JPH11319317A - Game device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game device which can make a character appear on the screen corresponding to each user based on the user's fingerprint detected by a fingerprint detecting part. SOLUTION: This game device has at least a display part 4 to display objects and an input part 1 to accept the input operation. Characters displayed on the display part 4 are operated by the input part 1. The device has also a fingerprint detecting part 2 which detects users' fingerprints and converts them into digital data, a memory part 3 in which plural characters are memorized, and a control part 5 which controls the device to refer to the memory part 3 for a character corresponding to the digital data from the fingerprint detecting part 2 among the characters memorized in the memory part 3 and to display the character on the display part 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a game device for playing a game by operating a character displayed on a display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a game apparatus has been provided in which a character displayed on a display device is manipulated so that the character can experience a simulated experience or develop the ability of the character.

[0003] In such a game device, a battle may occur between a plurality of characters. Further, a competitive simulation game in which a character competes while raising the character so as to improve the ability of the character is provided.

As a competitive simulation game,
In order to select a specific character from various characters, a game is provided in which a character corresponding to data appears in a barcode. Here, the barcode is a code or price of a product represented by a combination of black and white parallel bars.

[0005] As a competitive simulation game, a game in which a character appears in accordance with data of a so-called compact disc (CD) is provided.

As described above, as a competitive simulation game, a game in which a character appears using external data, such as a barcode or so-called CD data, has been provided.

[0007]

However, the above-mentioned conventional competitive simulation game uses data such as barcodes and CDs, and thus does not effectively utilize features unique to the user.

For this reason, in the conventional competitive simulation game, if the same barcode or CD is used,
The same character appears regardless of the user. That is, the characteristics of the user have not been incorporated in the conventional competitive simulation game.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problem, and has as its object to provide a game apparatus in which a character corresponding to the characteristics of a user appears.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a game device according to the present invention comprises at least display means for displaying an object and input means for receiving an input operation. In a game device for playing a game by operating a displayed object with the input means, a fingerprint detection means for detecting a fingerprint and converting it to digital data, an object storage means for storing a plurality of objects,
Control means for controlling a reference to the object corresponding to the digital data from the fingerprint detection means among the objects stored in the object storage means and displaying the object on the display means It is.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a game device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. This game apparatus relates to a so-called battle simulation game in which characters are raised while fighting each other.

As shown in FIG. 1, a game device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an input unit 1 for receiving an input from a user, a fingerprint detection unit 2 for detecting a fingerprint and converting it into digital data, A storage unit 3 for storing a plurality of object characters, a display unit 4 for displaying an object character,
And a control unit 5 for controlling each unit of the game device.

The input section 1 is a section for receiving an input from the user, and an operation is input from the user by a cross key, a plurality of buttons, or the like.

The fingerprint detecting section 2 optically reads, for example, a user's fingerprint, converts the read fingerprint into digital data, and outputs the digital data.

In the storage unit 3, a plurality of target object characters are registered in advance. The display unit 4 displays an image, and for example, a liquid crystal panel is used.

The control section 5 controls the entire game apparatus. The control unit 5 reads a character corresponding to the digital data of the fingerprint from the fingerprint detection unit 2 from the storage unit 3 and displays the character on the display unit 4. Then, predetermined processing such as breeding and fighting for this character is performed. These processes will be described later in detail.

The above-described game apparatus is realized, for example, as a portable game machine as shown in FIG.

In this portable game machine, a substantially rectangular display section 4 is provided on the main surface of a small, flat, substantially rectangular parallelepiped housing suitable for carrying. Two push buttons 1a and a cross key 1b are provided as input units 1 on the main surface other than the display unit 4.

In the portable game machine, a fingerprint detector 2 for detecting a fingerprint is provided with a plug 2a from the fingerprint detector 2.
Is connected to the communication terminal. The fingerprint detector 2 is connected by a plug 2a when necessary for fingerprint detection.

The above-described game apparatus is realized as a home-use game machine as shown in FIG.

This home-use game machine has a stationary shape having a flat, substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and has a power switch 1 on its main surface.
1 and a CD-ROM storage unit 12 for storing a so-called CD-ROM. Since a home game machine is normally supplied with power from a commercial power supply, it has a plug 13 for the commercial power supply. Since the home game machine does not include the display unit, for example, an external CRT is used as the display device.

An input unit 1 having three push buttons 1c and four cursor keys 1d is connected to the home game machine. In addition, a fingerprint detection unit 2 for detecting a fingerprint and converting the fingerprint into digital data is connected to the communication terminal of the home game machine. Here, the fingerprint detection unit 2 is connected by a plug when fingerprint detection is required.

