Game system

• US 4,858,930 A
• Filed: 06/07/1988
• Issued: 08/22/1989
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/1988
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Namco Limited (BANDAI NAMCO Holdings Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Namco Limited (BANDAI NAMCO Holdings Inc.)
• Inventors: Sato, Seiichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Picard, Leo P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): HARRISON, JESSICA
• Application Number:
  US07/203,134
• Time in Patent Office: 441 Days
• Field of Search: 273/1 E, 273/1 R, 273/85 G, 273/DIG. 28, 273/138 A, 364/410, 364/411, 364/412
• US Class Current: 463/23
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/48 Starting a game, e.g. activating a game device or waiting for other players to join a multiplayer session
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/58 by computing conditions of game characters, e.g. stamina, strength, motivation or energy level
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/63 by the player, e.g. authoring using a level editor
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/803 Driving vehicles or craft, e.g. cars, airplanes, ships, robots or tanks
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/812 Ball games, e.g. soccer or baseball
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/822 Strategy games; Role-playing games A63F13/825, A63F13/828 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/95 Storage media specially adapted for storing game information, e.g. video game cartridges
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/206 Game information storage, e.g. cartridges, CD ROM's, DVD's, smart cards
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6018 where the game content is authored by the player, e.g. level editor or by game device at runtime, e.g. level is created from music data on CD
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/63 for controlling the execution of the game in time
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/636 involving process of starting or resuming a game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/65 for computing the condition of a game character
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8011 Ball
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8017 Driving on land or water; Flying
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/807 Role playing or strategy games

Abstract

A game system comprises a home video game machine in which a game is played and the ability of a character which appears in the game is calculated and set with the progress of the game in accordance with a predetermined home game program and a commercial video game machine in which a game is played in a commercial game space of a higher grade than that of the home game space and the ability of a character which appears in the game is calculated and set with the progress of the game in accordance with a commercial game program which is produced by expanding the home game program. The ability of the character calculated and set in the home video game is input to the commercial video game machine as the initial ability data of the character which appears in the commercial video game.

Claims

1. A game system comprising:

a home video game machine in which a game is played and the ability of a character which appears in said game is calculated and set with the progress of said game in accordance with a predetermined home game program; and

a commercial video game machine in which a game is played in a commercial game space of a higher grade than that of the home game space and the ability of a character which appears in said game is calculated and set with the progress of said game in accordance with a commercial game program for playing a commercial game which is produced by expanding said home game;

said home video game machine including means for externally outputting the ability of said character at the time of suspension of said game; and

said commercial video game machine including means for inputting the ability of said character at the time of suspension of said game which has been output from said home video game machine as the initial ability data of said character which appears in said commercial video game.

2. A game system according to claim 1, wherein said commercial video game machine includes:

means for enabling a plurality of players to input the initial ability data of each of the characters which appear in said commercial video game; and

a plurality of game control units for operating said characters which correspond to said plurality of players;

whereby said plurality of players can play simultaneously in the same commercial game space.

3. A game system comprising:

a home video game machine in which a game is played and the ability of a character which appears in said game is calculated and set with the progress of said game in accordance with a predetermined home game program; and

a commercial video game machine in which a game is played in a commercial game space of a higher grade than that of the home game space and the ability of a character which appears in said game is calculated and set with the progress of said game in accordance with a commercial game program for playing a commercial game which is produced by expanding said home game;

said home video game machine including;

a home program memory in which a home game program of an ability setting type is registered in advance;

a home game control unit through which a player inputs a game operation signal;

a working memory containing an ability data storage area;

an ability data storage medium removably provided on a connector attached to the game machine body;

a home game arithmetic circuit for computing a game picture on the basis of said home game program and an input game signal and calculating said ability of said character which appears in said game with the progress of said game to store the calculated ability in said ability data storage area in said working memory; and

a home picture display unit for displaying the computed game picture;

said home game arithmetic circuit writing the ability data of said character stored in said ability data storage area into said ability data storage medium at the time of suspension of said game; and

said commercial video game machine including;

a commercial game program memory in which a commercial game program for producing said commercial game space of a higher grade than that of said home game space by expanding said home game program is registered in advance;

a commercial game control unit through which said player inputs a game operation signal;

a commercial working memory containing an ability data storage area;

a connector on which said ability data storage medium of said home video game machine is removably mounted;

a commercial game arithmetic circuit for computing a game picture by using the ability data of said character stored in said ability data storage medium mounted on said connector as the initial ability data of said character which appears on said commercial game and on the basis of said commercial game program and an input game signal and calculating said ability of said character which appears in said game with the progress of said game to store the calculated ability data in said ability data storage area in said working memory; and

a commercial picture display unit for displaying the computed game picture;

whereby the ability of said character at the time of suspension of said home video game is input to said commercial video game machine as the initial ability data of said character which appears in said commercial video game by mounting said ability data storage medium attached to said home video game machine at the time of suspension of said home game on said connector of said commercial video game machine.

