Talking video games with cooperative action

• US 5,393,071 A
• Filed: 05/12/1993
• Issued: 02/28/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/1990
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Robert M. Best
• Original Assignee: Robert M. Best
• Inventors: Best, Robert M.
• Primary Examiner(s): HARRISON, JESSICA
• Application Number:
  US08/060,743
• Time in Patent Office: 657 Days
• Field of Search: 273/434, 273/435, 273/438, 273/DIG. 28, 273/856, 273/437
• US Class Current: 463/35
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/26 having at least one additional display device, e.g. on the game controller or outside a game booth
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/47 involving branching, e.g. choosing one of several possible scenarios at a given point in time
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/533 for prompting the player, e.g. by displaying a game menu
• 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 13/822 Strategy games; Role-playing games A63F13/825, A63F13/828 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/843 involving concurrently two or more players on the same game device, e.g. requiring the use of a plurality of controllers or of a specific view of game data for each player
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/847 Cooperative playing, e.g. requiring coordinated actions from several players to achieve a common goal
• 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 2300/301 using an additional display connected to the game console, e.g. on the controller
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/308 Details of the user interface
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6081 generating an output signal, e.g. under timing constraints, for spatialization
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/632 by branching, e.g. choosing one of several possible story developments at a given point in time
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/807 Role playing or strategy games
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8088 involving concurrently several players in a non-networked game, e.g. on the same game console
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/04 characterised by modifying the teaching programme in response to a wrong answer, e.g. repeating the question, supplying a further explanation
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 17/005 Programmed access to indexed parts of tracks of operating discs, by guiding the disc
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 19/00 Driving, starting, stopping record carriers not specifically of filamentary or web form, or of supports therefor; Control thereof; Control of operating function ; Driving both disc and head
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/20 Disc-shaped record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/213 Read-only discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2545 : CDs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 : of operating discs

Abstract

Talking video games provide simulated voice dialog between human players and animated characters on a video or television screen. Two or more animated characters perform cooperative actions and talk about what they are doing or will soon do. They talk to each other and to the human players who control directly or indirectly what the characters do and say. Each scene branches to two or more subsequent scenes. But within each scene there are several branching dialog sequences, thereby providing a large variety of possible dialogs. Pictures and voices are generated from digital data read from a laser-readable disk or stored in a semiconductor memory. Each player has a hand-held controller that displays two or more phrases or sentences. A player responds to what an animated character says by pressing a button next to a selected sentence. An animated character then responds verbally or by action to the selected sentence as if it had been spoken by the human player or says the words the player selected. Speech recognition is not required. Human players are thus given an illusion of having voice dialog with interesting characters involved in cooperative activities.

Claims

1. A method of electronically simulating voice conversations between at least two talking animated characters, the words of one character being selected by a human player, comprising the steps of:

(a) digitally storing a catalog of distinctive voices for at least two talking characters, each in the form of voice sound data representing a plurality of sentences, phrases, word segments or phonemes;

(b) digitally storing a preprogrammed branching dialog between a first animated character and a second animated character, each branch comprising a plurality of alternative verbal expressions;

(c) generating a video signal representing an image of said first and second characters for display on a video screen;

(d) displaying on a hand-held controller apparatus a first set of alternatively selectable verbal expressions describing preprogrammed actions of an animated character, each expression corresponding to a branch in said dialog;

(e) receiving from said hand-held controller a manually initiated signal representing a selected verbal expression in said first set of verbal expressions, thereby selecting a branch in the dialog and a corresponding selected action of an animated character.

(f) digitally reading from said catalog of voices first voice sound data that corresponds to said selected verbal expression for the voice of said first character;

(g) generating an audio signal from said first voice sound data representing the voice of said first character speaking said selected verbal expression;

(h) generating a video signal representing an image of an animated character performing said selected action in accordance with said selected verbal expression;

(i) digitally reading from said catalog of voices second voice sound data for the voice of said second character speaking the verbal expression that follows next in the selected branch of the dialog;

(j) generating an audio signal from said second voice sound data representing the voice of said second character; and

(k) displaying on said hand-held controller apparatus a second set of alternatively selectable verbal expressions that follows next for said first character in the selected branch of the dialog.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said hand-held controller is a portable game system with program cartridge.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said video signal is changed to show moving lips on the face of the first character when said audio signal is generated from said first voice sound data;

and wherein said video signal is changed to show moving lips on the face of the second character when said audio signal is generated from said second voice sound data.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said moving lips are lip-synchronized with the corresponding voices in said audio signal.

