JPH10225575A - Network game system for arcade - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network game system for an arcade, in which a plurality of game devices are connected together through a LAN system so as to carry out games, the game devices can be flexibly incorporated in several kinds of games by managing game programs which are selected and carried out at each of the game devices, with the use of a game management program so that they are simultaneously progressed. SOLUTION: When one of game machines 30 selects and carries out a game, a request for communicative connection is issued to a game management device 20, and a game control device 201 selects a game management program in accordance with a kind of a game program, and a communication link is established between the selected game program and the game management program. Under the control of the game control device 201, game programs at the game devices are cooperated so as to carry out a kind of games.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an arcade network game system in which a plurality of game apparatuses communicate with each other via a network so that the same game can be played in cooperation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A multiplayer game (for example, a car racing game) in which a plurality of game devices are connected via a LAN has been conventionally provided as one of the arcade game devices. In this game system, only game devices that execute the same game are connected via a LAN line.
Had to change the connection itself.

[0003]

In the case of a communication battle game between game devices, one game device manages the entire game. That is, information about the current position of another game device is passed to one game device, so that the one game device collects and manages information on other game devices. When the game device performs the game management, the possibility of the game is narrowed due to system limitations such as a problem of a memory capacity and a lack of a secondary storage device (such as a hard disk).

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to control a plurality of game devices by LA.
In a system for realizing a game by connecting with N, a device for game management is provided, a plurality of game devices are connected via a network, and some game devices participate and execute, for example, one competitive game. And the number of participating game devices can be changed, and by enabling other games to be executed simultaneously on separate game devices, each game device can be flexibly incorporated into many types of games. An object of the present invention is to provide an arcade network game system.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an arcade network game system according to the present invention cooperates with the same game by communicating a plurality of game devices via a network. In an arcade network game system for executing a progressing network game, a game management means for managing the progress of a plurality of arcade network games, a management-side data storage means for storing intermediate information and result information of the network game And a game management device having management-side communication control means for managing communication with a plurality of arcade game devices via a network, and a game for storing a plurality of game program data sent from the game management device Data storage means, game program execution means for selecting and executing one of the game program data stored in the game side data storage means, another arcade game device via a network, and the game management device Network connecting means for connecting a plurality of arcade game devices having game-side communication control means for managing communication with the game device, one or more arcade game devices and a game management device, and a plurality of arcade game devices in the network And a network device having network communication management means for managing communication between the devices of the game management device. Under the control of the game management device, each of the plurality of arcade game devices is connected to one or more network devices. Get Can be crowded write a set in any of the arm, and is configured so as to be able to run on the fly each network game. The game management device according to the present invention can manage so that one of the arcade game devices can join or leave one network game while a plurality of network games are running simultaneously. . Further, the game management device according to the present invention can manage such that one arcade game device executes one of the network games using only the game device.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an arcade network game system according to the present invention. This system is a network device 1
0, a game management device 20 and a plurality of arcade game devices (hereinafter referred to as “game devices”) 30
It is composed of The network device 10 includes a game management device 20 and a plurality of game devices 30.
Are connected by a network line 102 and further manage communication between the devices on the network, and include a network communication management device 101, a communication control device 202, and a network circuit 102.

In this embodiment, since the network communication management device 101 and the game management device 201 of the game management device 20 are realized on the same computer, they share the communication control device 202. The network communication management device 101 is a device that functions as a network server, manages and controls communication between all devices on the network, and performs various communication services. A net information service (NIS) function and the like are realized on this device. The communication control device 202 is a device for connecting a computer in which the network communication management device 101 is realized to the network line 102, and performs communication protocol control.
The communication data itself is not processed here.
The network line 102 is a communication line for connecting the game management device 20, the game device 30, and the like. A LAN line such as Ethernet is used.

[0008] The game management device 20 manages the progress of the network game executed on each game device 30. Each game device 30 sends a game execution status to the game management device 20 via the network line 102. Game management device 2
0 determines the progress of the next game from the game situation of each game device 30, and notifies the contents to all the game devices 30 in which the same game is being executed. The game management device 20 includes a communication control device 202, a game program DB 203, and a game data storage device 20.
4.

