Game system, game device, storage medium storing game program, and game process method

• US 10,300,383 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2017
• Issued: 05/28/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: Ito, Jun, Ohta, Keizo
• Primary Examiner(s): Leichliter, Chase E
• Application Number:
  US15/720,137
• Publication Number:
  US 20180021679A1
• Time in Patent Office: 606 Days
• Field of Search: 463 36- 38, 463 47
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/00 Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions gaming systems which provide a financial reward G07F17/32
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/211 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/213 comprising photodetecting means, e.g. cameras, photodiodes or infrared cells A63F13/219, A63F13/655 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/2145 the surface being also a display device, e.g. touch screens
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/24 Constructional details thereof, e.g. game controllers with detachable joystick handles
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/245 specially adapted to a particular type of game, e.g. steering wheels
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/26 having at least one additional display device, e.g. on the game controller or outside a game booth
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/323 between game devices with different hardware characteristics, e.g. hand-held game devices connectable to game consoles or arcade machines
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/428 involving motion or position input signals, e.g. signals representing the rotation of an input controller or a player's arm motions sensed by accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/5255 according to dedicated instructions from a player, e.g. using a secondary joystick to rotate the camera around a player's character
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/533 for prompting the player, e.g. by displaying a game menu
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/803 Driving vehicles or craft, e.g. cars, airplanes, ships, robots or tanks
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/837 Shooting of targets
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/92 Video game devices specially adapted to be hand-held while playing
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/301 using an additional display connected to the game console, e.g. on the controller
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/303 for displaying additional data, e.g. simulating a Head Up Display
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6661 for changing the position of the virtual camera
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8076 Shooting

Abstract

An example game system includes a controller device, and a game process section for performing a game process based on an operation on the controller device. The controller device includes a plurality of direction input sections, a sensor section for obtaining a physical quantity used for calculating an attitude of the controller device, and a display section for displaying a game image. The game process section first calculates the attitude of the controller device based on the physical quantity obtained by the sensor section. Then, the game process section controls an attitude of a virtual camera in a virtual space based on the attitude of the controller device, and controls a position of the virtual camera based on an input on the direction input section. A game image to be displayed on the display section is generated based on the position and the attitude of the virtual camera.

Claims

1. A game system comprising:

a controller device that includes;

(a1) a first input control manipulable by at least one finger of a user,

(a2) a second input control manipulable by at least one finger of the user, and

(a3) an inertia sensor for detecting at least one of movement and attitude of the controller device; and

at least one processor comprising hardware configured to;

(b1) control an orientation for an aiming direction for shooting in a virtual game space based on a first signal outputted from the first input control and a second signal outputted from the inertia sensor,

(b2) in response to reception of a user input to the second input control, perform a shooting process in the virtual game space in accordance with the controlled orientation for the aiming direction,

(b3) generate, based on a virtual camera positioned in the virtual game space, game images of the virtual game space, and

(b4) cause the generated game images to be outputted for display.

2. The game system of claim 1, wherein the first input control comprises a directional input control, and the first signal is outputted in response to a directional input provided to the directional input control.

3. The game system of claim 2, wherein the first input control is an analog stick.

4. The game system of claim 1, wherein the first signal and the second signal are simultaneously used to control the aiming direction for shooting in the virtual game space.

5. The game system of claim 1, wherein the second input control comprises a shoulder button.

6. The game system of claim 1, wherein the second input control is arranged on the controller device to be manipulatable by a non-thumb digit of the user.

7. The game system of claim 1, wherein the controller device further includes a third input control, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

control a position of the virtual camera in the virtual game space based on manipulation of the third input control.

8. The game system of claim 7, wherein the first input control and the third input control are disposed on opposing sides of the controller device.

9. The game system of claim 7, wherein the third input control comprises an analog stick.

10. The game system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

locate a virtual game object in the virtual game space.

11. The game system of claim 10, wherein the controller device further includes a third input control, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

control a position of the virtual game object within the virtual game space based on manipulation of the third input control.

12. The game system of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

control a position of the virtual camera in accordance with the controlled position of the virtual game object.

13. The game system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to control a position and/or orientation of the virtual camera in accordance with the controlled aiming direction.

14. The game system of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to automatically control a position and/or orientation of the virtual camera in accordance with the controlled aiming direction.

15. The game system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to set, based on the second signal, a reference attitude.

16. The game system of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to set the reference attitude in response detection of a predetermined user operation.

17. The game system of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to calculate, using the second signal, a relative attitude in relation to the set reference attitude,

wherein the aiming direction is controlled by using the calculated relative attitude.

18. The game system of claim 15, wherein the reference attitude is initially set upon start of a computer game program that is run on the game system.

