Memory card for a game console

• US 8,016,681 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2005
• Issued: 09/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: Yoshino, Hiroshi, Yamamoto, Soichi, Yasumoto, Yoshitaka, Nishida, Kenji, Sugino, Kenichi, Murakawa, Teruki, Ohta, Keizo, Ibuki, Masato
• Primary Examiner(s): Bumgarner; Melba
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jones; Marcus D
• Application Number:
  US11/127,297
• Publication Number:
  US 20060094512A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,315 Days
• Field of Search: 463/1, 463 43- 47, 345501-503, 345530-532, 235/492, 439/79
• US Class Current: 463/43
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/00 Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions gaming systems which provide a financial reward G07F17/32
• 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 13/26 having at least one additional display device, e.g. on the game controller or outside a game booth
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1075 using a touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/203 Image generating hardware
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/204 the platform being a handheld device
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/301 using an additional display connected to the game console, e.g. on the controller
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/63 for controlling the execution of the game in time
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/66 for rendering three dimensional images
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6669 using a plurality of virtual cameras concurrently or sequentially, e.g. automatically switching between fixed virtual cameras when a character change rooms
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6692 using special effects, generally involving post-processing, e.g. blooming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1643 the display being associated to a digitizer, e.g. laptops that can be used as penpads details related to the relative motion of the display enclosure with respect to the body enclosure, e.g. to move between laptop and tablet PC configuration G06F1/1615
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1647 including at least an additional display G06F1/1692 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1656 Details related to functional adaptations of the enclosure, e.g. to provide protection against EMI, shock, water, or to host detachable peripherals like a mouse or removable expansions units like PCMCIA cards, or to provide access to internal components for maintenance or to removable storage supports like CDs or DVDs, or to mechanically mount accessories mounting of accessories to a computer display G06F1/1607; display hoods G06F1/1603; cooling arrangements for portable computers G06F1/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1688 the I/O peripheral being integrated loudspeakers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1431 using a single graphics controller
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1438 using more than one graphics controller
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/20 : Processor architectures; Processor configuration, e.g. pipelining
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/005 : General purpose rendering architectures
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0247 : Flicker reduction other than flicker reduction circuits used for single beam cathode-ray tubes
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/10 : Mixing of images, i.e. displayed pixel being the result of an operation, e.g. adding, on the corresponding input pixels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/003 : to produce spatial visual effects
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 : Display of multiple viewports
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/363 : Graphics controllers
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/399 : using two or more bit-mapped memories, the operations of which are switched in time, e.g. ping-pong buffers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4781 : Games
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 : Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A portable game system includes two display screens, at least one of which is touch-sensitive. A memory card or other device is selectively connectable to the portable game system via in insertable connection port.

Claims

1. A memory card adapted for at least partial insertion into a memory card slot of a hand-holdable video game system, said memory card comprising:

first and second memories; and

a connector for electrically connecting the memories to the video game system so that contents of the memories are selectively accessible to a processor of the video game system, the connector comprising a plurality of linearly-arrayed terminal strips that connect to corresponding electrical contacts of the video game system disposed within the memory card slot, the terminal strips including;

a first terminal strip connected to a chip select terminal of the first memory;

a second terminal strip connected to a chip select terminal of the second memory;

a third terminal strip connected to a reset terminal of the first memory and to a clock terminal of the second memory;

a fourth terminal strip connected to a clock terminal of the first memory;

fifth through twelfth terminal strips connected to parallel bus input/output terminals of the first memory, the fifth and sixth terminal strips also being respectively connected to a serial input terminal and a serial output terminal of the second memory,

wherein the first memory of the memory card is accessible in a parallel bus mode via the fifth through twelfth terminal strips when a chip select signal having a specified level is applied to the first terminal strip by the video game system, and

wherein the second memory of the memory card is accessible in a serial peripheral interface mode via the fifth and sixth terminal strips when a chip select signal having a specified level is applied to the second terminal strip by the video game system.

2. The memory card according to claim 1, wherein the first memory device comprises a read-only memory storing a video game program.

3. The memory card according to claim 1, wherein the second memory comprises an EEPROM.

4. The memory card according to claim 1, wherein the linearly-arrayed terminal strips are disposed in a recess provided in a surface of the memory card.

5. The memory card according to claim 1, further comprising:

ribs arranged between adjacent ones of the linearly-arrayed terminal strips.

6. The memory card according to claim 1, wherein the memory card is substantially square-shaped.