KR20080084874A - Apparatus and method for purchasing agency of game item, game service system, pc-cafe management apparatus for purchasing agency of game item - Google Patents

Abstract

A device and a method for processing item purchase agency, and a game service system and an Internet cafe management device for the same are provided to enable an Internet cafe user not wanting an online payment procedure to buy needed game items easily and safely by enabling an Internet cafe to buy the requested game items as an agent for the Internet cafe user. An interface cafe register(21) registers a member Internet cafe capable of using a game item purchase agent service by receiving registration information from each Internet cafe. A recharger(22) recharges a payment tool used for buying game items to an account of the member Internet cafe. A purchase processor(23) requests a game service system(33) to sell the game item to a user when a game item purchase request of the user is received from the member Internet cafe, and transfers the purchased game item to the member interface cafe by receiving a response from the game service system. A payment unit(24) offsets the payment tool paid to the game service system from the account of the member Internet cafe when the game item purchase request is normally processed. The game service system includes an item sale server and a game server.

Description

Item purchasing agency and method, game service system, PC room management apparatus for item purchasing agency {Apparatus and Method for Purchasing Agency of Game Item, Game Service System, PC-Cafe Management Apparatus for Purchasing Agency of Game Item}

1 is an overview of a system for providing an online game service to a PC room;

2 is an embodiment of an item purchasing agent according to the present invention,

3 is an example of an overall system in which an item purchase agent is made according to the present invention;

4 is an embodiment of a PC room management apparatus according to the present invention,

5 is an embodiment of an item purchasing agent method according to the present invention;

6 is an example of the overall process in which an item purchase agent is made according to the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

10,30: PC room 11-1 ~ 11-n, 31-1 ~ 31-n: PC

12,32: PC room management computer 13: Network

14,35: Game Server 14-1,36: Database

20: Item purchase agency 21: PC room register

22: charging unit 23: purchase processing unit

24: Settlement Department 33: Game Service System

34: Item Sales Server 32-1: PC Room Management Device

41: PC room management module 44: PC room registration module

43: charging module 44: account information inquiry module

45: Purchase Request Processing Module

The present invention relates to an apparatus for purchasing an item, a method thereof, a game service system, and a PC room managing apparatus for an item purchasing agent, and in particular, to allow an individual PC room user to purchase game items for a PC room. It is intended to make it possible for PC cafe users who do not have a valid payment method such as a mobile phone or an anxiety about information leakage to easily purchase game items without complicated procedures.

Due to the development of communication technology and related technologies such as graphics and sound, various types of computer games are provided. A computer game is a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer), which allows one user to enjoy playing online with other users by using various communication networks such as the Internet. Games are also actively offered.

Meanwhile, a PC room service, which is a type of service having a plurality of PCs and allowing a user to use it, has been actively performed.

Referring to Figure 1, the PC room 10 is provided with a plurality of PC (11-1 ~ 11-n) that can be used by the user of the PC room, each PC is connected to the PC room management computer 12 . The PC room management computer 12 manages the use state of each of the user PCs 11-1 to 11-n. In general, each of the user PCs 11-1 to 11-n and the PC room management computer 12 are configured to be connected to a communication network 13 such as the Internet network.

The PC room user enters the PC room, receives a PC that is currently empty, uses the PC according to his or her needs, and when the use is finished, the PC room user exits the PC room and pays the fee according to his / her usage history, such as PC usage time. do.

Many PC room users use an online game service. Each PC room user connects to the game server 14 through the communication network 13 from a PC designated for him, and plays various types of games provided by the game server 14. It is available. The game server 14 is interlocked with a database 14-1 for storing various kinds of information required to provide a game service, and in particular, relates to each user's account and what game items each user currently owns. Have information

Most online games are designed to allow a user's character to use various game items during the game, which allows the user's character to have a special ability (or function). Although these game items are provided free of charge, most of them are purchased and used for a fee.

