Instrument Game System and Method

• US 20110207513A1
• Filed: 03/14/2011
• Published: 08/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ubisoft Entertainment S.A.
• Original Assignee: Ubisoft Entertainment S.A.
• Inventors: Bonardi, Nicholas, Cross, Paul, Higo, Naomi
• Granted Patent: US 8,907,193 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/7
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/215 comprising means for detecting acoustic signals, e.g. using a microphone
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/245 specially adapted to a particular type of game, e.g. steering wheels
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/44 involving timing of operations, e.g. performing an action within a time slot
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/46 Computing the game score
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/533 for prompting the player, e.g. by displaying a game menu
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/67 adaptively or by learning from player actions, e.g. skill level adjustment or by storing successful combat sequences for re-use
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/814 Musical performances, e.g. by evaluating the player's ability to follow a notation
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1062 being specially adapted to a type of game, e.g. steering wheel
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6027 using adaptive systems learning from user actions, e.g. for skill level adjustment
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/61 Score computation
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/638 according to the timing of operation or a time limit
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8047 Music games
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/368 displaying animated or moving pictures synchronized with the music or audio part
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/38 Chord
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/091 for performance evaluation, i.e. judging, grading or scoring the musical qualities or faithfulness of a performance, e.g. with respect to pitch, tempo or other timings of a reference performance
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2220/015 Musical staff, tablature or score displays, e.g. for score reading during a performance
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2220/151 Musical difficulty level setting or selection

Abstract

A game system and method that uses an instrument as an input encourages a user to play along with the game'"'"'s soundtrack on an instrument (e.g. guitar, bass, etc.). The game cues the player to play notes and/or chords on the instrument at an appropriate time and then data is collected from the instrument via a connection between the instrument and the apparatus running the game. The game then scores the user based on note/chord and timing information it receives.

Claims

1. A method for evaluating a live instrument performance, comprising:

providing a song that has a plurality of phrases and each phrase further comprises one or more notes to be played by the player on an instrument and wherein each phrase has two or more difficulty levels;

receiving data about the one or more notes in a phrase played by the player using the instrument; and

automatically adjusting, during the playing of the song, the difficulty level for the phrase based on the data about the one or more notes in a phrase played by the player.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically adjusting the difficulty level further comprises increasing the difficulty level of the phrase when the data about the one or more notes in a phrase played by the player show that the player played the one or more notes properly for more than a threshold percentage for the phrase.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically adjusting the difficulty level further comprises decreasing the difficulty level of the phrase when the data about the one or more notes in a phrase played by the player show that the player did not play the one or more notes properly less than a threshold percentage for the phrase.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically adjusting the difficulty level further comprises automatically adjusting, during the playing of the song, the difficulty level for each phrase in the song based on the data about the one or more notes in a phrase played by the player.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the live instrument performance further comprises a live stringed instrument performance.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the instrument further comprises a guitar, a bass, violin, a banjo, a piano, a voice, a clarinet or a steel drum.

7. An apparatus for evaluating a live instrument performance, comprising:

a storage unit that stores a song that has a plurality of phrases and each phrase further comprises one or more notes to be played by the player on an instrument and wherein each phrase has two or more difficulty levels;

a computing device coupled to the storage unit, the computing device having an instrument interface that is capable of receiving data about the one or more notes in a phrase played by the player using the instrument; and

the computing device further comprising a game unit having a difficulty adjusting unit that automatically adjusts, during the playing of the song, the difficulty level for the phrase based on the data about the one or more notes in a phrase played by the player.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the difficulty adjusting unit increases the difficulty level of the phrase when the data about the one or more notes in a phrase played by the player show that the player played the one or more notes properly for more than a threshold percentage for the phrase.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the difficulty adjusting unit decreases the difficulty level of the phrase when the data about the one or more notes in a phrase played by the player show that the player did not play the one or more notes properly less than a threshold percentage for the phrase.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the difficulty adjusting unit automatically adjusts, during the playing of the song, the difficulty level for each phrase in the song based on the data about the one or more notes in a phrase played by the player.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the instrument further comprises a stringed instrument.

12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the instrument further comprises a guitar, a bass, violin, a banjo, a piano, a voice, a clarinet or a steel drum.

13. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the instrument interface samples a user performance using the instrument.

14. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the computing device further comprises a personal computer, a game console, a networked computer or a gaming apparatus.

15. A computer readable medium having stored thereon instruction which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the operations of:

providing a song that has a plurality of phrases and each phrase further comprises one or more notes to be played by the player on an instrument and wherein each phrase has two or more difficulty levels;

receiving data about the one or more notes in a phrase played by the player using the instrument; and

automatically adjusting, during the playing of the song, the difficulty level for the phrase based on the data about the one or more notes in a phrase played by the player.