Gaming machine with superimposed display image

• US 20040198485A1
• Filed: 11/07/2003
• Published: 10/07/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sg Gaming, Inc. (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Original Assignee: WMS Gaming Incorporated (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Inventors: Loose, Timothy C., Rothschild, Wayne H.
• Granted Patent: US 7,510,475 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/20
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3211 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3213 Details of moving display elements, e.g. spinning reels, tumbling members

Abstract

A gaming machine comprises a primary gaming display for presenting the outcome of a wagering or bonus game and a video display. In response to a wager, an outcome is generated and displayed in a display area. The video display provides a video image superimposed upon primary game display. The video image may be interactive with the primary game display and include such graphics as payout values, a pay table, pay lines, bonus game features, special effects, thematic scenery, and instructional information.

Claims

1. A gaming machine comprising:

a primary game display operable to display the outcome of a wagering game in response to a wager;

a secondary game display overlaying the primary game display and operable to display the results of a secondary game.

2. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the secondary game display is a flat panel transmissive display positioned in front of the primary game display.

3. The gaming machine claim 2, wherein the transmissive display is a liquid crystal display.

4. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the secondary game comprises a bonus game.

5. The gaming machine of claim 4, wherein the primary game display is operable to display a sequence of symbols in a symbol array having at least one row and a plurality of columns, the sequence defining a first award, and further wherein the bonus game comprises a reordering of the sequence of symbols in the symbol array.

6. The gaming machine of claim 4, wherein the primary game display is operable to display a sequence of symbols in a symbol array having at least one row and a plurality of columns, the sequence defining a first award, and further wherein the secondary game display is operable to change the appearance of at least one symbol in the primary game display.

7. The gaming machine of claim 6, wherein the secondary game display is operable to highlight an area around at least one of the plurality of columns.

8. The gaming machine of claim 6, wherein the secondary game display is operable to change the color of at least one symbol in the primary game display.

9. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the primary game display is operable to display a sequence of symbols in a symbol array having at least one row and a plurality of columns, the sequence defining a first award, and further wherein the secondary game is operable to copy at least one symbol from the primary game display to a saved collection of symbols displayed on the secondary game display.

10. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the secondary game comprises a wagering game played in response to a second wager.

11. The gaming machine of claim 10, wherein the secondary game comprises a sports based game.

12. The gaming machine of claim 11, wherein the sports based game comprises horse racing.

13. The gaming machine of claim 10, wherein the secondary game is an animated game.

14. The gaming machine of claim 10, wherein the secondary game comprises a game selected from the group consisting of keno, bingo, video slots, and roulette.

15. A gaming machine comprising:

a primary game display operable to display the outcome of a wagering game in response to a wager, said outcome including a plurality of symbols;

a secondary game display overlaying the primary game display and operable to interact with at least one symbol of the plurality of symbols.

16. The gaming machine of claim 15, wherein the secondary game display is operable to interact with at least one symbol by overlaying a wild symbol indicator over the at least one symbol.

17. The gaming machine of claim 15, wherein the secondary game display is operable to interact with at least one symbol by overlaying supplemental indicia over the at least one symbol.

18. The gaming machine of claim 17, wherein the supplemental indicia indicates the value of the at least one symbol.

19. The gaming machine of claim 17, wherein the at least one symbol comprises a face of a die and the supplemental indicia comprises dots.

20. The gaming machine of claim 17, wherein the gaming device comprises a slot machine having a plurality of reels on the primary game display and the at least one symbol comprises a position on a reel of the slot machine.

21. The gaming machine of claim 17, wherein the primary game display includes a wheel having a plurality of positions and the at least one symbol comprises a position on the wheel.

22. The gaming machine of claim 17, wherein the at least one symbol comprises a symbol on a backlit game board.

23. The gaming machine of claim 17, wherein the secondary display is operable to move the supplemental indicia in synchronization with a movement of the at least one symbol.

24. The gaming machine of claim 17, wherein the primary game display comprises a flipper based display and the supplemental indicia is overlaid over a final position of the flipper.

25. The gaming machine of claim 17, wherein the supplemental indicia comprises a live video stream overlaid over the at least one symbol.

