Game machine

• US 4,993,713 A
• Filed: 02/03/1989
• Issued: 02/19/1991
• Est. Priority Date: 02/03/1988
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Aruze Corp.
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Universal
• Inventors: Harada, Masamichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Coven, Edward M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): HARRISON, JESSICA
• Application Number:
  US07/307,130
• Time in Patent Office: 746 Days
• Field of Search: 273/138 A, 273/143 R, 273/85 CP, 364/412
• US Class Current: 463/25
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3244 Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes

Abstract

A game machine comprises hit flag counters which count up each hit request and count down upon the occurrence of each hit game. In these hit flag counters, if a hit cannot occur in spite of a hit request, the hit request is stored for the following games until the corresponding hit is obtained. A hit can be obtained only when the number of stored hit requests is not less than the number of inserted coins, so that the pay-out rate of the game machine is exactly controlled to be constant in totality.

Claims

1. A game machine having a microprocessor unit for controlling a game process and means for generating a hit request which effects hit game processing, wherein a number of coins are inserted at the beginning of a game, the award for a hit game depends on the number of inserted coins, and when a game results in a lost game in spite of a hit request being generated, said hit request is carried over for the following game, said game machine further comprising:

a coin counter for counting the number of inserted coins;

means for counting the number of said hit requests; and

judging means for comparing the count of said coin counter with the count of said hit request counting means and for effecting hit game processing only when the count of said coin counter is not more than the count of said hit request counting means.

2. A game machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said hit request generating means comprises a random value sampling circuit for sampling a random value from a predetermined random value range, a probability table for storing relationships between random values and a plurality of different kinds of hits, said probability table deciding the kind of hit to be processed in accordance with a sampled random number:

and

said hit request counting means comprising a plurality of hit flag counters each of which counts up each kind of said hit request.

3. A game machine as defined in claim 2, wherein said kind of hits includes a big hit for which a largest number of coins are delivered, a middle hit for which an intermediate number of coins are delivered, and a small hit for which a small number of coins are delivered.

4. A game machine as defined in claim 2, wherein as long as at least one of said plurality of hit flag counters is set to at least one, said judging means compares the count of said at least one hit flag counter with the count of said coin counter, and executes a hit of a kind corresponding to one of said hit flag counters having a count at least equal to one only when the count of this hit flag counter is not less than the count of said coin counter.

5. A game machine as defined in claim 4, wherein when the counts of more than one of said plurality of hit flag counters are at least one, a corresponding hit is allowed to occur according to a predetermined priority.

6. A game machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said game machine further comprises hold buttons for keeping any selected character displayed within a display window of said game machine or exchanging the displayed character for another character, said displayed character exchange being adapted to be carried out as a second round of a game without inserting additional coins, and the same instruction from said judging means being used for the second round as for the first round.

7. A game machine as defined in claim 6, wherein said hit requests include two types of hit requests, one for hits during the first round, the other for hits during the second round.

8. A game machine having a microprocessor unit for controlling a game process and means for generating a hit request which effects hit game processing, wherein a number of coins are inserted at the beginning of a game, the award for a hit game depends on the number of inserted coins, and when a game results in a lost game in spite of a hit request being generated, said hit request is carried over for the following game, said game machine further comprising:

a coin counter for supplying a count representative of the number of inserted coins;

means for counting the number of said hit requests; and

judging means for comparing the count of said coin counter with the count of said hit request counting means and for effecting hit game processing only when the count of said coin counter is not more than the count of said hit request counting means.

9. A game machine having a microprocessor unit for controlling a game process and means for generating a hit request which effects hit game processing, wherein a number of coins are inserted at the beginning of a game, the award for a hit game depends on the number of inserted coins, and when a game results in a lost game in spite of a hit request being generated, said hit request is carried over for the following game, said game machine further comprising:

a coin counter for supplying a count representative of the number of inserted coins;

means for counting the number of said hit requests; and

judging means for comparing the count of said coin counter with the count of said hit request counting means and for effecting hit game processing only when the count of said coin counter bears a predetermined relationship to the count of said hit request counting means.