The game management device 201 is realized on a computer, and executes a game management program here. The game management program is transmitted to the network line 10 via the communication control device 202.
2 to establish a communication link between the game programs running on each of the game devices 30, sequentially receive data on the game execution status of each game device 30, Is determined, and all game devices are notified. Different game devices 30 on the network 102 may execute two or more types of games. In that case, on the game management device 201,
Two or more types of game management programs will be executed. The communication control device 202 is a device for connecting a computer in which the game management device 201 is realized to the network line 102, and performs communication protocol control. The communication data itself is not processed here.

The game program DB 203 is a DB for storing and managing a game management program, and is realized by using a secondary storage medium such as a hard disk. What game is being executed on each game device 30? , Etc. are also stored here. When the game management device 20 is activated, this DB is searched and any one of the game devices 3 is searched.
Game management of the game running on
The program is transferred to the game management device 201 and activated. The game data storage device 204 is realized using a secondary storage medium such as a hard disk. This device is a device for storing and storing various information generated during execution of a game management program. What information is stored depends on each game management
It can be set relatively freely by the program.

The game device 30 is a device for executing a network game, and comprises a game program execution device 301, a communication control device 302, and a data storage device 303. The game program execution device 301 is a device for executing a game program and having a game player play a game, and has basically the same structure as a conventional game device. In other words, the game system includes a game PCB board for executing a game program, a display for displaying a game screen, an input device such as a joystick button for a player to operate the game, and the like. Data storage device 30
3 PC for game program data
The game can be executed by transferring the data to the RAM on the B board and causing the CPU on the PCB board to execute the game program. The communication control device 302 is a device for storing a game program executed on the game program execution device 301, and can store a plurality of game program data. The game program execution device 301 can select and execute one of the data programs on the data storage device 303.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of executing a plurality of network games in the network game system of FIG. This example includes one game management device and five game devices a to e. In the game program DB 203 of the game management device 20, game management programs for games A and B are stored. Further, the game programs of the games A and B are stored in the data storage device of each game device. When the game management device 20 is activated, the game program D
From B203, the game management programs for both games A and B are transferred to the game management device 201 and executed.

Here, when the game A is executed on the game devices a to c and the game B is executed on the game devices d and e, the data storage device 30 is used in the game devices a to c.
From 3, the game program of game A is read and executed by the game program execution device 301. In the game devices d and e, the game program of the game B is stored in the game program execution device 301 from the data storage device 303.
Is read and executed. When executing the game program in the game program execution device 301,
The game program is stored in the game management device 2
0, a communication connection request is issued.

Upon receiving the communication connection request, the game management device 201 of the game management device 20 communicates according to the type of the game program that issued the communication connection request (in this case, game A or game B). Is selected, and a communication link is established between the corresponding game program and the game management program. In this example, a game program A and a game management program A
And a communication link is established between the game program B and the game management program B. As a result, a communication link is established between the game management program of the same game and all game programs, and under the management of the game management program, the game management program and the game program of each game device are One game can be progressed in cooperation.

Next, the game executed on the game device
A case where the program is changed will be described. For example,
In this case, the game program of the game device c on which the game program A is currently executed is changed to the game program B. The game program is changed by pressing a predetermined button (not shown) on the input device of the game program execution device 301. When this button is pressed, the program A ends, and the communication link with the game management program A is released. The game program execution device 301 of the game device c selects an executable game program from among the game programs stored in the data storage device 303, and displays a list thereof.

The operator or the game player selects a game program B to be executed using the input device. The data of the selected game program B is stored in the game program execution device 3 from the data storage device 303.
01 and executed. Immediately after the execution of the game program B, a communication link with the game management program B is established in the above-described procedure. FIG.
Shows a state in which the game program B has been executed on the game device c. Each game management program can freely access the game data storage device 204 and freely use resources. Therefore, each game management program can save information to be saved among information generated according to the progress of the game. For example, it is possible to save the state in the middle of the game at the end of the day and restart the game from that state the next day. However, a game management program cannot access information stored by another game management program. Further, for example, four of the five game apparatuses 30 execute the game A, and the remaining one
When the cars do not participate in the game, one car that has not participated in the game A can participate in the game A or execute another game B. The procedure for joining is the same as in the above case.

