JPS5914877A - Game system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a game system, and more particularly, to a game system that allows players to enjoy a game competition in real time without having to sit face-to-face with an opponent in a moving body such as an aircraft.

Conventionally, game competitions in which multiple players compete are usually held face-to-face.

There are examples of Go and Shogi games being played using telegrams and postcards, but there is no suitable way to enjoy game competitions in real time from a distance without having to face each other face-to-face.

Although it is possible to use a videophone system, it is only used for a limited number of special purposes due to the required transmission bandwidth and equipment. on the other hand.

With the development of transportation, the number of group travelers using airplanes is increasing, and there is also an increasing demand to enjoy game competitions such as ki and shogi while on the move. For example, the average flight time on JAL's international flights is currently 6 hours and 49 minutes, and each passenger is confined to their seat for the entire time, unable to satisfy themselves with personal entertainment such as reading, listening to music, or watching movies, and playing games with friends. A demand arises to enjoy the competition. However, even if you bring in a portable base or shogi board,
In order to enjoy the game, you have to move around looking for an empty seat, or have to ask the person next to you to change seats.
If the seats are full, it is often not possible to do what you want.

The purpose of the present invention is to meet the above-mentioned requirements and to develop a new game that has not been implemented before, which allows players to enjoy game competitions such as Go and Shogi in real time from seats inside a moving vehicle.
The goal is to provide a system.

The game system of the present invention includes a plurality of game terminals that are installed in a seat in a moving object and are equipped with a video display section, an operation section, a storage section, and an arithmetic control section, and are capable of playing at least one game competition contested by a plurality of players. and a local area network that connects these multiple game terminals and mutually transfers and exchanges digital information.

Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a game terminal constituting the present invention, in which 1 is a chair for a seat in an aircraft cabin, 2a is a game terminal stored in the back of a chair in the front seat, and 2b is a game terminal stored in the back of a chair in the front seat. A game terminal is pulled out from the back of a chair in the front seat and is in use, and 2c shows a game terminal that is being used as a dining table with its lid covered.

Each game terminal has a built-in storage section and arithmetic control section.

It has a video display section 3 consisting of a flat video display device, and an operation section 4 equipped with a power switch, a keyboard, and a light bezel, and are connected by a local area network. After turning on the power switch, the contestant specifies the type of game and the opponent using the keyboard, and uses the keyboard and light ben to compete while watching the image appearing on the screen of the video display section 3. For example, a shogi board and the pieces placed on the board are displayed in the center of the screen of the video display unit 3, and pieces owned by players are displayed in the upper left corner and lower right corner, respectively. When a player instructs the movement of a piece using the light ben,
The result is immediately displayed on the screen, and at the same time, the information is transmitted as a digital signal to the opponent's game terminal via the local area network, and the same image is immediately displayed on the video display. Therefore, players can play games in real time while sitting at their seats without having to face each other.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the circuit configuration of the game terminal shown in FIG. 1, and includes a video display section 3 for displaying the board status of the game, and selection of the game type.

An operation unit 4 that generates control information such as designation of competition opponents and commands for game progress; and a storage unit 5 that stores various game programs and game progress status.

It is composed of an arithmetic control section 6 that processes, calculates, and controls information. Based on the control information from the operation unit 4, the arithmetic control unit 6 selects a specified program from among the game programs stored in the storage unit 5, and according to the information, displays signals necessary for displaying images on the game board, etc. is sent to the video display section 3. As the game progresses, when instructions are given to move pieces, etc., the memory of the progress of the game stored in the storage unit 5 is refreshed, and at the same time, the display signal for displaying the image is updated, and at the same time, the interface An update command signal is sent to the opponent game terminal via the circuit 7. The interface circuit 7 adds necessary information such as the identification code of the opponent game terminal to the update command signal, converts it into a serial signal, and sends it to the transmission line 8 as a burst signal after confirming that it is not in use.

5- On the other hand, the burst signal sent from the other party's game terminal via the transmission line 8 is converted into a parallel signal after the identification code is confirmed by the interface circuit 7 and is applied to the arithmetic control section 6, and then sent to the operation section. Similarly to the case of the instruction from 4, the storage unit 5
Then, the video display section 3 is updated.

FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of the game fist system of the present invention, and 2-11, 2-12...
, 2-21.2-22... is each game terminal, 7-11.7-12..., 7-21.7-
22... is an interface circuit connected to each game terminal.

8-1 and 8-2 are game terminals 2-11゜2-, respectively.
12...and 2-21.2-22...
indicates transmission lines that are commonly connected in a bus connection format. 9 in the figure is a single optical fiber coupler, which is a data bus coupler (DBC) 10-1°10
-2... forms a bidirectional optical data loop, and the interface circuit (7-11,...
...) and transmission lines (8-1, ...) to form a local area network that uses both ring connections and bus connections. DBC is an optical branch circuit.

Conversion of an electrical signal transmitted through the transmission line (8-1,...) and an optical signal transmitted through the optical fiber cable 9, including an optical-to-electrical converter, an electrical-to-optical converter, and a changeover switch;
Controls switching of optical signal transmission direction. For details of this optical data loop, see NECRE-8EARCH&D
EVELOPMENT, NO, 60 January
1981 P, 1-P, 5. ”8ingle-
FiberBjdi rect 1onal Dat
a Bus Loop''.
Up to 72 DBCs can be connected, currently already 100 Kb
/s data transmission speed, lightweight and
The game is small in diameter and has no external interference, making it suitable for use inside aircraft.
system is obtained. The information that needs to be exchanged between game terminals is not the information itself for displaying images, but
Only information such as the types and movements of shogi pieces is sufficient. Therefore.

Since the amount of information is relatively small and the interval between occurrences is generally not that short, hundreds of sets can be used simultaneously at the above-mentioned transmission speed, and even if installed on a large passenger aircraft, it can fully meet the requirements. .

In the explanation of the above embodiment, the game terminal uses a flat image display device (which can be realized using a plasma display, liquid crystal display, etc.) as shown in FIG. It is structured so that it can be stored,
An ordinary cathode ray tube may be used instead of a flat type, and the tube may not be stored in the back of the chair, but may be brought in and installed during use, and it may be attached to something other than the chair in front of the seat. Also, the local area network is the third
The network is not limited to the one illustrated in the figure, but may be a star-shaped connection, a ring-shaped connection, a bus connection, or a network combining these using ordinary coaxial cables.

1. Light in part or all of the transmission path. A wireless transmission path such as radio waves can also be used. That is, it can be installed on a sightseeing bus or the like instead of on an airplane, and can be connected to other vehicles in the same vehicle wirelessly. Furthermore, the target games are not limited to games played by two players such as Go and Shogi.

You can add card games that can be enjoyed with 3 Å or more, and various video games that can be enjoyed by people, and the images displayed on each game terminal will not be the same.

Each player's cards and the like can be configured to be displayed only on each game terminal. In addition.

It is also possible to add audio input/output for specific game terms other than video display to each game terminal, and it is also possible to configure the system so that audio information can be exchanged, although the amount of information transmitted increases. By the way, data transmission speeds on the order of IMb/S are easy in general local area networks, and even in the bidirectional optical data loop using the single optical fiber group described in the example, DEC, which limits the transmission speed, It is possible to improve this and obtain transmission speeds of IMb/s.

As explained in detail above, according to the game enjoyment system of the present invention, it is possible to enjoy a game competition in real time with an opponent in a seat far away while sitting in a moving object such as an airplane. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a game terminal constituting the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the circuit configuration of the game terminal of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of the system. 1... Seating chair, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2-1
1゜2-12...Game terminal, 3.Old...Video display unit, 4...Operation unit, 5...Storage unit, 6... Arithmetic control unit, 7°7-11.7-12
...Interface circuit, 8゜8-1.8-
2... Transmission line S 9... Optical fiber cable, 10-1.10-2... Data bus coupler (DBC). 10- Figure / Figure / Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plurality of game terminals that are installed in seats in a moving vehicle and are equipped with a video display section, an operation section, a storage section, and a calculation control section and are capable of playing at least one game competition contested by a plurality of players; A game system comprising a local area network that connects and mutually transfers and exchanges digital information.