4. A game system according to claim 3, wherein said home program memory and said ability data storage medium of said home video game machine is integrally constituted in the form of a cartridge, and said cartridge is removably mounted on said game machine body through said connector.

5. A game system according to claim 4, wherein said ability data storage medium accommodated in said cartridge is made of an RAM provided with a backup battery, so that the content stored in said RAM is not erased even when the power source of said machine body is turned off.

6. A game system according to claim 3, wherein

said commercial video game machine writes the ability data of said character which is stored in said ability data storage area in said working memory into said ability data storage medium by using said commercial game arithmetic circuit at the time of suspension of said game;

and

said home video game machine writes the ability data of said character at the time of suspension of said commercial video game into said ability data storage area of said working memory as the initial ability data of said character which appears in said home video game by using said home game arithmetic circuit when said ability data storage medium removed from said commercial video game machine is mounted on said home video game machine.

7. A game system comprising:

a home video game machine in which a game is played and the ability of a character which appears in said game is calculated and set with the progress of said game in accordance with a predetermined home game program; and

a commercial video game machine in which a game is played in a commercial game space of a higher grade than that of the home game space and the ability of a character which appears in said game is calculated and set with the progress of said game in accordance with a commercial game program for playing a commercial game which is produced by expanding said home game;

said home video game machine including;

a home program memory in which a home game program of an ability setting type is registered in advance;

a game control unit through which a player inputs a game operation signal;

a working memory containing an ability data storage area;

a home game arithmetic circuit for computing a game picture on the basis of said home game program and an input game signal and calculating said ability of said character which appears in said game with the progress of said game to store the calculated ability in said ability data storage area; and

a home picture display unit for displaying the computed game picture;

said working memory being so composed that at least said ability data storage area is freely mounted on and removed from said game machine body through a connector; and

said commercial video game machine including;

a commercial game program memory in which a commercial game program for producing said commercial game space of a higher grade than that of said home game space is registered in advance;

a game control unit through which said player inputs a game operation signal;

a connector on which said ability data storage area of said home video game machine is removably mounted;

a working memory which functions as a working memory area in combination with said ability data storage area mounted on said connector;

a commercial game arithmetic circuit for computing a game picture by using the ability data of said character stored in said ability data storage area mounted on said connector as the initial ability data of said character which appears on said commercial game and on the basis of said commercial game program and an input game signal and calculating said ability of said character which appears in said game with the progress of said game to store the calculated ability in said ability data storage area; and

a commercial picture display unit for displaying the computed game picture;

whereby the ability data of said character at the time of suspension of said home video game is input to said commercial video game machine as the initial ability data of said character which appears in said commercial video game by mounting said ability data storage area removed from said home video game machine on said connector of said commercial video game machine.

8. A game system according to claim 7, wherein said ability data storage area is an RAM cartridge which is removably mounted on each connector of said home video game machine and said commercial video game machine and said RAM cartridge is provided with a built-in backup battery, so that the content stored in said RAM is not erased even when the power source of said machine body is turned off.

9. A game system according to claim 7, wherein said home video game machine inputs the ability data of said character at the time of suspension of said commercial video game as the initial ability data of said character which appears in said home video game by mounting said ability data storage area removed from said commercial video game machine on said game machine body through said connector.

