Interactive game system using game data encoded within a video signal
First Claim
1. An interactive entertainment system comprising:
- at least one input device;
a control unit comprising;
an input interface for receiving commands from said at least one input device;
a signal formatter for receiving at least one received wireless signal and for programming said control unit to produce output signals according to a detected communication protocol of said received wireless signal; and
a wireless transmitter that transmits said output signals according to said detected communication protocol, said output signals being capable of controlling a separate video playback device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An interactive game system includes a specially prepared DVD game disk with video images such as of a game show, and game data and instructions encoded within the VBI data on the disk. A game control unit receives all of the video signals recorded on from the DVD including both video images and the VBI data, extracts the VBI data, and uses the VBI data in conjunction with a plurality of handheld player inputs to allow users to select and answer game questions. The game control unit keeps track of whether the player inputs were correct or incorrect, the players'"'"' cumulative scores in accordance with their answers, and displays the players cumulative scores as video overlay on top of the recorded video images to be sent to a video display such as a standard television set. The game control unit controls chapter selection on the user'"'"'s particular DVD player model via a programmable wireless transmitter, and performs other logic, video, and audio generating and processing functions to allow a highly interactive game playing experience for multiple players.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. An interactive entertainment system comprising:
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at least one input device; a control unit comprising; an input interface for receiving commands from said at least one input device; a signal formatter for receiving at least one received wireless signal and for programming said control unit to produce output signals according to a detected communication protocol of said received wireless signal; and a wireless transmitter that transmits said output signals according to said detected communication protocol, said output signals being capable of controlling a separate video playback device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An interactive entertainment system comprising:
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a video disk containing a recorded video signal and game data encoded within said video signal, said video disk being suitable for playing in a video disk player to reproduce said video signal; game player input means for receiving player inputs; and control circuitry for; receiving the video signal from the video disk player and extracts the game data therefrom; and sending command signals to the video disk player in accordance with the game data and the received player inputs to produce an interactive game. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An interactive entertainment system comprising:
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at least one player input device for receiving inputs from a plurality of players; and a game unit operatively connected to said at least one player input device, said game unit comprising; a video input port for receiving a video signal containing both video images and game data; a player input port for receiving inputs from said at least one player input device; scoring logic for awarding point values to players according to their respective inputs, and for keeping accumulated scores of said players; a game data extraction section for extracting said game data from said video signal; a video processing section for producing processed video, said processed video comprising at least said accumulated scores of said plurality of players; a video switching section for switching a video display device to be selectively operatively connected to either said video images or to said processed video, such that said video display device selectively displays either said video images or said video images plus player score information.
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13. An interactive entertainment system comprising:
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at least one player input device; a game controller having; game control logic; a first port operatively connected to said at least one player input device; a second port for receiving an input video signal and game data encoded therein from a external video source; a third port for sending at least a portion of said video signal to an external video display device; and audio signal circuitry for producing an audio signal according to progression of a game. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. An interactive entertainment system comprising:
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at least one player input device, said input device outputting a wireless player command signal; a game unit comprising; a receiver for receiving said wireless player command signal; a processor for controlling progression of a game; an output port for outputting a video playback control signal, said video playback control signal selectively controlling which portion of a prerecorded video program will be played; and logic for detecting a state of said game and, depending on said state of said game, in response to said wireless player command signal performing either the step of (a) sending a command to a video playback device to move an on-screen cursor, or (b) detecting which of a plurality of players responded first to a game event.
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18. An entertainment system comprising:
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a game data extraction unit for receiving a video signal from a video playback device, the video signal containing video information and game data, and for extracting the game data; and a plurality of interactive game units, each interactive game unit comprising; a first display and at least one user input means associated therewith; and response logic for determining whether an input received from said at least one user input is a correct input in response to the video information being shown on a second display, and for indicating on the first display that the user'"'"'s input was correct. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A digital versatile disk (DVD) with machine instructions in video blanking interval (VBI) data, wherein said machine instructions are associated with a video sequence on said DVD and cause multiple interactive game units to process data.
Specification