Gaming Machine

• US 20170039809A1
• Filed: 10/14/2016
• Published: 02/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Universal Entertainment Corporation
• Original Assignee: Universal Entertainment Corporation
• Inventors: Okada, Kazuo, Toyoda, Hirobumi
• Granted Patent: US 10,242,533 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/2145 the surface being also a display device, e.g. touch screens
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2250/142 with pay-out or rewarding with a prize
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1075 using a touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6045 for mapping control signals received from the input arrangement into game commands
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3209 Input means, e.g. buttons, touch screen
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3246 involving coins and/or banknotes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3262 Player actions which determine the course of the game, e.g. selecting a prize to be won, outcome to be achieved, game to be played
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/34 depending on the stopping of moving members in a mechanical slot machine, e.g. "fruit" machines

Abstract

A gaming machine having a display that displays a determined screen including a character, during execution of a game, a touch panel sensor, disposed above the display, that is capable of detecting the contact position, the position of the character contacted by a player, and a CPU that determines the contact position of the character as well as the contact mode, and that displays an image on the display, that is changed based on the result of this determination.

Claims

1. A method for controlling the depiction of a character on the touch-sensitive display screen of an electronic device, comprising:

selecting one of a plurality of predefined regions of the character by bringing a selecting member next to a to-be-selected region of the character on the touch-sensitive display screen; and

moving the selecting member in one of a plurality of predefined movement modes relative to the touch-sensitive display screen to cause the appearance of the character to vary as a function of the selected region and the utilized movement mode.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting member is a finger, which is used to select said one of the plurality of predefined regions of the character and which is moved in said one of the plurality of predefined movement modes.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of a movement trajectory of the selecting member across the touch-sensitive display screen.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of a frequency with which the selecting member is brought next to the touch-sensitive display screen.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of length of time over which the selecting member is held next to the touch-sensitive display screen.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of speed with which the selecting member is moved across the touch-sensitive display screen.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein moving the selecting member in said one of the plurality of predefined movement modes causes the appearance of the selected portion of the character to vary.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the character is animated and moving the selecting member in said one of the plurality of predefined movement modes causes animation of the character to change.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein moving the selecting member in said one of the plurality of predefined movement modes while the character is moving causes the manner in which the character is moving to change.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein moving the selecting member in said one of the plurality of predefined movement modes while the character is stationary causes the character to begin moving.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein moving the selecting member in said one of the plurality of predefined movement modes causes the appearance of the character to change over time.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein moving the selecting member in said one of the plurality of predefined movement modes causes a facial expression of the character to change over time.

13. A method for controlling the animation of a character on the touch-sensitive display screen of an electronic device, comprising:

bringing a selecting member next to the character on the touch-sensitive display screen; and

moving the selecting member in one of a plurality of predefined movement modes relative to the touch-sensitive display screen to cause the animation of the character to vary as a function of the utilized movement mode.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the selecting member is a finger, which is moved in said one of the plurality of predefined movement modes.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of a movement trajectory of the selecting member across the touch-sensitive display screen.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of a frequency with which the selecting member is brought next to the touch-sensitive display screen.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of length of time over which the selecting member is held next to the touch-sensitive display screen.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of speed with which the selecting member is moved across the touch-sensitive display screen.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein moving the selecting member in said one of the plurality of predefined movement modes while the character is moving causes the manner in which the character is moving to change.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein moving the selecting member in said one of the plurality of predefined movement modes while the character is stationary causes the character to begin moving.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein moving the selecting member in said one of the plurality of predefined movement modes causes the appearance of the character to change over time.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein moving the selecting member in said one of the plurality of predefined movement modes causes a facial expression of the character to change over time.

23. The method of claim 13, wherein the character has a plurality of predefined regions and one of the plurality of predefined regions is selected by bringing the selecting member next to a to-be-selected region of the character on the touch-sensitive display screen, and

wherein the animation of the character is caused to vary as a function of the selected region as well as the utilized movement mode.

24. An electronic device, comprising:

a processor;

a touch-sensitive display screen, operation of which is controlled by the processor; and

memory containing therein program instructions, which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the following steps

causing a character to be depicted on the touch-sensitive display screen, wherein the character has a plurality of predefined regions;

detecting the presence of a selecting member next to one of the predefined regions of the character on the display screen, and designating said one of the predefined regions as a selected region;

recognizing and identifying movement of the selecting member in one of a plurality of predefined movement modes relative to the display screen; and

causing the appearance of the character to vary as a function of the selected region and the utilized movement mode.

25. The electronic device of claim 24, wherein the touch-sensitive display screen is sensitive to the presence of a human finger.

26. The electronic device of claim 24, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of a movement trajectory of the selecting member across the touch-sensitive display screen.

27. The electronic device of claim 24, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of a frequency with which the selecting member is brought next to the touch-sensitive display screen.

28. The electronic device of claim 24, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of length of time over which the selecting member is held next to the touch-sensitive display screen.

29. The electronic device of claim 24, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of speed with which the selecting member is moved across the touch-sensitive display screen.

30. The electronic device of claim 24, wherein said causing the appearance of the character to vary comprises causing the appearance of the selected portion of the character to vary.

31. The electronic device of claim 24, wherein the character is animated and said causing the appearance of the character to vary comprises causing animation of the character to change.

