Sports forecasting game

• US 6,135,881 A
• Filed: 03/31/1998
• Issued: 10/24/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Inventure Incorporated (Synopsys Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Inventure Incorporated (Synopsys Incorporated)
• Inventors: Mixter, Kenneth, Abbott, James P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrison, Jessica J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Trinh, Minh
• Application Number:
  US09/050,374
• Time in Patent Office: 938 Days
• Field of Search: 463/3, 463/2, 463/4, 463/36, 463/37, 463/38, 463/43, 463/44, 463/40, 463/41, 463/42, 273/1 E, 273/85 G, 273/317.6, 273/236, 273/138.2, 273/132, 273/108.1, 273/108.3, 273/277, 273/461
• US Class Current: 463/3
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/12 involving interaction between a plurality of game devices, e.g. transmisison or distribution systems protocols for networked virtual reality, networked games H04L29/06034
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/30 Interconnection arrangements between game servers and game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/335 using Internet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/65 automatically by game devices or servers from real world data, e.g. measurement in live racing competition
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/80 Special adaptations for executing a specific game genre or game mode
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/407 Data transfer via internet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/69 Involving elements of the real world in the game world, e.g. measurement in live races, real video
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8011 Ball

Abstract

A method of remotely interfacing with at least one player in a rule-based game over a communication medium operatively connected to one or more communication devices including a visual display wherein each player is associated with a communication device, includes visually displaying at one or more of the communication devices a form comprising a two-dimensional matrix having a cell at the juncture of each row and column and where each cell may be manipulated to reflect a game choice by the player, retrieving by a server each game choice made by the player before any subsequent game choice is made by the player, applying the rules of the game to determine what further game choices are available to the player based upon the game choices retrieved, generating a revised form reflecting game choices made by the player and game choices which are available for the player to make, transmitting the revised form to the communication device being used by the player, and visually displaying the revised form at the communication device being used by the player.

Claims

1. A method of playing a multiplayer sports game which corresponds to an actual sporting event comprising the steps of:

(a) providing, to each of a plurality of players, a form for forecasting the performance in a plurality of athletic performance categories of a plurality of athletes participating in the sporting event, where each athlete belongs to the same actual sports team participating in said actual sporting event;

(b) receiving from each of the players, prior to the beginning of the sporting event, forecast decisions regarding the performance of one or more of said athletes in one or more of said athletic performance categories;

(c) obtaining, after the conclusion of the sporting event, information regarding actual performances at the sporting event of the athletes in the performance categories; and

(d) generating a score for each player based upon the correlation between the forecast decision received from each player and the actual performances of the athletes.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the sporting event is a baseball game.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the sporting event is a basketball game.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the sporting event is a football game.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the sporting event is a hockey game.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the sporting event is a soccer game.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the sporting event is an auto race.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said method is conducted over a communication medium operably connected to plural input/output devices each having means for inputting and outputting information.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said communication medium is the Internet.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of permitting each of the players to designate an athletic performance category for an athlete as a risk selection, where the risk selection will increase a player'"'"'s score if a first condition is satisfied and will decrease the player'"'"'s score if a second condition is satisfied, where satisfaction of the first and second conditions are each determined by the information regarding the actual performance at the sporting event obtained in said obtaining step.

11. A method of remotely interfacing with at least one player in a rule-based game over a communication medium operatively connected to one or more communication devices each having input and output means including visual display means wherein each player is associated with a communication device, the steps comprising:

(a) visually displaying at one or more of the communication devices a form comprising a two-dimensional matrix having a cell at the juncture of each row and column and where each cell may be manipulated to reflect a game choice by the player;

(b) retrieving by a server each game choice made by the player and collected by a client-based application after the player has completed all game choice selections;

(c) applying the rules of the game to determine what further game choices are available to the player based upon the game choices retrieved;

(d) generating a revised form reflecting game choices made by the player and game choices which are available for the player to make;

(e) transmitting the revised form to the communication device being used by the player; and

(f) visually displaying the revised form at the communication device being used by the player.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of repeating steps (b) through (f) until a predetermined actual event occurs.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the communication medium is the Internet.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein said game is based on statistics generated by an actual Major League baseball game, and said game choices relate to statistical categories for athletes participating in said actual game.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of displaying the results of said rule-based game on the player'"'"'s communication device substantially in real time subsequent to the completion of said actual game.

16. A method of playing a multiplayer sports game which corresponds to an actual sporting event, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing, to each of a plurality of players, a form for forecasting the performance in a plurality of athletic performance categories of a plurality of athletes participating in the sporting event, where each athlete belongs to the same actual sports team participating in said actual sporting event;

(b) receiving from each of the players, prior to the beginning of the sporting event, forecast decisions regarding the performance of one or more of said athletes in one or more of said athletic performance categories;

(c) obtaining, after the conclusion of the sporting event, information regarding actual performances at the sporting event of the athletes in the performance categories; and

(d) generating a score for each player based upon the correlation between the forecast decision received from each player and the actual performances of the athletes;

wherein the step of providing comprises the step of visually displaying at one or more communication devices over a communication medium a form comprising a two-dimensional matrix having a cell at the juncture of each row and column and where each cell may be manipulated to reflect a game choice by the player; and

wherein the step of receiving comprises the steps of retrieving by a server each game choice made by the player and collected by a client-based application after the player has completed all game choice selections, applying the rules of the game to determine what further game choices are available to the player based upon the game choices retrieved, generating a revised form reflecting game choices made by the player and game choices which are available for the player to make, transmitting the revised form to the communication device being used by the player, and visually displaying the revised form at the communication device being used by the player.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the communication medium is the Internet.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein said game is based on statistics generated by an actual Major League baseball game, and said game choices relate to statistical categories for athletes participating in said actual game.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of displaying the results of said rule-based game on the player'"'"'s communication device substantially in real time subsequent to the completion of said actual game.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of permitting each of the players to designate an athletic performance category for an athlete as a risk selection, where the risk selection will increase a player'"'"'s score if a first condition is satisfied and will decrease the player'"'"'s score if a second condition is satisfied, where satisfaction of the first and second conditions are each determined by the information regarding the actual performance at the sporting event obtained in said obtaining step.