Next, the configuration of the fingerprint detector 2 of the game device will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4, the fingerprint detecting section 2 includes an LED 21 as a light emitting element and a CCD 22 as a light receiving element.
And an A / D conversion unit 23 for converting an analog signal into a digital signal, and a signal processing unit 24 for subjecting the signal from the A / D conversion unit 23 to predetermined conversion and outputting the converted signal.

The LED 21 is a light emitting diode as a light source for reading a fingerprint. The CCD 22 is a sensor using a charge-coupled device that reads a fingerprint.

The A / D converter 23 is an A / D converter for converting an analog output from the CCD 22 into a digital signal. The signal processor 24 converts the fingerprint data from the A / D converter 24 into finite-length digital data.

Since the peaks and valleys of the fingerprint are about several μm,
It is sufficient that the number of pixels of the CD 22 is fairly low. For this reason, the data amount of the data from the signal processing unit 24 obtained by performing signal processing on the fingerprint data from the CCD 22 and the data amount are usually about several hundred bytes. Therefore, the fingerprint recognition unit 2 can be made small.

In the portable game machine shown in FIG.
The fingerprint recognition unit 2 is connected to a communication terminal of the portable game machine. Therefore, the power of the fingerprint recognition unit is supplied from the game machine.

In the case of a dedicated game machine using fingerprint recognition, the fingerprint recognition unit 2 may be included in a game machine such as a portable game machine or a home game machine.

As a fingerprint matching method, there are a pattern matching method for matching a fingerprint by pattern matching, a feature point correlation method described later, and the like.

Since the fingerprint collation is usually used for security or the like, the recognition rate of the fingerprint collation becomes a problem. However, in the present embodiment, since the fingerprint collation is used in the game, the recognition rate and the like may be rough.

More specifically, as the fingerprint collation method in the present embodiment, for example, the number of branch points in a fingerprint pattern, the type of pattern such as a spiral or curved stripe, the direction of a ridge, etc. A method of making a body, determining which aggregate the input fingerprint data is included in, and performing fingerprint collation may be considered.

FIG. 5 schematically shows the judgment of the matching of the fingerprint pattern in a part D of the fingerprint.

For reference, FIG. 6 shows an example of fingerprint matching based on feature points. In other words, the fingerprint matching by the feature points is performed by specifying the center of the fingerprint by “□” in the figure, comparing the relative positional relationship of the feature points indicated by “○” in the figure, The relationship between the fingerprint ridges indicated by the arrow in the middle is prepared.

In the fingerprint collation based on the feature points, since the number of registered data of one finger is smaller than 400B (Byte), the data amount required for collation is smaller than 400B.

In the game device, for example, software for performing fingerprint collation processing is incorporated in the storage unit 3. The storage unit 3 has registered therein data to be referred to at the time of fingerprint collation.

The data registered in the storage unit 3 corresponds to the character of the object. The data registered in the storage unit is referred to by the digital data obtained by converting the fingerprint detected by the fingerprint detection unit 2, and a character of an object corresponding to the data is selected.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, if there is one branch point in the fingerprint and the fingerprint wave in a certain range rises to the right, the first character has two branch points,
When the number of peaks and valleys of the fingerprint is a specific number and the wave of the fingerprint rises to the left, a second character appears.

That is, the character of the object is displayed on the display unit corresponding to the fingerprint detected by the fingerprint detection unit 2. The target character displayed on the display unit 4 can be raised or played against another character by an input operation from the input unit 1.

Specifically, when the user presses his / her finger on the fingerprint recognition unit at the time of operating the game or starting the game in the game device, the fingerprint recognition unit reads the fingerprint data of the user.

For example, 200 kinds of characters are stored in the game software executed by the game device. Each of these characters corresponds to a certain fingerprint feature. Therefore, a character included in the software is selected according to the characteristics of the fingerprint input by the fingerprint input device, and a character corresponding to the characteristics of the input fingerprint appears.

By providing a set of characters corresponding to fingerprints that do not apply to any feature, the characters can always appear in any case.

Here, a character corresponding to fingerprint information having complicated features or conditions naturally has a low appearance probability. Therefore, the game can be more interesting if the character corresponding to the feature that does not easily match has a rare value (that is, is strong).

Next, the character will be described. The character is an image of the target displayed on the display unit of the game device or the target itself.

Each character has attributes, such as fire, earth, wind, light, and darkness. Here, compatibility between attributes is set, such as that water is stronger than fire attributes. Further, the character has statuses such as physical strength power (HP), attack points (MP) such as techniques and magic, special abilities, defense power, and the like.

