Game machine for randomly selected information comparison with sets of selected, randomly selected and correlated information

• US 6,080,061 A
• Filed: 09/03/1997
• Issued: 06/27/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Konami Gaming Incorporated (Konami Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Konami Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Watanabe, Katsuhiko, Mizue, Hayato, Kato, Yoshihito, Suganuma, Masanori, Takeyama, So, Yamaguchi, Takashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrison, Jessica J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Clayton, Sheila
• Application Number:
  US08/923,078
• Time in Patent Office: 1,028 Days
• Field of Search: 463/16-19, 463/22, 463/25-28, 463/40-42, 273/138.1, 273/138.2, 273/148 R, 273/269, 273/237, 273/144 R
• US Class Current: 463/16
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3202 Hardware aspects of a gaming system, e.g. components, construction, architecture thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3213 Details of moving display elements, e.g. spinning reels, tumbling members
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/329 Regular and instant lottery, e.g. electronic scratch cards
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3297 Fairground games, e.g. Tivoli, coin pusher machines, cranes

Abstract

A video game machine has a mechanism extracting balls, a display unit having a display area which displays a matrix composed of boxes, and a CPU. The CPU implements a function enabling the player to appoint a ball type in terms of color and number to boxes of a second line of the matrix. A function is provided for automatically displaying, in the first and third lines of the matrix, ball marks correlated to the ball marks displayed in the second line, such that the color sequences of the ball marks in the first and third lines are the same as that in the second line and such that numerals greater and smaller by one than a numeral in a box of the second line appear in the third and the first lines in each column of the matrix. Further provided is a function for determining whether or not the numeral of the extracted ball coincides with the numeral of any ball mark on the display and a function for changing the mode of display of the box having the coincident numeral. Also provided is a function for determining whether any line, column or oblique diagonal line of the matrix is completed by boxes displayed in the changed display mode. Finally, a function is implemented for instructing the machine to pay medals when any line is completed.

Claims

1. A video game machine having a display screen, a certain number of object pieces, and an extraction mechanism which extracts a specific number of the object pieces at random from among the certain number of the object pieces, each of the object pieces having specific information peculiar thereto, and a reading device for reading the specific information of the extracted object pieces, wherein when the specific information read from the extracted object pieces has relevancy to specific information displayed on said display screen, scores are given in accordance with degrees of the relevance, said video game machine comprising:

a matrix displaying means for displaying a matrix of boxes on said display screen;

input displaying means for enabling a player to arbitrarily allocate object marks having specific information peculiar thereto to respective ones of said boxes of a preselected line of said matrix, and for displaying said object marks in the respective boxes of said preselected line;

automatic displaying means for automatically allocating, in the boxes of remaining lines of said matrix, object marks each having specific information peculiar thereto and related to the specific information of the object marks allocated in a corresponding box of said preselected line by the player having used said input displaying means;

first determining means for determining whether or not the specific information peculiar to the extracted object pieces coincide with the specific information of any of the object marks displayed on the display screen in said matrix of boxes;

display mode changing means for changing a mode of display of said object marks only for ones of the object marks with which coincidence of the specific information has been determined by said first determining means;

second determining means for determining whether or not the object marks displayed in the changed display mode complete any line of boxes of said matrix; and

scoring means for giving a score when any one line has been completed with the object marks displayed in the changed display mode.

2. The video game machine according to claim 1, further comprising means for displaying, on said display screen, statistic data relating the specific information extracted in previous plays of the game.

6. The video game machine according to claim 1, wherein said specific information peculiar to each of said object pieces is a combination of a numeral and a color.

7. The video game machine according to claim 1, further comprising bet input means for enabling the player to input predetermined number of bets by using icons displayed on said display screen including an icon indicative of a first bet unit for input and an icon indicative of a second bit unit for input, wherein said scoring means provides scores dependent on the number of bets input through said bet input means.

8. The video game machine according to claim 7, wherein said first bit unit equals one bet and said second bet unit equals five bets.

9. The video game machine according to claim 1, wherein said specific information of said object marks allocated to said remaining lines by said automatic displaying means includes a portion of information corresponding to a portion of information of the specific information of said corresponding one of the object marks allocated in said corresponding box of said preselected line by the player having used said input displaying means.

10. The video game machine according to claim 9, wherein said portion of information is a color.

11. The video game machine according to claim 10, wherein said specific information of said object marks allocated to said remaining lines by said automatic displaying means includes a numeral related by one of an addition and a subtraction of a given number to and from a numeral of the specific information of said corresponding one of the object marks allocated in said corresponding box of said preselected line.

