Game method and apparatus for enabling a video game system console to execute video game programs originally written for execution on architecturally different video game platforms

• US 8,187,099 B2
• Filed: 08/17/2005
• Issued: 05/29/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: Taho, Sagahiro, Akasaka, Hideya, Murakawa, Teruki
• Primary Examiner(s): Coburn, Corbett B
• Application Number:
  US11/205,324
• Publication Number:
  US 20060009290A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,477 Days
• Field of Search: 463/43, 463/42
• US Class Current: 463/42
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/10 Control of the course of the game, e.g. start, progess, end
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/45 Controlling the progress of the video game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/48 Starting a game, e.g. activating a game device or waiting for other players to join a multiplayer session
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/497 Partially or entirely replaying previous game actions
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/63 by the player, e.g. authoring using a level editor
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/77 involving data related to game devices or game servers, e.g. configuration data, software version or amount of memory
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/95 Storage media specially adapted for storing game information, e.g. video game cartridges
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/207 for accessing game resources from local storage, e.g. streaming content from DVD
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/209 characterized by low level software layer, relating to hardware management, e.g. Operating System, Application Programming Interface

Abstract

A video game selection program runs on a home video game console system connected to the Internet and displays on a home color television set a menu of one or more video game titles corresponding to video game programs available via the Internet from a remote server. At least some video game programs available from the server are designed for execution by a computer having a different hardware architecture than the home video game console system. The video game selection program, in response to selection of a video game title on the menu, sends game title ID information to the server and downloads and stores both a video game program corresponding to a title selected from said menu and corresponding emulator program of a type especially suited for enabling execution of the selected video game program on the home video game console. The video game selection program further creates and stores a table for associating downloaded video game titles with corresponding emulator program types and inhibits the downloading of emulator program types which have been previously downloaded and stored on the home video game system.

Claims

1. A home video game system and game delivery communications system arrangement comprising:

a network server machine located remotely from the home video game system;

at least one handheld controller;

at least one memory device;

at least one central processor unit (CPU);

at least one dedicated graphics processing (GPU) unit for rendering video game graphics in accordance with data provided by a video game program for display on a home-use television receiver;

an audio subsystem for producing sounds in accordance with data provided by a video game program;

a video game selection program that communicates with a remote network server and displays a game selection menu for requesting video games from the remote server; and

a bi-directional communications link providing access via the network to said remote network server, wherein the remote network server transmits said video game selection program to the home video game system and said video game selection program enables the home video game system to communicate corresponding player information to said remote network server and obtain a listing of video game titles of video game programs that are stored on said server and which are available for selectively downloading from said server along with appropriate corresponding video game system emulators for controlling said CPU and said GPU to emulate operations of a hardware architecture different from said home video game system, an emulation being at least in part responsive to signals provided by said at least one handheld controller, said video game selection program displaying a menu of game titles on said home-use television receiver comprising at least a list of video game titles selectable by a user using said handheld controller, wherein one or more of said server-stored video games written for one or more different video game systems having a hardware architecture different from said home video game system, and said video game selection program transmitting said player information and identification data representative of a selected game title to the server apparatus, and wherein the server saves information regarding each emulator program type transmitted to a particular player'"'"'s home video game system, and wherein based on received player-selected game title information the server apparatus transmits a copy of the selected game program and determines a particular corresponding emulator program kind that is required for running the player-selected game program on the home video game system and, based on a server-saved relationship of a correspondence between an emulator kind previously transmitted to a player and the player information received from a player'"'"'s home video game machine currently accessing the server, the server conditionally transmits a copy of said corresponding emulator program to said appropriate home video game system if that player has not previously been provided with the same emulator type.

