Method, apparatus and system for perpetual bonus game

• US 8,678,900 B2
• Filed: 08/24/2004
• Issued: 03/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Cannon, Lee E., DuPerault, Don G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Suhol, Dmitry
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kim, Andrew
• Application Number:
  US10/925,635
• Publication Number:
  US 20050096114A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,500 Days
• Field of Search: 463/23, 463 30- 32, 463/42
• US Class Current: 463/16
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3211 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3244 Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3267 Game outcomes which determine the course of the subsequent game, e.g. double or quits, free games, higher payouts, different new games
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 436/106664 Blood serum or blood plasma standard or control

Abstract

Methods of playing games and gaming systems and devices useful for playing games. Gaming devices include a first gaming unit for randomly selecting and displaying indicia associated with play of a primary game and for generating a signal relating to play on the first gaming unit. The gaming device also includes a second gaming unit connected to the first gaming unit for conducting an ongoing bonus game and enabling participation by a player in the ongoing bonus game in response to a signal generated by the first gaming unit. The ongoing bonus game may be administered by and communicated from a second gaming unit in the form of a host server to a number of networked gaming devices. Players may enter and exit play of the ongoing bonus game while it is still in progress, participating only in a segment thereof.

Claims

1. A gaming system comprising:

a plurality of gaming machines, each gaming machine programmed, for each of a plurality of plays of a primary game, to;

(a) receive a signal indicating a wager from a player,

(b) cause a display of an image associated with said play of the primary game, and

(c) determine a game outcome associated with said play of the primary game; and

at least one computer programmed to;

(a) cause an ongoing bonus game to be altered a plurality of times independent of any input from any player of any of the gaming machines, said alteration occurring prior to determining that a qualifying activity has occurred for any of the plurality of gaming machines;

(b) determine if the qualifying activity occurs based on any play of the primary game of any of the gaming machines;

(c) after determining that the qualifying activity has occurred for a first one of the gaming machines played by a first player, enable the first player to participate in the ongoing bonus game and cause play of the ongoing bonus game to be altered based on a non-wager input to the ongoing bonus game provided by the first player during play of the ongoing bonus game, said alteration being independent of any game outcome associated with the primary game;

(d) after receiving the non-wager input from the first player, receive a termination input and, after receiving the termination input, terminate the first player'"'"'s participation in the ongoing bonus game; and

(e) after the termination input is received until the qualifying activity is determined to have occurred again for at least one of the plurality of gaming machines, cause play of the ongoing bonus game to be altered a plurality of times independent of the non-wager input from the first player, said alteration occurring regardless of whether any non-wager input is received from any player at any of the plurality of gaming machines.

2. The gaming system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one computer is programmed to:

associate at least one interactive graphical character with the first player; and

cause play of the ongoing bonus game to be altered in response to a displayed interaction between the ongoing bonus game and the interactive graphical character associated with the first player according to the non-wager input from the first player and independent of any game outcome associated with any play of the primary game of any of the gaming machines.

3. The gaming system according to claim 2, wherein the at least one computer is programmed to store a change in status of the interactive graphical character associated with the first player, said change in status being based on the alteration of the ongoing bonus game in response to the displayed interaction between the ongoing bonus game and the interactive graphical character associated with the first player according to the non-wager input from the first player and independent of any game outcome associated with any play of the primary game of any of the gaming machines.

4. The gaming system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one computer is programmed to:

receive a plurality of non-wager inputs from a plurality of players other than the first player;

cause play of the ongoing bonus game to be altered based on the non-wager inputs received from the plurality of players other than the first player and independent of the non-wager input from the first player prior to determining that the qualifying activity has occurred for the first gaming machine;

cause play of the ongoing bonus game to be altered based on the non-wager inputs from the plurality of players other than the first player if the qualifying activity is determined to have occurred for any of the gaming machines, said alteration also being based on the non-wager input from the first player and said alteration being independent of any game outcome associated with any play of the primary game of any of the gaming machines; and

repeatedly cause play of the ongoing bonus game to be altered based on the non-wager inputs from the plurality of players other than the first player and independent of the non-wager input from the first player after the termination input is received and until the qualifying activity is determined to have occurred again for the first gaming machine.

5. The gaming system according to claim 4, wherein the at least one computer is programmed to:

associate at least one interactive graphical character with each of the plurality of players other than the first player and associate at least one interactive graphical character with the first player; and

cause play of the ongoing bonus game to be altered in response to an interaction between the ongoing bonus game, the interactive graphical characters associated with each of the plurality of players other than the first player based on the non-wager inputs from the plurality of players other than the first player, and the interactive graphical character associated with the first player based on the non-wager input from the first player, said alteration being independent of any game outcome associated with any play of the primary game of any of the gaming machines.

