PRESENTING WAGERING GAME CONTENT IN MULTIPLE WINDOWS

• US 20110028203A1
• Filed: 03/03/2009
• Published: 02/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LNW Gaming Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: WMS Gaming Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Inventors: Agarwal, Vijay K., Parra, Jacqueline F., Burke, Mary M., Pace, Mark C., Pryor, David M., Grabiec, Jacek A., Dinovo, Timothy F., Gangadharan, Magesh, Halprin, James S., Ward, Matthew J., Buchholz, Dale R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,430,741 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/20
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3211 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3244 Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3286 Type of games

Abstract

Described herein are processes and devices that present wagering game content in multiple windows. One of the devices described is a wagering game system. The wagering game system can receive wagering game content and control information from more than one content provider. The wagering game system can present the content from the various content providers in one or more windows, such as by presenting content from one provider in a main window while presenting content from a second provider in one or more auxiliary windows. The wagering game system can also determine priority information for content displayed in the windows and control the appearance and actions of the windows, or content displayed within the windows, based on the priority information.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving primary wagering game content and control information from a primary content source;

receiving secondary wagering game content and control information from a secondary content source;

presenting the primary wagering game content in a main window and the secondary wagering game content in one or more auxiliary windows of a wagering game machine;

determining content priority information for the primary wagering game content and the secondary wagering game content; and

controlling the appearance and actions of the main window and the one or more auxiliary windows based on the content priority information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the primary content source is a first wagering game manufacturer store and the secondary content source is a second wagering game manufacturer store.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the controlling comprises processing the primary wagering game content and the secondary wagering game content simultaneously.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises:

detecting a first wagering game result for the primary wagering game content,

detecting a second wagering game result for the secondary wagering game content, and

determining the respective importance of the first wagering game result and the second wagering game result by comparing each result to a set of priority rules.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the controlling further comprises:

processing the first wagering game result and the second wagering game result in order of their respective importance.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the controlling includes controlling any one or more of the position, the layering, the size, the movement, the reactions, the controls, the display, and the characteristics of the main window and the one or more auxiliary windows based on the content priority information.

7. One or more machine-readable media having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a set of one or more processors causes the set of one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving a first control statement to process primary wagering game content in a first content window on a wagering game machine, wherein the primary content originates from a first wagering game provider;

receiving a second control statement to process secondary wagering game content in a second content window on the same wagering game machine, wherein the secondary wagering game content originates from a second wagering game provider;

determining a priority for the first control statement and the second control statement based on a set of priority rules; and

processing the first control statement and the second control statement according to the priority.

8. The machine-readable media of claim 7, wherein the first content provider provides wagering games from a first wagering game manufacturer and wherein the second content provider provides wagering games from a second wagering game manufacturer.

9. The machine-readable media of claim 7, wherein the operation of determining a priority for the first control statement and the second control statement based on a set of priority rules comprises determining a portion of content to be displayed in any one or more of the first content window and the second content window and generating a third control statement to change the size of any one or more of the first content window and the second content window to present the portion of content.

10. The machine-readable media of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a wagering game player request;

determining the respective priority of the wagering game player request in relation to any one or more of the first control statement and the second control statement; and

processing the wagering game player request according to its respective priority.

11. The machine-readable media of claim 7, wherein the operation for processing the first control statement and the second control statement according to the priority comprises deactivating one or more wagering game player request controls while processing any one or more of the primary wagering game content and the secondary wagering game content.

12. A system, comprising:

a primary wagering game server configured to provide primary wagering game content and primary control instructions regarding primary wagering game content;

a secondary wagering game server configured to provide secondary wagering game content and secondary control instructions regarding secondary wagering game content; and

a wagering game machine configured to present the primary and secondary wagering game content, wherein the wagering game machine is configured to present the primary wagering game content and the secondary wagering game content in any one or more of a main window and one or more auxiliary windows.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the primary wagering game server is configured to serve wagering games created by a first wagering game manufacturer and the second wagering game server is configured to serve wagering games created by a second wagering game manufacturer.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein any one or more of the main window and the one or more auxiliary windows includes one or more controls for a wagering game player to interact with both the primary wagering game content and the secondary wagering game content.

15. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

a coordination unit configured to

determine from the primary control instructions and the secondary control instructions respective priorities for the primary wagering game content and the secondary wagering game content; and

control any one or more of the main window and the one or more auxiliary windows according to the respective priorities of the primary and secondary wagering game content.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the main window is configured to present a primary wagering game and the one or more auxiliary windows comprise a first auxiliary window configured to present a second wagering game and a second auxiliary window configured to present a third wagering game, and wherein the coordination unit is configured to

determine from the primary control instructions and the secondary control instructions that the second wagering game has a higher priority than both the primary wagering game and the third wagering game;

and

raise the first auxiliary window above both the second auxiliary window and the main window.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the wagering game machine comprises any one or more of meters and controls to control wagering activity for both the primary wagering game content and the secondary wagering game content.

18. An apparatus, comprising:

a primary content controller configured to provide control information for primary wagering game content;

a secondary content controller configured to provide control information for secondary wagering game content;

a windows controller configured to control the presentation of the primary wagering game content and the secondary wagering game content on a plurality of content windows on a wagering game machine; and

a coordination unit configured to coordinate the presentation of the primary wagering game content and the secondary wagering game content in the plurality of content windows.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the windows controller is configured to control any one or more of the position, the layering, the size, the movement, the reactions, the controls, the display, and the characteristics of the plurality of content windows.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the coordination unit is configured to reconcile conflicting priority control statements from any one or more of the primary content controller and the secondary content controller.

21. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein windows controller is configured to present the secondary wagering game content with greater significance than the primary wagering game content when the secondary wagering game content is presenting a high priority event.

22. An apparatus, comprising:

means for receiving primary wagering game content and secondary wagering game content from a plurality of wagering game servers.

means for presenting primary wagering game content on a main window of a wagering game machine, wherein the primary wagering game content includes one or more client-side application files from a first wagering game manufacturer; and

means for presenting secondary wagering game content in one or more auxiliary windows of the wagering game machine, wherein the secondary wagering game content includes a server-side application file from a second wagering game manufacturer.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein any one or more of the primary and secondary wagering game content are advertisement animations, and wherein presenting the primary and secondary wagering game content comprises means for presenting the advertisement animations in the main window and the one or more auxiliary windows according to any one or more of a periodic display schedule and a cyclical display schedule.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the one or more auxiliary windows contain means for presenting a plurality of tabs.

25. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising:

means for determining that the secondary wagering game content results in a high priority event;

means for pausing processing of the primary wagering game content;

means for presenting the secondary wagering game content with the high priority event in the one or more auxiliary windows so that the one or more auxiliary windows covers at least some portion of the main window; and

means for resuming processing of the primary wagering game content.