Game device for displaying game input operations on the display

• US 6,592,455 B1
• Filed: 09/28/1999
• Issued: 07/15/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sega Enterprises LTD.
• Original Assignee: Sega Enterprises LTD.
• Inventors: Kagawa, Tadashi, Okano, Tetsu
• Primary Examiner(s): Gerrity, Stephen F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): PARADISO, JOHN ROGER
• Application Number:
  US09/406,828
• Time in Patent Office: 1,386 Days
• Field of Search: 463/8, 463/30, 463/31, 463/36, 463/37, 463/38, 463/43, 463/44, 345/156, 345/157, 345/158, 273/440.1, 273/459, 273/460
• US Class Current: 463/8
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/213 comprising photodetecting means, e.g. cameras, photodiodes or infrared cells A63F13/219, A63F13/655 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/214 for locating contacts on a surface, e.g. floor mats or touch pads
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/23 for interfacing with the game device, e.g. specific interfaces between game controller and console
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/245 specially adapted to a particular type of game, e.g. steering wheels
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/428 involving motion or position input signals, e.g. signals representing the rotation of an input controller or a player's arm motions sensed by accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/537 using indicators, e.g. showing the condition of a game character on screen
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/5375 for graphically or textually suggesting an action, e.g. by displaying an arrow indicating a turn in a driving game
• 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 13/833 Hand-to-hand fighting, e.g. martial arts competition A63F13/837 takes 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 2300/1012 involving biosensors worn by the player, e.g. for measuring heart beat, limb activity
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1025 details of the interface with the game device, e.g. USB version detection
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1062 being specially adapted to a type of game, e.g. steering wheel
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1087 comprising photodetecting means, e.g. a camera
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/303 for displaying additional data, e.g. simulating a Head Up Display
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/305 for providing a graphical or textual hint to the player
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6081 generating an output signal, e.g. under timing constraints, for spatialization
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8029 Fighting without shooting
• 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: A63F 9/0291 with a simulated projectile, e.g. an image on a screen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 : Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00

Abstract

A game device comprises operational input means 30, 40 for inputting operational signals supplied by operation of game players, game control means 10 for controlling a game, based on the operational signals of the operational input means 30, 40, and game display means 20 for displaying the game controlled by the game control means 10, the operational signals of the operational input means 40 being displayed by the game display means 20. The game player can confirm game operations they made. As a result, the game player can relatively readily see their game operations they made without stress given to them.

Claims

1. A game device comprising:

means for displaying at least one game character and its associated movement on a monitor screen;

an input means having a plurality of manipulation switch elements;

control means for controlling movement of said at least one game character in response to the manipulation by a player of the switch elements of said input means and producing a signal for display by said means for displaying;

said means for displaying, in addition to displaying the game character and the movement thereof caused by manipulation of said input means, also emphatically displaying an indication representing how the switch elements of said input means are being manipulated by a player to control movements of said at least one game character.

2. A game device comprising:

a control means for controlling progress of a game;

means for displaying at least one game character and its associated movement on a monitor screen;

an input means with a plurality of manipulation switch elements;

control means for controlling actions of said at least one game character in response to the manipulation by a player of the switch elements of said input means;

said means for displaying, in addition to displaying the game character and the movement thereof caused by manipulation of said input means, also emphatically displaying on the monitor screen an indication of how the switch elements of the input means are being manipulated by a player to control movement of said at least one game character while the game is being played.

3. A game device comprising:

a control means for controlling progress of a game;

an input means functionally connectable to said control means and having a plurality of switch elements for supplying said control means with manipulation signals in response to manipulation by a player of the switch elements;

means for displaying on a monitor screen at least one game character;

means for displaying on the monitor screen display elements which correspond to switch elements of an input means, while the game is in play; and

means for controlling actions of said one of the game characters in response to input signals from the input means.

4. A game device of claim 3, wherein said display element displaying means operates to display a selected one of the display elements in response to manipulation of a corresponding switch element.

5. A game device of claim 4, wherein said display element displaying means operates so that said plurality of display elements are disposed so as to simulate a plurality of switch elements of the input means and so as to display emphatically one of said display elements in response to manipulation by a player of a switch element corresponding to said one display element.

6. A game device comprising:

a control means for controlling progress of a game;

a pair of input means functionally connectable to said control means and each having a plurality of switch elements for supplying said control means with manipulation signals in response to manipulation by a player of the switch elements;

means for displaying on a monitor screen a pair of game characters respectively controlled by said pair of input means;

means for displaying a pair of display regions each with a plurality of display elements corresponding to the switch elements of a respective input means; and

means for controlling movement of said game characters in response to input signals from respective input means.

