JPH11290520A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce fatigue of eyes of player in a game machine which executes stereoscopic image display with an image display device. SOLUTION: In the game machine in which a display image on an image display device 11 is controlled based on image information made by CPU 31 of a display control device 30, a part which is not displayed stereoscopically in the screen of the image display device 11 is made to be switched to an image with little visual stimulation when a part of the screen of the image display device 11 is enabled so as to be stereoscopically displayed using a parallax barrier part 52. As an image with little stimulation, for instance, an image with less motion, lower saturation or brightness, lower sharpness, etc., compared to an ordinary image is adopted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in a gaming machine for displaying a three-dimensional image on an image display device so as not to give fatigue to the eyes of a player when displaying a three-dimensional image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some game machines (for example, ball game machines) perform various image displays on an image display device including a CRT screen (CRT screen) and a liquid crystal screen. Various types of such gaming machines have been proposed that perform three-dimensional image display (three-dimensional image display) in order to further enhance the effect of image display.

[0003] For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H7-148311,
JP-A-7-31729, JP-A-7-31729 by the present applicant
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. -16351 discloses a gaming machine for displaying a stereoscopic image using a lenticular lens.

In this method of displaying a three-dimensional image using a lenticular lens, a lenticular lens 102 formed by connecting a plurality of convex lenses 102A is arranged on an image display section 101, as shown in FIG. Then, the right-eye image display area 101A and the left-eye image display area 10A of the image display unit 101
The image for the right eye and the image for the left eye respectively displayed in 1B are:
The projections of the lenticular lens 102 having sharp directivity allow the light to enter the right and left eyes of the player, respectively. Due to the binocular parallax generated by this, the player stereoscopically views the display image.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-14111 by the present applicant has been disclosed.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 69 discloses a gaming machine for displaying a stereoscopic image using a parallax barrier. Here, the stereoscopic image display method using the parallax barrier means that by disposing a slit (parallax barrier) in front of the image display unit, the image for the right eye and the image for the left eye of the image display unit are The binocular parallax is generated by being captured by the right and left eyes of the player, respectively (see FIG. 3).

[0006]

By the way, in the stereoscopic image display, only a part (for example, a part for displaying information desired to be notified to a player) of the entire screen is stereoscopically displayed, and other parts (for example, a background screen) are displayed. Normal planar image display (two-dimensional image display) is often performed. This allows the player to pay particular attention to the portion where the stereoscopic image is displayed.

However, in this case, since the three-dimensional display of a part of the screen is stimulating to the sight, if the other two-dimensional display part is similarly stimulating to the sight, the three-dimensional image and the two-dimensional image Combined with the effect of the contrast, there is a risk that the eye fatigue of the player may be accelerated or the player may feel uncomfortable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a gaming machine for displaying a stereoscopic image on an image display device, which can reduce eye fatigue of a player. Aim.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image display device capable of displaying a stereoscopic image on at least a part of a screen, and a display control device for controlling image display on the image display device. In the gaming machine, the display control device is configured to be able to display a normal image display and an image display with less visual stimulation compared to the normal image display on the image display device, respectively, When a part of the screen of the display device is displayed as a stereoscopic image, the image of the part of the screen where the stereoscopic image is not displayed is displayed as the image with less visual stimulus.

[0010] In the second invention, the display control device displays an image having less operation than the normal image display as the image display with less visual stimulus.

[0011] In the third invention, the display control device displays an image having a lower saturation than the normal image display as the image display with less visual stimulus.

[0012] In the fourth invention, the display control device displays, as the image display with less visual stimulus, an image having lower brightness than the normal image display.

[0013] In the fifth invention, the display control device displays, as the image display with less visual stimulus, an image having a lower sharpness than that of the normal image display.

[0014]

According to the present invention, when a part of a screen is stereoscopically displayed, the display control device visually stimulates a part that is not stereoscopically displayed (a plane display part) as compared with a normal image display. Image display with few images. As a result, it is possible to prevent the eyes of the player from being unnecessarily fatigued due to the combination of the visually stimulating three-dimensional display and the visually stimulating two-dimensional display in the first place. For example,
In the plane display part, as an image with little visual stimulation,
An image with a small operation like the second invention, an image with low saturation like the third invention, an image with low brightness like the fourth invention, and a sharpness like the fifth invention. A low image is displayed. Therefore, the player can naturally pay attention to the three-dimensionally displayed portion without visually paying attention to the two-dimensional display portion, and without feeling unnecessarily tired or uncomfortable, You can play time games.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a ball and ball game machine.

