Video game competition method and apparatus
First Claim
1. Apparatus for video game tournament competition, comprising:
- a video capture circuit having a video input connections for receiving video output signals from a video game terminal, a video capture processing circuit for capturing said video output signals in the form of a captured video file, and a video capture output for outputting said captured video file;
a local computer comprising a central processing unit, random access memory, a communication device capable of transmitting signals to and receiving signals, from a remote computer, a control program, and a character recognition program, said local computer configured, to receive into said random access memory said captured video file from said video capture circuit and extract any alphanumeric information therefrom using said character recognition program and transmit said extracted alphanumeric information to said remote computer via said communication device, all as directed by said control program.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for video game tournament competition receives as its input the RGB signal to the video game screen which contains the final score obtained by the contestant. The RGB signal is directed to a composite converter where the signal is converted to a format which may be captured to a file, which file can then be processed by a computer. The composite converter sends its output signal to a video capture circuit which will capture the instantaneous image displayed on the video game screen which will contain the final game score. The capture circuit produces a captured video file which may then be processed by character recognition software in a local computer located at the site of the video game to extract the final game score in alphanumeric form from the captured video file. The score may then be sent to a remote computer which will collect a plurality of scores and at the end of the tournament determine the high score. The apparatus also provides a data input station for potential tournament players to enter personal information and payment to engage in the tournament. Player information is also transmitted to the remote computer. When the high score from a tournament is determined the associated player information is correlated with the score and the score is transmitted to all locales at which video game terminals are present which engaged in the tournament. A local player display is connected to the local computer for prompting players and potential contestants and for providing other useful information to contestants. The character recognition program compares a template unique to the video game against the captured video file to identify characters in the captured video file which represent the final game score.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. Apparatus for video game tournament competition, comprising:
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a video capture circuit having a video input connections for receiving video output signals from a video game terminal, a video capture processing circuit for capturing said video output signals in the form of a captured video file, and a video capture output for outputting said captured video file; a local computer comprising a central processing unit, random access memory, a communication device capable of transmitting signals to and receiving signals, from a remote computer, a control program, and a character recognition program, said local computer configured, to receive into said random access memory said captured video file from said video capture circuit and extract any alphanumeric information therefrom using said character recognition program and transmit said extracted alphanumeric information to said remote computer via said communication device, all as directed by said control program.
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2. Apparatus for video game tournament competition, comprising:
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a composite converter, said composite converter having video input connections for receiving video output signals from a video game terminal, a video signal processing circuit for converting said video output signals into a capturable video signal, and a composite converter output for outputting said capturable video signal; a video capture circuit having a video capture input in connection with said composite converter output, a video capture processing circuit for capturing said capturable video signal in the form of a captured video file, and a video capture output for outputting said captured video file; and a local computer comprising a central processing unit, random access memory, a communication device capable of transmitting signals to and receiving signals from a remote computer, a control program, and a character recognition program, said local computer configured to receive into said random access memory said captured video file from said video capture circuit and extract any alphanumeric information therefrom using said character recognition program and transmit said extracted alphanumeric information to said remote computer via said communication device, all as directed by said control program. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. Apparatus for video game tournament competition, comprising:
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a plurality of RGB composite converters, each said composite converter having video input connections for receiving RGB video output signals from a dedicated one a plurality of video game terminals, a video signal processing circuit for converting said video output signal into a capturable video signal, and a composite converter output for outputting said capturable video signal; a plurality of video capture circuits, each said video capture circuit having a video capture input in connection with a dedicated one of said composite converter outputs, a video capture processing circuit for capturing said capturable video signal in the form of a captured video file, and a video capture output for outputting said captured video file; a plurality of local computers, each said local computer comprising a central processing unit, random access memory, a network communication device for transmitting signals to and receiving signals from a local network computer, a control program, and a character recognition program, each said local computer configured to receive into said random access memory said captured video file from a dedicated one of said video capture circuits and extract any alphanumeric information therefrom using said character recognition program and transmit said extracted alphanumeric information to said network computer via said network communication device, all as directed by said control program; and a local network computer, said network computer comprising a local network communication device for transmitting signals to and receiving signals from each of said local computers via said network communication devices, a communication device capable of sending signals to and receiving signals from a remote computer, a memory storage device, and a network control program for managing the receipt of information from and transmission of information to said local computers and said remote computer.
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17. Apparatus for video game tournament competition, comprising:
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an RGB composite converter, said composite converter having video input connections for receiving RGB video output signals from a video game terminal, a video signal processing circuit for converting said video output signals into a capturable video signal, and a composite converter output for outputting said capturable video signal; a video capture circuit having a video capture input in connection with said composite converter output, a video capture processing circuit for capturing said capturable video signal in the form of a captured video file, and a video capture output for outputting said captured video file; and a local computer comprising a central processing unit, random access memory, a communication device for transmitting signals to and receiving signals from a remote computer, and a control program, said local computer configured to communicate said captured video file to said remote computer via said communication device, all as directed by said control program. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. Method of conducting video game tournament competition comprising:
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receiving player information associated with each player of a video game in a video game tournament at a data entry station associated with a video game terminal at which said video game is played, wherein each said video game results in a final score which is associated with said player of said video game and said final score is displayed on a video screen associated with said video game terminal, said final score being displayed as a result of a video game screen output signal, wherein said video game screen output signal is communicated to said video screen by said video game terminal; intercepting said video game screen output signal and communicating said intercepted video game screen out put signal to a video capture circuit; digitizing said video game screen output signal containing said final score with said video capture circuit; saving each said digitized video game screen output signal into a computer memory; processing each said digitized video game screen output signal using character recognition software to extract said final score from said digitized video game screen output signal; saving each said extracted final score to said computer memory; comparing all said extracted final scores to determine a winning extracted final score; and determining a winner of said video game tournament by identifying said player information associated with said winning extracted final score and identifying said player associated with said player information, wherein said identified associated player is said winner. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. Method for determining an alphanumeric character identity contained within a digitized captured video output file, said output file comprising groups of digital representations of pixels on a video screen wherein a said group may correspond to a displayed character, comprising:
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a) comparing each said group of digital representations to a set of templates, said set of templates comprising a separate template corresponding to each possible character identity, each said template comprising a digital representation having a high probability of corresponding to a digital representation of a given alphanumeric character, to generate a set of ratio numbers for each said group of digital representations, wherein said comparison comprises; i) determining the number of pixels associated with said given group of a digital representation of pixels which correspond to pixels represented by said template; ii) determining the ratio of the number obtained in step (i) to the total number of pixels represented by said template; iii) repeating steps (i) and (ii) for each said template until said set of ratio numbers has been generated; b) selecting the character associated with the highest ratio number determined in step (a); c) repeating steps (a) and (b) for each said group of digital representations of said captured video file until all characters comprising said alphanumeric information have been identified. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. Method for generating a set of templates for an alphanumeric character identity program, wherein said alphanumeric characters are contained in a digitized captured video output file, said output file comprising groups of digital representations of pixels of a color video screen which may correspond to displayed characters, comprising:
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generating a plurality of example files for each such character, said example file comprising a digital representation of each said character and its background as said character and said background are displayed on said screen; comparing said example files to each other for each such character to identify digital commonalities between said example files and to identify digital features indicative of digital representations of pixels which comprise said background; creating a digital template for each said character, said template comprising a digital image of said commonalities and exclusive of said digital representations of said background. - View Dependent Claims (27)
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Specification