26. The gaming machine of claim 17, wherein the primary game display comprises a video display.

27. A gaming machine comprising:

a primary game display operable to display the outcome of a wagering game in response to a wager;

a secondary game display overlaying the primary game display and operable to display a video image that is not related to the outcome of the wagering game.

28. The gaming machine of claim 27, wherein the video image comprises advertising.

29. The gaming machine of claim 27, wherein the video image comprises an attract mode video image.

30. The gaming machine of claim 27, wherein the secondary display is operable to change the video image in accordance with a time value.

31. The gaming machine of claim 30, wherein the time value indicates a time of day.

32. The gaming machine of claim 30, wherein the time value indicates a holiday.

33. The gaming machine of claim 30, wherein the time value indicates a day of the week.

34. The gaming machine of claim 27, wherein the video image includes diagnostic data for the gaming machine.

35. The gaming machine of claim 27, wherein the video image includes setup data for the gaming machine.

36. The gaming machine of claim 27, further comprising a machine-readable medium for storing personalization data and wherein the video image includes at least a subset of the personalization data.

37. The gaming machine of claim 27, wherein the video image comprises a video stream.

38. The gaming machine of claim 37, wherein the video stream comprises video information received from a television broadcast.

39. A gaming machine comprising:

a primary game display operable to display the outcome of a wagering game in response to a wager;

a secondary game display overlaying the primary game display and operable to display a supplemental video image associated with the wagering game.

40. The gaming machine of claim 39, wherein the supplemental video image includes a pay table.

41. The gaming machine of claim 40, wherein the pay table comprises a dynamic pay table that changes in response to predetermined criteria.

42. The gaming machine of claim 41, wherein the predetermined criteria includes whether a bonus game is active.

43. The gaming machine of claim 39, wherein the supplemental video image includes an animated character that interacts with the wagering game.

44. The gaming machine of claim 43, wherein the animated character indicates a winning outcome of the wagering game.

45. The gaming machine of claim 39, wherein the supplemental video image includes an indication that a payout associated with a winning outcome for the wagering game is to be multiplied.

46. The gaming machine of claim 39, wherein the primary display comprises a plurality of symbols, and wherein the supplemental video is operable to highlight a subset of the plurality of symbols representing a winning outcome for the wagering game.

47. The gaming machine of claim 46, wherein the supplemental video is operable to highlight a subset of the plurality of symbols representing a winning outcome by obscuring a subset of the plurality of symbols that is not included in the winning outcome.

48. The gaming machine of claim 46, wherein the winning outcome comprises a pay line.

49. The gaming machine of claim 48, further comprising a touch screen operable to receive a selection of the pay line.

50. The gaming machine of claim 48, wherein the supplemental video is operable to highlight a pay line by obscuring a subset of the plurality of symbols that is not included on the pay line.

51. The gaming machine of claim 48, wherein the supplemental video is operable to highlight a pay line by placing a box around a subset of symbols included on the pay line.

52. The gaming machine of claim 48, wherein the supplemental video image comprises a supplemental pay line.

53. The gaming machine of claim 48, wherein the supplemental video image comprises a skewed pay line.

54. The gaming machine of claim 53, wherein the skewed pay line is presented for a randomly selected activation of the wagering game.

55. The gaming machine of claim 39, wherein the primary game display is operable to display a sequence of symbols in a symbol array having at least one row and a plurality of primary columns.

56. The gaming machine of claim 55, wherein the supplemental video image comprises at least one supplemental column of symbols to be added to the plurality of primary columns in the wagering game.

57. The gaming machine of claim 55, wherein the supplemental video image masks at least one of the primary columns to be removed from the wagering game.

58. The gaming machine of claim 55, wherein the at least one row comprises a plurality of rows and wherein the supplemental video image is operable to create a moving floating window that stops moving at a predetermined time to highlight at least symbol to act as a scatter symbol.

59. The gaming machine of claim 58, wherein the wagering game treats the scatter symbol as a wild symbol.

60. The gaming machine of claim 58, wherein the wagering game includes the scatter symbol in determining a winning outcome.

61. The gaming machine of claim 39 wherein the primary game display comprises a game background and wherein the supplemental video image includes a marker associated with the game background.

62. The gaming machine of claim 61, wherein the game background comprises a pachinko game background and wherein the marker comprises an image of a moving ball such that the moving ball moves in accordance with pachinko game background to a randomly generated outcome.

