COORDINATING GROUP PLAY EVENTS FOR MULTIPLE GAME DEVICES

• US 20090275411A1
• Filed: 04/30/2008
• Published: 11/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sg Gaming, Inc. (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Bally Technologies Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Inventors: Mincey, Jeff, Kisenwether, Joseph, Nelson, Loren
• Granted Patent: US 9,092,944 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/42
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3255 Incentive, loyalty and/or promotion schemes, e.g. comps, gaming associated with a purchase, gaming funded by advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3272 Games involving multiple players

Abstract

Techniques are described for providing group play bonus events with multiple game devices. A group play bonus event is initiated based in part on the occurrence of a group play bonus event trigger. End users of game devices participate in an initiated group play bonus event if the end users qualify to participate in the group play bonus event at the time of the occurrence of the group play bonus event trigger. In some situations, group play bonus events are initiated by the occurrence of a randomly generated group play bonus event trigger.

Claims

1. A method in a networked computing system to provide group play for respective end users of a plurality of game devices, the method comprising:

automatically determining which of the end users of the plurality of game devices on which the end users are playing respective primary games qualify to participate in a group play bonus event; and

based at least in part on an occurrence of a group play bonus event trigger, automatically initiating at least one instance of a group play bonus event for the end users of the game devices that are determined to qualify to participate in the group play bonus event.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

for each of the plurality of game devices, receiving information indicative of whether the end user of the game device is eligible to participate in the group play event; and

wherein the automatically determining which of the end users of the plurality of game devices on which the end users are playing respective primary games qualify to participate in a group play bonus event is based at least in part on the information received from the plurality of game devices.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

for each of the plurality of game devices, requesting the information indicative of whether the end user of the game device is eligible to participate in the group play event from the game device, and wherein receiving the information from the game device is in response to the request.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein receiving information indicative of whether the end user of the game device is eligible to participate in the group play event includes receiving information indicative of at least one characteristic related to the end user of the game device.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein receiving information indicative of at least one characteristic related to the end user of the game device includes receiving information indicative of at least one of an amount of time that the end user has played the game device, an amount wagered by the end user, a rate at which the end user is playing, a rate at which the end user is wagering, or a status level assigned to the end user under a loyalty program.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein receiving information indicative of whether the end user of the game device is eligible to participate in the group play event includes receiving information indicative of an eligibility score maintained by the game device.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the automatically determining which of the end users of the plurality of game devices on which the end users are playing respective primary games qualify to participate in a group play bonus event is based at least in part on determining that the eligibility score received from each of the one or more game devices meets or exceeds a minimum threshold.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

randomly generating the group play bonus event trigger.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

reconfiguring one or more parameters of randomly generating the group play bonus event trigger.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving information indicative of a desired frequency that a group play bonus event is to be initiated;

based at least in part on the received information indicative of the desired frequency, automatically modifying the one or more parameters of randomly generating the group play bonus event trigger, such that the group play bonus event trigger is randomly generated at an average frequency that approximates the desired frequency indicated by the received information.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein receiving information indicative of a desired frequency that a group play event is to be initiated includes receiving an indication of an average number of minutes between successive occurrences of the group play bonus event.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein the randomly generating the group play bonus event trigger includes:

generating a random value within a range of values; and

determining whether the generated random value is a value indicative of a group play bonus event trigger.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

reconfiguring at least one of a period with which the generating a random value occurs or the range of values.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

receiving information indicative of a desired frequency that a group play event is to be initiated;

based in part on the received information indicative of the desired frequency, automatically modifying at least one of the period with which the generating a random value occurs or the range of values, such that the group play bonus event trigger is randomly generated with an average frequency that approximates the desired frequency indicated by the received information.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein randomly generating a random value includes generating the random value with a random number generator.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the group play bonus event trigger is generated by a first game device of the plurality of game devices, further comprising:

receiving information indicative of the group play bonus event trigger generated by the first game device; and

based at least in part on the received information indicative of the group play bonus event trigger, determining that the group play bonus event trigger has occurred.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

generating the group play bonus event trigger by the first game device based at least in part on an outcome of a respective primary game played by an end user of the first game device.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

generating the group play bonus event trigger by the first game device based at least in part on at least one of a number of games played by the end user of the first game device, or an amount wagered by the end user of the first game device.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information indicative of one or more characteristics of one or more of the end users of the plurality of game devices;

based at least in part on receiving the information indicative of one or more characteristics of one or more of the end users, generating the group play bonus event trigger.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein receiving information indicative of one or more characteristics of one or more of the end users includes receiving information indicative of at least one of an amount wagered by the one or more of the end users, a rate at which the one or more of the end users are playing, or a number of games played by the one or more of the end users.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein automatically initiating at least one instance of a group play bonus event for the end users of the game devices that are determined to qualify to participate in the group play bonus event includes providing at least one of one or more free games, award multipliers, bonus awards, or points under a loyalty program.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

contributing by each of the plurality of game devices, a percentage of a wager made by an end user of the game device to one or more progressive pools, and wherein automatically initiating at least one instance of a group play bonus event for the end users of the game devices that are determined to qualify to participate in the group play bonus event includes for each of at least some of the end users of the game devices that are determined to qualify to participate in the group play bonus event awarding the end user from at least some portion of at least one of the one or more progressive pools.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein automatically initiating at least one instance of a group play bonus event for the end users of the game devices that are determined to qualify to participate in the group play bonus event, further includes:

executing the one instance of the group play bonus event on at least one of a server, or one or more of the plurality of game devices on which an end user that is determined to qualify to participate in the group play event is playing.

24. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

after initiating at least one instance of a group play bonus event for the end users of the game devices that are determined to qualify to participate in the group play bonus event,

receiving information indicative of a performance of the group play bonus event from one or more game devices on which one of the end users is participating in the group play bonus event;

compiling a summary of the received information; and

providing the summary to the one or more game devices.

25. A computer-readable medium whose contents enable a computing device to provide group play for respective end users of a plurality of game devices, by:

automatically determining which of the end users of the plurality of game devices on which the end users are playing respective primary games qualify to participate in a group play bonus event; and

based at least in part on an occurrence of a group play bonus event trigger, automatically initiating at least one instance of a group play bonus event for the end users of the game devices that are determined to qualify to participate in the group play bonus event.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 25 wherein the computer-readable medium is at least one of a memory of a computing system and a data transmission medium that transmits a generated data signal containing the contents.

27. A networked computing system configured to provide group play for respective end users of a plurality of game devices, comprising:

one or more memories; and

a component that is configured to automatically determine which of the end users of the plurality of game devices on which the end users are playing respective primary games qualify to participate in a group play bonus event, and based at least in part on an occurrence of a group play bonus event trigger, automatically initiate at least one instance of a group play bonus event for the end users of the game devices that are determined to qualify to participate in the group play bonus event.

28. The networked computing system of claim 27 wherein the component is a software application that includes instructions for execution by the networked computing system.

29. The networked computing system of claim 27 wherein the networked computing system is a game device from the plurality of game devices.