32. The electronic device of claim 31, wherein said causing the appearance of the character to vary comprises causing the manner in which the character is moving to change.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein said causing the appearance of the character to vary comprises causing the character to begin moving from a stationary condition.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein said causing the appearance of the character to vary comprises causing the appearance of the character to change overtime.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein said causing the appearance of the character to vary comprises causing a facial expression of the character to change over time.

36. An electronic device, comprising:

a processor;

a touch-sensitive display screen, operation of which is controlled by the processor; and

memory containing therein program instructions, which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the following steps causing a character to be displayed and animated on the touch-sensitive display screen;

detecting the presence of a selecting member next to the character on the display screen;

recognizing and identifying movement of the selecting member in one of a plurality of predefined movement modes relative to the display screen; and

causing the animation of the character to vary as a function of the utilized movement mode.

37. The electronic device of claim 36, wherein the touch-sensitive display screen is sensitive to the presence of a human finger.

38. The electronic device of claim 36, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of a movement trajectory of the selecting member across the touch-sensitive display screen.

39. The electronic device of claim 36, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of a frequency with which the selecting member is brought next to the touch-sensitive display screen.

40. The electronic device of claim 36, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of length of time over which the selecting member is held next to the touch-sensitive display screen.

41. The electronic device of claim 36, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of speed with which the selecting member is moved across the touch-sensitive display screen.

42. The electronic device of claim 36, wherein causing the animation of the character to vary comprises causing the manner in which the character is moving to change.

43. The electronic device of claim 36, wherein causing the animation of the character to vary comprises causing the character to begin moving from a stationary condition.

44. The electronic device of claim 36, wherein causing the animation of the character to vary comprises causing the appearance of the character to change overtime.

45. The electronic device of claim 44, wherein causing the animation of the character to vary comprises causing causes a facial expression of the character to change over time.

46. The electronic device of claim 36, wherein the character has a plurality of predefined regions;

wherein detecting the presence of the selecting member includes identifying one of the predefined regions to which the selecting member is adjacent and wherein the identified region is designated as a selected region; and

wherein the animation of the character is caused to vary as a function of the selected region as well as the utilized movement mode.

47. A non-transient, computer-readable medium containing non-transitory program instructions for causing a computer to perform the method of:

causing a character to be depicted on a touch-sensitive display screen, wherein the character has a plurality of predefined regions;

detecting the presence of a selecting member next to one of the predefined regions of the character on the display screen, and designating said one of the predefined regions as a selected region;

recognizing and identifying movement of the selecting member in one of a plurality of predefined movement modes relative to the display screen; and

causing the appearance of the character to vary as a function of the selected region and the utilized movement mode.

48. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 47, wherein said detecting the presence of a selecting member comprises detecting the presence of a human finger.

49. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 47, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of a movement trajectory of the selecting member across the touch-sensitive display screen.

50. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 47, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of a frequency with which the selecting member is brought next to the touch-sensitive display screen.

51. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 47, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of length of time over which the selecting member is held next to the touch-sensitive display screen.

52. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 47, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of speed with which the selecting member is moved across the touch-sensitive display screen.

53. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 47, wherein said causing the appearance of the character to vary comprises causing the appearance of the selected portion of the character to vary.

54. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 47, wherein the character is animated and said causing the appearance of the character to vary comprises causing animation of the character to change.

55. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 54, wherein said causing the appearance of the character to vary comprises causing the manner in which the character is moving to change.

56. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 54, wherein said causing the appearance of the character to vary comprises causing the character to begin moving from a stationary condition.

57. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 54, wherein said causing the appearance of the character to vary comprises causing the appearance of the character to change over time.

58. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 57, wherein said causing the appearance of the character to vary comprises causing a facial expression of the character to change over time.

59. A non-transient, computer-readable medium containing non-transitory program instructions for causing a computer to perform the method of:

causing a character to be displayed and animated on a touch-sensitive display screen;

detecting the presence of a selecting member next to the character on the display screen;

recognizing and identifying movement of the selecting member in one of a plurality of predefined movement modes relative to the display screen; and

causing the animation of the character to vary as a function of the utilized movement mode.

60. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 59, wherein said detecting the presence of a selecting member comprises detecting the presence of a human finger.

61. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 59, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of a movement trajectory of the selecting member across the touch-sensitive display screen.

62. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 59, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of a frequency with which the selecting member is brought next to the touch-sensitive display screen.

63. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 59, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of length of time over which the selecting member is held next to the touch-sensitive display screen.

64. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 59, wherein at least one of the predefined movement modes is defined in terms of speed with which the selecting member is moved across the touch-sensitive display screen.

65. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 59, wherein causing the animation of the character to vary comprises causing the manner in which the character is moving to change.

66. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 59, wherein causing the animation of the character to vary comprises causing the character to begin moving from a stationary condition.

67. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 59, wherein causing the animation of the character to vary comprises causing the appearance of the character to change over time.

68. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 67, wherein causing the animation of the character to vary comprises causing causes a facial expression of the character to change over time.

69. The non-transient, computer-readable medium of claim 59, wherein the character has a plurality of predefined regions;

wherein detecting the presence of the selecting member includes identifying one of the predefined regions to which the selecting member is adjacent and wherein the identified region is designated as a selected region; and

wherein the animation of the character is caused to vary as a function of the selected region as well as the utilized movement mode.