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Systems, methods, and programming for Internet games, including dating games

  • US 20060265277A1
  • Filed: 03/07/2006
  • Published: 11/23/2006
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2005
  • Status: Abandoned Application
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Assignment
First Claim
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1. A computerized method for conducting a real-time network-based dating game, where each of a plurality of players, including a host and a plurality of contestants, interact through a respective one of a set of computers that are connected via a computer network, said method comprising the steps of:

  • receiving input from a host representing a selection of one or more competitive challenges for said contestants to perform and using said selection in defining a game associated with the host;

    receiving input from potential contestant'"'"'s indicating a selection to be contestants in a given game defined by a given host;

    presenting on each of said contestant'"'"'s computers simultaneously;

    each of the one or more challenges selected by the given host to be part of the given game; and

    a user interface for receiving input from the contestant that enables the contestant to compete in the challenge;

    presenting in real time on the host'"'"'s computer the responses of the contestants to each challenge;

    receiving any score input by the host in response to each of the contestants'"'"' responses;

    presenting on the contestant'"'"'s computer each of the other contestant'"'"'s response to one or more of said challenges and the score the host has given each of the contestant'"'"'s responses to said one or more challenges. A method as in claim x wherein said method further includes;

    selecting a winner as a function of the scores given by the host to each of the contestants'"'"' responses to the one or more challenges; and

    providing a reward to the winner. A method as in claim x wherein said reward includes the provision of communication access to the host. A method as in claim x wherein reward includes the provision of the host'"'"'s email address. A method as in claim x wherein the host is a female and the contestants are male;

    A method as in claim x wherein the host is a male and the contestants are female;

    A method as in claim x wherein the host and contestants are of the same sex. A method as in claim x wherein the challenges are questions and the responses are answers to such questions. A method as in claim x wherein either said questions or answers, or both, are in the form of spoken words and an audio representation of those spoken words are communicated to other players in real time. A method as in claim x wherein;

    the contestants answer questions by voice;

    answers from other contestants are prevented when an answer from a contestant is currently being received; and

    the host and other contestants hear the responses in real time. A method as in claim x further including the step of limiting the time for answering each question to one minute or less. A method as in claim x further including the steps of;

    receiving input from one or more people over the internet concerning a game defined by a given host;

    responding to said input by scheduling when the game defined by the given host is to be played;

    automatically causing the game to start at the scheduled time. A method as in claim x wherein the input responded to by said scheduling includes input selecting available time slots from the host. A method as in claim x wherein;

    said method includes providing an interface over the internet that;

    lets people see information about one or more potential hosts, including photographs; and

    receives rating input from people rating individual hosts; and

    said input responded to by said scheduling, includes at least said rating input. A method as in claim x wherein said method further includes providing an interface over the internet that;

    lets people see information about one or more potential hosts; and

    information about when a game for a particular host is scheduled to be played. A method as in claim x further including the step of providing a simultaneously viewable chat window on player computers so players can send and receive messages to and from said chat window during game. A method as in claim x wherein said chat window provides text messaging. A method as in claim x wherein said chat window provides audio messaging. A method as in claim x wherein said chat window provides video messaging. A method as in claim x further including;

    presenting information relating to said game on one or more computers connected with said computer network that are associated with audience members, who are people other than players;

    wherein;

    said information presented includes said challenges, the contestants'"'"' responses, the host'"'"'s scoring of said responses, and said chat window;

    said presentation of said information on said audience computers is performed simultaneously with its presentation to a plurality of the players; and

    said chat window allows audience members to interact with players and other audience members by sending and receiving messages. A method as in claim x wherein said receiving of inputs from a potential contestant indicating a selection to be a contestant includes receiving input authorizing a financial payment to be made from said potential contestant'"'"'s account as the price of playing said game. A method as in claim x wherein;

    said receiving of input authorizing a payment of the price of playing said game includes receiving competitive bids to be one of a limited number of contestants; and

    said method further includes;

    providing on the potential contestant'"'"'s computer an indication of the price that needs to be matched to win a right to be one of said contestants; and

    responding to input from the potential contestant authorizing the payment of a monetary amount sufficient to win the bidding by;

    enrolling the potential contestant as a contestant in the game; and

    causing a transfer of said authorized amount from the potential contestant'"'"'s account. A method as in claim x further including the step of automatically transferring at least a portion of money generated by the bidding of said winning contestants to said host or a recipient of selected by the host. A method as in claim x wherein one or more of said players'"'"' respective computers are cell phones, and said computer network is a cellular phone network. presenting a current game state to a user through said user interface;

    responding to a user input received by said user interface during the current game state;

    sending and receiving messages using the IM protocol, including;

    generating IM control messages, which are IM messages that contain computer generated text in a form that can be parsed as coded instructions;

    transmitting said IM control messages to another computer;

    receiving said IM control message from one or more other computers;

    parsing said message into one or more fields; and

    using the values of said fields to control the program flow in the execution of said programming;

    wherein said programming further includes instructions for causing;

    user input made in response to a current game state on one computer to cause the generation and transmission of said IM control messages; and

