GAME METHOD AND GAME SYSTEM

• US 20070087827A1
• Filed: 10/05/2006
• Published: 04/19/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Konami Digital Entertainment Company Limited (Konami Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Konami Digital Entertainment Company Limited (Konami Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Hirota, Ryuhei
• Granted Patent: US 7,918,737 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/40
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/10 Control of the course of the game, e.g. start, progess, end
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/12 involving interaction between a plurality of game devices, e.g. transmisison or distribution systems protocols for networked virtual reality, networked games H04L29/06034
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/30 Interconnection arrangements between game servers and game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/45 Controlling the progress of the video game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/71 using secure communication between game devices and game servers, e.g. by encrypting game data or authenticating players
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/798 for assessing skills or for ranking players, e.g. for generating a hall of fame computing the game score A63F13/46
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/812 Ball games, e.g. soccer or baseball
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/402 Communication between platforms, i.e. physical link to protocol
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/407 Data transfer via internet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/50 characterized by details of game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/534 for network load management, e.g. bandwidth optimization, latency reduction
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/552 for downloading to client devices, e.g. using OS version, hardware or software profile of the client device
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5546 using player registration data, e.g. identification, account, preferences, game history
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/558 by assessing the players' skills or ranking
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5593 involving scheduling aspects
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6054 by generating automatically game commands to assist the player, e.g. automatic braking in a driving game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/63 for controlling the execution of the game in time
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8011 Ball

Abstract

A competitive game management system is disclosed which manages a competitive game played by a plurality of players. Take, for example, a league competition played by players A, B, C, and D. Between the player A and the player B, for instance, a home game operated by the player A and an away game in which a CPU acts as the simulated player A are arranged. Similarly, between the player A and each of the other players C and D, two games are arranged respectively. These arrangements are made for all combinations of players, and a league ranking is determined based on all the results of the games. Therefore, a player can play the game against other real players, and the result of the competitive game will be evaluated equally for each player.

Claims

1. A competitive game result management system comprising a first game device operated by a first player, a second game device operated by a second player, and a competitive game result management device configured to manage the result of a competitive game played by the first and the second players,

the first game device comprising:

a first obtaining unit configured to obtain game data of the second player from the competitive game result management device; and

a first simulated competitive game unit configured to play a first simulated competitive game against the first player as a simulated second player based on the game data obtained by the first obtaining unit;

the second game device comprising;

a second obtaining unit configured to obtain game data of the first player from the competitive game result management device; and

a second simulated competitive game unit configured to play a second simulated competitive game against the second player as a simulated first player based on the game data obtained by the second obtaining unit; and

the competitive game result management device comprising;

a player information storing unit configured to store the game data of the first and the second players;

a first game data transmission unit configured to transmit the game data of the second player stored in the player information storing unit to the first game device operated by the first player;

a second game data transmission unit configured to transmit the game data of the first player stored in the player information storing unit to the second game device operated by the second player;

a first competitive game result receiving unit configured to receive the result of the first simulated competitive game from the first game device;

a second competitive game result receiving unit configured to receive the result of the second simulated competitive game from the second game device; and

a game outcome determination unit configured to determine the outcome between the first and the second players based on the result of the first simulated competitive game received by the first competitive game result receiving unit and the result of the second simulated competitive game received by the second competitive game result receiving unit.

2. The competitive game result management system according to claim 1, wherein the game data stored in the player information storing unit comprises an identifier that identifies each of the plurality of game characters operated by each player.

3. The competitive game result management system according to claim 1, wherein the game data stored in the player information storing unit comprises operation history information of each player who is playing the game.

4. The competitive game result management system according to claim 1, further comprising at least one game device operated by a player in addition to the first and the second game devices,

wherein the competitive game result management device further comprises a competitive game schedule creation unit configured to create a competitive game schedule for a combination of three or more players.

5. The competitive game result management system according to claim 4, wherein the competitive game schedule created by the competitive game schedule creation unit defines a round robin league competition of the selected players.

6. The competitive game result management system according to claim 4, wherein the competitive game schedule created by the competitive game schedule creation unit defines a tournament competition of the selected players.

7. The competitive game result management system according to claim 1, wherein the game outcome determination unit is configured to set a predetermined period within which the outcome of a game between the first and the second players is determined, and if the game outcome determination unit does not receive the result of the first simulated competitive game or the result of the second simulated competitive game within the predetermined period, the game outcome determination unit will determine the game outcome based on one of either of the results of the simulated competitive games.

8. The competitive game result management system according to claim 1, wherein the game outcome determination unit is configured to set a predetermined period within which the outcome of the game between the first and the second players is determined, and

the competitive game result management system further comprises a competitive game promoting unit configured to promote the execution of a simulated competitive game by transmitting a competitive game promoting notification to the first and/or the second game device before the predetermined period expires.

9. A competitive game result management program recorded on a computer-readable storage medium that will cause a computer to act as a competitive game result management device in a competitive game result management system comprising a first game device operated by a first player, a second game device operated by a second player, and a competitive game result management device configured to manage the results of competitive games played by the first and the second players,

the first game device comprising:

a first obtaining unit configured to obtain game data of the second player from the competitive game result management device; and

a first simulated competitive game unit configured to play a first simulated competitive game against the first player as a simulated second player based on game data obtained by the first obtaining unit;

the second game device comprising;

a second obtaining unit configured to obtain game data of the first player from the competitive game result management device; and

a second simulated competitive game unit configured to play a second simulated competitive game against the second player as a simulated first player based on the game data obtained by the second obtaining unit;

the competitive game result management program causing the computer to function as;

a player information storing unit configured to store the game data of the first and the second players;

a first game data transmission unit configured to transmit the game data of the second player stored in the player information storing unit to the first game device operated by the first player;

a second game data transmission unit configured to transmit the game data of the first player stored in the player information storing unit to the second game device operated by the second player;

a first competitive game result receiving unit configured to receive the result of the first simulated competitive game from the first game device;

a second competitive game result receiving unit configured to receive the result of the second simulated competitive game from the second game device; and

a game outcome determination unit configured to determine the outcome of a game between the first and the second players based on the result of the first simulated competitive game received by the first competitive game result receiving unit and the result of the second simulated competitive game received by the second competitive game result receiving unit.

10. A competitive game result management method executed by a competitive game management system comprising a first game device operated by a first player, a second game device operated by a second player, and a competitive game result management device configured to manage the results of competitive games played by the first and the second players,

the first game device executing the steps of:

obtaining game data of the second player from the competitive game result management device; and

playing a first simulated competitive game against the first player as a simulated second player based on the game data of the second player,

the second game device executing the steps of;

obtaining game data of the first player from the competitive game result management device; and

playing a second simulated competitive game against the second player as a simulated first player based on the game data of the first player;

the competitive game result management device executing the steps of;

storing the game data of the first player and the game data of the second player;

transmitting the game data of the second player stored in the player information storing unit to the first game device operated by the first player;

transmitting the game data of the first player stored in the player information storing unit to the second game device operated by the second player;

receiving the result of the first simulated competitive game from the first game device;

receiving the result of the second simulated competitive game from the second game device; and

determining the outcome of a game between the first and the second players based on the result of the first simulated competitive game received by the first competitive game result receiving unit and the result of the second simulated competitive game received by the second competitive game result receiving unit.