6. The gaming system according to claim 5, wherein the alteration of the ongoing bonus game is different based on the interaction with at least one of the interactive graphical characters associated with each of the plurality of players other than the first player than the alteration of the ongoing bonus game based on the interaction with the at least one interactive graphical character associated with the first player.

7. The gaming system according to claim 6, wherein at least one of the interactive graphical characters associated with each of the plurality of players other than the first player has a different role than the at least one interactive graphical character associated with the first player.

8. The gaming system according to claim 6, wherein the at least one computer is programmed to store a change in status of the at least one interactive graphical character associated with the first player based on the alteration of the ongoing bonus game in response to interaction between:

(a) the ongoing bonus game,

(b) the interactive graphical characters associated with each of the plurality of players other than the first player based on the non-wager inputs from the plurality of players other than the first player, and

(c) the at least one interactive graphical character associated with the first player based on the non-wager input from the first player;

said alteration being independent of any game outcome associated with any play of the primary game of any of the gaming machines.

9. The gaming system of claim 1, which includes at least one community display device, wherein the at least one computer is programmed to operate with the at least one community display device to display the ongoing bonus game and any alterations of the ongoing bonus game on the at least one community display device.

10. A gaming system comprising:

a plurality of gaming machines, each gaming machine including;

at least one display device;

at least one input device;

at least one processor; and

at least one memory device which stores a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one display device and the at least one input device to;

(i) enable a player to wager on a play of a primary game,

(ii) generate a primary game outcome for the play of the primary game, and

(iii) if a designated event occurs in any play of the primary game, enable the player to provide a non-wager bonus game input usable in an already ongoing bonus game, said designated event enabling the player to play the already ongoing bonus game; and

a computer programmed to operate with said plurality of gaming machines to;

(a) cause a display of a plurality of bonus game elements in the already ongoing bonus game prior to a first occurrence of the designated event in any play of the primary game of any of the gaming machines,

(b) cause a display of a plurality of initial modifications to the displayed bonus game elements in the already ongoing bonus game prior to the first occurrence of the designated event in any play of the primary game of any of the gaming machines,

(c) after causing the display of the plurality of initial modifications, determine whether the designated event occurs in any play of the primary game of any of the gaming machines,

(d) for each of the gaming machines for which the designated event occurs;

(i) receive data indicative of said non-wager bonus game input for said gaming machine,

(ii) designate at least one of the initially modified displayed bonus game elements in the already ongoing bonus game based on the received data indicative of the non-wager bonus game input for said gaming machine, and

(iii) provide an award based on the at least one designated bonus game element in the already ongoing bonus game, and

(e) repeat (b) to (d) at least once regardless of whether the designated event occurs in any play of the primary game of any of the gaming machines.

11. The gaming system of claim 10, wherein the designated event includes a generation of a winning symbol combination for any primary game outcome of any of the gaming machines.

12. The gaming system of claim 10, wherein the designated event occurs independent of any primary game outcome of any of the gaming machines.

13. The gaming system of claim 10, wherein each of the plurality of displayed bonus game elements is associated with a value, and wherein the provided award is based on the value associated with at least one of the designated bonus game elements.

14. The gaming system of claim 10, wherein a first of the plurality of displayed bonus game elements is associated with a first category of bonus game elements, a second of the plurality of displayed bonus game elements is associated with a second category of bonus game elements, the computer is programmed to store data representing that the first bonus game element and the second bonus game element were both designated, and the provided award is based on at least one of the bonus game elements of the first category being designated and on at least one of the bonus game elements of the second category being designated.

15. The gaming system of claim 10, wherein the computer is programmed to cause the display of the plurality of bonus game elements upon the computer being booted.

16. The gaming system of claim 10, wherein the computer is programmed to repeat (b) to (d) until an occurrence of one selected from the group consisting of:

the computer is disconnected from an electricity source, maintenance is performed on the computer, and the computer is turned off.

17. The gaming system of claim 10, wherein at least one of the plurality of gaming machines is located physically remotely from the computer, and wherein the computer is programmed to operate with the plurality of gaming machines using a data network.

