JPH06114161A - Computer game device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the device by which terminal equipment of game participants are connected to a host computer by a pay station line, each participant executes a game, and also, a game image and an acoustic signal can be transmitted as a video signal to the terminal equipments by a satellite communication from the host computer. CONSTITUTION:The device consists of a main equipment consisting of a host computer in which a game program is stored and a transmitter of a communication satellite 1, and a terminal equipment 3 for executing a game. Also, the terminal equipment 3 consists of a receiving tuner of a video signal transmitted by the communication satellite 1, a video signal display device for reproducing the video signal selected by this tuner, an operating panel for inputting a command to the game which is being executed, a MODEM for connecting the terminal equipment 3 through a pay station line 4 to the host computer, and a control CPU for controlling them.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is made possible by a plurality of participants.
It concerns computer games that progress online.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a computer communication technique has been known in which personal computers are connected to each other using a telephone line or the like to exchange binary data. Further, since the computer game program and data are basically expressed in binary code, they can be transmitted by the above-mentioned computer communication. Therefore, if the computer game is of a type played by two persons, it is possible to progress the game by utilizing computer communication between the two persons.

[0003]

By the way, in normal computer communication, since the computers to be connected have an equal relationship, only two computers can be connected by the telephone line. Therefore, a game that progresses with three or more units cannot be played, and the range of use is limited.
Further, the two computers must each have the same game program installed therein, and each computer must have the program such that only execution commands and data are exchanged via a telephone line. Also,
First of all, information that is indispensable to the game is graphic information that is developed on the display, but if you want to draw accurately, you have to use a graphics screen, and the amount of data will be huge and you must use a high-performance microprocessor. However, there is a problem that it cannot be processed immediately.

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, in which the terminal devices of a plurality of game participants are connected to a host computer via a public line, and each participant executes a game freely. At the same time, the host computer provides a device capable of transmitting a game image and an audio signal as a video signal to each terminal device by satellite communication.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention will be outlined by a main device including a host computer storing a game program and a transmitter of satellite communication, and a terminal device for executing a game. Configured. Then, the terminal device is a tuner for receiving a video signal transmitted by a communication satellite, a video signal display device for reproducing the video signal selected by the tuner, an operation panel for inputting a command to a running game,
The host computer is composed of a modem for connecting the terminal device via a public line, and a control CPU for controlling these, and commands input from an operation panel by a telephone line are uploaded to the host computer. At the same time, the host computer executes the game program based on the input command, and transmits the data to be displayed, such as image information and audio information, as a video signal via the transmitter.

[0006]

The main device and the terminal device are connected by the public line, and at the same time, the main device transmits the video signal to the terminal device by satellite communication, and the public line is necessary for the game progress from the terminal device. While uploading commands, satellite communication acts to send image information and audio information for displaying the game situation. Also,
The operation panel of the terminal device has a function of uploading a command for game selection, and also has the function of downloading initial data necessary for the selected game from the host computer.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall schematic view of a computer game device of the present invention, in which 1 is a communication satellite, 2 is a main device which is a core for proceeding a computer game, 3 is a terminal device, and 4 is a telephone line. It is a public line network. As shown in FIG. 2, the main device mainly comprises a host computer 5, a transmitter 6 and an antenna 7, and the host computer 5 is connected to a public line network 4 such as a telephone line. There are two types of satellite communication and public line communication.
The reason why one communication system is adopted is that upper and lower signals are transmitted between the main device 2 and the terminal device 3 by different routes. That is, since the information transmitted from the transmitter 6 to the terminal device 3 is a large amount of information such as moving image information and video information, the satellite communication route for large capacity communication is suitable, while the terminal device 3 Information communicated from the main unit 2 to the main unit 2 is performed via the public line network 4. The reason why such means is adopted is that the control information of the game is uploaded from the terminal device 3 to the host computer.
This is because the control information is simultaneously uploaded from the plurality of terminal devices 3 and the cost of the transmitter used for transmission from the terminal devices 3 is taken into consideration.