As described above, a character has internal variables such as an attribute and a status, and these are referred to when the character battles. The character can raise and change these attributes, status, and the like by the input operation of the user from the input unit.

As a method of breeding a character, for example,
Execution of user commands, such as raising the HP by feeding the character and raising the MP by training the character, may be mentioned. FIG. 8 shows an example of how the character grows. The egg shown as A in FIG. 8 grows into a monster as shown in D in the figure through the larva (child) shown in B in the figure and the evolution 1 shown in C in the figure.

A character can compete against another character. The battle of the characters is performed by connecting the game device to another device via a communication cable. When the game device is connected to another game device via a communication cable, for example, a character of the other game device appears on the display unit of the game device as an opponent, and the opponent character battles with the opponent character.

It should be noted that the battle with the enemy is not limited to the case where the game device is connected to another game device via a communication cable, and a battle in the story of the game may naturally occur. As a game, it is also conceivable to make a character appear and fight.

The characters raised by the user can be crossed. For example, the game device can be connected to another game machine via a communication line and crossed when another character appears on the display unit. You can also cross your own characters.

In this way, the user can play by raising the character, strengthening the character, fighting, exchanging, mating, acquiring a stronger character, and fighting with a friend's character. .

It is to be noted that the present invention is not limited to the battle-type breeding simulation format as described above, but may be a so-called RPG (role playing game) format. In the case of RPG, the character grows based on the story development.

As described above, the present embodiment has the fingerprint detecting unit which is the sensor unit for detecting the fingerprint, and converts the data of the characteristic of the detected fingerprint pattern or a part of the fingerprint pattern itself into digital data. Then, by using the fingerprint marker, the data is collated with a large amount of data registered in advance, and a monster or monster egg or a child, which is a game character, based on the data whose fingerprint characteristics match, appears. Each user nurtures the character by himself, and nurtures it into a character having each characteristic, strength, and skill.

The user can play by fighting, exchanging, or mating the characters raised in this way. It is a competitive simulation game "Fingerprint Butler".

That is, in the present embodiment, by recognizing a fingerprint by the fingerprint detection unit, various monsters and monster eggs and individuals based on fingerprint data unique to each person or each finger appear and grow. By raising them, monsters and monsters with unique strengths and characteristics,
It is a competitive simulation game where you can play by playing monsters and monsters raised by each person.

[0056]

The game device according to the present invention causes a character to appear according to the fingerprint detected by the fingerprint detection unit.

Therefore, the present invention can be applied to home game machines and portable game machines, so that a huge market can be expected.

Although the fingerprint recognition used in the present invention is used only in a part of a security system or the like, the fingerprint recognition market is rapidly expanded by being used in a game.

The fingerprint recognition in the present invention does not require a high recognition rate unlike the fingerprint recognition in a security system or the like, and can be realized at a relatively low cost.

Given the explosive popularity of games of the same type that are currently present, the games proposed this time are expected to be quite popular.

Since it is considered that the means of making the character appear is different from the game of the same type currently existing,
Most can be common design.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a game device.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the portable game machine.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an appearance of the home game machine.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a fingerprint detection unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing detection of a fingerprint.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of fingerprint matching.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating appearance of a character according to a fingerprint.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the growth of a character.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 input unit, 2 fingerprint detection unit, 3 storage unit, 4 display unit, 5 control unit

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A game device comprising at least display means for displaying an object and input means for receiving an input operation, wherein a game is performed by operating the object displayed on the display device with the input means. A fingerprint detecting means for detecting a fingerprint and converting it into digital data; an object storing means for storing a plurality of objects; and a digital signal from the fingerprint detecting means among the objects stored in the object storing means. A game device comprising: control means for controlling an object corresponding to data to be displayed on the display means by referring to the object corresponding to the data. 2. The game apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said fingerprint detecting means converts a feature of the detected fingerprint pattern or a part of the fingerprint pattern itself into digital data. 3. The game device according to claim 1, wherein the object is a character such as a monster or a monster. 4. The game device according to claim 1, wherein the object can be grown by an operation from the input means. 5. The game device according to claim 4, wherein the object grows from an egg to a child. 6. A battle between a plurality of said objects,
The game device according to claim 1, wherein the game device can be exchanged or crossed. 7. The game device according to claim 1, wherein the object has an internal variable, and the internal variable can be changed by an operation from the input means. 8. The game device according to claim 7, wherein the internal variables include at least one of a feature, a strength, and a technique of the object.