Video pachinko on a video platform as a gaming device

• US 20050020341A1
• Filed: 05/28/2004
• Published: 01/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Brosnan, William R.
• Granted Patent: US 7,125,333 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/16
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 7/022 Pachinko
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements

Abstract

A disclosed gaming machine presents pachinko games to a player playing the gaming machine. In some embodiments, a player may initiate a new pachinko game on the gaming machine while the outcome of a previous pachinko game is being presented to the player. The wagers on each game may be different. Also, a player may input parameters into the gaming machine that affect the game outcome presentation. For a number of different games, two or more game outcomes may be presented simultaneously to the player on the gaming machine. However, the game outcomes determined by the gaming machine are independent of one another and do not depend on the game outcome presentation. Normally, the game outcomes are determined using a random number generator and a pay table stored in a memory on the gaming machine.

Claims

1. A method of playing a game sequence on a gaming machine, the method comprising:

under control of a master gaming controller on the gaming machine, receiving a first input signal to select two or more balls in the game sequence;

under control of the master gaming controller, for each ball, receiving a second input signal indicating a wager amount for a video pachinko game of chance represented by each ball;

under control of the master gaming controller, determining an independent game outcome for each video pachinko game of chance represented wherein each ball corresponds to one video pachinko game of chance; and

under control of the master gaming controller, displaying a game outcome for each of the balls in the game sequence on a video display screen wherein the gaming machine is operable to display simultaneously two or more of the balls in the game sequence.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

under control of the master gaming controller, displaying an award amount for one or more of the balls on the video display screen.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

under control of the master gaming controller, launching two or more balls simultaneously on the video display screen.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the gaming machine is operable to receive a different wager amount for each ball in the game sequence.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a number of balls for the game sequence is selected using a touch screen display.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising, under control of the master gaming controller, displaying on a touch screen display a ball reservoir showing balls available for play in the game sequence and

under control of the master gaming controller, receiving one or more third input signals indicating a selection of one or more of the balls in the ball reservoir.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the ball reservoir includes two or more balls and wherein at least two of the balls are of a different from one another.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the balls are different from one another to represent a different wager amount for each of the different balls.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the third input signal is used to determine the wager amount associated with the selected ball.

10. A method of playing a game sequence on a gaming machine, the method comprising:

under control of a master gaming controller on the gaming machine, receiving a first input signal to select a number of balls in the game sequence;

under control of the master gaming controller, receiving a second input signal indicating a first wager amount for the game sequence;

under control of the master gaming controller, determining a second wager amount for each ball by dividing the first wager amount by the number of balls in the game sequence;

under control of the master gaming controller, determining an independent game outcome for each the game of chance represented by each ball and the second the second wager amount;

under control of the master gaming controller, displaying a game outcome for each of the balls in the game sequence on a video display screen wherein the gaming machine is operable to display simultaneously two or more of the balls in the game sequence.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

under control of the master gaming controller, displaying an award amount for one or more of the balls on the video display screen based upon the second wager amount.

12. A method of generating a pachinko game of chance on a gaming machine, the method comprising:

under control of a master gaming controller on the gaming machine, displaying on a touch screen display a ball reservoir wherein the ball reservoir comprises one or more balls and wherein the master gaming controller is operable to display two or more balls that are different from one another in the ball reservoir;

under control of the master gaming controller, receiving a first input signal from the touch screen display wherein the first input signal is for indicating a selection of at least one ball in the ball reservoir;

under control of the master gaming controller, determining a game outcome for the pachinko game of chance; and

under control of the master gaming controller, displaying on a video display a presentation of the game outcome determined for the pachinko game of chance wherein the presentation comprises the ball selected from the ball reservoir moving through a pachinko game layout.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising, under control of the master gaming controller, displaying on the video display launching the ball selected from the ball reservoir into the pachinko game layout.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the two or more balls are different from one another in a wager amount that each of the balls represents.

15. The method of claim 12, under control of the master gaming controller, wherein the selection of the ball from the ball reservoir determines the wager amount for the pachinko game of chance corresponding to the selected ball.

16. The method of claim 12, under control of the master gaming controller, receiving a second input signal indicating a wager amount for a pachinko game of chance.

17. A method of generating a pachinko game of chance on a gaming machine, the method comprising:

under control of a master gaming controller on the gaming machine, displaying on a touch screen video display a ball and a plunger, wherein a first end of the plunger is proximate to the ball;

under control of the master gaming controller, receiving a first input signal to start a first movement of the plunger, wherein the first end of the plunger appears to move away from the ball during the first movement on the touch screen video display;

under control of the master gaming controller, receiving a second input signal to start a second movement of the plunger towards the ball, wherein during the second movement, the first end of the plunger appears to strike the ball and launch the ball into a pachinko game layout;

under control of the master gaming controller, determining a game outcome for the pachinko game of chance wherein the game outcome is independent of the first movement and the second movement of the plunger; and

under control of the master gaming controller, determining a trajectory for the ball in the pachinko game layout wherein the trajectory in the pachinko game layout is dependent on the game outcome determined for the pachinko game of chance and on the first movement and the second movement of the plunger; and

under control of the master gaming controller, displaying on a video display the determined trajectory for the ball in the pachinko game layout.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising, under control of the master gaming controller, determining a distance the first end of the plunger has moved away from the ball.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the plunger appears to strike the ball harder as the distance is increased.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising, under control of the master gaming controller, selecting the trajectory from a trajectory database comprising a plurality of trajectories.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the trajectory is simulated in real-time.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the first movement and the second movement of the plunger are used to determine an initial velocity for the ball.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the second movement is started without receiving the second input signal.

24. The method of claim 17, further comprising, under control of a master gaming controller on the gaming machine, displaying on the touch screen display a ball reservoir wherein the ball reservoir comprises one or more balls and wherein the master gaming controller is operable to display two or more balls that are different from one another in the ball reservoir;

under control of the master gaming controller, receiving a third input signal from the touch screen display wherein the third input signal is for indicating a selection of at least one ball in the ball reservoir and wherein the plunger appears to strike the selected ball.

25. The method of claim 17, wherein the plunger appears to launch two or more balls into the pachinko game layer at the same time.

26. The method of claim 17, further comprising, under control of the master gaming controller, receiving a wager for the pachinko game of chance.