    receipt of said IM control messages from one or more other computer to cause automatic changes in the game state on the receiving player computer. A method as in claim x wherein;

    said programming running on each of said players'"'"' computers includes an IM client for sending and receiving said IM control messages;

    said method further includes running an IM server program on a server computer, which server computer;

    maintains a representation of a current game state in the server computer;

    responds to changes in said server'"'"'s representation of the current game state by generating and transmitting over said network to the IM clients on one or more of said player computers IM control messages that cause said automatic changes in the representations of current game state on said player computers;

    receives IM control messages generated by said IM clients; and

    responds to values of fields parsed from said received IM control messages by changing said server'"'"'s representation of the current game state. A computerized method for conducting a real-time network-based game, where each of a plurality of players and each of a set of audience members interact through a respective one of a set of computers that are connected via a computer network, said method comprising the steps of;

    running user interface programming on each of said player'"'"'s computer that provides output to and receives input from players of the game;

    running user interface programming on each of said set of audience member that;

    provides a real time representation of the output and input to one or more of said players; and

    receives input from one or more audience members; and

    automatically determining the course of said game in response to said input from both said players and audience members. A method as in claim x wherein said inputs from the audience are scores and said automatically determining the course of the game automatically uses scores from the audience in determining the winner of the game. A method as in claim x wherein;

    said players include a host and a plurality contestants;

    said user interface programming on the plurality of contestant computers simultaneously presents each of the one or more competitive challenges selected by the host and received player input generated in response to said challenge;

    said user interface programming on the host'"'"'s computer includes instructions for;

    presenting in real time the responses of the contestants to each challenge;

    receiving a score from the host in response to each of the contestants'"'"' responses;

    wherein said automatic determining of the course of said game automatically combines both said scores from the host and scores from the audience in determining the winner of the game. A method as in claim x wherein;

    said challenges are individual questions, and said responses from the players are answers to said individual questions; and

    scores from both the host and said audience members are scores made in response to said answers to individual questions. A method performed by computing machinery of conducting a real-time network-based game where each of a plurality of players, including a host and a plurality contestants, interact with a respective one of a set of computers that are connected via a computer network, said method comprising the steps of;

    receiving from the host a selected set of questions;

    sequentially performing a question cycle for each of said questions, which includes;

    presenting the cycle'"'"'s question to each contestant and receiving a response to said question;

    presenting in real time to the host and all other contestants each of said responses, with an identification of the contestant who made each response;

    receiving from the host a score for each of one or more of said responses, which score is associated with both the response and contestant who give the response; and

    for each of said scores received from the host, presenting to all players a presented score, determined as a function of said score received from the host, which presented score indicates the contestant with whom its response is associated;

    calculating a total score for each contestant as a function of the combination of scores given to the contestant'"'"'s responses by the host, and using the total scores calculated for all contestants in selecting a winner of the game; and

    presenting to all players the total scores of the contestants and an indication of the winner of the game. A method as in claim x wherein;

    one or more audience members each have a computer connected via said network to said player computers;

    said presenting of a question cycle'"'"'s question, the responses to said question, said presented scores, and the indication of the winner, includes presenting said information to said audience members; and

    said method further includes;

    receiving, during each question cycle, scores from individual audience members for individual responses made by contestants; and

    combining scores for a given response from audience members with the score for the same response from the host to calculate the presented score for that response. A method as in claim X wherein;

    said selected set of questions is received before said question cycles are performed; and

    each of said question cycles successively automatically presents a question from said pre-selected set of questions. A method as in claim X wherein;

    each of said question cycles has an associated time limit after its presentation of under minute; and

    a response to a question after the time limit for its question cycle has expired will not be eligible to receive a score from a host. A method as in claim X further including;

    presenting one or more pictures of the host on player computers;

    presenting one or more pictures of each contestant on player computers;

    wherein said presentation of contestant scores presents said scores in a manner that spatially associates the score of an individual contestant with a picture of said contestant. A computerized method for conducting a network-based dating game, where each of a plurality of players, including a host and a plurality of contestants, interact through a respective one of a set of computers that are connected via a computer network, said method comprising the steps of;

    running user interface programming on the host'"'"'s computer that contains instructions for allowing the host to select a one or mores challenges for contestants;

    running user interface programming on a potential contestant'"'"'s computer that contains instructions for;

    presenting information, including one or more pictures of the host;

    responding to a selection to pay the price to play a game before the host by initiating;

    a transfer of funds from an account associated with potential contestant; and

    selection of said potential contestant as a contestant for the game before the host;

    running user interface programming on each contestant'"'"'s computer that contains instructions for;

    presenting each of said challenges selected by the host for his/her game to each of the contestants;

    receiving responses from the contestant in response to each challenge;

    presenting responses from a plurality of said contestants to an individual challenge and the scores generated for such responses; and

    indicating as the winner of the game the contestant with the best overall score. A method as in claim x wherein;

    said challenges include individual questions, and said responses received from the players are answers to said individual questions said method further includes running user interface programming on the host'"'"'s computer that includes instructions for;