10. A game system comprising:

a home video game machine in which a game is played and the ability of a character which appears in said game is calculated and set with the progress of said game in accordance with a predetermined home game program; and

a commercial video game machine in which a game is played in a commercial game space of a higher grade than that of the home game space and the ability of a character which appears in said game is calculated and set with the progress of said game in accordance with a commercial game program for playing a commercial game which is produced by expanding said home game;

said home video game machine including;

a home program memory in which a home game program of an ability setting type is registered in advance;

a game control unit through which a player inputs a game operation signal;

a home working memory containing an ability data storage area;

a home game arithmetic circuit for computing a game picture on the basis of said home game program and an input game signal and calculating said ability of said character which appears in said game with the progress of said game to store the calculated ability in said ability data storage area; and

a home picture display unit for displaying the computed game picture;

said ability data storage area of said working memory being freely mounted on and removed from said game machine body through a connector; and

said commercial video game machine including;

a commercial game program memory in which a commercial game program for producing said commercial game space of a higher grade than that of said home game space is registered in advance;

a game control unit through which said player inputs a game operation signal;

a connector on which said ability data storage area of said home video game machine is removably mounted;

a commercial working memory including a commercial ability data storage area;

a commercial game arithmetic circuit for computing a game picture by using the ability data of said character stored in said ability data storage area mounted on said connector as the initial ability data of said character which appears on said commercial game and on the basis of said commercial game program and an input game signal and calculating said ability of said character which appears in said game with the progress of said game to store the calculated ability data in said commercial ability data storage area; and

a commercial picture display unit for displaying the computed game picture;

whereby the ability of said character at the time of suspension of said home video game is input to said commercial video game machine as the initial ability data of said character which appears in said commercial video game by mounting said ability data storage area mounted on said home video game machine on said connector of said commercial video game machine.

11. A game system according to claim 10, wherein at least said ability data storage area in said home working memory is an RAM cartridge which is removably mounted on each connector of said home video game machine and said commercial video game machine and said RAM cartridge is provided with a built-in backup battery, so that the content stored in said RAM is not erased even when the power source of said machine body is turned off.

12. A game system according to claim 10, wherein

said commercial video game machine writes the ability data of said character which is stored in said commercial ability data storage area in said commercial working memory into said ability data storage area of said home video game machine which is attached to said connector at the time of suspension of said game;

and

said home video game machine inputs the ability data of said character at the time of suspension of said commercial video game as the initial ability data of said character which appears in said home video game by mounting said ability data storage area removed from said commercial video game machine on said home video game machine through said connector.

13. A game system comprising:

a home video game machine in which a game is played and the ability of a character which appears in said game is calculated and set with the progress of said game in accordance with a predetermined home game program; and

a commercial video game machine in which a game is played in a commercial game space of a higher grade than that of the home game space and the ability of a character which appears in said game is calculated and set with the progress of said game in accordance with a commercial game program for playing a commercial game which is produced by expanding said home game;

said home video game machine including;

a home program memory in which a home game program of an ability setting type is registered in advance;

a home game control unit through which a player inputs a game operation signal;

a working memory provided with an ability data storage area;

a home game arithmetic circuit for computing a game picture on the basis of said home game program and an input game signal and calculating said ability of said character which appears in said game with the progress of said game to store the calculated ability in said ability data storage area; and

a home picture display unit for displaying the computed game picture;

a home convertor for converting the ability data of said character which is stored in said ability data storage area at the time of suspension of said game into a password and outputting said password; and

a home password display portion for displaying said password; and

said commercial video game machine including;

a commercial game program memory in which a commercial game program for producing said commercial game space of a higher grade than that of said home game space is registered in advance;

a commercial game control unit through which said player inputs a game operation signal;

a working memory provided with an ability data storage area;

a commercial password input portion for inputting the initial data of said character as said password;

a commercial converter for converting said password input at the start of said commercial game into the initial ability data of said character and storing said ability data into said ability data storage area of said working memory;

a commercial game arithmetic circuit for computing a game picture on the basis of said commercial game program and an input game signal and calculating said ability of said character which appears in said game with the progress of said game to store the calculated ability data in said ability data storage area; and

a commercial picture display unit for displaying the computed game picture;

whereby the ability of said character at the time of suspension of said home video game is input to said commercial video game machine as the initial ability data of said character which appears in said commercial video game by inputting said password displayed in said home password display portion at the time of suspension of said home video game through said commercial password input portion of said commercial video game machine.

14. A game system according to claim 13, wherein

said commercial video game includes a commercial password display portion for displaying a password so that the ability data of said character which is stored in said ability data storage area of said working memory at the time of suspension of said commercial video game is converted into a password by said commercial converter and displayed at said commercial password display portion;

and

said home video game machine includes a home password input portion for inputting the initial ability data of said character as a password so that said password input at the start of said home video game is converted into the initial data of said character by said home converter and is written in said ability data storage area of said working memory;

whereby the ability of said character at the time of suspension of said commercial video game is input to said home video game machine as the initial ability data of said character which appears in said home video game.