JPH0591786U - Gaming computer equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To simplify the input operation for rewriting a part of the software in a game computer device. [Configuration] A bar code reader is provided, and input is performed using bar code data. [Effect] By updating a part of the existing game software, you can enjoy again with a new feeling.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention is used for a computer video game. In particular, it relates to a program changing technique for a computer for games.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 In recent years, inexpensive and simple computers that are used by connecting to a television have become widespread for video games in ordinary homes. Recently, this computer has been widely used as a terminal device for securities transactions and the like using a telephone line.

The mainstream of loading a program is to mount a soft cassette having a ROM in which the program is written, but recently, a CD-ROM or a floppy disk is also available. ..

The input device is composed of two pads from the background developed for games. Each pad is provided with two to four push button switches in addition to a switch for moving the character or cursor of the video game vertically and horizontally.

A conventional example will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a conventional device. On the upper surface of the computer body 8, a software cassette 5'having a ROM in which a program is written is installed. The lever 12 is for attaching and detaching the soft cassette 5 '. When the power switch 11 is turned on, the pilot lamp 11 'lights up to indicate the energized state.

From the background developed for games, two input devices a6 and b7 are provided, and the input device a6 and the input device b7 are used to move a game character or cursor vertically and horizontally. A switch 15 and push button switches 13, 13 ', 14, 14' are provided.

[0007]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 This type of video game computer is easy to operate and is very convenient for home use, but it lacks the flexibility of software, and new game software is purchased each time you get tired of your own game software. Must be done, and the cost will be significant in the long run. Until now, game software has been developed in which multiple characters are programmed in advance and these can be selected by moving the cursor, but the transition of the fashion of characters is too fast, and new ones that are unpredictable at the time of software development. Characters appear one after another in the world.

Further, from the standpoint of the manufacturer, it is desirable that new software be sold, but on the other hand, a large amount of unsold cassettes will be left unsold, and it will take a long time and a huge cost. There is a problem that the developed software often becomes useless in a short period of time.

Therefore, it is conceivable that some programs such as characters appearing in the game can be rewritten in order to give the software a certain degree of flexibility and prolong the life of the product. Since the number of switches on a certain pad is significantly smaller than that on a keyboard, the time and effort required for inputting is enormous. If this is commercialized as it is, it will be a product that greatly violates the precondition of being a computer for games that can be easily handled by anyone.

The present invention has been made against such a background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a computer device for a game, which includes an input device by a bar code and can change a program by a simple bar code input operation. And

[0011]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The present invention relates to a game computer device including a computer including a CPU operated by software for a video game, and means for giving the software to the CPU of the computer, wherein the giving means is represented by a bar code. The data represented by the bar code is a character appearing in the game displayed by the software, and the data represented by the barcode is included in the game. And It is preferable that the data represented by the bar code is a content in which bit information of points representing characters arranged in a matrix is displayed.

Further, the giving means may be configured as one package and may be configured as a cassette type so as to be detachable from the main body of the computer. Further, the reading means may be configured as a separate device only in that part, and may be detachably attached to the main body of the computer.

[0013]

[Action]

 In a cassette type game computer device, a bar code reader is provided above the cassette. This cassette consists of a basic program memory, which is a ROM in which the basic operations and background of game software are written in advance, and a barcode data buffer, which is a RAM for writing the input from the barcode reader each time. It is composed of a game software synthesizer that synthesizes the contents of these basic program memory and barcode data buffer to create game software.

A bar code reader is connected to a computer main body in a game computer device in which software is loaded by a CD-ROM or a floppy disk. A CD-ROM or floppy disk drive section for inputting game software and a part of the program input from the CD-ROM or floppy disk drive section were input from the bar code reader to this computer body. It includes a game software synthesizer that replaces data to create game software. The game software composition unit includes a game software memory that is a RAM, a writing control circuit that controls writing of a program to the game software memory, and a reading control circuit that controls reading.

The write control circuit first writes the contents of the basic program memory into the game software memory. Next, it checks whether or not the data is stored in the barcode data buffer, reads the content if it is stored, stores this data in the rewritable game software memory address, and updates the content. To do. The bar code represents a binary number, and the binary number data of this bar code is bit information of the dots arranged in a dot matrix of the characters appearing in the game. By updating this bit information, a favorite character can be configured in the Dod Matrix and appear in the game.

The game software thus synthesized is sequentially read from the game software memory by the read control circuit and input to the computer main body.

[0017]

【Example】

 The configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a game computer device including a computer 8 including a CPU operated by software for a video game, and a software cassette 5 as a means for giving the software to the CPU of the computer 8. The soft cassette 5, which is the means for giving the above, synthesizes the bar code reader 1 as the means for reading the data represented by the bar code, the data from the bar code reader 1 as the means for reading and the software. The game software synthesizing unit 3 as means is included, and the data represented by the bar code is a character that appears in the game displayed by the software. Further, the data represented by the bar code is a content in which bit information of points expressing characters arranged in a matrix is displayed.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the game software composition section. When the software cassette 5 is attached to the main body of the computer 8 and the power switch 11 of the computer 8 is turned on, the program written in the basic program memory 4 is written in the game software synthesizing section 3 by the writing control circuit 20. The game software composition section 3 is connected to the main body of the computer 8 at a terminal 10.

