KR20030089997A - Advertisement Method using Game Network - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An advertising method using a game network is provided to supply a game machine at low price by executing an advertisement of a specific company using a conventional network game machine, thereby guaranteeing a predetermined profit to a game machine manufacturer. CONSTITUTION: Each participating network game machine selects a master or a slave(701). A game is started through time control modules of a master network game machine and an interrupt is waited(702). If an interrupt is received(703), the progressed game is temporarily stopped(704). It is judged whether the interrupt informs that a predetermined stage of the game is completed(705). If the interrupt is a game stage termination interrupt, one stage termination of the game is informed and an advertisement starting and progressing time are set(707). The master game machine transmits a predetermined message for instructing a progress of an advertisement to other slave game machines based on the above processing result(708). The master game machine displays a corresponding advertisement on a monitor thereof(709). The game is restarted(710).

Description

Advertising method using game network {Advertisement Method using Game Network}

The present invention relates to an advertising method using a game network consisting of a master game machine and at least one slave game machine, and more specifically, paid by a specific company in exchange for displaying an advertisement of a specific company at the end of a game using a network game machine. The advertising fee to provide a game console user to the network game consoles more affordable, and game machine manufacturers to the advertising method to obtain the advertising fee income.

A network game machine is a game machine that can download games and various contents through the Internet, and can communicate with a game between people by forming a wired or wireless network path between game machines. In the past, game machines were mostly single-player games, so there was little need for game machines to be connected to the network and the Internet. For that reason, there was no hardware and operating system support for game machines connected to the network to download programs or use the downloaded programs properly.

The network game machine has some hardware that can overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages of the existing game machine and can be connected to a specific server on the Internet via a computer, and has software that can process data received from a specific server. However, until now, there has been no report on how to display advertisements of specific companies through the network game machine.

Conventional network game machines are currently relatively expensive and do not form a wide user base. If a portion of the cost of manufacturing game consoles can be repaid as a company's advertising expenses, it is possible to provide a game console at a lower price, and the advertisers using the game consoles can expect advertisement effects accompanying the spread of game machines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an advertising method that enables the advertisement of a specific company by using the conventional network game machine as described above, thereby guaranteeing a certain profit to the game machine producer, thereby enabling the inexpensive dissemination of the game machine.

1 is a system configuration diagram in which a network game machine is connected to an advertisement database server via the Internet via a client computer.

2 is a system configuration diagram in which one master game machine and at least one slave game machine form a network;

3A and 3B show a memory structure of a game machine for a network

4 is a data format of advertising data

5 is a process in which a network game machine is connected to a server to download advertisement data

Fig. 6 is a procedure when the network game machine is started to transfer the control to the time control module.

7 is a preferred embodiment of a time control process by the time control module

* Description of symbols on the main parts of the drawings *

100: network game machine 102: client computer

106: Ad Database Server 200: Master Game Machine

203: Slave Game Machine

The present invention is an advertisement method using a game network composed of a master game machine and at least one slave game machine.

Executing a game program of the master game machine, generating an interrupt whenever the predetermined phase of the game is finished, the central processing unit recognizes the interrupt, pauses the game, and then starts an advertisement signal to each slave game machine. And extracting the advertisement data stored in a predetermined space on the memory of the master and each slave game machine and displaying the same on a monitor, and re-running the game program of the master game machine after a predetermined display time has elapsed. It includes an advertising method using a game network.

In the above, the master game machine refers to a game machine that performs a function of starting a game and gathering game participants, and a slave game machine refers to at least one game machine connected to the master game machine to perform the same game together. Since the network game machine itself may use a known one, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the above, the network includes a wired network via a predetermined relay such as a wireless network or a router supported by a predetermined operating system.

In addition, the advertisement data includes data stored in a predetermined space on the internal memory or the external memory or previously stored in the external memory, downloaded from a separate advertisement database server.