As shown, an inner frame 3 is attached to the front of a machine frame (outer frame) 1 of a ball game machine by an upper hinge 2A and a lower hinge 2B, and a game board 4 is mounted on the inner frame 3. It is attached. In addition, a glass frame 5 on which a transparent glass is mounted is attached to the front of the inner frame 3, so that the front of the game board 4 is covered with glass, and the game board 4 can be seen through the glass.

At the lower part of the game board 5, there are provided a game ball supply plate (upper plate) 6, a receiving plate (lower plate) 7, and an operation section 8 of a hitting ball firing device. A game ball as a prize ball is introduced into the supply plate 6 from a prize ball port 6A. The receiving tray 7 receives surplus game balls when the supply tray 6 is full of game balls, and the game balls in the tray 7 can be discharged downward by operating the operation lever 7A. ing.

A hitting ball launching device in which only the operation unit 8 is shown is a means for launching a game ball, and the game ball is supplied from the supply plate 6 to the hitting ball launching device, and is fired according to the rotation operation of the operating unit 8. . The launched game ball is guided along a guide rail 9 provided on the game board 4 and enters an area surrounded by the guide rail 9 at the front of the game board 4, that is, a game area 10.

An image display device (special symbol display device) 11 is disposed substantially at the center of the game area 10. The image display device 11 is controlled by the display control device 30 (see FIG. 2) to perform a variable image display corresponding to the progress state of the game, and includes, for example, a right symbol, a middle symbol,
The three symbols (special symbols) of the left symbol are displayed on the LCD screen.

In the image display device 11, for example, a part of the screen (one of special symbols) can be displayed as a three-dimensional image in addition to a normal two-dimensional image. I have. As described below, the present invention provides:
It is characterized by the control by the display control device 30 when displaying a stereoscopic image.

Below the image display device 11, there is provided a special variable winning device 12 having a large winning opening which can be freely opened and closed.
In addition, a plurality of general winning openings 13 are provided around the image display device 11 and the special variable winning device 12, and a starting port 14 is provided in a region between the image displaying device 11 and the special variable winning device 12. Is established. Further, the game area 1
A discharge port 15 is provided at the lowermost end of 0.

As a result, the game balls hit into the game area 10 flow down the surface of the game area 10 while the rolling direction is changed by rolling guide members 16 such as windmills arranged at various places in the game area 10. The special variable winning device 12, the general winning opening 13, the starting opening 14, and the discharging opening 15 are provided.

Each of these winning devices (special variable winning device 1)
2. The winning in the general winning opening 13 and the starting opening 14) is detected by a safe sensor (not shown). Then, the game control device 40 (see FIG. 2) for controlling the game in general has a prize ball discharging device (not shown) so that a number of prize balls according to the type of the prize winning device are discharged from the prize ball port 6A. Control.

The start port 14 is provided with a special symbol start switch (not shown) to detect a winning. The timing of winning at the starting port 14 is sequentially stored in a predetermined storage area (special symbol random number storage area) in a game control device 40 (see FIG. 2) which is a control device for controlling the game in a comprehensive manner as a winning storage. It is memorized. The game control device 40 executes a jackpot lottery based on these winning memories. That is,
The game control device 40 determines whether the timing of winning a prize to the starting port 14 has been made at a predetermined jackpot timing.

More specifically, when a game ball wins in the starting port 14, the special symbol of the image display device 11 starts to change (for example, scroll rotation of each symbol). And
When the winning detection to the starting opening 14 is performed at a predetermined jackpot timing, these special symbols stop at the one indicating the jackpot (for example, three symbols stop at the same symbol), and are closed in a normal state. The special winning prize port of the special variable winning device 12 that has been set is opened, and a game ball can enter the special variable winning device 12.

The probability (frequency) of occurrence of such a jackpot is determined by the ratio of the time (for example, 2 milliseconds) for the occurrence of the jackpot in the reference time (for example, 600 milliseconds).

The winning memory in the starting port 14 is stored in the special symbol random number storage area up to a maximum of four times.
Then, in the storage state display 20 provided on the upper side of the image display device 11, the winning storage number stored in the special symbol random number storage area is indicated by a lamp display.

