MOBILE DEVICE ACTION GAMING

• US 20130005417A1
• Filed: 06/29/2012
• Published: 01/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Zelgor, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Zelgor, Inc.
• Inventors: Fanning, John, Schmidt, Peter, Fanning, John Jr.
• Application Number:
  US13/537,584
• Publication Number:
  US 20130005417A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/5
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/213 comprising photodetecting means, e.g. cameras, photodiodes or infrared cells A63F13/219, A63F13/655 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/327 using wireless networks, e.g. Wi-Fi® or piconet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/332 using wireless networks, e.g. cellular phone networks
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/52 involving aspects of the displayed game scene
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/5372 for tagging characters, objects or locations in the game scene, e.g. displaying a circle under the character controlled by the player
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/5378 for displaying an additional top view, e.g. radar screens or maps using two or more virtual cameras concurrently A63F13/5252
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/61 using advertising information
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/655 by importing photos, e.g. of the player
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/79 involving player-related data, e.g. identities, accounts, preferences or play histories
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/837 Shooting of targets
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/87 Communicating with other players during game play, e.g. by e-mail or chat
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/204 the platform being a handheld device
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/307 for displaying an additional window with a view from the top of the game field, e.g. radar screen
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/406 Transmission via wireless network, e.g. pager or GSM
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5573 player location
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8076 Shooting

Abstract

A method includes, at a server, comparing (a) a geographic position of a mobile wireless device held by a person who is a target in a game with (b) an indication of a targeted position related to the target as shown on a mobile wireless device being held by a person who is an attacker in the game. The method further includes, depending on a result of the comparing of the geographic position and the indication, recording that the attacker has hit the target in the game.

Claims

1. A device-based method comprising:

at a server, comparing (a) a geographic position of a mobile wireless device held by a person who is a target in a game with (b) an indication of a targeted position related to the target as shown on a mobile wireless device being held by a person who is an attacker in the game, and

depending on a result of the comparing of the geographic position and the indication, recording that the attacker has hit the target in the game.

2. The method of claim 1 in which the indication comprises a reticle.

3. The method of claim 1 in which the geographic position is provided to the server wirelessly.

4. The method of claim 1 in which the indication is provided to the server wirelessly.

5. The method of claim 1 in which the attacker and the target are members of different teams.

6. The method of claim 1 in which recording that the attacker has hit the target comprises designating that the target has been captured by the attacker.

7. The method of claim 6 in which designating that the target is been captured by the attacker comprises designating that the target has become a member of the attacker'"'"'s team.

8. The method of claim 6 in which after being captured by the attacker, the target is enabled to escape.

9. The method of claim 8 in which enabling the target to escape comprises providing an interactive feature of the mobile wireless device of the target.

10. The method of claim 9 in which the interactive feature comprises designating an area on a display of the target'"'"'s mobile wireless device that is be touched repeatedly.

11. The method of claim 10, in which the target is deemed to have escaped if the target touches the designated area of the target'"'"'s mobile wireless device enough times within a specified timeframe.

12. The method of claim 1 also comprising enabling each of the people and other people to buy virtual items for use in the game.

13. The method of claim 12 in which the virtual items comprise weapons, ammunition, and armor.

21. The method of claim 1 in which the geographic position and the targeted position are displayed on a map that is served to the mobile wireless device.

22. The method of claim 21 in which the map comprises a street map provided by a third party.

23. The method of claim 1 also comprising displaying on the device of at least one of the people indications of the locations of other players.

24. The method of claim 23 in which the displaying comprises displaying only friendly players or only enemy players.

25. The method of claim 21 in which the map comprises a map of a battlefield.

28. The method of claim 1 in which the attacker is enabled to use virtual artillery as a weapon on making the hit.

29. The method of claim 28 in which the server determines trajectories of shots fired from the virtual artillery.

30. The method of claim 1 comprising enabling the target to use virtual armor to resist an attack by the attacker.

31. The method of claim 1 in which the server maintains a global scoreboard for scores achieved by players and teams in the game.

32. The method of claim 1 comprising enabling a participant in the game to buy upgrades.

33. The method of claim 1 comprising displaying in-game advertising to participants in the game.

34. The method of claim 1 comprising displaying performance of players in the game on social-network online sites.

35. The method of claim 1 comprising attributing experience points to the attacker, the experience points being based at least in part on an experience level of the target.

36. The method of claim 1 comprising enabling a training mode of the game in which no scores are kept.

37. The method of claim 1 comprising maintaining on the server rankings for players, and advancing players in rank based on their performances.

38. The method of claim 1 comprising enabling a player or team to conquer a territory by hitting or excluding players of other teams from the territory.

39. The method of claim 1 in which the server manages the game so that a target that has more game experience than an attacker is harder for the attacker to hit and can escape more easily.

40. The method of claim 1 in which the server manages the game so that the more experience points a target has, the more experience points an attacker receives for a successful hit.

41. The method of claim 1 comprising providing a voice or text private communication channel between players.

42. The method of claim 41 in which a player can instruct another player through the communication channel.

43. The method of claim 1 in which recording of the hit comprises recording the hit if the geographic position and the indication are close enough to a shot'"'"'s path to be a hit.

45. The method of claim 1 in which participants in the game wear a visible token that identifies them or a team to which they belong.

46. The method of claim 1 also comprising enabling direct communication between the mobile wireless devices using wireless networking, ad-hoc networks on 802.11a/b/g/n, or bluetooth.”

47. The method of claim 46 in which the direct communication supplements, extends, or heals a main communication channel.

48. The method of claim 1 in which participants in the game are enabled to indicate a target by choosing a location on a map and hitting it with a shot that takes an interval of time to strike and affects a defined region of the target, thus simulating indirect fire with an explosive.

49. The method of claim 1 in which a player in the game is enabled to buy, as part of the game, virtual versions of ransom, intelligence, medical insurance, or medical treatment.

14. A device-based method comprising:

at a server, determining, from an image captured by a camera of a mobile wireless device of surroundings of the mobile wireless device, whether a target of an attacker who is holding the mobile wireless device is present in the image, and

if so, notifying the mobile wireless device held by the attacker.

15. The method of claim 14 in which the determining comprises image recognition of the image and a comparison of the recognized image to a known image of the target.

16. The method of claim 15 in which the image recognition comprises facial recognition.

17. The method of claim 15 in which the image recognition comprises object recognition.

18. The method of claim 15 in which the determining is done at the mobile wireless device.

44. The method of claim 14 in which the target is verified to be present based on location information on the server.

19. A device based method, comprising:

at a server, constructing a three-dimensional representation of a battlefield of a game, based on an image captured by a camera of a mobile wireless device of surroundings of the mobile wireless device.

20. The method of claim 19 in which constructing a three-dimensional representation of a battlefield of a game is also based on images captured by the cameras of multiple handheld devices of surroundings of the handheld devices.

26. A device-based method comprising,

from a server, providing information wirelessly to mobile wireless devices being used in an action game by players belonging to a team for presentation to the respective players on displays of the devices, the presentations to each of the different players being configured specially for that player, the information that is provided to a particular one of the mobile wireless devices being configured for presentation to one of the players of a composite of the presentations to the other players of the team.

27. The method of claim 26 in which the one of the players is serving as a commander of the team and the presentation is in a commander mode on the mobile wireless device of that player.