    responding to an answer to a question by an individual contestant by presenting the players'"'"' response; and

    receiving a score input by the host in association with said player'"'"'s answer. A method as in claim x wherein said programming running on said potential contestant'"'"'s computers includes programming for presenting a bidding interface that enables the potential contestant to competitively bid to be one of a limited number of contestants, said bidding interface programming including instructions for;

    providing an indication of the price that needs to be matched to win a right to be one of said contestants; and

    responding to input from a potential contestant authorizing the payment of a monetary amount sufficient to win the bidding by;

    enrolling the potential contestant as a contestant in the game; and

    causing a transfer of said authorized amount from the potential contestant'"'"'s account. A method as in claim x further including the step of automatically transferring at least a portion of money generated by the bidding of said winning contestants to said host or a recipient selected by the host. A method as in claim x wherein;

    said contestants compete against each other at one time said presenting of each of said challenges to each contestant is performed simultaneously;

    said presenting of all responses to an individual challenge and their associated scores are presented in real time. A method as in claim x wherein;

    said challenges are questions and the responses are answers to such questions;

    the answers to said questions are presented to other contestants in real time so individual players can alter their answers to take into account answers to a given question that may have been already made by another players. A computerized method for conducting a real-time network-based dating game, where each of a plurality of players, including a female host and a plurality of male contestants, interact through a respective one of a set of computers that are connected via a computer network, said method comprising the steps of;

    running user interface programming on each of a plurality of potential contestant'"'"'s computers containing instructions for;

    presenting information about the host;

    receiving input indicating a potential contestant has selected to be a contestant in a game for the host;

    running user interface programming on each of said contestant'"'"'s computers containing instructions for;

    representing the current state of a game;

    receiving input from the contestant that alters the contestant'"'"'s in the current state the game;

    running on the host'"'"'s computer user interface programming including instructions for;

    representing the current state of the game;

    presenting an indication of the relative performance of multiple contestants in the game at successive times in the progress of the game, including, when the game is over, which of the contestants is the winner. A method as in claim x wherein said information presented about the host on said potential contestant'"'"'s computer includes one or more pictures of the host. A method as in claim x wherein said receiving of input indicating a potential contestant has selected to be a contestant includes receiving input authorizing payment of money as the price for becoming a contestant. A method as in claim x wherein;

    said programming running on said potential contestant'"'"'s computer includes programming for presenting a bidding interface that enables the potential contestant to competitively bid to be one of a limited number of contestants, said bidding interface programming including instructions for;

    providing an indication of the price that needs to be matched to win a right to be one of said contestants; and

    responding to input from a potential contestant authorizing the payment of a monetary amount sufficient to win the bidding by;

    enrolling the potential contestant as a contestant in the game; and

    causing a transfer of said authorized amount from the potential contestant'"'"'s account. A method as in claim x wherein;

    said programming running on said contestant'"'"'s computer includes instructions for;

    receiving bids of financial value from the contestant; and

    indicating which bid is the currently highest bid, and ultimately which contestant is the winning bidder; and

    said programming running on said host'"'"'s computer includes instructions for indicating which contestants have made which bids, which bid is the currently highest bid, and ultimately which contestant is the winning bidder; and

    said method further includes charging an account of the contestant who was the winner bidder an amount corresponding to the winning bid. A method as in claim x further including the step of automatically transferring at least a portion of money generated by the winning bid to said host or a recipient of selected by her. A method as in claim x wherein programming running on said contestant'"'"'s computer includes instructions for receiving input that allows the user to authorize payment for a gift to the host or to a recipient selected by the host. Programming for a networked computer game recording in machine readable memory, including player programming for use in a given player'"'"'s computer during a real-time distributed network game, where each of a plurality of said player computers interact over a computer network, said player programming comprising instruction for;

    maintaining a representation of a current game state in the player computer;

    generating and transmitting over said network to other computers involved in the running of the game IM control messages that are IM messages containing computer generated text in a form that can be parsed into one or more fields having values that can be used to alter the execution flow in the running of programming used by computer involved in the game;

    receiving from other computers over the network said IM control messages involved in the game;

    parsing said received IM control messages into said one or more fields;

    responding to the values of fields parsed from received IM control messages by automatically changing the player computer'"'"'s representation of the current game state;

    presenting to the player a representation of the current game state;

    responding to player input made during the current game state by generating an IM control message and transmitting it over said network to another computer involved in said game. Computer game programming as in claim x wherein;

    said player programming includes an IM client for said sending and receiving of IM control messages; and

    said programming for a networked computer game further includes IM server programming for use on a server computer, which server programming includes instructions for;

    maintaining a representation of a current game state in the server computer;

    responding to changes in said server'"'"'s representation of the current game state by generating and transmitting over said network to the IM clients on one or more of said player computers IM control messages that cause said automatic changes in the representations of current game state on said player computers;

    receiving IM control messages generated by said IM clients; and

    responding to values of fields parsed from said received IM control messages by changing said server'"'"'s representation of the current game state. A method as in claim x wherein said IM server uses the Jabber IM protocol.

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