ONLINE SOCIAL MEDIA GAME

• US 20110244954A1
• Filed: 02/14/2011
• Published: 10/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Javelin XIP, LLC, Onset VI L.P.
• Original Assignee: Oddmobb, Inc. (Xmobb, Inc.)
• Inventors: Goldman, Daniel M., Lanning, Lorne
• Application Number:
  US13/026,579
• Publication Number:
  US 20110244954A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/30
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/53 involving additional visual information provided to the game scene, e.g. by overlay to simulate a head-up display [HUD] or displaying a laser sight in a shooting game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/54 involving acoustic signals, e.g. for simulating revolutions per minute [RPM] dependent engine sounds in a driving game or reverberation against a virtual wall
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/61 using advertising information
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/65 automatically by game devices or servers from real world data, e.g. measurement in live racing competition
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/795 for finding other players; for building a team; for providing a buddy list
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/86 Watching games played by other players
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/535 for monitoring, e.g. of user parameters, terminal parameters, application parameters, network parameters
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5553 user representation in the game field, e.g. avatar
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/556 Player lists, e.g. online players, buddy list, black list
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8064 Quiz

Abstract

An online game is provided in which game participants select videos to play to other game participants. The game presents a virtual social venue including a virtual video screen positioned in front of a virtual audience. The virtual audience is populated with representations of game participants visible to all, creating the ambience of a live event. Mechanisms are provided to incentivize the selection of entertaining and captivating videos. Game participants register their approval or disapproval of the video content through a social feedback tool. The game interface monitors the collective feedback of game participants and simulates a crowd response consistent with the participants'"'"' feedback.

Claims

1. A method of playing a game comprising:

a plurality of game participants selecting videos to play to the plurality of game participants;

the plurality of game participants providing positive or negative feedback on the videos; and

simulating crowd responses to the videos based upon the feedback the game participants give to the videos.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the game is online.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the game includes a game environment that comprises a representation of a virtual audience, populated with representations of the game participants, positioned in front of a virtual video screen for playing the videos to game participants.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the game environment also includes a representation of a tool for registering positive or negative feedback to a video being played.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the crowd response is simulated with sounds of a crowd of people clapping, cheering, whistling, and/or jeering.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

placing the selected videos in a queue; and

playing the videos in the queue to the plurality of game participants.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

for each playing video, monitoring the collective feedback of the game participants to the video;

terminating the video if the collective feedback is negative and exceeds a threshold; and

upon termination of a video, playing the next video in the queue.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

ranking the videos based upon the collective feedback of the game participants.

9. An online game comprising:

a virtual video screen for playing a video to game participants;

a virtual audience, populated with representations of the game participants, positioned in front of the virtual video screen;

a video queue that advances pointers to videos to be played to game participants; and

an interface enabling game participants to select videos to place in the video queue.

10. The online game of claim 9, further comprising:

an interface enabling game participants to search for videos to play on the virtual video screen.

11. The online game of claim 10, further comprising:

an interface enabling game participants to register positive or negative feedback to the videos being played.

12. The online game of claim 11, wherein the online game simulates a crowd response to the videos based upon the feedback the game participants give to a playing video.

13. The online game of claim 9, further comprising:

an interface enabling game participants to invite friends from a social network to join the game.

14. An interface for a game in which game participants select videos to play to other game participants and express their reactions to the videos, the interface comprising:

a selection pane for selecting videos to play to the game participants;

a virtual video screen for playing the selected videos to the game participants;

a virtual audience, populated with representations of the game participants, positioned in front of the virtual video screen; and

a tool for expressing reactions to the videos.

15. The interface of claim 14, further comprising:

a video queue that advances pointers to videos to be played to game participants;

wherein videos are added the video queue in response to their selection in the selection pane.

16. The interface of claim 14, wherein the selection pane enables searching for videos to play to the game participants.

17. The interface of claim 14, further comprising:

a module enabling game participants to invite friends from a social network to join the game.

18. The interface of claim 14, wherein the interface simulates crowd responses to the videos based upon the feedback the game participants give to the videos.

19. The interface of claim 18, wherein the interface monitors the collective feedback of the game participants to each video and terminates a video if the collective feedback is negative and exceeds a threshold.

20. The interface of claim 14, wherein the game is online.