7. A game device comprising:

a control means for controlling progress of a game;

means for displaying on a monitor screen a game character and a region containing display elements corresponding to switch elements of a manipulation controller connectable to said control means; and

means for emphasizing one of said display elements in concert with movements of the game character in response to manipulation of said switch elements.

8. A game device of claim 7, wherein said one of said display elements is emphasized by flashing.

9. A game device of claim 7, wherein said one of said display elements is emphasized by changing color.

10. A game device for playing a game comprising:

a control means for controlling progress of a game;

an input means functionally connectable to said control means and having a plurality of switch elements for supplying said control means with manipulation signals in response to manipulation by a player of the switch elements;

means for displaying at least one game character on a monitor;

means for displaying on the monitor a display element corresponding to a switching element of said input means so as to be displayed with emphasis in concert with a movement of one of the game characters enabling a player to see the emphatically displayed display element while the player is playing a game and manipulating said switching element.

11. A game device for playing a game, said game device comprising:

a game controller, said game controller displaying first images associated with the game to a player, the first images comprising at least first indicators representing at least an operation of input elements of an input device used to play the game, the displayed first indicators providing information useful to the player to enable the player to play the game, said game controller inputting signals from an input device operated by the player, the input signals representing manipulations of input elements of the player operated input device, and said game controller displaying, in response to the input signals, second images associated with the game to the player, the second images changing in response to the manipulations of the input elements of the player operated input device.

12. The game device of claim 11 wherein the second images comprise at least second indicators representing the input elements manipulated by the player.

13. The game device of claim 11 wherein the second images comprise at least second indicators representing the input elements manipulated by the player and at least one game character under the control of the player.

14. The game device of claim 13 wherein the game character is manipulated in accordance with the input signals representing the manipulations of the input elements of the player operated input device.

15. The game device of claim 14 wherein the second indicators are displayed in concert with the manipulation of the game character in response to the input signals.

16. The game device of claim 11 wherein the first indicators are displayed on a first region of a display device electrically coupled to the game device and second indicators are displayed on a second different region of the display device.

17. The game device of claim 11 further comprising a hand held game controller coupled to said game controller, wherein the input device being operated by the player is said hand held game controller.

18. The game device of claim 11 further comprising an operational mat in which the player stands on coupled to said game controller, wherein the input device being operated by the player is said operational mat.

19. The game device of claim 11 wherein the input elements comprise switch elements.

20. The game device of claim 11 wherein the first indicators comprise input elements of the player operated input device and input elements of a second player operated input device.

21. A game device to play a game, said game device comprising:

a game controller, said game controller displaying first images associated with the game to a player, the first images comprising at least first indicators providing information useful to the player for subsequent manipulation of second input elements being operated by the player, and displaying second images associated with the game to the player, the second images comprising at least second indicators representing how the second input elements are manipulated by the player.

22. The game device of claim 21 wherein the second images are displayed in response to the input of signals representing manipulation of the second input elements by the player made while viewing the first images.

23. The game device of claim 21 wherein the second images further comprise at least one game character under the control of the player.

24. The game device of claim 23 wherein the game character is manipulated in accordance with the input signals representing the manipulations of the second input elements.

25. The game device of claim 24 wherein the second indicators are displayed in concert with the manipulation of the game character in response to the input signals.

26. The game device of claim 21 wherein the first indicators are displayed on a first region of a video device coupled to the game device and the second indicators are displayed on a second different region of the video device.

27. The game device of claim 21 further comprising a hand held game controller coupled to said game controller, wherein the input device being operated by the player is said hand held game controller.

28. The game device of claim 21 further comprising an operational mat in which the player stands on coupled to said game controller, wherein the input device being operated by the player is said operational mat.

29. A game device comprising:

a game controller,

a display device coupled to said game controller, and

a first and a second input devices each having a plurality input elements and coupled to said game controller,

said game controller displaying on said display device images associated with a game,

said images comprising a first set of indicators corresponding to the input elements of said first input device and a second set of indicators corresponding to the input elements of said second input device;

said game controller being input with signais from the first and second input devices, the input signals representing manipulations of the input elements of the first and second input devices,

said game controller displaying on said display device, in response to the input signals, how the first and second input devices are being manipulated by emphatically depicting ones of said indicators in response to the manipulations of the input elements of the first and second input devices.

