Game apparatus and game program

• US 20070243931A1
• Filed: 09/29/2006
• Published: 10/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: Sato, Kenta, Ohta, Keizo
• Granted Patent: US 8,187,096 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/37
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/211 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers or gyroscopes
• 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 2300/105 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8029 Fighting without shooting

Abstract

A game apparatus sequentially acquires acceleration data outputted by an acceleration sensor of an input device (step S2). Further, smoothed data representing a value which is obtained by smoothing an acceleration represented by the acceleration data is calculated (step S3). A game process is executed using the acceleration data and the smoothed data (step S4). For example, the game apparatus controls an action of an object appearing in a game space by using the acceleration data and the smoothed data.

Claims

1. A game apparatus for executing a game process using acceleration data which is sequentially outputted by an acceleration sensor of an input device, the game apparatus comprising:

acquisition means for sequentially acquiring the acceleration data;

smoothing means for sequentially calculating smoothed data representing a value which is obtained by smoothing an acceleration represented by the acceleration data; and

game process means for executing the game process using the acceleration data and the smoothed data.

2. The game apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the game process means includes

first action control means for determining, using the smoothed data, a state of a player object in a game space for determining a first action to be performed by the player object, and

second action control means for determining, using the acceleration data, a state of the player object for determining a second action to be performed by the player object.

3. The game apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the first action control means determines an attitude of the player object in the game space using the smoothed data, and

the second action control means determines a position of the player object in the game space using the acceleration data.

4. The game apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the second action control means determines the position of the player object in the game space by determining a movement distance using the acceleration data, and by determining a moving direction in accordance with the attitude of the player object determined by the first action control means.

5. The game apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the game process means includes

difference calculation means for calculating a difference between a value of the acceleration represented by the acceleration data and the value represented by the smoothed data, and

process execution means for executing the game process using the smoothed data and the difference.

6. The game apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

the game process means includes

third action control means for determining, using the smoothed data, a state of a player object in a game space for determining a third action to be performed by the player object, and

fourth action control means for determining, using the difference, a state of the player object for determining a fourth action to be performed by the player object.

7. The game apparatus according to claim 6, wherein

the third action control means determines an attitude of the player object in the game space using the smoothed data, and

the fourth action control means determines a position of the player object in the game space using the difference.

8. The game apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the fourth action control means determines the position of the player object in the game space by determining a movement distance using the difference, and by determining a moving direction in accordance with the attitude of the player object determined by the third action control means.

9. The game apparatus according to claim 6, wherein

the game process means includes

fifth action control means for controlling, using the smoothed data, a state of a first player object appearing in the game space for determining an action to be performed by the first player object, and

sixth action control means for controlling, using the difference, a state of a second player object appearing in the game space for determining an action to be performed by the second player object.

10. The game apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the game process means includes

seventh action control means for controlling, using the smoothed data, a state of a first player object appearing in a game space for determining an action to be performed by the first player object, and

eighth action control means for controlling, using the acceleration data, a state of a second player object appearing in the game space for determining an action to be performed by the second player object.

11. The game apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the smoothing means calculates the smoothed data by calculating the smoothed data each time the acquisition means acquires the acceleration data, and performing a calculation such that the value represented by the smoothed data having been most recently calculated approaches, at a predetermined rate, a value represented by the acceleration data having been acquired by the acquisition means.

12. The game apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the game process means includes

tilt calculation means for calculating, using the smoothed data, first data corresponding to a tilt of the input device including the acceleration sensor,

movement calculation means for calculating, using the acceleration data, second data corresponding to a movement of the input device, and

process execution means for executing the game process using the first data and the second data.

13. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a game program executed by a computer of a game apparatus for executing a game process using acceleration data which is sequentially outputted by an acceleration sensor of an input device, the game program causing the computer to execute:

an acquisition step of sequentially acquiring the acceleration data;

a smoothing step of sequentially calculating smoothed data representing a value which is obtained by smoothing an acceleration represented by the acceleration data; and

a game process step of executing the game process using the acceleration data and the smoothed data.

14. The storage medium according to claim 13, wherein

the game process step includes

a first action control step of determining, using the smoothed data, a state of a player object in a game space for determining a first action to be performed by the player object, and

a second action control step of determining, using the acceleration data, a state of the player object for determining a second action to be performed by the player object.

15. The storage medium according to claim 14, wherein

the computer determines, in the first action control step, an attitude of the player object in the game space using the smoothed data, and

the computer determines, in the second action control step, a position of the player object in the game space using the acceleration data.

16. The storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the computer determines, in the second action control step, the position of the player object in the game space by determining a movement distance using the acceleration data, and by determining a moving direction in accordance with the attitude of the player object determined in the first action control step.

17. The storage medium according to claim 13, wherein

the game process step includes

a difference calculation step of calculating a difference between a value of the acceleration represented by the acceleration data and the value represented by the smoothed data, and

a process execution step of executing the game process using the smoothed data and the difference.

18. The storage medium according to claim 17, wherein

the game process step includes

a third action control step of determining, using the smoothed data, a state of a player object in a game space for determining a third action to be performed by the player object, and

a fourth action control step of determining, using the difference, a state of the player object for determining a fourth action to be performed by the player object.

19. The storage medium according to claim 18, wherein

the computer determines, in the third action control step, an attitude of the player object in the game space using the smoothed data, and

the computer determines, in the fourth action control step, a position of the player object in the game space using the difference.

20. The storage medium according to claim 19, wherein the computer determines, in the fourth action control step, the position of the player object in the game space by determining a movement distance using the difference, and by determining a moving direction in accordance with the attitude of the player object determined in the third action control step.

21. The storage medium according to claim 17, wherein

the game process step includes

a fifth action control step of controlling, using the smoothed data, a state of a first player object appearing in a game space for determining an action to be performed by the first player object, and

a sixth action control step of controlling, using the difference, a state of a second player object appearing in the game space for determining an action to be performed by the second player object.

22. The storage medium according to claim 13, wherein

the game process step includes

a seventh action control step of controlling, using the smoothed data, a state of a first player object appearing in a game space for determining an action to be performed by the first player object, and

an eighth action control step of controlling, using the acceleration data, a state of a second player object appearing in the game space for determining an action to be performed by the second player object.

23. The storage medium according to claim 13, wherein

the smoothing step is performed each time the acceleration data is acquired, and

the computer performs, in the smoothing step, a smoothing process of calculating the smoothed data by performing a calculation by which the value represented by the smoothed data having been most recently calculated approaches, at a predetermined rate, a value represented by the acceleration data having been acquired in the acquisition step.

24. The storage medium according to claim 13, wherein

the game process means includes

a tilt calculation step of calculating, using the smoothed data, first data corresponding to a tilt of the input device including the acceleration sensor,

a movement calculation step of calculating, using the acceleration data, second data corresponding to a movement of the input device, and

a process execution step of executing the game process using the first data and the second data.