Game program and game apparatus

• US 8,882,596 B2
• Filed: 07/07/2009
• Issued: 11/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: Shimamura, Takayuki, Yamashita, Yoshikazu, Dohta, Takuhiro, Hiratake, Shinya, Akasaka, Hideya, Takahashi, Yuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Lewis, David L
• Assistant Examiner(s): MOSSER, ROBERT E
• Application Number:
  US12/498,465
• Publication Number:
  US 20100009760A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,953 Days
• Field of Search: 463 36- 39, 463/47
• US Class Current: 463/37
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/06 using player-operated means for controlling the position of a specific area display
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/20 Input arrangements for video game devices
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/211 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/42 by mapping the input signals into game commands, e.g. mapping the displacement of a stylus on a touch screen to the steering angle of a virtual vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/428 involving motion or position input signals, e.g. signals representing the rotation of an input controller or a player's arm motions sensed by accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/803 Driving vehicles or craft, e.g. cars, airplanes, ships, robots or tanks
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1006 having additional degrees of freedom
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/105 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6045 for mapping control signals received from the input arrangement into game commands
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8017 Driving on land or water; Flying

Abstract

A game apparatus comprises an operation data acquiring means for acquiring operation data from a first input device including at least a first acceleration sensor and an angular velocity sensor and a second input device including at least a second acceleration sensor, and a game processing means for performing game processing on the basis of first acceleration data output from the first acceleration sensor, second acceleration data output from the second acceleration sensor, and angular velocity data from the angular velocity sensor, in the operation data.

Claims

1. A non-transitory storage medium readable by a computer of a game apparatus, the storage medium storing a game program which, when executed by the computer, causes the computer to perform operations comprising:

acquire operation data from first and second independent movable input devices used by the same game player to play a game corresponding to the game program, the first input device including at least a first acceleration sensor and an angular velocity sensor, and the second input device including at least a second acceleration sensor; and

perform game processing on the basis of at least first acceleration data in response to an output from the first acceleration sensor, second acceleration data in response to an output from the second acceleration sensor, and angular velocity data in response to an output from the angular velocity sensor,

wherein the game processing comprises respectively controlling movement of first and second different parts of the same unitary player object based on a corresponding one of the first and second acceleration data, and controlling a direction of the player object in a virtual world based on the angular velocity data.

2. A game apparatus, comprising:

an input interface configured to acquire operation data from first and second independently movable input devices used by the same game player to play a game, the first input device including at least a first acceleration sensor and an angular velocity sensor, and the second input device including at least a second acceleration sensor; and

a processor configured to perform game processing on the basis of at least first acceleration data in response to an output from the first acceleration sensor, second acceleration data in response to an output from the second acceleration sensor, and angular velocity data in response to an output from the angular velocity sensor,

wherein the game processing comprises respectively controlling first and second different parts of the same unitary player object based on a corresponding one of the first and second acceleration data, and controlling a movement direction of the player object in a virtual world based on the angular velocity data.

3. A method for using a first input device and a second input device, which are independently movable and associated with the same user by a processing device, to provide inputs to a process running on the processing device, the first input device including at least a first acceleration sensor and an angular velocity sensor and the second input device including at least a second acceleration sensor, the method comprising:

acquiring first acceleration data from the first acceleration sensor, second acceleration data from the second acceleration sensor and angular velocity data from the angular velocity sensor; and

respectively controlling first and second different parts of the same unitary player object on a display based on a corresponding one of the first and second acceleration data, and controlling a movement direction of the player object based on the angular velocity data.

4. A system comprising:

a first input device including at least a first acceleration sensor and an angular velocity sensor;

a second input device independently movable with respect to the first input device and including at least a second acceleration sensor;

a processing system which associates the first and second input devices with the same user and which is configured to control a player object on a display based on at least first acceleration data from the first acceleration sensor, second acceleration data from the second acceleration sensor, and angular velocity data from the angular velocity sensor,

wherein the processing system controls movement of a first arm of the player object based on the first acceleration data, controls movement of a second arm of the player object based on the second acceleration data, and controls direction of movement of the player object in a virtual world based on the angular velocity data.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the first and second input devices are coupled together.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the first and second input devices are coupled together by a wired connection.

7. The system according to claim 4, wherein the first and second input devices have different shapes.

8. A system comprising:

a first input device including a first acceleration sensor and an angular velocity sensor;

a second input device independently movable with respect to the first input device and including a second acceleration sensor;

a processing system configured to control a unitary player object displayed on a display based on at least first acceleration data from the first acceleration sensor, second acceleration data from the second acceleration sensor, and angular velocity data from the angular velocity sensor,

wherein the processing system respectively uses the first acceleration data, the second acceleration data and the angular velocity data in controlling different aspects of the same displayed player object.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the first and second input devices are coupled together.

10. The system according to claim 8, wherein the first and second input devices are coupled together by a wired connection.

11. The system according to claim 8, wherein the first and second input devices have different shapes.

12. The system according to claim 8, wherein the different aspects comprise one or more aspects of movement of the object.