Therefore, in order to purchase a paid game item required for a game, an online payment process is essential.

However, among the users who use PC rooms, users in their teens or twenties, who are the main purchasers of game items, do not have a valid online payment method such as a credit card. In addition, even though there is a valid payment method, many users consider the online payment process complicated and cumbersome, and many users feel security insecurity in the online payment process due to the nature of the PC room used by a plurality of users. In addition, in the conventional online payment process, the charging unit is often not free, and there is a disadvantage in that the payment process is not efficient because there is a high probability that a remaining balance cannot be purchased for additional game items.

As described above, users who use a PC room have a lot of difficulties in purchasing a game item. Therefore, there will be a great need to allow PC room users to easily purchase game items.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in order to meet the above needs, an item purchasing agent for allowing a PC room user to easily and safely purchase a game item required by the PC room user on behalf of a game item purchase of the PC room user. An object of the present invention is to provide a device, a game service system, a PC room management apparatus for item purchase agency, and an item purchase agent method.

In order to achieve the above object, the item purchasing agent apparatus according to the present invention, the PC room registration unit for receiving the information required for the registration of the PC room registration to the member PC room that can use the agency service of purchasing the game item; A charging unit for charging a payment means to be used to purchase a game item in an account of the member PC room according to a charge request from the member PC room; Upon receiving a specific game item purchase request for a specific user from the member PC room, it communicates with a game service system that sells the game item, requests the specific user to sell the specific game item, and receives the response to receive the member PC room. Purchase processing unit to deliver to the room; And a settlement unit for deducting a payment means of a predetermined value from the account of the member PC room when the purchase request of the game item is normally processed by the purchase processing unit.

When the game service system according to the present invention receives a sale request for the game item from the item purchase agent, the game records the specific user as owning the specific game item in a database, and the processing result is purchased from the item. An item selling server responsive to the agent device; And a game server that provides the game service through a communication network using the information of the database.

PC room management apparatus for the item purchase agency according to the present invention, PC room management module for managing the usage information for each PC in the PC room; A PC room registration module for transmitting the information necessary for the registration of the PC room to the item purchasing agent and registering it as a member PC room; A charging module for charging a PC room account set in the item purchasing agent; An account information inquiry module for inquiring the PC room account information by communicating with the item purchase agent device; And a purchase request processing module for transmitting a specific game item purchase request for a PC room user to the item purchase agent, and transmitting the purchase state of the game item to the PC room management module according to the response.

At this time, the PC room management module, the PC room registration module, the charging module, the account information inquiry module, and the purchase request processing module may be configured to include a computer program installed in the management computer of the PC room to perform a corresponding function. Can be.

The game item purchase request message may include a game account of the user, a type of the game, and information for identifying the type of the item.

Meanwhile, the method for purchasing an item according to the present invention includes the steps of allowing a registered member PC room to charge a payment means to be used for purchase of a game item through a communication network in its account; Receiving a purchase request for a specific game item for a specific user from the member PC room through a communication network; Communicating with a game service system selling the particular game item to process the game service system to recognize the particular game item as owned by the particular user; And subtracting a means of payment of a certain value from the account of the member PC room.

At this time, whether or not the member PC room may be configured to identify the ID (ID) and password of the registered PC room, or the IP address of the computer device that sent the purchase request message of the game item.

In addition, the deducted value may apply a certain discount rate to the value when the user purchases the game item individually without going through the PC room.

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

An embodiment of an item purchasing agent apparatus 20 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The item purchase agent 20 may be configured to include a PC room registration unit 21, charging unit 22, purchase processing unit 23, the settlement unit 24. The item purchasing agent device 20 is connected to the PC room management computer through a communication network 13 such as the Internet network, and interlocks with the game service system 33. The game service system 33 is a system for providing a game service through a communication network such as the Internet network, and in particular, sells game items used for the game to game users.