63. The gaming machine of claim 61, wherein the game background comprises a roulette wheel and wherein the marker comprises an image of a moving roulette ball such that the moving roulette ball moves in accordance with the roulette wheel to a randomly generated outcome.

64. The gaming machine of claim 63, wherein the roulette wheel rotates and wherein the moving roulette ball movement is synchronized with the rotation of the roulette wheel.

65. The gaming machine of claim 61, wherein the game background comprises a backlit board and wherein the marker comprises an image of a token overlaying a position on the backlit board.

66. The gaming machine of claim 61, wherein the game background comprises a diorama having one or more diorama elements.

67. The gaming machine of claim 66, wherein the diorama is operable to move in one or more dimensions.

68. The gaming machine of claim 66, further comprising a touch screen operable to receive a selection of at least one diorama element and wherein the supplemental video image highlights the at least one diorama element.

69. The gaming machine of claim 61, wherein game background comprises a background video image.

70. The gaming machine of claim 61, wherein the game background comprises a ladder board and wherein the supplemental video image provides an indicator to a position on the ladder board.

71. The gaming machine of claim 39, wherein the supplemental video image includes a live video stream.

72. The gaming machine of claim 71, wherein the live video stream comprises a film clip.

73. The gaming machine of claim 71, wherein the live video stream comprises a generated video image.

74. The gaming machine of claim 71, wherein the live video stream is stored on the gaming machine.

75. The gamin machine of claim 71, wherein the live video stream is received from a server.

76. A gaming machine comprising:

a primary game display operable to display the outcome of a wagering game in response to a wager;

a secondary game display overlaying the primary game display; and

a touch screen mounted to the secondary game display and operable to receive input.

77. The gaming machine of claim 76, wherein the secondary game display is operable to display at least one button for selection though the touch screen.

78. The gaming machine of claim 77, wherein the at least one button comprises a denomination selection button.

79. The gaming machine of claim 77, wherein the at least one button comprises a non-game related request button.

80. The gaming machine of claim 79, wherein the request button is a drink request button.

81. The gaming machine of claim 79, wherein the request button is an attendant request button.

82. The gaming machine of claim 77, wherein the primary game display is operable to provide a plurality of rotatable reels having a plurality of symbols and wherein selection of the at least one button through the touch screen causes at least one of the plurality of reels to stop rotating.

83. The gaming machine of claim 82, wherein the rotatable reels are mechanical reels.

84. The gaming machine of claim 82, wherein the rotatable reels are displayed as a video image.

85. The gaming machine of claim 76, wherein the touch screen is operable to receive a selection of a symbol of a plurality of symbols displayable on the primary game display and wherein the secondary game display is operable to display a pay table comprising a set of winning outcomes that include the selected symbol.

86. The gaming machine of claim 76, wherein the touch screen is operable to receive a selection of a symbol of a plurality of symbols displayable on the primary game display and wherein the secondary game display is operable to display at least one side wager associated with the selected symbol.

87. The gaming machine of claim 76, wherein the touch screen is operable to receive a selection of a symbol of a plurality of symbols displayable on the primary game display and wherein the secondary game display is operable to overlay the selected symbol with a wild indicator upon appearance on the primary display.

88. The gaming machine of claim 76, wherein the secondary video display is operable to display a plurality of pay lines and wherein the touch screen is operable to receive a selection of at least one of the pay lines for activation.

89. The gaming machine of claim 76, wherein the secondary video display is operable to display a plurality of wagering games available on the gaming machine and wherein the touch screen is operable to receive a selection of one of the plurality of wagering games for play on the gaming machine.

90. A gaming machine comprising:

a processor controlling the operation of a wagering game; and

a rotatable flat panel transmissive display coupled to the processor, wherein the transmissive display may be rotated from a substantially horizontal position for playing the wagering game.

91. A gaming machine comprising:

a cabinet including a primary game display operable to display the outcome of a wagering game in response to a wager;

a flat panel transmissive display mounted to the cabinet and operable to display signage information.

92. The gaming machine of claim 91, wherein the signage information includes advertising information.

93. A gaming machine comprising:

a primary game display operable to display the outcome of a wagering game in response to a wager;

a top box display associated with the primary game display; and

a transmissive display overlaying the top box display and operable to provide images overlaying selective portions of the top box display.