Hereinafter, the contents of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a system configuration diagram in which the network game machine 100 is connected to the advertisement database server 106 via the Internet via a client computer, and shows a state in which K game machines are connected to the server at the same time.

The network game machine 100 must have a display device such as a liquid crystal because it must show a predetermined advertisement to the user.

The advertisement database server 106 may download advertisement data to general users with a network game machine, and in the case of the downloaded user, may acquire an internet subscriber by updating cyber money information recorded in the advertisement database server.

Connection 101 to the game machine and the computer is preferably a commonly used RS-232 or more preferably a USB port or the like can be used. The client computer 102 acts as an intermediary with the advertising database server 106. Reference numerals 103 and 105 denote network media such as Ethernet and ADSL, respectively, and reference numeral 104 denotes a network.

2 is a system configuration diagram in which one master game machine and at least one slave game machine form a network.

The game machine 200, which is the first to open a game and waits for another game machine to connect, becomes a master, and later game machines become slaves 203. Reference numeral 201 denotes a communication path formed during the game period, which includes a wired or wireless path.

Reference numeral 202 denotes a network formed between game machines, and in the case of a wired line, a repeater such as a game machine router, and a wireless communication network in this case because the game machine can route itself.

3A and 3B illustrate a preferred embodiment of a memory structure in which the network game machine has advertisement data in addition to data for performing a network game.

Reference numerals 300 and 307 denote regions where actual game programs exist as part of a storage space constituting an external memory inserted into a card or a game pack outside the network game machine.

Reference numerals 301 to 303 and 309 to 311 denote advertising data areas, and each has M advertising areas. In the memory structure of the first side shown in FIG. 3A, the advertisement data is inserted into an external memory. In the memory structure of the second side shown in FIG. 3B, the advertisement data exists in the region of the internal memory of the game machine itself. By using the memory structure according to the first aspect, since advertisement data is inserted in advance without going through the server of FIG. 1, it can be sold at a lower price than an external memory containing only a game without advertisement.

Reference numerals 304 and 308 denote RAM areas in which the actual game is executed. Reference numerals 305 and 312 denote operating system areas of the game machine. Reference numerals 306 and 313 denote time control modules constituting the operating system, and are in charge of control between the advertisement data and the game.

4 shows a preferred embodiment of the data format of the advertisement data. The advertisement ID 400 area includes a string that can be distinguished from a normal game file. The advertisement type 401 region is composed of predetermined bits representing the characteristics of the advertisement file. For example, when the advertisement type 401 is configured as 2 bits, 00 may be defined in the form of reserved, 01 is a still image, 10 is a video, and 11 is an executable file. Area. The advertisement serial number area 402 is an area necessary to specify the number of advertisements when a specific company wants to export several advertisements. The company ID 403 area is a unique number given to the company that issued the advertisement. The advertisement display time 504 area is an area where an advertisement is outgoing time and is used when the time control module 313 allocates an advertisement time to a slave. The check sum 505 stores a check sum for checking whether there is no error in the advertisement data area. Reference numeral 506 denotes an actual advertisement data area.

The present invention includes the following process of downloading advertisement data from an advertisement database server.

(a) connecting the game machine to the client computer,

(b) a client computer accessing the server,

(c) downloading the advertising data from the advertising database server to the client computer,

(d) downloading the data from the client computer to the game machine, and

(e) updating cyber money information of the downloaded user in an advertisement database server.

5 is a flowchart illustrating the above process in more detail.

First, in step 501, the network game machine is connected to a client computer. At this time, if not connected, the process of step 502 is repeated. When the client computer and the game machine are connected, a connection is attempted from the client computer to the advertisement database server through step 503. In step 504, the subscriber authentication is performed while checking whether the connection is properly established. When the series of procedures is completed, the predetermined advertisement material existing in the advertisement database server is downloaded in step 505. If a problem occurs in the middle of the download process, the process is returned to step 506. If the delivery is successful, in step 507, a message indicating the success is transmitted to the client computer, and in step 508, a cyber money point is uploaded among the advertisement database server user information to receive a part of the advertising income. The updated cyber money point is displayed on the monitor at step 509.