A count switch (not shown) is provided at the special winning opening of the special variable winning device 12, and the winning of the special winning opening is detected by the count switch. One round of opening of the special winning opening is continued until the number detected (count number) by the count switch reaches a predetermined count (for example, 10 counts). This count is
It is displayed on the screen of the image display device 11.

Further, a V winning opening is provided inside the big winning opening, and when a game ball which has won the big winning opening further wins the V winning opening, it is detected by a V winning detecting switch (not shown). Has become. The opening / closing control pattern of the special winning opening is changed depending on the winning situation. For example, as long as there is a winning in the special winning opening during opening of the special winning opening, the opening of the special winning opening at the jackpot is determined. The number of times (number of rounds) is repeated up to a predetermined upper limit number (for example, 16 rounds). The number of rounds is displayed on the screen of the image display device 11.

On the other hand, when the winning detection to the starting opening 14 is not performed at the timing of the predetermined jackpot, the display of the image display device 11 is stopped in a manner indicating that it is not a jackpot (for example, three symbols are aligned). Without stopping at the symbol), and the normal (non-jackpot) game is continued.

In such a symbol stop at the time of the jackpot lottery, a so-called reach operation may be performed on a special symbol. The reach operation refers to an operation in which any two of the three symbols of the image display apparatus stop at the same symbol, while the other one fluctuates without stopping. In the reach operation, a symbol that is operated to the end is displayed in a three-dimensional manner, thereby giving the game an interest.

At important points in the game area 10, a start gate 21 through which game balls can pass is provided. This starting gate 21
The passing of the game ball to is detected by a normal symbol start switch (not shown), and the timing of this passage is stored in a predetermined storage area (normal symbol random number storage area) in the game control device 40 as a normal symbol winning memory at a maximum. Up to four consecutive times are stored. The game control device 40 performs a jackpot lottery with respect to the ordinary symbol based on the ordinary symbol winning memory.

More specifically, the starting gate 21
When a game ball wins, the normal symbol (for example, a symbol consisting of one number) displayed on the ordinary symbol display device 22 provided below the special winning opening 12 starts to change. When a prize to the start gate 21 is made at a predetermined timing, a hit state is set for a normal symbol, and the normal symbol stops at a hit symbol (hit number).
The electric gate (ordinary variable winning device) 23 provided in front of the starting opening 14 is widely opened for a predetermined time (for example, 0.5 seconds), and the possibility that a game ball can enter the starting opening 14 is increased.

At the left and right ends of the game area 10, side lamps 17 for decoration are provided. At the top of the inner frame 3, a jackpot lamp 18 which blinks when a game is in a jackpot state.
Are provided respectively. Further, sound effects corresponding to the gaming state are emitted from a speaker (not shown).

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the display control device 30.

As shown, the display control device 30 comprises:
CPU 31, ROM 32, RAM 33, DMAC (direct memory access controller) 34, interface 35, VDC (video display controller) 36, font ROM 37 storing image data of the image display device (LCD) 11, LCD drive unit 38, clock 39, etc. Consists of

When the CPU 31 receives a communication interrupt from the game control device 40 via the interface 35,
A display control signal (display control data) from the game control device 40 is read, and screen information (symbol display information, background screen information, moving image character screen information, etc.) is created based on the display control data, and the RAM 33 To memorize.

This screen information is transmitted from the VDC 36 to the CPU 3
At the timing of the vertical synchronization interrupt to 1, the DMAC 34 that has received the transfer command from the VDC 36 transfers the data to the VDC 36. The VDC 36 fetches the corresponding image data from the font ROM 37 based on the image information, and
The drive unit 38 performs horizontal scanning and vertical scanning on the screen of the image display device 11 to display a predetermined image on the image display device 11.

In this way, the content of the image display (display shape, operation, saturation, brightness, etc.) on the image display device 11 is controlled.

Further, the image display device 11 includes a parallax barrier section 52 so that a stereoscopic image can be displayed on the whole or a part of the screen. Then, when a stereoscopic image is displayed on a part of the screen, the image of the planar display portion is an image with less visual stimulation (for example, an image when the stereoscopic image is not displayed) (for example, when the stereoscopic image is not displayed). (A low-motion image, a low-saturation image, a low-luminance image, a low-sharpness image as if the image is out of focus, etc.). That is, the image information created by the CPU 31 is configured such that the image of the flat display portion has little visual stimulus when a part of the screen is stereoscopically displayed. As a result, even during the display of the stereoscopic image, no particular burden is imposed on the eyes of the player, and the eyes are not fatigued.