2. A home video game system and game delivery communications system arrangement comprising:

a server apparatus operative to communicate with the home video game system via the network;

data storage memory comprising a work RAM data storage portion and a VRAM data storage portion;

at least one control processor unit (CPU);

at least one dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU) for rendering video game graphics in accordance with data provided by a video game program for display on a home-use television receiver;

at least one handheld game controller; and

a bi-directional communications link providing access via the network to a remote server apparatus, wherein the server transmits a video game selection program to the home video game system and the home video game system executes the video game selection program which causes said home video game system to contact said server and download a player selected video game program and an appropriate emulator program for emulating a specific video game platform on the player'"'"'s particular home video game system, said emulator program controlling said CPU and said GPU to emulate a hardware architecture of a legacy video game system or a hand-held portable video game system, said legacy or portable video game system being different in architecture from said home video game system, said video game selection program displaying a menu of player selectable video game titles on said home-use television receiver to enable a player to select a video game program to obtain from said server, and wherein said video game selection program, in response to a selection of a particular game title from said menu, transmits player information and the player-selected video game title information to the remote server which, in response, provides a game program corresponding to the player-selected game title and wherein, based on a saved relationship of a correspondence between an emulator kind previously transmitted to a player and the player information received from a player'"'"'s home video game machine currently accessing the server, the server conditionally provides an appropriate emulator program of a type corresponding to the player-selected game title only if the home video game system has not previously been provided with the same emulator type.

3. The home video game system of claim 2, further comprising a removable portable memory card device for temporary storage of game progress data.

4. The home video game system of claim 2, wherein the remote server stores a plurality of different video game programs that are written for said legacy video game system.

5. The home video game system of claim 4, wherein said video game selection program further provides a display on the home-use television receiver which includes one or more titles corresponding to said game programs, said video game selection program further controlling said processor to enable a user to select one of said titles using said game controller so as to initiate emulation of said legacy home video game system and execution of a selected video game program.

6. The home video game system of claim 5, wherein said remote server stores a plurality of different emulator programs and the game selection program selects an emulator program that corresponds to a game program of a game title selected by a user.

7. The home video game system of claim 2, wherein said emulator program comprises a graphic processing emulator program portion and an operation processing emulator program portion, wherein the graphic processing emulator program portion causes the special purpose graphic sub-system to emulate graphic functions of the legacy game system and the operation processing emulator program portion causes the processor to emulate operations performed by a main processor of the legacy game system.

8. The home video game system of claim 2, wherein said emulator program utilizes at least one virtual register when executed by said video game system.

9. A home video game console system and game delivery communications system arrangement comprising:

a home video game console having;

memory for executing game programs,

at least one handheld controller,

at least one central processor unit,

at least one dedicated graphics processing (GPU) unit for rendering video game graphics in accordance with data provided by a video game program for display on a home-use television receiver,

programmed logic circuitry configured to communicate with a remote server via the network;

a remote server apparatus operative to communicate over the network with the home video game console system, the remote server storing a plurality of different video game system emulator program kinds and video game programs, said video game programs designed for executing on video game systems having a different hardware architecture than said home video game console system and said emulator programs being available as different emulator kinds for emulating different video game system hardware;

wherein the video game console system contacts the remote server and receives a video game selection program that displays on said home-use television receiver a menu of one or more video game titles corresponding to video game programs available from said server, and wherein said video game selection program, in response to a selection of a game title from said menu by a player via manipulation of said handheld controller, transmits corresponding game player information and player-selected game title information to the server and, in response, receives a corresponding player-selected video game program and, based upon a saved relationship between an emulator kind previously transmitted to a player and the player information received from a player'"'"'s home video game machine currently accessing the server, the video game selection program also conditionally receives a corresponding appropriate emulator program kind suitable for enabling execution of said selected video game on the player'"'"'s home video game system only if that player has not previously been provided with that same emulator by the server, and wherein said server stores and maintains information regarding each video game program and each emulator program previously provided to the home video game system of each player.