PC room registration unit 21 receives the information required for the registration of the PC room from the PC provider serves to register as a member PC room that can use the agency service of purchase of game items.

The type of information to be input from the PC provider in order to register as a member PC room can be variously configured as necessary. For example, the PC room member ID (ID), password, name of the PC room representative, Address, and the IP address of each PC provided in the PC room.

The charging unit 22 plays a role of charging the account of the member PC room with the payment means used for the purchase of the game item in response to a charge request from the member PC room.

At this time, the method for allowing the member PC room to pay the charge can be configured in various ways as needed. For example, the member PC room may deposit the money to be charged in the bank account designated by the operator of the item purchase agency 20, but connected to the charging unit 22 using various online payment methods such as credit card payment. You can also configure to pay directly from.

The means of payment means virtual value that can be paid as a purchase price when a game room is purchased in a PC room regardless of its name. Such payment means may be displayed in units of cash as cash, or may be displayed in units of various cyber money such as points, and the like. For example, if the member PC room paid 100,000 won to repay the payment method, the account of the PC room may charge 100,000 won in won units, or 10 points may be charged as one point and 10,000 points may be charged. .

When the purchase processing unit 23 receives a specific game item purchase request for a specific user from the member PC room, whether or not it is a member PC room and whether there is a balance for purchasing the game item requested for purchase in the account of the member PC room is left. Investigate whether or not. And, if it is not a member PC room or if the balance is insufficient, an error message informing of this is transmitted to the member PC room.

However, if the member PC room and the balance is sufficient, the game service system 33 requests the specific user to sell the specific game item. Then, a response to the item sale request is received from the game service system 33 and notified to the member PC room which made the item purchase request.

In this case, the game item purchase request message received from the member PC room to the purchase processing unit 23 may be used to inform a user of what kind of game item, such as user identification information, type of game, type of game item, etc. to purchase the game item. Information is included. The user identification information may include account information (eg, game ID) that the user has for the game service.

The settlement unit 24, when the purchase processing unit 24 receives a response message from the game service system 33 that the item sale request is normally made, the payment means of a certain value corresponding to the item sale price in the account of the member PC room Serves as a subtraction. As an example, if the account balance of the current member PC room is 10,000 points and the price of the item currently requested to be purchased and sold in the game service system 33 is 50 points, the balance of the member PC room account will be 9950 points.

Referring to Figure 3 will be described in detail the interlocking relationship between the item purchase agent 20 and the game service system 33 according to the present invention. In this case, the game service system 33 may include an item selling server 34, a game server 35, and a database 36.

When the item selling server 34 receives a sale request of a specific game item for a specific user from the item purchasing agent device 20, the item selling server 34 searches the database 36 to determine whether the specific user is a registered user whose game account is set. Check it.

As a result of the check, if the user is not registered, an error message is transmitted to the item purchasing agent device 20. If the user is a registered user, the specific user owns the specific game item in the database 36. By recording, the game server 35 processes the game server 35 to recognize the ownership state of the particular game item, and then transmits a response message indicating that the game is normally sold to the item purchase agent 20.

The item purchase agent apparatus 20 may be configured to be connected to the item selling server 34 through a communication network such as an internet network.

Although one item selling server 34 is illustrated in FIG. 3, a plurality of item selling servers may be provided in correspondence with several game servers. In this case, the item purchasing agent device 20 may be a specific request requested from a PC room. An item selling server capable of selling game items requests a sale of the corresponding game item.

The game server 35 serves to provide a game service through a communication network such as the Internet network by using game item ownership information for each user (or game account) stored in the database 36. Here, the database 36 is a component that stores and manages various kinds of information required for the game service system 33 to provide a game service.