Next, the internal structure of the terminal device 3 will be described with reference to FIG. 3. 8 is a receiving antenna, 9 is a tuner for receiving satellite signals, and is for receiving the video signal transmitted from the main device 2. Device. The video signal received by the tuner 9 is controlled by the control CPU 10, is input to the video signal display device 11, and is then displayed as a moving image on a monitor (not shown) screen with an audio output function connected to the monitor terminal 12. To be done. It is needless to say that the control CPU 10 has a storage area required to execute the game. On the other hand, reference numeral 13 denotes an operation panel which is operated when the user of the terminal device 3 needs to give an instruction or selection as the game progresses. The operation panel 13 is also used when connecting to the main unit 2 through a public line, for example, when inputting an identification number or when inputting a command for application for participation in a game. Reference numeral 14 is a modem for transmitting game execution data to the main device 2, and is connected to a public line through a line terminal 15.

With such a configuration, a plurality of terminal devices 3
... 3 and the main device are connected to advance the game, the details of which will be described. First, it is assumed that the main device 2 stores a specific game program. Then, the main device 2 transmits a demo image in order to invite participation in the game. In this case, the transmitter 6 performs video transmission as an analog signal by satellite communication. For example, when a plurality of game programs are stored in the main device 2, it is possible to perform transmission on a plurality of channels by changing the frequency using one transponder. In the terminal device 3, after properly selecting a channel with the tuner 9 and selecting a channel providing a game that suits one's preference, a command for participation in the game is issued from the operation panel 13 to the public network 4. To download data required for game progress or download program data. The corresponding data is also the public network 4
Participation in the game begins when it is downloaded from. Here, in the host computer 5 of the main device 2, the program is executed by the command uploaded from the terminal device 3, and this output is transmitted from the transmitter 6 to the terminal device 3 as a video signal. That is, a so-called video game is being executed by the entire device of the present invention.

In this way, if a plurality of terminal devices 3 access the main device 2, a plurality of participating games can be played. In this case, in the host computer 5,
Commands uploaded from multiple terminal devices can be aggregated, and the game can be advanced according to the majority vote, or the game can be advanced based on the result of analyzing the deviation of the commands, and various variations can be made depending on the nature of the stored game. Can be provided. Note that the host computer 5 may transmit a display signal for prompting command input to the connected terminal device 3 at the timing of command input from game participants. In addition, in the case of a type of game in which game participants must frequently input commands, it is necessary to connect the terminal device 3 to the host computer 5 at all times, but if the input interval is long, only at the input timing. You may make it connect. To this end, when the control CPU 10 identifies the input timing signal sent from the main unit 2 and automatically starts the modem 14 to connect to the line for a certain period of time, the line usage time is reduced. Waste can be suppressed.

[0011]

According to the present invention, since the game program is stored in the host computer of the main device and the terminal device accesses the game program, a plurality of people participate in one game. It is possible to provide consumers with a type of game that has never been considered before. Further, since the image and sound accompanying the progress of the game are transmitted from the main device as a video signal to the terminal device by satellite communication, the display image is of high quality and the game can be fully enjoyed. Further, the terminal device need only be provided with a tuner and an antenna capable of receiving an analog video signal, like the conventional satellite broadcasting, and the cost of the terminal device can be kept low.

[0012] Furthermore, if the game is a type of game that can be easily executed by simply uploading the commands required for the game progress from the terminal device through the public line, and the game progresses if the game is such that an unspecified number of people participate. Since it cannot be predicted at all, it is possible to provide a form that is very interesting even as a game participant.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the entire device of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a main device,

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a terminal device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Communication Satellite 2 Main Device 3 Terminal Device 4 Public Network 5 Host Computer 6 Transmitter 7 Antenna 8 Reception Antenna 9 Tuner 10 Control CPU 11 Video Signal Display Device 12 Monitor Terminal 13 Operation Panel 14 Modem 15 Line Terminal

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A main device comprising a host computer storing a game program and a satellite communication transmitter, and a terminal device for executing a game, the terminal device receiving tuner of a video signal transmitted by a communication satellite, A video signal display device for reproducing a video signal selected by this tuner, an operation panel for inputting a command to a running game, a host computer for connecting the terminal device through a public line. It consists of a modem and a control CPU for controlling these,
The command input from the operation panel via the telephone line is uploaded to the host computer, and the host computer executes the game program based on the input command and transmits the data to be displayed as a video signal via the transmitter. A computer game device characterized by: