 times, and 30,000 yen. These threshold values are input into the management device 3 by the player or a clerk at the gaming parlor from the operation unit 24 of the machine 2 or an input terminal (not shown) based on a report from the player or the player's family, for example. It is set by The game information with an addiction flag 312 becomes “addiction: present” when even one of the game information serving as a monitoring item reaches a threshold value.

The control unit 30 is, for example, a CPU, and controls the entire management device 3 by executing a program stored in the storage unit 31. Further, the control unit 30 stores the game information of each player transmitted from each inter-machine machine 2 in the storage unit 31 in association with the player's card ID. Then, for each predetermined aggregation period, it is determined whether the value of each game information that is a monitoring item has reached a threshold, and if it is determined that even one of the values has reached the threshold, game information with an addictive flag is displayed. 312 is set as "addicted: Yes" and a rate limit notification is sent to the inter-machine device 2.

<Rate limit notification screen>
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a rate limit notification screen. This screen is displayed on the display section 25 of the inter-stand machine 2 in response to a notification from the management device 3.

As shown in the figure, the rate limit notification screen 251 includes a message 252 indicating that the rate is limited to only 1 yen, a button 253 for inputting "Yes" to play at the 1 yen rate, and a button 253 for inputting "Yes" to play at the 1 yen rate. A button 254 for inputting "No" is displayed. If "Yes" is selected, gaming at a rate of 1 yen is possible, and if "No" is selected, gaming is not possible. It should be noted that this screen may not be displayed and the system may be configured to automatically enable gaming at only the 1 yen rate.

<Operation of gaming machine management system>
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the general operation of the gaming machine management system. This operation is an operation when the player starts playing the game.

When a player inserts a membership card into the inter-machine machine 2 (step S1), the inter-machine machine 2 reads the card ID and transmits it to the management device 3 (step S2). The management device 3 reads out the threshold value of the game information as a monitoring item set in advance in the storage unit 31 and the value of the game information updated and saved at the end of the previous game (step 11), and determines the value of the game information. It is determined whether or not it is less than a threshold value (step S12).

Then, if it is determined that it is not less than the threshold value, that is, it is more than the threshold value (step S12: No), a rate limit notification is sent to the inter-machine device 2 (step S13), and if it is determined that it is less than the threshold value ( Step S12: Yes), a rate non-limiting notification is sent to the inter-machine device 2 (Step S14).

If the inter-machine machine 2 receives the rate non-limit notification (step S3: No), the machine 2 automatically or in response to the player's input from the rate limit notification screen 251 selects the current rate stored in the storage unit 21. The game machine 1 is controlled so that the game can be started at the set value (in this case, the initial set value of 4 yen). When the player starts playing at the 4 yen rate (step S4), the inter-machine machine 2 transmits game information to the management device 3 (step S6), and ends the process shown in this figure. Note that step S4 is performed in the gaming machine 1, but here, for convenience, it is treated as a process in the inter-machine machine 2 (the same applies to step S5 and steps S102, S103, and S104 in FIG. 6).

If the inter-machine machine 2 receives the rate limit notification (step S3: Yes), the machine 2 updates the current rate stored in the storage unit 21 automatically or in response to an input by the player from the rate limit notification screen 251. The setting value is changed from the initial setting value of 4 yen to 1 yen, and the game machine 1 is controlled so that the game can be started at the 1 yen rate. When the player starts playing the game at the rate of 1 yen (step S5), the machine 2 transmits the game information to the management device 3 (step S7), and ends the process shown in this figure.

The management device 3 that has received the gaming information updates the gaming information (step S15), and ends the process shown in this figure.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing another example of the general operation of the gaming machine management system. This operation is the operation when the player starts playing the game at the 4 yen rate and is playing the game, that is, the operation following steps S4 and S15 in FIG. Steps S101, S111, S112, and S113 in this figure are the same as steps S3, S12, S13, and S14 in FIG. 5.

When the inter-machine machine 2 receives the rate non-limiting notification (step S101: No), the machine 2 allows the game to be continued at the current rate stored in the storage unit 21 (here, the initial setting value is 4 yen). Controls the gaming machine 1. When the player continues playing the game at the 4 yen rate (step S102), the inter-machine machine 2 transmits the game information to the management device 3 (step S105), and ends the process shown in this figure.

When the inter-machine machine 2 receives the rate limit notification (step S101: Yes), the inter-machine machine 2 updates the current rate stored in the storage unit 21 automatically or in response to an input by the player from the rate limit notification screen 251. The set value (here, 4 yen) is changed to 1 yen, and the game machine 1 is controlled so that games at the 4 yen rate are disabled and only games at 1 yen are possible. When the player ends the game at the 4 yen rate (step S103) and starts the game at the 1 yen rate (step S104), the intermachine machine 2 transmits the game information to the management device 3 (step S106), Finish the process shown in the figure.