18. A gaming system comprising:

a computer programmed to operate with a plurality of gaming machines to;

(a) cause a display of a plurality of bonus game elements in an ongoing bonus game regardless of whether players at the plurality of gaming machines are playing the ongoing bonus game,

(b) determine whether a first designated event occurs for a first one of the gaming machines, the first designated event enabling the player to play the ongoing bonus game,

(c) if the first designated event occurs for the first one of the gaming machines;

(i) designate at least one of the displayed bonus game elements based on a first non-wager bonus game input associated with the first gaming machine, and

(ii) provide a first award to a first player of the first gaming machine, said first award being based on any designated bonus game elements,

(d) after designating the at least one displayed bonus game element based on the first non-wager bonus game input, cause a display of a first plurality of modifications to the displayed bonus game elements in the ongoing bonus game,

(e) after causing the display of the first plurality of modifications to the displayed bonus game elements, determine whether a second designated event occurs for a second one of the gaming machines,

(f) if the second designated event occurs for the second one of the gaming machines;

(i) designate at least one of any of the displayed modified bonus game elements based on a first non-wager bonus game input associated with the second gaming machine, and

(ii) provide a second award to a second player at the second gaming machine, said second award being based on any designated bonus game element after said first plurality of modifications to the displayed bonus game elements,

(g) after designating the at least one displayed bonus game element based on the first non-wager bonus game input associated with the second gaming machine, cause a display of a second plurality of modifications to the displayed bonus game elements in the ongoing bonus game,

(h) after causing the display of the second plurality of modifications to the displayed bonus game elements, determine whether a third designated event occurs for the first one of the gaming machines, and

(i) if the third designated event occurs for the first one of the gaming machines;

(i) designate at least one of any of the displayed modified bonus game elements based on a second non-wager bonus game input associated with the first gaming machine, and

(ii) provide a third award to the first player at the first gaming machine, said third award being based on any designated bonus game element after said second plurality of modifications to the displayed bonus game elements.

19. The gaming system of claim 18, wherein the computer is programmed to determine whether any primary game outcome of any of the gaming machines results in the first designated event, the second designated event, or the third designated event.

20. The gaming system of claim 18, wherein at least one selected from the group consisting of:

the first designated event, the second designated event, and the third designated event occurs independent of any displayed primary game outcome of any of the gaming machines.

21. The gaming system of claim 18, wherein each of the plurality of displayed bonus game elements is associated with a value, and wherein at least one of the first award, the second award, and the third award is based on the value associated with at least one of the designated bonus game elements.

22. The gaming system of claim 18, wherein at least one of the plurality of gaming machines is located physically remotely from the computer, and wherein the computer is programmed to operate with the plurality of gaming machines using a data network.

23. The gaming system of claim 22, wherein the data network is an internet.

24. A gaming system comprising:

a computer programmed to operate with a plurality of gaming machines to;

(a) cause a display of a plurality of bonus game elements in an ongoing bonus game;

(b) prior to receiving any bonus game input, cause a display of a first plurality of modifications to the plurality of bonus game elements in the ongoing bonus game regardless of whether any player is wagering on any play of a game of any of the gaming machines;

(c) after causing the display of the first plurality of modifications to the plurality of bonus game elements, receive at least one non-wager bonus game input from at least one of the gaming machines;

(d) cause a display of at least one input-based modification of at least one of the bonus game elements in the ongoing bonus game based on said at least one non-wager bonus game input; and

(e) after displaying said at least one non-wager input-based modification, cause a display of a second plurality of modifications to the plurality of bonus game elements in the ongoing bonus game regardless of whether any player is wagering on any play of the game of any of the gaming machines.

25. The gaming system of claim 24, wherein the computer is programmed to operate with the plurality of gaming machines to, upon an occurrence of a designated event for one of the gaming machines, receive the at least one non-wager bonus game input from said one of the gaming machines.

26. The gaming system of claim 25, wherein the designated event is based on a primary game outcome for the play of the game of one of the gaming machines.

27. The gaming system of claim 26, wherein the primary game outcome includes a generation of a winning symbol combination.

28. The gaming system of claim 25, wherein the designated event is independent of any primary game outcome of any play of the game of any of the gaming machines.

29. The gaming system of claim 24, wherein each of the plurality of displayed bonus game elements is associated with a value, and wherein the computer is programmed to operate with the plurality of gaming machines to provide an award based on said at least one non-wager bonus game input and also based on the value associated with at least one of the bonus game elements.

30. The gaming system of claim 24, wherein at least one of the plurality of gaming machines is located physically remotely from the computer, and wherein the computer is programmed to operate with the plurality of gaming machines using a data network.