12. The video game machine according to claim 1, wherein said specific information of said object marks allocated to said remaining lines by said automatic displaying means includes a numeral related by one of an addition and a substraction of a given number to and from a numeral of the specific information of said corresponding one of the object marks allocated in said corresponding box of said preselected line.

3. A video game machine having a display screen, a certain number of object pieces, and an extraction mechanism which extracts a specific number of the object pieces at random from among the certain number of the object pieces, each of the object pieces having specific information peculiar thereto, and a reading device for reading the specific information of the extracted object pieces, wherein when the specific information read from the extracted object pieces has relevancy to specific information displayed on said display screen, scores are given in accordance with degrees of the relevance, said video game machine comprising:

bingo card displaying means for displaying on said display screen one or more bingo cards each having n number of boxes arranged in a matrix and for allocating arbitrarily specific information to n-m number of said boxes and a predetermined mark to m number of said boxes where m<

n;

first determining means for determining whether the specific information peculiar to the extracted object pieces coincides with the specific information in any of the (n-m) boxes of the displayed matrix;

display mode changing means for changing a mode of display of said object marks determined to have coincidence of said specific information with the specific information of the extracted object pieces determined by said first determining means;

second determining means for determining whether or not the object marks displayed in the changed mode complete any line of boxes of the matrix wherein boxes having said predetermined mark are considered as having an object mark displayed in the changed mode without coincidence with specific information of the extracted object pieces; and

scoring means for awarding a player a win when said second determining means determines that any line is complete.

13. The video game machine according to claim 3 wherein said bingo card displaying means displays a plurality of said bingo cards.

4. A video game machine having a display screen, a certain number of object pieces, and an extraction mechanism which extracts a specific number of the object pieces at random from among the certain number of the object pieces, each of the object pieces having specific information peculiar thereto, and a reading device for reading the specific information of the extracted object pieces, wherein when the specific information read from the extracted object pieces has relevancy to specific information displayed on said display screen, scores are given in accordance with degrees of the relevance, said video game machine comprising:

displaying function for displaying on said display screen a plurality of lines of boxes wherein the lines are disposed parallel and adjacent each other and have first and second ends aligned with one another and for allocating in a random manner specific information to these boxes having coincidence with the specific information of individual ones of the object pieces;

first determining means for determining whether the specific information read from the extracted object pieces coincides with any of the specific information displayed in said boxes;

shift display means for removing the specific information from ones of said boxes which has coincidence with the specific information of the extracted object pieces and, in each of said lines, for shifting from one of said boxes to a next one of said boxes the specific information in other ones of said boxes, located between said ones of said boxes and said second ends, toward said first ends, such that said specific information remains in contiguous ones of said boxes in each of said lines extending from said first ends and so that a number of boxes without the specific information exist in each of said lines corresponding in number to said ones of said boxes having had the coincident information in each one of the lines are left in said line, extending contiguously from said second ends, as a result of the shifting of said specific information;

second determining means for determining whether or not there is a line in which all the boxes are boxes without the specific information; and

scoring function for scoring as a win any line which the second determining means has determined contains all boxes without the specific information.

5. A video game machine having a display screen, a certain number of object pieces, and an extraction mechanism which extracts a specific number of the object pieces at random from among the certain number of the object pieces, each of the object pieces having specific information peculiar thereto, and a reading device for reading the specific information of the extracted object pieces, wherein when the specific information read from the extracted object pieces has relevancy to specific information displayed on said display screen, scores are given in accordance with degrees of the relevance, said video game machine comprising:

displaying means for displaying on said display screen a plurality of areas having first and second ends at opposite sides thereof;

specific information displaying function for allocating and displaying for each of said areas an arbitrary number between 1 and m of the specific information selected in a random manner;

first-place inputting means for permitting a player to select one of the areas which the player forecasts to win a first place;

first determining means for determining whether any of the areas has the specific information coincident to the specific information read from the extracted object pieces;

stepwise displaying means for displaying in the areas determined to have coincident specific information ones of a predetermined mark contiguously extending from the first ends toward the second ends wherein lines of the predetermined mark are formed in a stepwise manner as the object pieces are extracted;

first-place detecting means for detecting at least one of the areas in which a number of the predetermined marks has reached a predetermined number, prior to other ones of said areas;

second determining means which determines whether or not the at least one of said areas detected by the first-place detecting means coincides with the select one of said areas which the player has forecast and appointed as being the first-place winner by the first-place inputting means; and

scoring means for providing a score when coincidence between said at least one of said areas and said select one of said areas as determined by said second determining means.