Storage medium having game program stored thereon and game apparatus

• US 7,762,893 B2
• Filed: 01/09/2006
• Issued: 07/27/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/26/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: Hiramuki, Yutaka, Kando, Yuuji
• Primary Examiner(s): Vo; Peter DungBa
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hall; Arthur O.
• Application Number:
  US11/327,353
• Publication Number:
  US 20060252531A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,660 Days
• Field of Search: 463 1- 5, 463 7- 9, 463 30- 34, 463 36- 39, 463 40- 43, 463 49- 57, 273/148.R, 273/148.B, 273/309, 273/317.1, 273/340, 273/348, 273361-367, 273/108.1, 273/127.R, 273/461, 348/115, 348/117, 348/211.14, 348/14.15, 348/39, 348/42, 348 47- 52, 348/121, 348135-137, 348/141, 348/576, 348588-589, 348/719, 348/721, 348/E13.004, 348E13064-E13067, 717168-178, 345 11- 34, 345/24, 345/419, 345467-469, 345/473, 345/539, 345543-544, 345/625, 345/636, 345/638, 345653-656, 345664-666, 345682-683, 345/686, 345949-950, 345/FOR.139, 345/FOR.153, 434 37- 38, 434/240, 434 43- 44, 434/69, 434/118, 434256-257, 37524015-24016, 375/240.25
• US Class Current: 463/37
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/2145 the surface being also a display device, e.g. touch screens
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/26 having at least one additional display device, e.g. on the game controller or outside a game booth
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/335 using Internet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/426 involving on-screen location information, e.g. screen coordinates of an area at which the player is aiming with a light gun
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/45 Controlling the progress of the video game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/53 involving additional visual information provided to the game scene, e.g. by overlay to simulate a head-up display [HUD] or displaying a laser sight in a shooting game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/56 Computing the motion of game characters with respect to other game characters, game objects or elements of the game scene, e.g. for simulating the behaviour of a group of virtual soldiers or for path finding
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1075 using a touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/301 using an additional display connected to the game console, e.g. on the controller
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/303 for displaying additional data, e.g. simulating a Head Up Display
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6045 for mapping control signals received from the input arrangement into game commands
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/63 for controlling the execution of the game in time
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 345/95 Sprite processing

Abstract

When a player is controlling a first object with a pointing device, an in-operation flag indicating that the player is controlling the first object with the pointing device is set as “ON”. When the in-operation flag is set as “ON” and a second object is within a predetermined distance from an input position of the pointing device, the second object is selected. When the in-operation flag is set as “OFF”, that is, when the player stops controlling the first object, the first object is caused to perform a process for exerting an effect on the second object having been selected.

Claims

1. A storage medium having stored thereon a game program to be executed by a computer in a game apparatus comprising a display screen that displays a game image and a pointing device associated with the display screen, the pointing device configured to designate a region on the display screen, wherein the computer is operable to execute:

a coordinate detection step that detects a plurality of coordinate values which are inputted to the computer based on one or more output signals associated with the pointing device, wherein the plurality of coordinate values indicate the region on the display screen designated by the pointing device;

a movement control step that moves a first object being displayed at least partially on the region when the first object displayed on the display screen is controlled by a player using the pointing device;

a positional relationship determination step that determines whether or not a positional relationship on the display screen satisfies a predetermined condition between the region and a position corresponding to a second object currently displayed on the display screen; and

an action control step that causes either one of the first object and the second object to perform a predetermined action against the other when the player is no longer controlling the first object using the pointing device and the positional relationship determination step determines that the positional relationship satisfies the predetermined condition.

2. The storage medium having the game program stored thereon according to claim 1, wherein the positional relationship determination step determines, when the player has stopped controlling the first object, a positional relationship between a final position of the second object, and the region on the display screen is represented by the coordinate value finally detected in the coordinate detection step.

3. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the positional relationship determination step determines, when the player has stopped controlling the first object, a positional relationship between a final position of the first object and a final position of the second object.

4. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the positional relationship determination step determines whether or not a distance between the second object and an input position has a value smaller than a predetermined value, based on positional information of the second object and positional information of the input position, the input position corresponding to a position associated with the region, and

when a plurality of the second objects are away from the input position by a distance having a value smaller than the predetermined value, the action control step performs the predetermined action on a second object closest to the input position on the display screen among the plurality of the second objects.

5. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the action control step causes the first object having been controlled by the player to perform the predetermined action.

6. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition indicates that a distance between the second object and the region has a value smaller than a predetermined value.

7. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the action control step changes either one of a parameter value of the first object and a parameter value of the second object.

8. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the computer is operable to further execute a marking step for indicating on the screen, when the positional relationship determination step determines that the predetermined condition is satisfied, that the predetermined condition is satisfied.

9. The storage medium according to claim 8, wherein the positional relationship determination step determines whether or not the distance between the second object and the region has a value smaller than a predetermined value, and

the marking step indicates, when a plurality of the second objects are away from the region by a distance having a value smaller than the predetermined value, only a second object closest to the input position on the display screen among the plurality of the second objects.

10. The storage medium according to claim 9, wherein after the marking step indicates on the screen the second object closest to the input position, the marking step continues to indicate, even when the distance between the second object and the input position is changed, the second object on the screen until the operation for exerting an effect is started.

11. The storage medium according to claim 8, wherein the computer is operable to further execute a type determination step for determining, when the positional relationship determination step determines that the predetermined condition is satisfied, a type of the second object which satisfies the predetermined condition, and

the marking step indicates on the screen that the predetermined condition is satisfied by using at least one of a predetermined shape and a predetermined color according to the object type determined in the type determination step.

12. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the pointing device is a touch panel provided on the display screen, in a case where a first input coordinate value is obtained when the touch panel is touched initially after a player has stopped touching the touch panel, and the first input coordinate value is followed by a series of second input coordinate values being sequentially inputted, a movement control step moves the first object to a destination having the final second input coordinates in accordance with a predetermined algorithm, and

the action control step causes the first object to perform a different operation depending on a type of the second object which is at a position corresponding to the second input coordinates which are detected before the player stops touching the touch panel.

13. A storage medium having stored thereon a game program executed by a computer in a game apparatus comprising a display screen configured to display a game image and a pointing device associated with the display screen, wherein the computer is operable to execute:

a coordinate detection step that detects a plurality of coordinate values which are inputted to the computer by the pointing device, wherein a player identifies a region on the display screen using the pointing device while at least one output signal is generated to represent the plurality of coordinate values and the output signal is received by the computer, and wherein the plurality of coordinate values indicates the region on the display screen;

a vector data calculation step in which vector data is calculated based on the plurality of coordinate values detected in the coordinate detection step, wherein the vector data indicates a direction of a destination to move a first object being controlled by the player and the first object is at least partially on the region;

a destination object determination step that determines whether or not a second object is in the direction indicated by the vector data when the player stops controlling the first object; and

an action control step that causes either one of the first object being controlled by the player and the second object to perform a predetermined action against the other after the player ceases controlling the first object, after a final input position is determined during the coordinate detection step and after the destination object determination step determines that the second object is in the direction of the destination to move the first object toward.

14. The storage medium according to claim 13, wherein only when the player has stopped controlling the first object and a speed at which the player makes an input of the vector data has a value greater than a predetermined value, the destination object determination step determines whether or not the second object is in the direction of a vector represented by the vector data.

15. A game apparatus comprising a display screen for displaying a game image generated by a computer and a pointing device associated with the display screen and computer, comprising:

a coordinate detection section that detects a plurality of coordinate values which are inputted to the computer based on the pointing device, the coordinate values indicate a region on the display screen designated by the user using the pointing device and at least one output signal is generated to represent the plurality of coordinate values and the at least one output signal is received by the computer;

a movement control section, that moves a first object being displayed at least partially on the region, when the first object displayed is controlled by a player using the pointing device;

a positional relationship determination section that determines whether or not a positional relationship on the display screen satisfies a predetermined condition between a the region and a position corresponding to a second object currently displayed on the display screen; and

an action control section that causes either one of the first object and the second object to perform a predetermined action against the other when the player is no longer controlling the first object using the pointing device and the positional relationship determination section determines that the positional relationship satisfies the predetermined condition.