30. The game device of claim 29 wherein said images further comprise first game character and second game character, wherein said first game character is manipulated in accordance with the input signals representing the manipulations of the input elements of the first input device and said second game character is manipulated in accordance with the input signals representing the manipulations of the input elements of the second input device.

31. The game device of claim 30 wherein said first set of indicators are displayed in concert with the manipulation of the first game character in response to the input signals supplied from said first input device and said second set of indicators are displayed in concert with the manipulation of the second game character in response to the input signals supplied from said second input device.

32. The game device of claim 29 wherein the first set of indicators are displayed on a first region of a display screen of said display device and the second set of indicators are displayed on a second different region of the display screen of said display device.

33. The game device of claim 29 wherein said first and second input devices comprise hand held input devices.

34. The game device of claim 29 wherein said first and second input devices comprise an operational mat.

35. The game device of claim 29 wherein said plurality of input elements on said first and second input devices comprise switch elements.

36. The game device of claim 29 wherein the first input device is operated by a first player and the second input device is operated by a second player.

37. A game device comprising:

a game controller,

a display device coupled to said game controller, and

first and second input elements coupled to said game controller,

said game controller displaying on said display device first images associated with a game to a player, the first images comprising at least first indicators representing an indication of how the first input elements are being manipulated by a player,

the first indicators providing information useful to the player for subsequent manipulation of the second input elements operated by the player.

38. The game device of claim 37 wherein the second images are displayed in response to the input of signals representing manipulation of the second input element by the player made while viewing the first images.

39. The game device of claim 37 wherein the second images further comprise at least one game character under the control of the player.

40. The game device of claim 39 wherein the game character is manipulated in accordance with the input signal representing the manipulations of the second input elements.

41. The game device of claim 40 wherein second indicators representing an indication of how the second input elements are being manipulated by the player are displayed in concert with the manipulation of the game character in response to the input signals.

42. The game device of claim 37 wherein the first indicators are displayed on a first region of the display device and the second indicators are displayed on a second different region of the display device.

43. The game device of claim 37 further comprising a hand held game controller coupled to said game controller, wherein the first input elements being operated by the player are formed on said hand held game controller.

44. The game device of claim 37 further comprising an operational mat which the player stands on coupled to said game controller, wherein the second input elements being operated by the player are formed with said operational mat.

45. A game apparatus comprising:

a game controller;

a monitor having a display screen and coupled to said game controller; and

a first and a second input devices coupled to said game controller, each of the input devices having a plurality of input elements,

wherein said game controller displays on said display screen first and second images associated with a game,

wherein said first images display on the display screen an indication of how the first input elements are being manipulated while the game is being played, and

wherein said second images display on the display screen an indication of how the second input elements are being manipulated while the game is being played so as to be referred to by a player operating said first input device.

46. A game apparatus comprising:

a game controller;

a monitor having a display screen and coupled to said game controller; and

a first and a second input devices coupled to said game controller, each of the input devices having a plurality of input elements,

wherein said game controller displays on said display screen first and second images associated with a game,

wherein said first images change in response to manipulations of the input elements of said first input device manipulated by a first player,

wherein said second images change in response to manipulations of the input elements of said second input device manipulated by a second player,

wherein said first and second images include indicators depicting operations of the input elements of said first and second input devices, respectively, so as to be referred to by the players.

47. A game apparatus comprising:

a game controller;

a monitor having a display screen and coupled to said game controller so as to display on said display screen images associated with a game while the game is being played; and

first and second input devices coupled to said game controller, each of the input devices having a plurality of input elements,

wherein said images displayed on said screen includes a first set of indicators corresponding to said plurality of input elements on said first input device and a second set of indicators corresponding to said plurality of input elements on said second input device,

wherein said game controller is supplied with signals from the first and second input devices, the input signals representing manipulations of the input elements of the first and second input devices,

wherein, when one of said input elements is manipulated, an indicator corresponding to the manipulated input element is emphatically displayed on said screen in response to the input signal representing the manipulation of the manipulated input element.

48. A game appratus of claim 47, wherein said first set of indicators is displayed at the upper left side of the display screen and said second set of indicators is displayed at the upper right side of the display screen.

49. A game apparatus of claim 47, wherein thc indicator corresponding to the manipulated input element is emphatically displayed by changing its color.

50. A game apparatus of claim 47, wherein the indicator corresponding to the manipulated input element is emphatically displayed by flashing the indicator.