FIG. 3 shows the principle of displaying a three-dimensional image by the parallax barrier method in the image display device 11.

As shown, the image display device 11 has a liquid crystal panel 51. The liquid crystal panel 51 includes a plurality of left images L and right images R alternately arranged in the left-right direction (up-down direction in the figure). An image for the left eye is displayed on the left image L, and an image for the right eye is displayed on the right image R.

A parallax barrier section 52 is provided in front of the liquid crystal panel 51. This parallax part 5
2 has a plurality of slits 52A and barriers 52A alternately arranged in the left-right direction. The slit 52A transmits light from the liquid crystal panel 51, while the barrier 52A blocks light from the liquid crystal panel 51.

With such a configuration, the display of the left image L reaches the player's left eye 53 through the slit 52A, but is blocked by the barrier 52A and does not reach the player's right eye 54. The right image R is displayed on the slit 52.
A while reaching the player's right eye 54 through A
It is blocked by 2A and does not reach the left eye 53 of the player. Therefore, the player sees different images in the left and right eyes, and a stereoscopic effect is artificially generated in the player's vision by the principle of the “binocular parallax method”.

4 to 6 show examples of image display of the image display device 11 in the present embodiment.

FIGS. 4A to 4E show the image display device 11.
5 shows an example of image display from the stop state to the operation of the image until it stops without a big hit. The image display here is all performed in a planar display.

Until a game ball is awarded at the starting port 14, the three special symbols on the display screen are different numbers ("1", "2", "3") as shown in FIG. Has stopped.

When a game ball wins in the starting port 14, FIG.
An image is displayed as shown in FIG. That is, all three special symbols start scrolling. The background screen of the special symbol is a band screen divided in the vertical direction, and some of the bands are colored. The colored bands move downward sequentially. Further, a blinking character ("GO!") Is displayed above the special symbol.

Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 4C to 4E, the left symbol, the middle symbol, and the right symbol stop sequentially. In this example, the game was not a big hit, so these three special symbols are different numbers ("3", "7", "6")
And a character ("sorry") indicating that no big hit was displayed above the special symbol is displayed.

FIG. 5 shows an example of image display in the reach operation.

In the reach operation, the left symbol and the middle symbol are sequentially stopped (see FIGS. 4C and 4D), so that these two symbols have the same number (see FIG. 5A). "6")
, And the remaining right symbols begin to scroll slowly.

Then, as shown in FIG. 5B, the right symbol is stereoscopically displayed. In this case, the plane display portions other than the right symbol (the left symbol, the middle symbol, the band screen of the background of the special symbol, the character display above the special symbol) are set to the stop screen (or the screen with few operations), and do not blink. To That is, the movement of the colored band on the band screen is stopped (or the moving speed is reduced), and the character display (“reach”) above the special symbol is displayed without blinking. Thus, the player who pays attention to the three-dimensional display portion (the right symbol) does not pay attention to the other two-dimensional display portions, and does not tire his eyes more than necessary.

When the game is a big hit, as shown in FIG. 5 (c), the right symbol returns to the plane display and stops at the same number ("6") as the left symbol and the middle symbol. At the same time, the colored band on the band screen starts moving, and the character display ("big hit") indicating the big hit above the special symbol blinks.

FIG. 6 shows another example of the image display in the reach operation.

In this reach operation, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), when the right symbol is stereoscopically displayed, other planar display portions (left symbol, middle symbol, special symbol background band screen,
The character display above the special symbol) has a lower brightness or saturation than the normal display. Alternatively, the image has a low sharpness as if the image is out of focus. Thereby, the player can naturally concentrate on the three-dimensional display portion (the right symbol), and the eyes do not become unnecessarily tired.

When the game is a big hit, as shown in FIG. 6B, three special symbols aligned with the same number ("6") blink and the big hit is left.