In the arcade management device 201, information generated during the execution of the network game being executed can be stored in the game data storage device 204 according to an instruction from the operator. In addition, by reading data during execution of the network game stored in the game data storage device 204 according to an instruction from the operator, the network game can be restarted from the middle. For example, games
By storing information during execution of the network game when the center is closed and reading the stored information during execution when the store is opened the next day, the network game can be restarted from the continuation of the previous day. This makes it possible for a game developed by a story to be executed on an arcade game machine for many days.

The arcade management device 201 can store information on the player in the game data storage device 204 in response to a request from a player executing a game in the arcade game device 30. At this time, the arcade management device 201 stores the player ID and the password for identifying the player in the arcade game device 3.
0 is notified to the player. The player can request the game management apparatus 201 to read out the player information by inputting the player ID and the password from the arcade game device 30. When receiving a request to read player information from the arcade game device 30, the game management device 201 reads the player information of the player from the game data storage device 204 and notifies the arcade game device 30. Thus, for example, in a network game in which the difficulty of the game increases as the game progresses, the player can accumulate and hold the difficulty level that can be cleared as player information. The next time the player arrives at the game center, the player can resume the game from the already cleared difficulty level by reading his / her player information.

[0019]

As described above, the present invention comprises a game management device, a plurality of arcade game devices, and a network device, and each of the plurality of arcade game devices is managed by the game management device. Can be incorporated into any of one or more network games, and each network game can be executed simultaneously. Therefore, multiple network games can be played simultaneously in the same hardware environment. In addition, the game program of the game device can be changed to a program of another network game without making hardware changes. In addition, network
It is possible to save information generated during the progress of the game.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an arcade network game system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of executing a plurality of network games in the network game system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of executing a plurality of network games in the network game system of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Network apparatus 20 ... Game management apparatus 30 ... Arcade game apparatus 101 ... Network communication management apparatus 102 ... Network line 201 ... Game management apparatus 202 ... Communication control apparatus (management side communication control means) 203 ... Game program / DB 204: Game data storage device (management side data storage means) 301: Game program execution device 302: Communication control device (game side communication control means) 303: Data storage device (game side data storage means)

Claims (5)

[Claims] An arcade network game system for executing a network game in which a plurality of game devices communicate with each other via a network to cooperatively progress the same game. Game management means for managing the progress of a game, management-side data storage means for storing intermediate information and result information of a network game, and management-side communication control means for managing communication with a plurality of arcade game devices via a network A game management device having: a game-side data storage unit for storing a plurality of game program data sent from the game management device; and one of game program data stored in the game-side data storage unit. Choose one A plurality of arcade game devices having a game program execution means to be executed and a game-side communication control means for managing communication with another arcade game device and the game management device via a network; and at least one arcade Connecting means for connecting a game device for game and a game management device, and a network device having network communication management means for managing communication between the plurality of game devices for arcade and the game management device in the network. A plurality of arcade game devices can be incorporated into any one or more network games under the control of the game management device, and each network game can be executed simultaneously. did Arcade network game
system. 2. The game management device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of network games are simultaneously executed, and one of the arcade game devices is connected to one network game.
2. The arcade network game system according to claim 1, wherein the game is managed so that one can participate or leave the game. 3. The game management device according to claim 1,
The arcade network game system according to claim 1, wherein one arcade game device manages one of the network games to be executed by only the game device. 4. The game management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information on the execution of the network game being executed is stored in the management-side data storage means, and the information on the execution of the network game stored from the management-side data storage means is further stored. 2. The arcade network game system according to claim 1, wherein the network game can be restarted from the middle by reading the information. 5. The game management device stores information of a player who is playing a game in an arcade game device in a management-side data storage device, and further stores the information on a management-side data storage device in accordance with a request from the arcade game device. 2. The arcade network game system according to claim 1, wherein player information is read from the game device and transmitted to the arcade game device.