Portable game apparatus with acceleration sensor and information storage medium storing a game program

• US 6,641,482 B2
• Filed: 01/14/2002
• Issued: 11/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: Suzuki, Toshiaki, Masuyama, Iwao
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrison, Jessica
• Assistant Examiner(s): White, Carmen D.
• Application Number:
  US10/043,164
• Publication Number:
  US 20020072418A1
• Time in Patent Office: 659 Days
• Field of Search: 463/30-31, 463/36-38, 463/43-44
• US Class Current: 463/44
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/211 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/22 Setup operations, e.g. calibration, key configuration or button assignment
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/422 automatically for the purpose of assisting the player, e.g. automatic braking in a driving game
• 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 13/92 Video game devices specially adapted to be hand-held while playing
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/95 Storage media specially adapted for storing game information, e.g. video game cartridges
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1018 Calibration; Key and button assignment
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/105 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/204 the platform being a handheld device
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6045 for mapping control signals received from the input arrangement into game commands

Abstract

A portable game apparatus includes a housing is provided with an LCD and an insertion hole. A cartridge incorporating a program ROM is inserted in the insertion hole. A CPU in the housing processes a game program to display game scenes on the LCD. The cartridge further incorporates an acceleration sensor. The acceleration sensor detects movement and tilt of the housing. When the housing is positioned at an angle easy to play, if an operation key is operated, neutral position data is stored to an internal RAM. During game play, an output of the acceleration sensor is corrected by the neutral position data so that the CPU controls game scene display according to a corrected output of the acceleration sensor.

Claims

1. A portable game apparatus, comprising:

a game console containing a display and a processor for displaying a game image on the display in accordance with a game program, said game console having a connector for enabling

a game cartridge to be operably connected therewith;

a game cartridge containing a memory having a game program stored thereon, said game cartridge being connectable to the game console via the connector; and

an accelerometer contained within the game cartridge and operable to detect acceleration in response to movement or tilt of the game cartridge and to provide a control signal to the game console;

wherein the game image on the display is changed based on the control signal from the accelerometer.

2. A portable game apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the connector is a slot and said game cartridge has a shape that enables it to be inserted into said slot.

3. A portable game apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the game image includes a game character, and the game character is controlled based on the control signal from the accelerometer.

4. The portable game apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the game console is a hand-held console.