Game system

• US 9,105,141 B2
• Filed: 07/16/2009
• Issued: 08/11/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Universal Entertainment Corporation
• Original Assignee: Universal Entertainment Corporation
• Inventors: Okada, Kazuo, Fujimoto, Jun, Nireki, Takao, Manabe, Kunihiro, Kukita, Noritoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): RENWICK, REGINALD A
• Application Number:
  US13/054,951
• Publication Number:
  US 20110124405A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,217 Days
• Field of Search: 463/16, 463/17, 463/25, 463/42
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/0034 using watermarks
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/12 Visible light, infrared or ultraviolet radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/206 Matching template patterns
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3239 Tracking of individual players
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3246 involving coins and/or banknotes

Abstract

A game system is provided which is capable of continuing a game without a player feeling inconvenience even in a case where a basic currency at hand is lost.

This game system includes: a bill identifying apparatus for identifying bills of different currencies and an amount of the bills and then outputting data representing the identified result; a player tracking device which is integrated with each of gaming machines, for converting data outputted from the bill identifying apparatus to credit data for executing a game, based on an exchange rate; and an information card device which is integrated with the player tracking device, the information card device causing an information card to store data equivalent to an amount awarded to a player in accordance with a game result of the gaming machines and sending out the credit data for executing the game to the gaming machines, based on the data equivalent to the amount read from the information card.

Claims

1. A currency value conversion device, comprising:

a controller included in a gaming machine, a currency identifying device which is capable of accepting plural types of currencies and which is capable of identifying a type and an amount of the accepted currencies, and an exchange servers for repeatedly acquiring, with a predetermined timing, exchange information indicating a correspondence relationship between an amount of a basic currency and an amount of a currency of a type other than the basic currency, are respectively connected via a communication line;

a memory being capable of storing exchange rate data indicating an exchange rate at which the correspondence relationship between the amount of the basic currency and the currency of the type other than the basic currency is defined by the type other than the basic currency; and

a processor which is programmed to execute processing of;

(A) receiving information which is specified based on exchange information from the exchange server via the communication line very time the exchange server acquires exchange information;

(B) updating the exchange rate data stored in the memory, based on the information received in accordance with the processing (A);

(C) receiving currency type data indicating a type of the currency identified by the currency identifying device and currency amount data indicating an amount of money of the currency from the currency identifying device via the communication line; and

(D) in a case where a type of a currency indicated by the currency type data received in accordance with the processing (C) is not the basic currency, transmitting, to the controller via the communication line, converted currency amount data indicating amount of a basic currency specified based on the types of currencies, the amount of the currency indicated by the currency amount data received in accordance with the processing (C) and the exchange rate data stored in the memory.

2. A method of controlling a currency value conversion device, wherein

the currency value conversion device comprises:

a controller included in a gaming machine, a currency identifying device which is capable of accepting plural types of currencies and which is capable of identifying a type and an amount of the accepted currencies, and a exchange servers for repeatedly acquiring, with a predetermined timing, exchange information indicating a correspondence relationship between an amount of a basic currency and an amount of a currency of a type other than the basic currency, are respectively connected via a communication line;

a memory being capable of storing exchange rate data indicating an exchange rate at which a correspondence relationship between the amount of the basic currency and the amount of the current of the type other than the basic currency is defined by the type other than the basic currency,

the controlling method including the steps of;

(A) receiving information which is specified based on exchange information from the exchange server via the communication line every time the exchange server acquires exchange information;

(B) updating exchange rate data stored in the memory, based on the information received in accordance with the step (A);

(C) receiving currency type data indicating the type of the currency identified by the currency identifying device and currency amount data indicating the amount of the currency from the currency identifying device via the communication line; and

(D) in a case where the type of the currency indicated by the currency type data received in accordance with the step (C), is not the basic currency, transmitting, to the controller via the communication line, converted currency amount data indicating amount of a basic currency specified based on the types of currencies, the amount of the currency indicated by the currency amount data received in accordance with the processing (C) and the exchange rate data stored in the memory.