Game device, game controlling method and program

• US 7,452,275 B2
• Filed: 06/25/2002
• Issued: 11/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Konami Digital Entertainment Company Limited (Konami Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Konami Digital Entertainment Company Limited (Konami Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Kuraishi, Hidetoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Pezzuto; Robert E
• Assistant Examiner(s): D'AGOSTINO, PAUL ANTHONY
• Application Number:
  US10/178,532
• Publication Number:
  US 20030003991A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,338 Days
• Field of Search: 463/1, 463 6- 8, 463 30- 34, 463 47- 53, 273/148.R, 273459-461, 345418-419, 345/619, 345/629, 345/634, 345/636, 345/641, 345/473, 345/156, 345/158, 345/161, 345/501, 345/4, 382116-118, 382/325
• US Class Current: 463/30
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/10 Control of the course of the game, e.g. start, progess, end
• 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 13/45 Controlling the progress of the video game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/5258 by dynamically adapting the position of the virtual camera to keep a game object or game character in its viewing frustum, e.g. for tracking a character or a ball
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/837 Shooting of targets
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1012 involving biosensors worn by the player, e.g. for measuring heart beat, limb activity
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1093 using visible light
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6661 for changing the position of the virtual camera
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6676 by dedicated player input
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8076 Shooting

Abstract

A positional relationship between image capturing means and a player is properly adjusted before a game is started. An image of a player P is captured by a camera unit 42, and from this image the head position of the player is recognized, so that the game proceeds based on the recognized result. At this time, the player image is displayed on the title screen, and the position where the head position of the player P should be located is displayed distinctively in the player image. As a result, the player P can properly adjust the positional relationship between the camera unit 42 and himself/herself before starting a game.

Claims

1. A game device, comprising:

image capturing means for capturing player images;

position recognizing means for recognizing a current position of a predetermined part of a player based on the player images captured by said image capturing means;

game providing means for providing the player with a game based on the current position of the predetermined part of the player recognized by said position recognizing means; and

guiding means for guiding a standard position of the predetermined part of the player with respect to said image capturing means before provision of said game is initiated,

wherein said guiding means comprises;

player image displaying means for displaying the player image captured by said image capturing means before provision of said game is initiated,

standard position displaying means for displaying an image indicating the standard position of the predetermined part of the player, and

recognized result displaying means for displaying an image indicating the current position of the predetermined part of the player recognized by said position recognizing means.

2. A game device according to claim 1, wherein said standard position displaying means displays the image indicating the standard position of the predetermined part of the player superposed on the player image displayed by said player image displaying means.

3. A game device according to claim 1, wherein said recognized result displaying means displays the image indicating the current position of the predetermined part of the player recognized by said position recognizing means superposed on the player image displayed by said player image displaying means.

4. A game device according to claim 1, wherein said guiding means further includes reporting means for reporting to the player that the current position of the predetermined part of the player recognized by said position recognizing means is located at the standard position of the predetermined part of the player with respect to said image capturing means when said current position is located at such a position.

10. A game device according to claim 2, wherein said recognized result displaying means displays the image indicating the current position of the predetermined part of the player recognized by said position recognizing means superposed on the player image displayed by said player image displaying means.

11. A game device according to claim 1, wherein said guiding means further includes reporting means for reporting to the player that the current position of the predetermined part of the player recognized by said position recognizing means is located at the standard position of the predetermined part of the player with respect to said image capturing means when said current position is located at such a position.

12. A game device according to claim 2, wherein said guiding means further includes reporting means for reporting to the player that the current position of the predetermined part of the player recognized by said position recognizing means is located at the standard position of the predetermined part of the player with respect to said image capturing means when said current position is located at such a position.

13. A game device according to claim 3, wherein said guiding means further includes reporting means for reporting to the player that the current position of the predetermined part of the player recognized by said position recognizing means is located at the standard position of the predetermined part of the player with respect to said image capturing means when said current position is located at such a position.