As described above, the subject who purchases the actual game item is an individual user of the PC room, and the purchased game item is owned by the PC room user. However, the purchase price of the game item is paid in the PC room. In other words, the PC room is to act for the purchase of the game items of the PC room user, and the PC room provider receives the game item purchase price paid on behalf of the PC room user in the form of PC room usage fee from the PC room user. . In this case, the PC room owner may arbitrarily define when the game item purchase price is to be received from the corresponding PC room user according to the policy of the PC room itself. For example, the game item purchase price may be cashed immediately after the purchase of the game item is normally performed.

Meanwhile, the item purchase agent 20 described above may be configured in various forms. One example is to configure the form of the Internet site, the PC room registration unit 21, charging unit 22, purchase processing unit 23 and the like to provide a web page interface for performing the corresponding function through the Internet network. Can be. In such an embodiment, the PC service provider may access a home page constituting the item purchase agent 20 and perform a PC room registration, payment means, a game item purchase request, and the like.

Another example of configuring the item purchasing agency 20 is to interface with the PC room through a dedicated computer program for the item purchasing agent installed in the PC room management computer 32. In such an embodiment, a PC provider uses an item purchase agency service using a dedicated computer program.

An embodiment of a PC room management apparatus 32-1 for an item purchase agency according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

PC room management device 32-1 is a component installed on the PC room side, PC room management module 41, PC room registration module 42, charging module 43, account information inquiry module 44, It may be configured to include a purchase request processing module 45, it may be configured as a computer program installed in the PC room management computer 32 to perform a corresponding function. Each module may provide a user interface (UI) screen for performing a corresponding function.

The PC room management module 41 basically serves to manage the usage information for each PC (31-1 ~ 31-n) in the PC room. For example, it performs basic functions required for PC room operation such as billing, membership management, employee management, revenue management, and control of each PC.

The PC room registration module 42 transmits information necessary for PC room registration to the item purchase agent 20 so as to be registered as a member PC room.

To this end, the type of information that the PC room registration module 42 needs to receive from the PC provider can be configured in various ways, for example, a PC room member ID, a password, a name of a PC room representative, The address of a PC room, the IP address of each PC equipped in a PC room, etc. are mentioned.

The charging module 43 plays a role of charging the own PC room account set in the item purchase agent 20.

The account information inquiry module 44 transmits a message for searching the account information of the corresponding PC room to the item purchase agent device 20, and the account balance, use status, statistics, etc. of the account returned by the item purchase agent device 20. Receive and output various information related to the account.

The purchase request processing module 45 transmits the identification information of the PC room user who wants to purchase the game item and the game item information to be purchased to the item purchase agent 20 to request the purchase of the game item. In addition, the PC room management module 41 transmits the purchase state of the game item to the PC room management module 41 according to the response from the item purchase agent 20 to the game item purchase request, so that the PC room management module 41 of the PC room user's PC is provided. It can be managed as room usage information.

That is, when the PC room user notifies the PC provider that he / she wants to purchase a specific item of a specific game, the PC service provider can identify the corresponding user identification information and the type of game according to the user interface (UI) provided by the purchase request processing module 45. By inputting the type of the game item, etc., and transmits it to the item purchase agency server 20 to request the purchase of the game item. The user identification information may include a game account for the game.

In addition, the purchase request processing module 45 transmits the purchase state of the game item to the corresponding PC room management module 41 when the response message for the game item purchase request is received from the item purchase agent device 20. Let (41) manage as PC room use information of the PC room user concerned. At this time, the process of adding the purchase price of the corresponding item to the user's PC room usage fee, of course, can also be performed.

An embodiment of an item purchase agency service method according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

First, the registered member PC room is able to charge the payment means to be used for the purchase of the game item in their account through the communication network (S51). Step S51 may include a payment procedure for the PC provider to purchase the payment means.

Then, in step S51, a request for purchasing a specific game item for a specific user is received from the member PC room in which a payment means is charged in his account (S52).