Fig. 6 shows a simple flow chart when the network game machine is operated to transfer control to the time control module.

First, when the power is turned on in step 600, the operating system performs an operation in the program execution region in step 601. The operating system examines the advertisement data area to confirm the existence of the advertisement data and, if present, to determine what kind of advertisement is present at step 602. Then, the control of the system is transferred to the time control module 306, 313 in step 603.

7 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a time control process by the time control module 313 constituting the operating system.

The control process starts with passing the task of step 602 of FIG. Each network game machine participating in the game determines whether it is a master or a slave in step 701. In step 702, the game is started through the time control modules 306 and 313 of the network game machine which has become a master and is in a state of waiting for an interrupt. If it is determined in step 703 that the interrupt has been accepted, the game in progress is paused in step 704, and in step 705 it is determined whether the interrupt indicates that the predetermined step of the game is completed. The stage of the game is a stage in which each level ends in the case of a multi-level game in which the game is composed of several stages. If the game consists of a single stage, it means the end of the game. If the interrupt does not indicate the end of a predetermined step constituting the game, the processing is performed as a problem in the central processing unit or other hardware in step 706. In the case of an interruption in the game step, the step 707 indicates that one step of the game is completed. The game phase end process of determining the start time and the advertisement progress time is performed.

Based on the above processing result, the master game machine transmits a predetermined message in step 708 instructing other slave game machines to process the advertisement. The master game machine displays the advertisement on the monitor of the own game machine in step 709.

In contrast, the slave game machine waits for the advertisement execution message from the master in step 711. When the advertisement execution message is received in step 712, the game is paused in step 713, and the advertisement display process is performed as in the master in step 714.

Re-execution process of the master game after the end of the advertisement display process of step 710 may be implemented to be carried out after the elapse of a predetermined advertisement time assigned to each slave under the control of the master game machine, and the interrupt signal of the advertisement end is received from the last advertisement game machine. It can also be implemented to run after it has been done. This depends entirely on how to program the time control modules 306 and 313 that make up the operating system. If the master game is rerun, the slave game machine also restarts the game at step 715.

According to the present invention, the advertiser can expect the same advertising effect as on a television through a game console for a network, and the game participant advertises a part of the price for an auxiliary device such as a game program or an external memory in exchange for viewing the advertisement through the game machine. It is self-paying and can be purchased at a lower price, so the industrial value is huge.

Claims (7)

In the advertising method using a game network consisting of a master game machine and at least one slave game machine, Executing a game program of the master game machine, Generating an interrupt at each end of a predetermined step constituting the game; The central processing unit recognizes the interruption, pauses the game, and transmits an advertisement start signal to each slave game machine; Extracting advertisement data stored in a predetermined space on a memory provided in the master and each slave game machine and displaying the same on a monitor; and Re-executing the game program of the master game machine after a predetermined display time elapses. The method of claim 1, Advertising method using a game network, characterized in that the network is a wireless network supported by a predetermined operating system The method of claim 1, Advertising method using a game network, characterized in that the network is a wired network via a predetermined repeater The method of claim 1, The advertisement data is downloaded from a separate advertisement database server advertising method using a game network, characterized in that the data stored in a predetermined space on the internal memory or external memory or previously stored in the external memory The method of claim 4, wherein The download process from the ad database server, Connecting the game machine to the client computer; Connecting a client computer to the server; Downloading the advertisement data from the advertisement database server to the client computer; Downloading the data from the client computer to the game machine; And Advertising method using a game network comprising the step of updating the cyber money information of the downloaded user to an advertising database server The method of claim 1, Advertising display using the game network, characterized in that performed for a predetermined time assigned to each slave under the control of the master game machine The method of claim 1, Re-execution of the game program of the master game machine is performed after the interrupt signal for the end of advertisement is received from the last advertisement game machine.