10. A method for delivering a video game program and an appropriate game processor emulator program from a server apparatus through a bi-directional public information transmission line for operating on a user'"'"'s terminal-side home video game machine console system connected via said information transmission line to the server apparatus, comprising:

operating a server apparatus for providing a video game program and an appropriate game processor emulator program to a terminal-side home video game machine console system, said server storing a plurality of different video game processor emulator programs and video game programs;

transmitting a game selection program from the server to the terminal-side game machine in response to the server being accessed by the terminal-side game machine;

receiving player identification information and data representative of a selected game title at the server from the terminal-side game machine, wherein when the player identification information and data representative of a selected game title is received by the server apparatus, the server apparatus determines if an emulator is required for a terminal-side game machine corresponding to the player identification information and, if so, determines an emulator kind required for operating a game program corresponding to the selected game title on the terminal-side game machine; and

transmitting a game program corresponding to the selected game title from the server along with an appropriate emulator for using the game program on the user'"'"'s terminal-side home video game machine console system, wherein the emulator is transmitted only if that player has not previously been provided with that same emulator by the server.

11. A method for obtaining a video game program and an appropriate game processor emulator program from a server apparatus through a bi-directional public information transmission line for operating on a user'"'"'s terminal-side home video game machine console system connected via said information transmission line to the server apparatus, comprising:

using the terminal-side game machine to access the server through the public information transmission line;

receiving a game selection program from the server at the terminal-side game machine in response to the server being accessed by the terminal-side game machine;

executing the game selection program on the terminal-side game machine upon receiving the game selection program from the server, wherein the game selection program displays a game title select menu screen on a display device associated with the terminal-side game machine so that a game title may be selected by a user;

transmitting player identification information and data representative of a selected game title to the server apparatus, wherein when the player identification information and data representative of a selected game title is received by the server apparatus, the server apparatus determines if an emulator is required for a terminal-side game machine corresponding to the player identification information and, if so, determines an emulator kind required for operating a game program corresponding to the selected game title on the terminal-side game machine; and

receiving a game program corresponding to the selected game title from the server along with an appropriate emulator for using the game program on the user'"'"'s terminal-side home video game machine console system, wherein the emulator is received only if that player has not previously been provided with that same emulator by the server.

12. A non-transitory physical computer readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of one or more processing instructions which when executed by a computer operating as a server, implement a method for operating the server to provide a video game program and an appropriate game processor emulator program to a terminal-side home video game machine console system, said server storing a plurality of different video game processor emulator programs and video game programs, the processing instructions causing the computer server to perform operations comprising:

transmitting a game selection program from the server to the terminal-side game machine in response to the server being accessed by the terminal-side game machine;

receiving player identification information and data representative of a selected game title at the server from the terminal-side game machine, wherein when the player identification information and data representative of a selected game title is received by the server apparatus, the server apparatus determines if an emulator is required for a terminal-side game machine corresponding to the player identification information and, if so, determines an emulator kind required for operating a game program corresponding to the selected game title on the terminal-side game machine; and

transmitting a game program corresponding to the selected game title from the server along with an appropriate emulator for using the game program on the user'"'"'s terminal-side home video game machine console system, wherein the emulator is transmitted only if that player has not previously been provided with that same emulator by the server.

13. A non-transitory physical computer readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of one or more processing instructions which when executed by a computer operating as a terminal-side home video game machine console system, implement a method for obtaining a video game program and an appropriate game processor emulator program from a remote computer server via a bi-directional public information transmission line for operating on the terminal-side home video game machine console system having an associated display device, the processing instructions causing the terminal-side home video game machine console system to perform operations comprising:

accessing the server through the public information transmission line;

receiving a game selection program from the server at the terminal-side game machine in response to the server being accessed by the terminal-side game machine;

executing the game selection program on the terminal-side game machine upon receiving the game selection program from the server, wherein the game selection program displays a game title select menu screen on the display device associated with the terminal-side game machine so that a game title may be selected by a user;

transmitting player identification information and data representative of a selected game title to the server, wherein when the player identification information and data representative of a selected game title is received by the server apparatus, the server determines if an emulator is required for the terminal-side game machine corresponding to the player identification information and, if so, determines an emulator kind required for operating a game program corresponding to the selected game title on the terminal-side game machine; and

receiving a game program corresponding to the selected game title from the server along with an appropriate emulator for using the game program on the user'"'"'s terminal-side home video game machine console system, wherein the emulator is received only if that player has not previously been provided with that same emulator by the server.