Thereafter, the process proceeds to each round of the jackpot in which the big winning opening of the variable winning device 12 is opened, and as shown in FIG. In this case, the background screen will show a jackpot character,
The number of rounds, the number of counts, and the number ("6") of the special symbol that has been won are displayed on a plane in a stopped state. By stopping the operation other than the three-dimensional display portion in this way, the eyes of the player are prevented from being unnecessarily tired.

By displaying the numbers of the special symbols that have hit the jackpot in a plane, the employees of the game shop can easily see the numbers of the jackpots. That is, since it is difficult for a person other than the player who is in a specific place in front of the image display device 11 to focus on the three-dimensional display image, it is necessary for the person other than the player to recognize the information such as a jackpot number. Is displayed as a plane.

Next, the operation will be described.

In a game using a ball game machine, an image is displayed on the image display device 11 in accordance with the progress of the game. For example, when a game ball wins in the starting port 13, three special symbols displayed on the image display device 11 change (scroll) (see FIG. 4). When the change is stopped, various effects such as a reach operation in which the remaining one special symbol fluctuates in a state where the two special symbols are aligned are performed (FIGS. 5A, 5B, 6 (A) and 6 (B)). a)). Further, when the game becomes a big hit, an image for notifying the big hit is displayed (see FIGS. 5C and 6B), and subsequently, an image of each round in which the big winning opening of the variable winning device 12 is opened. The display is made (see FIG. 6C).

In such an image display, for example, a part of the screen at the time of the reach operation or the screen of each round of the jackpot is displayed as a three-dimensional image, so that the game may be interesting (FIG. 5B). 6 (a) and 6 (c)).

The display of such a three-dimensional and two-dimensional image is controlled by the display control device 30. In the present invention, a part of the screen (for example, a special image which fluctuates during the reach operation) is controlled by the display control device 30. Symbols, characters during each round, etc.)
The plane display portion (for example, a background screen) is switched to an image with less visual stimulus as compared with a normal display (display when stereoscopic display is not performed).

More specifically, for example, the flat display portion is set to an image with a smaller number of operations (an image with a slow operation or an image in which the operation is stopped) as compared with a normal display. Alternatively, the saturation or brightness of the flat display portion is lower than the saturation or brightness in normal display. Alternatively, the flat display portion is an image with low sharpness.

By such control, the image display device 11
Image does not have a visual stimulus more than necessary, and the player who sees the image display can naturally pay attention to the three-dimensional display part, and is visually noticed by the two-dimensional display part Never. Therefore, the player who sees the image display including the stereoscopic display does not unnecessarily tire his eyes and does not feel discomfort.

The method for displaying a stereoscopic image in the present invention is not particularly limited. In addition to the parallax barrier method in the present embodiment, a stereoscopic image display section and a planar image display section can be formed in an image. In addition, as long as the visual stimulus of the planar image display unit can be made smaller than that of the stereoscopic image display unit, any method such as a method using a lenticular lens shown in FIG. 7 can be adopted.

The scope of application of the present invention is not limited to a ball-and-ball game machine, but can be applied to any game machine that displays a stereoscopic image on an image display device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a ball and ball game machine showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the display control device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of the image display device and a principle of stereoscopic image display by a parallax barrier method.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of image display in the image display device.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of image display in the image display device.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of image display in the image display device.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the principle of a stereoscopic image display method using a lenticular lens.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 11 image display device 30 display control device 31 CPU 51 liquid crystal panel 52 parallax barrier unit

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A game machine comprising: an image display device capable of displaying a stereoscopic image on at least a part of a screen; and a display control device for controlling image display on the image display device. A normal image display and an image display with less visual stimulation compared to the normal image display are configured to be able to be respectively displayed on the image display device,
A gaming machine, wherein when a part of a screen of the image display device is displayed as a stereoscopic image, an image of a part of the screen where the stereoscopic image is not displayed is displayed as the image with less visually stimulus. 2. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the display control device displays, as the image display with less visual stimulus, an image that operates less than the normal image display. 3. The display control device according to claim 1, wherein the display control device displays an image having a lower saturation than the normal image display as the image display with less visual stimulus. The gaming machine described. 4. The display control device according to claim 1, wherein the display control device displays, as the image display with less visual stimulus, an image having lower brightness than the normal image display. The gaming machine according to any one of the above. 5. The display control device according to claim 1, wherein the image display with less sharpness compared to the normal image display is displayed as the image display with less visual stimulus.
The gaming machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4.