14. A game device according to claim 10, wherein said guiding means further includes reporting means for reporting to the player that the current position of the predetermined part of the player recognized by said position recognizing means is located at the standard position of the predetermined part of the player with respect to said image capturing means when said current position is located at such a position.

15. The game device according to claim 1, wherein said guiding means comprises guiding the player to adjust the current position of the predetermined part of the player to the standard position of the predetermined part of the player with respect to said image capturing means before the provision of said game is initiated.

5. A game controlling method, comprising steps of:

capturing player images by image capturing means;

recognizing a current position of a predetermined part of the player based on the player image captured by said image capturing means;

providing a player with a game based on a recognized result; and

guiding a standard position of the predetermined part of the player with respect to said image capturing means before provision of said game is initiated,

wherein said guiding comprises;

displaying the player image captured by said image capturing means before provision of said game is initiated,

displaying an image indicating the standard position of the predetermined part of the player, and

displaying an image indicating the current position of the predetermined part of the player recognized by said position recognizing means.

16. The game controlling method according to claim 5, wherein said guiding comprises guiding the player to adjust a current position of the predetermined part of the player to the standard position of the predetermined part of the player with respect to said image capturing means before the provision of said game is initiated.

6. A computer readable medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute steps of:

capturing player images by image capturing means;

recognizing a current position of a predetermined part of the player based on the player image captured by said image capturing means;

providing a player with a game based on a recognized result; and

guiding a standard position of the predetermined part of the player with respect to said image capturing means before provision of said game is initiated,

wherein said guiding comprises;

displaying the player image captured by said image capturing means before provision of said game is initiated,

displaying an image indicating the standard position of the predetermined part of the player, and

displaying an image indicating the current position ot the predetermined part of the player recognized by said position recognizing means.

17. The computer readable medium according to claim 6, wherein said guiding comprises guiding the player to adjust a current position of the predetermined part of the player to the standard position of the predetermined part of the player with respect to said image capturing means before the provision of said game is initiated.

7. A game device, comprising:

image capturing means for capturing images;

position recognizing means for recognizing a current position of an object based on the images captured by said image capturing means;

game providing means for providing a player with a game based on the current position of the object recognized by said position recognizing means; and

guiding means for guiding a standard position of the object with respect to said image capturing means before provision of said game is initiated,

wherein said guiding means comprises;

image displaying means for displaying the image captured by said image capturing means before provision of said game is initiated,

standard position displaying means for displaying an image indicating the standard position of the object, and

recognized result displaying means for displaying an image indicating the current position of the object recognized by said position recognizing means.

18. The game device according to claim 7, wherein said guiding means comprises guiding the player to adjust the current position of the object to the standard position of the object with respect to said image capturing means before the provision of said game is initiated.

8. A game controlling method, comprising steps of:

capturing images by image capturing means;

recognizing a current position of an object based on the images captured by said image capturing means;

providing a player with a game based on a recognized result; and

guiding a standard position of the object with respect to said image capturing means before provision of said game is initiated,

wherein said guiding comprises;

displaying the image captured by said image capturing means before provision of said game is initiated,

displaying an image indicating the standard position of the object, and

displaying an image indicating the current position of the object recognized by said position recognizing means.

19. The game controlling method according to claim 8, wherein said guiding comprises guiding the player to adjust the current position of the object to the standard position of the object with respect to said image capturing means before the provision of said game is initiated.

9. A computer readable medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute steps of:

capturing images by image capturing means;

recognizing a current position of an object based on the image captured by said image capturing means;

providing a player with a game based on a recognized result; and

guiding a standard position of the object with respect to said image capturing means before provision of said game is initiated,

wherein said guiding comprises;

displaying the image captured by said image capturing means before provision of said game is initiated,

displaying an image indicating the standard position of the object, and

displaying an image indicating the current position of the object recognized by said position recognizing means.

20. The computer readable medium according to claim 9, wherein said guiding comprises guiding the player to adjust the current position of the object to the standard position of the object with respect to said image capturing means before the provision of said game is initiated.