The management device 3 that has received the gaming information updates the gaming information (step S114), and ends the processing shown in this figure.

As explained in detail above, according to the gaming machine management system according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the aggregate value of player's gaming information reaches a preset threshold, Since it is limited to only games, the following effects (1) and (2) can be obtained.
(1) It is more effective in preventing addiction than displaying warning messages that have no actual restrictions (force).
(2) Compared to the case where gaming is disabled when a threshold is reached, it can be expected to prevent a decline in sales at the gaming parlor.

In addition to the above embodiments, the present invention includes the following modifications (1) to (6).
(1) The inter-machine machine 2 executes the processing executed by the management device 3 in FIGS. 5 and 6, such as saving threshold values and aggregating game information.
(2) Instead of the card ID, game information is aggregated by linking it to authentication information specified by face authentication, biometric authentication, etc.

(3) As the game information to be aggregated, the player's ball payout rate (ratio of the number of balls acquired to the number of balls invested) is used.
In this case, if you use the number of balls invested instead of the investment amount, the actual investment amount will be the number of balls invested minus the number of balls acquired, so set that as the threshold. Good too.

(4) Lower the rate in stages according to the number of game information that has reached the threshold.
FIG. 7 is a table showing an example thereof, which is stored in the storage unit 31 of the management device 3. Further, FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a process in which the management device 3 performs rate restriction according to this table.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the management device 3 receives the card ID (step S201), it reads out the threshold values of monitoring items and gaming information preset in the storage unit 31 (step S202), and reads out the gaming information. It is determined whether the value of is less than a threshold (step S203).

If it is determined that it is less than the threshold (step S203: Yes), a rate non-limiting notification is sent to the inter-machine device 2 (step S204). On the other hand, if it is determined that the value is not less than the threshold, that is, it is equal to or greater than the threshold (step S203: No), the rate is 2 yen or less in the case of one, or less than 2 yen in the case of two, depending on the number of game information for which the value is equal to or greater than the threshold. In the case of three, a rate restriction notification is sent to limit the rate to 1 yen or less, and in the case of three, to only 0.1 yen (steps S205 to S208).

(5) Rate restriction is performed based on the combination of game information that has reached the threshold value.
That is, for example, rate restriction is performed when both the gaming time and the investment amount reach threshold values.

(6) Aggregate game information for each rate.
For example, for a low rate, the thresholds for gaming time and number of visits to the store are set larger than for a high rate.

1-1, 1-2...1-n...gaming machine, 2-1,2-2...2-n...intermachine, 20,30...control unit, 24...operation unit, 25...display 31...Storage unit, 202...Game control unit, 311...Threshold values of monitoring items, 312...Game information with an addictive flag.

Claims (7)

A gaming machine management system that manages gaming machines that allow players to change rates,
Threshold value storage means for storing a threshold value of game information for preventing addiction;
gaming information aggregation means for aggregating gaming information of the players;
determining means for determining whether the value of the gaming information aggregated by the gaming information aggregating means is greater than or equal to the threshold;
rate limiting means for limiting games to relatively low rate games when the determining means determines that the rate is equal to or higher than the threshold;
has
The rate limiting means is a gaming machine management system that limits games to low rate games in stages according to the number of gaming information determined to be equal to or higher than a threshold value by the determining means. A gaming machine management system that manages gaming machines that allow players to change rates,
Threshold value storage means for storing a threshold value of game information for preventing addiction;
gaming information aggregation means for aggregating gaming information of the players;
determining means for determining whether the value of the gaming information aggregated by the gaming information aggregating means is greater than or equal to the threshold;
rate limiting means for limiting games to relatively low rate games when the determining means determines that the rate is equal to or higher than the threshold;
has
The rate limiting means is a gaming machine management system that limits the rate when a combination of a plurality of pieces of gaming information reaches a threshold value . In the gaming machine management system according to claim 1 or 2 ,
A game machine management system having a display means for displaying a restriction to relatively low rate games. In the gaming machine management system according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The gaming information aggregation means is a gaming machine management system that aggregates gaming information by linking it to a card ID including identification information of a player or biometric information of a player. In the gaming machine management system according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The game information includes a game machine management system including a ball payout rate. In the gaming machine management system according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The gaming information aggregation means is a gaming machine management system that aggregates the information for each rate. A program for causing a computer to function as each means of the gaming machine management system according to claim 1 or 2 .

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