Interactive game film

• US 5,607,356 A
• Filed: 05/10/1995
• Issued: 03/04/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Warner Bros Entertainment Incorporated (Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Atari Incorporated (Infogrames Entertainment SA)
• Inventors: Schwartz, David M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrison, Jessica
• Assistant Examiner(s): SCHAAF, JAMES CHARLES
• Application Number:
  US08/438,281
• Time in Patent Office: 664 Days
• Field of Search: 273/434, 273/437, 273/DIG. 28, 364/410, 395/152, 395/250, 434/327, 434/335, 463/23, 463/30, 463/31, 463/43
• US Class Current: 463/31
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/10 Control of the course of the game, e.g. start, progess, end
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/45 Controlling the progress of the video game
• 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 2300/632 by branching, e.g. choosing one of several possible story developments at a given point in time

Abstract

An interactive game film includes, on a video disk, data arranged in clips representing video film segments, each clip having a lead-in segment, a body segment, a loop segment, and a lead-out segment. Each clip matches at least one other, so that when the clips are played in series, the splice is seamless. The clips are displayed by a driver in response to instructions from a game control program unique to a particular game. The game control program provides an interface, in the form of visible or audible subtitles containing keywords, between a player and the driver, whereby the player can, at decision points in the game, control which film clip is displayed next.

Claims

1. An interactive video game film comprising a data storage medium containing:

data arranged in compatible segments representing video film clips, each segment comprising a body containing a non-repeating video sequence beginning with a lead-in, and a loop containing a repeatable video sequence, to provide a player time to make a game decision while the loop repeats, each loop being contiguous with the lead-ins of at least two different ones of said bodies;

a driver, useful with various different games, for transferring data from the storage disk to a video display, and

a game control program, unique to a particular game, for providing an interface between the player and the driver, said game control program comprising means for advising the player of his options at approaching decision points during the game, and means responsive to instructions from the player, for selecting between said at least two different bodies while the respective loop is repeating, thereby controlling the order in which film segments are displayed on the screen during the game.

2. The invention of claim 1, wherein the advising means comprises means for displaying a subtitle on the display in synchronization with the video display, said subtitle containing key words which the player may select to make game control choices.

3. The invention of claim 2, wherein the advising means comprises means for audibly announcing the contents of the scrolling subtitle, in synchronization with the subtitle display.

4. The invention of claim 1, wherein the advising means comprises means for audibly narrating the game, said narration containing key words to which the player may respond to make game control choices.

5. A method of displaying an apparently continuous action film on a video display, and permitting a player to control the course of the action by selecting from plural alternatives at each of a plurality of decision points during the film, said method comprising steps of

writing a number of compatible film clips into a storage medium as data elements or variable length, each clip having a body having a lead-in at its beginning, and a loop, and then,

loading selected ones of said data segments into a random memory and generating a video display in response to the contents of the loaded data segments,

said selection step being at least partially under the control of a player of the game, and

generating repetitive action at said decision points by repeatedly displaying the content of at least one of said loops while waiting for player input.

6. The invention of claim 5, wherein the loop repeating step is continued only for a predetermined length of time, and a default decision is made for the player at the end of said time.

7. The invention of claim 5, wherein the loop repeating step is continued only for a predetermined length of time, and the game is terminated at the end of said time.

8. The invention of claim 6 or 7, wherein said length of time is determined as a function of decision difficulty and player skill.

9. The invention of claim 5, wherein player input is not absolutely determinative of the course of play at at least some of said decision points, where the decision reached is determined from the player'"'"'s status variables, including attitude, based on previous decisions and ability or score, based on timely performance at previous decision points.

10. The invention of claim 9, wherein said decision is also based on branch weighting, and the decision involves some randomness.