Here, when it is desired to change the character written in the basic program memory 4 at the time of shipment, the bar code reader 1 is made to read the character card 40. A picture of a character is drawn on the front side of this character card 40, and a bar code corresponding to this character is printed on the back side. The data from the bar code reader 1 is temporarily stored in the bar code data buffer 2 and written in the game software composition section 3 by the writing control circuit 20.

As shown in FIG. 2, the game software composition section 3 is composed of a writing control circuit 20, a game software memory 21 which is a RAM, and a reading control circuit 22. The write control circuit 20 first writes the contents of the basic program memory 4 into the game software memory 21. Next, it is searched whether or not the data is stored in the bar code data buffer 2, and if it is stored, the content is read and this data is stored at a preset rewritable game software memory 21 address. , Update its contents. In this way, the game software is synthesized. The read control circuit 22 sequentially reads the contents written in the game soft memory 21 and outputs them to the computer 8. With this procedure, you can change the characters that appear in the existing game software according to your preference and enjoy the game with a new feeling.

3 and 4 show the appearance of the first embodiment device of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the soft cassette. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the overall configuration of the first embodiment device of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, a groove of the bar code reader 1 for reading the character card 40 is provided on the upper portion of the soft cassette 5'which has already been described in the conventional example. By mounting the soft cassette 5, the main body of the computer 8 of the conventional apparatus can be used as it is, as shown in FIG.

Next, a procedure for changing the bit information arranged in a dot matrix will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the rearrangement of the dot configuration. As shown in FIG. 5A, a figure such as a character is represented by dots arranged in a matrix. Bit information forming this dot matrix is replaced with "1" or "0" as shown in FIG. 5 (b). When this is read out in the order shown in FIG. 5C and arranged in a line, it becomes a binary number as shown in FIG. 5D. This binary number can be converted into a barcode as shown in FIG. This order also holds in the opposite direction. That is, graphic information such as characters can be expressed by the barcode. The bar code printed on the back side of the character card 40 contains bit information data of characters displayed by dots arranged in a dot matrix.

The bit information as shown in FIG. 5D, which is stored in the basic program memory 4 in advance and is written in the game software memory 21 by the writing control circuit 20 of the game software synthesizing unit 3, is stored in the bar code. By replacing the bit information represented by the bar code on the back surface of the character card 40 read by the reader 1, a favorite character can be made to appear in the game.

In addition, an original character is drawn on a dot matrix to create bit information, this bit information is represented by a binary number, and further converted into a bar code, which is then read by the bar code reader 1. If read, it will be possible for the original character to appear in an existing game.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a second embodiment device of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the overall configuration of the second embodiment device of the present invention. The second embodiment of the present invention is an example in which the bar code reader 1'is applied to a game computer device in which a basic game program is loaded by a CD-ROM. However, in this case, the conventional device cannot be used as it is, unlike the first embodiment device of the present invention.

Comparing the differences from the conventional example device, it is that the connection terminal 25 of the barcode reader 1 ′ is provided, and the barcode data buffer 2 and the game software synthesizing unit 3 are provided. Since the basic program memory 4 in the first embodiment device of the present invention is replaced with the basic program buffer 24, the operation is omitted because it is the same as the first embodiment device of the present invention. The appearance of the entire structure is shown in FIG.

The device of the second embodiment of the present invention has a configuration in which the software is loaded by a CD-ROM, but a configuration using a floppy disk can also be used. Further, the software can be loaded by the soft cassette 5'described in the conventional example, the internal structure can be the same as that of the second embodiment device of the present invention, and the bar code reader can be installed separately. Furthermore, the selection of preprogrammed characters and the like is performed by the switch of the input device a6 or the input device b7 in the conventional device, but this can also be simplified by inputting a bar code.

[0029]

[Effect of the device]

 Equipped with a bar code input device, you can easily perform input operations such as program changes, making it possible to perform complex program changes such as changing the characters that appear in the game with simple operations. You can update the software and enjoy it.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a game software composition unit of the first embodiment device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a soft cassette of the first embodiment device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an overall configuration diagram of a first embodiment device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing how to rearrange dot configurations.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a second embodiment device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an overall configuration diagram of a second embodiment device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 1'Bar code reader 2 Bar code data buffer 3 Game software synthesis section 4 Basic program memory 5, 5'Soft cassette 6 Input device a 7 Input device b 8 Computer 8'Computer section 9 Television 10 Terminal 11 Power switch 11 ' Pilot lamp 12 Lever 13, 13 ', 14, 14' Push button switch 15 Up / down left / right switch 20 Write control circuit 21 Game software memory 22 Read control circuit 23 CD-ROM drive section 24 Basic program buffer 25 Bar code reader connection terminal 26 Gaming computer device 30 TV connection terminal 40 Character card

Claims (4)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A game computer device comprising a computer including a CPU operated by software for video games, and means for giving the software to the CPU of the computer, wherein the giving means is represented by a bar code. It is characterized in that it includes means for reading data, and means for synthesizing the data from the reading means with the software, wherein the data represented by the bar code is a character appearing in a game displayed by the software. Computer equipment for games. 2. The game computer device according to claim 1, wherein the data represented by the bar code is a content in which bit information of points arranged in a matrix is displayed. 3. The game computer device according to claim 1, wherein the giving means is configured to be detachable from the main body of the computer. 4. The game computer device according to claim 1, wherein the reading means is configured to be detachable from the main body of the computer.