Whether or not the purchase request of the game item is made in the member PC room in step S52 may be configured to be identified through the ID and ID of the PC room or the IP address of the computer device that transmitted the purchase request message of the game item. . In addition, the game item purchase request in step S52 may include user identification information, the type of game, the type of item, and the like. The user identification information may include a game account owned by the user for the game.

When a game item purchase request is received through step S52, the game service system communicates with a game service system that sells the game item so that the game service system recognizes the specific game item as owned by the specific user (S53).

In step S53, the game service system processes the game item to be recognized as owned by a specific user, so that the specific game item is owned by the specific user in a database linked with a game server providing the game service. It can be understood as the process of recording.

In other words, the game server can determine what items are owned by each user through the information recorded in the database, so that only the user who owns the game item can proceed with the game using the game item. Because.

When the process in step S53 is normally performed, the purchase price of the specific game item is deducted from the account of the member PC room charged through step S51 (S54). At this time, the degree of deduction may be configured to apply a certain discount rate to the price when the individual user directly purchases without using the purchasing agent service of the PC room. Then, the PC vendor can obtain the commission income from the item purchase agency by the difference, and the profit can be distributed without a separate settlement procedure with the PC owner.

An example of the overall process of performing an item purchase agency service according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 6.

First, the PC provider charges his account with a payment means for the purchase of the game item between the item purchase agent 20 (S60). In this case, a payment procedure using various payment means such as a credit card may be performed to charge the payment means.

On the other hand, the PC room user asks the PC provider to act for the purchase of a specific item of a specific game (S60-1). Step S60-1 may be performed in a form in which a PC room user directly requests a PC service provider offline, but the PC room management computer 32 is connected to the PC room management computer 32 by a computer program installed in the user PC 31-1 of the PC room. It may be made in communication.

Then, the PC service provider inputs the identification information of the user (for example, the user's game account), the type of the game, the type of the game item, and the like on the user interface (UI) screen of the PC room management computer 32 (S60). -2), the purchase of the corresponding game item is requested by transmitting to the item purchase agent 20 (S60-3).

The item purchase agent 20 refers to the ID and password of the PC provider included in the purchase request message or the IP address of the PC room management computer 32 to determine whether it is a registered PC room and the account balance of the PC room. Check (S60-4).

If the result of the check in step S60-4 is not a registered PC room or the balance is less than the purchase price of the item requested to be purchased (S60-5), an error message indicating this is transmitted to the PC room management computer 32 (S60). -6), an error message is displayed on the PC room management computer 32, and the procedure ends (S60-7). However, if it is confirmed in step S60-4 that the registered PC room and the balance is more than the purchase price of the game item requested to be purchased (S60-5), the item purchase agency 20 is the game item received in step S60-3 In connection with the purchase request, the item selling server 34 requests the corresponding user to sell the game item (S60-8).

The item selling server 34 records the state in which the user owns the corresponding item in the database 36 interworking with the game server 35 (S60-9), and notifies that the sale of the corresponding game item is normally performed. The confirmation message is transmitted to the item purchase agent 20 (S60-10).

The item purchase agent apparatus 20 subtracts the price corresponding to the game item purchase from the corresponding PC room account (S60-11), and transmits a message indicating that the item purchase is normally made to the PC room management computer 32 ( S60-12). At this time, it is of course possible to transmit information necessary for efficient management in the PC room, such as the current balance information after the deduction has been made.

The PC room management computer 32 now displays a message indicating that the purchase of the game item requested in step S60-3 has been normally performed (S60-13), and the PC service provider requests the purchase of the game item in step S60-1. Notify one user (S60-14). In this case, the PC service provider may directly notify the user in the offline state, but may also inform the user PC 31-1 from the PC room management computer 32 through the communication.

The user can now proceed with the game using the newly purchased game item while using the game service provided by the game server 35 (S60-15).

As described above, the user of the PC room can conveniently purchase and use game items without using his or her own payment method such as a credit card or a mobile phone.