19. The game system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to calculate, based on the second signal, an initial attitude of the controller device.

20. The game system of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to set the initial attitude of the controller device in response to detection of a predetermined user operation.

21. The game system of claim 1, wherein the virtual camera is controlled to present a first-person perspective view for the generated game images.

22. The game system of claim 1, wherein the virtual camera is controlled to present a third-person perspective view of a virtual game object is in the virtual game space for the generated game images.

23. The game system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to include a targeting marker in the generated game images that corresponds to the aiming direction.

24. The game system of claim 23, wherein the targeting marker is displayed substantially in a center of a display area where the generated game images are displayed on a display screen.

25. The game system of claim 1, wherein the controller device further includes a touch panel configured to receive touch input from the user, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform a predetermined process in response to the received touch input.

26. The game system of claim 1, wherein the inertial sensor includes at least one of a gyro-sensor and an acceleration sensor.

27. The game system of claim 1, wherein the orientation of the aiming direction is controllable while maintaining a position of a virtual character, which is associated with the shooting process, within the virtual game space.

28. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions for use with a game system that includes at least one processor comprising hardware and a controller device, the controller device including (1) a first input control manipulable by at least one finger of a user, (2) a second input control manipulable by at least one finger of the user, and (3) an inertia sensor for detecting at least one of movement and attitude of the controller device, the stored instructions comprising instructions that cause the processing system to:

control an orientation of an aiming direction for shooting in a virtual game space based on a first signal outputted from the first input control and a second signal outputted from the inertia sensor;

in response to reception of a user input to the second input control, perform a shooting process in the virtual game space in accordance with the controlled orientation of the aiming direction;

generate, based on a virtual camera positioned in the virtual game space, game images of the virtual game space; and

cause the generated game images to be outputted for display.

29. A computer game method that operates on a game system that includes at least one processor comprising hardware and a controller device, the controller device including (1) a first input control manipulable by at least one finger of a user, (2) a second input control manipulable by at least one finger of the user, and (3) an inertia sensor for detecting at least one of movement and attitude of the controller device, the computer game method comprising:

controlling an orientation of an aiming direction for shooting in a virtual game space based on a first signal outputted from the first input control and a second signal outputted from the inertia sensor;

in response to reception of a user input to the second input control, performing a shooting process in the virtual game space in accordance with the controlled orientation of the aiming direction;

generating, based on a virtual camera positioned in the virtual game space, game images of the virtual game space; and

causing the generated game images to be outputted for display.

30. A game system comprising:

a first input control manipulable by at least one finger of a user;

a second input control manipulable by at least one finger of the user;

an inertia sensor for detecting at least one of movement and attitude of a controller device that includes the first input control; and

at least one hardware processor configured to;

generate, based on a virtual camera positioned in a virtual game space, game images of the virtual game space, wherein the generated game images include a targeting marker that indicates a position within the virtual game space,

change an aiming direction for shooting in a virtual game space based on a first signal outputted from the first input control and a second signal outputted from the inertia sensor, wherein how the aiming direction is changed correspondingly changes the position(s) within the virtual game space that are indicated by the targeting marker,

in response to reception of a user input to the second input control of the controller device, perform a shooting process in the virtual game space based on the aiming direction, and

cause the generated game images, which include the targeting marker, to be outputted for display.

31. A game system comprising:

a first input control manipulable by at least one finger of a user;

a second input control manipulable by at least one finger of the user;

an inertia sensor for detecting at least one of movement and attitude of a controller device that includes the first input control; and

at least one hardware processor comprising hardware configured to;

generate, based on a virtual camera positioned in the virtual game space, game images of the virtual game space,

change an attitude of the virtual camera based on a first signal outputted from the first input control and a second signal outputted from the inertia sensor,

control an aiming direction for shooting in a virtual game space based on the first signal outputted from the first input control and the second signal outputted from the inertia sensor,

in response to reception of a user input to the second input control of the controller device, perform a shooting action in the virtual game space in accordance with the controlled aiming direction, and

cause the generated game images to be outputted for display.

32. The game system of claim 31, wherein the least one hardware processor is further configured to:

change the attitude of the virtual camera based on the first signal outputted from the first input control without relying on the second signal outputted from the inertia sensor while the first input control is manipulated, and

change the attitude of the virtual camera based on the second signal outputted from the inertia sensor while the first input control is not manipulated.

33. The game system of claim 31, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to:

change the attitude of the virtual camera based on the second signal outputted from the inertia sensor without relying on the first signal outputted from the first input control while the inertia sensor detects at least one of the movement and the attitude of the controller device, and

change the attitude of the virtual camera based on the first signal outputted from the first input control while the attitude of the virtual camera is not changed based on the second signal outputted from the inertia sensor.