5. A method of electronically simulating voice conversations between at least two on-screen talking animated characters and an off-screen talking character, comprising the steps of:

(a) digitally storing a catalog of distinctive voices for at least three talking characters, each in the form of voice sound data representing a plurality of sentences, phrases, word segments or phonemes;

(b) digitally storing a preprogrammed branching dialog between a first on-screen character and a second on-screen character and an off-screen character, each branch comprising a plurality of alternative verbal expressions;

(c) generating a video signal representing an image of said first and second on-screen characters for display on a video screen;

(d) displaying on a hand-held controller apparatus a first set of alternatively selectable verbal expressions describing preprogrammed actions of an animated character, each expression corresponding to a branch in said dialog;

(e) receiving from said hand-held controller a manually initiated signal representing a selected verbal expression in said first set of verbal expressions, thereby selecting a branch in the dialog and a corresponding selected action of an animated character;

(f) digitally reading from said catalog of voices first voice sound data that corresponds to said selected verbal expression for the voice of said off-screen character;

(g) generating an audio signal from said first voice sound data representing the voice of said off-screen character speaking said selected verbal expression;

(h) generating a video signal representing an image of an animated character performing said selected action in accordance with said selected verbal expression;

(i) digitally reading from said catalog of voices second voice sound data for the voice of said first on-screen character speaking the verbal expression that follows next in the selected branch of the dialog;

(j) generating an audio signal from said second voice sound data representing the voice of said first on-screen character;

(k) digitally reading from said catalog of voices third voice sound data for the voice of said second on-screen character speaking the verbal expression that follows next in the selected branch of the dialog;

(l) generating an audio signal from said third voice sound data representing the voice of said second on-screen character; and

(m) displaying on said hand-held controller apparatus a second set of alternatively selectable verbal expressions that follows next for said off-screen character in the selected branch of the dialog.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said video signal is changed to show moving lips on the faces of said on-screen characters synchronized with the corresponding voices in said audio signal.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein said hand-held controller is a portable game system with program cartridge.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein said selected verbal expression for said off-screen character is displayed on said video screen.

9. A method of electronically simulating voice conversations between at least two talking animated characters, the words of the characters being selected by two corresponding human players, comprising the steps of:

(a) digitally storing a catalog of distinctive voices for a least two talking characters, each in the form of voice sound data representing a plurality of sentences, phrases, word segments or phonemes;

(b) digitally storing a preprogrammed branching dialog between a first animated character and a second animated character, each branch comprising a plurality of alternative verbal expressions;

(c) generating a video signal representing an image of said first and second characters for display on a video screen;

(d) displaying on a first hand-held controller apparatus a first set of alternatively selectable verbal expressions describing preprogrammed actions of an animated character, each expression corresponding to a branch in said dialog;

(e) receiving from said first hand-held controller a manually initiated signal representing a first selected verbal expression in said first set of verbal expressions, thereby selecting a branch in the dialog and corresponding selected action of an animated character;

(f) digitally reading from said catalog of voices first voice sound data that corresponds to said first selected verbal expression for the voice of said first character;

(g) generating an audio signal from said first voice sound data representing the voice of said first character speaking said first selected verbal expression;

(h) generating a video signal representing an image of an animated character performing said selected action in accordance with said selected verbal expression;

(i) displaying on a second hand-held controller apparatus a second set of alternatively selectable verbal expressions that follows next for said second character in the selected branch of the dialog;

(j) receiving from said second hand-held controller a manually initiated signal representing a second selected verbal expression in said second set of verbal expressions, thereby selecting a next branch in the dialog;

(k) digitally reading from said catalog of voices second voice sound data that corresponds to said second selected verbal expression for the voice of said second character; and

(l) generating an audio signal from said second voice sound data representing the voice of said second character speaking said second selected verbal expression.

10. A method of electronically simulating voice conversations between at least two on-screen talking animated characters and two off-screen talking characters, comprising the steps of:

(a) digitally storing a catalog of distinctive voices for at least four talking characters, each in the form of voice sound data representing a plurality of sentences, phrases, word segments or phonemes;

(b) digitally storing a preprogrammed branching dialog between a first on-screen character and a second on-screen character and a first off-screen character and a second off-screen character, each branch comprising a plurality of alternative verbal expressions;

(c) generating a video signal representing an image of said first and second on-screen characters for display on a video screen;

(d) displaying on a first hand-held controller apparatus a first set of alternatively selectable verbal expressions describing preprogrammed actions of an animated character, each expression corresponding to a branch in said dialog;

(e) receiving from said first hand-held controller a manually initiated signal representing a first selected verbal expression in said first set of verbal expressions, thereby selecting a branch in the dialog and a corresponding selected action of an animated character;

(f) digitally reading from said catalog of voices first voice sound data that corresponds to said first selected verbal expression for the voice of said first off-screen character;

(g) generating an audio signal from said first voice sound data representing the voice of said first off-screen character speaking said first selected verbal expression;

(h) generating a video signal representing an image of an animated character performing said selected action in accordance with said selected verbal expression;

(i) digitally reading from said catalog of voices second voice sound data for the voice of said first on-screen character speaking the verbal expression that follows next in the selected branch of the dialog;

(j) generating an audio signal from said second voice sound data representing the voice of said first on-screen character;

(k) displaying on a second hand-held controller apparatus a second set of alternatively selectable verbal expressions that follows next for said second off-screen character in the selected branch of the dialog;

(l) receiving form said second hand-held controller a manually initiated signal representing a second selected verbal expression in said second set of verbal expressions, thereby selecting a next branch in the dialog;

(m) digitally reading from said catalog of voices third voice sound data that corresponds to said second selected verbal expression for the voice of said second off-screen character;

(n) generating an audio signal from said third voice sound data representing the voice of said second off-screen character speaking said second selected verbal expression;

(o) digitally reading from said catalog of voices fourth voice sound data for the voice of said second on-screen character speaking the verbal expression that follows next in the selected branch of the dialog; and

(p) generating an audio signal from said fourth voice sound data representing the voice of said second on-screen character.