Meanwhile, the item purchase agency 20 and the game service system 33 may be operated by different operators. At this time, the operator of the item purchase agency 20 may enter into a contract with the PC provider for the provision of the purchase service, and the company of the game service system 33 may enter into an item sales agency contract.

In addition, the revenue structure for the purchase and sale of the game item between the PC provider, the operator of the item purchasing agency 20, the operator of the game service system 33 can be configured in various ways as needed.

As an example, when the item purchase agency server 20 requests the sale of the game item to the item sale server 34 as described above, it may be configured to pay a certain item sale price to the item sale server 34. You can also settle payments for items on a regular basis.

The above-described embodiments are intended to help the understanding of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and can be variously modified and implemented by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention. to be

According to the present invention, the PC room can act as a substitute for the game item of the user of the PC room, the game item purchase price can be included in the PC room fee.

Accordingly, a user using a PC room can easily purchase necessary game items even if they do not have a valid online payment means such as a credit card. In addition, all game items can be purchased without having all payment methods that can be different for each item selling server.

For PC owners, you can get a certain fee instead of purchasing game items. For game service providers who provide game services, they can expect additional sales by pioneering a new sales method called on-site sales of PC rooms, and can also acquire users who are not suitable for online payment as customers.

In addition, when a separate third party operator operates the item purchase agent device, a profit of a relay service fee for selling game items may be obtained, and a period benefit may be obtained through pre-sale of a payment means for a PC room.

Claims (8)

A PC room registration unit that receives information necessary for PC room registration and registers as a member PC room that can use a purchasing agent service of a game item; A charging unit for charging a payment means to be used to purchase a game item in an account of the member PC room according to a charge request from the member PC room; Upon receiving a specific game item purchase request for a specific user from the member PC room, it communicates with a game service system that sells the game item, requests the specific user to sell the specific game item, and receives the response to receive the member PC room. Purchase processing unit to deliver to the room; And And a settlement unit for deducting a payment means of a predetermined value from the account of the member PC room when the game item sale request by the purchase processing unit is normally processed. Receiving the sale request of the game item from the item purchase agent of claim 1, the specific user records in the database as a state that owns the specific game item, and the processing result is returned to the item purchase agent. An item selling server; And And a game server that provides the game service through a communication network by using the information of the database. PC room management module for managing the use information for each PC in the PC room; A PC room registration module for transmitting the information necessary for registering the PC room to the item purchase agent according to claim 1 and registering it as a member PC room; A charging module for charging a PC room account set in the item purchasing agent; An account information inquiry module for inquiring the PC room account information by communicating with the item purchase agent device; And Item purchase agency comprising a purchase request processing module for transmitting a specific game item purchase request for the user of the PC room to the item purchasing agent, and transmits the purchase status of the game item to the PC room management module in response to the response. PC room management device for. The method of claim 3, wherein The PC room management module, the PC room registration module, the charging module, the account information inquiry module, and the purchase request processing module is configured to include a computer program installed in the management computer of the PC room to perform a corresponding function. PC room management device for the item purchase agency characterized in that. The method of claim 3, wherein The game item purchase request is a PC room management apparatus for an item purchase agent, characterized in that configured to include the user's game account, the type of game, and information for identifying the type of item. Allowing a registered member PC room to charge a payment method to be used to purchase a game item in its account; Receiving a purchase request for a specific game item for a specific user from the member PC room through a communication network; Communicating with a game service system selling the particular game item to process the game service system to recognize the particular game item as owned by the particular user; And And subtracting a payment means of a predetermined value according to the game item purchase from the account of the member PC room. The method of claim 6, Whether or not the member PC room is an item purchase agency service, characterized in that configured to identify through the ID (ID) and password of the registered PC room, or the IP address of the computer device that sent the purchase request message of the game item Way. The method of claim 6, And the value of the deducted payment means is configured to apply a certain discount rate to the value when the user purchases the corresponding game item individually without going through the PC room.

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