Interactive game system using game data encoded within a video signal

• US 7,867,088 B2
• Filed: 05/18/2007
• Issued: 01/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/23/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MGA Entertainment Incorporated
• Original Assignee: MGA Entertainment Incorporated
• Inventors: Prum, Shanon
• Primary Examiner(s): Laneau; Ronald
• Application Number:
  US11/804,418
• Publication Number:
  US 20070288969A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,334 Days
• Field of Search: 463 37- 42
• US Class Current: 463/37
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/10 Control of the course of the game, e.g. start, progess, end
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/235 using a wireless connection, e.g. infrared or piconet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/45 Controlling the progress of the video game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/46 Computing the game score
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/537 using indicators, e.g. showing the condition of a game character on screen
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/54 involving acoustic signals, e.g. for simulating revolutions per minute [RPM] dependent engine sounds in a driving game or reverberation against a virtual wall
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/843 involving concurrently two or more players on the same game device, e.g. requiring the use of a plurality of controllers or of a specific view of game data for each player
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/95 Storage media specially adapted for storing game information, e.g. video game cartridges
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/207 for accessing game resources from local storage, e.g. streaming content from DVD
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8064 Quiz
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42646 for reading from or writing on a non-volatile solid state storage medium, e.g. DVD, CD-ROM
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4325 by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4758 for providing answers, e.g. voting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4781 Games
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8133 specifically related to the content, e.g. biography of the actors in a movie, detailed information about an article seen in a video program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8233 the additional signal being a character code signal

Abstract

An interactive game system includes a specially prepared DVD game disk with video images such as of a game show, and game data and instructions encoded within the VBI data on the disk. A game control unit receives all of the video signals recorded on from the DVD including both video images and the VBI data, extracts the VBI data, and uses the VBI data in conjunction with a plurality of handheld player inputs to allow users to select and answer game questions. The game control unit keeps track of whether the player inputs were correct or incorrect, the players'"'"' cumulative scores in accordance with their answers, and displays the players cumulative scores as video overlay on top of the recorded video images to be sent to a video display such as a standard television set. The game control unit controls chapter selection on the user'"'"'s particular DVD player model via a programmable wireless transmitter, and performs other logic, video, and audio generating and processing functions to allow a highly interactive game playing experience for multiple players.

Claims

1. An interactive entertainment system comprising:

at least one input device;

a control unit comprising;

an input interface for receiving commands from said at least one input device;

a signal formatter for receiving at least one received wireless signal from said input device, and for programming said control unit to produce output signals according to a detected communication protocol of said received wireless signal such that the output signals utilize the detected communication protocol of the received wireless signal; and

a wireless transmitter that transmits said output signals according to said detected communication protocol, said output signals being capable of selectively controlling playback of portions of a separate video playback device utilizing the communication protocol of the input device; and

a flexible signal wire external to said control unit and operatively connected at a first end thereof to said control unit, and operatively connected at a second and opposite end thereof to a wireless transmitting component;

wherein said video playback device is a video disk player, and said output signals are wireless control signals which selectively control playback of selected portions of recorded content played on said video disk player.

2. The interactive entertainment system of claim 1 further comprising said video disk player, and wherein:

said flexible signal wire is routed to said separate video disk player and is attached thereto in sufficiently close proximity to a wireless receiver of said video disk player to transmit said wireless control signals thereto.

3. The interactive entertainment system of claim 2 wherein said wireless transmitting component is an infrared transmitting diode that is affixed to a front face of said video disk player.

4. The interactive entertainment system of claim 1 further comprising:

a video disk containing a recorded video signal and game data encoded within said video signal, said video disk being suitable for playing in said video disk player to reproduce said video signal.

5. An interactive entertainment system comprising:

at least one input device;

a control unit comprising;

an input interface for receiving commands from said at least one input device;

a signal formatter for receiving at least one received wireless signal from said input device, and for programming said control unit to produce output signals according to a detected communication protocol of said received wireless signal such that the output signals utilize the detected communication protocol of the received wireless signal; and

a wireless transmitter that transmits said output signals according to said detected communication protocol, said output signals being capable of selectively controlling playback of portions of a separate video playback device utilizing the communication protocol of the input device;

wherein said control unit receives a video signal produced by said separate video playback device, superimposes a video overlay onto said video signal according to input received from said at least one input device and according to data encoded within a video blanking interval (VBI) of said video signal, and outputs said video signal with said video overlay to a television set for display thereon.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein said control unit is contained in a housing that is separate from said video playback device.

7. The system of claim 5 wherein said control unit is contained in a housing that is separate from said video playback device, said housing further containing a display on which players'"'"' scores are displayed.

8. An interactive entertainment system comprising:

at least one player input device for receiving inputs from a plurality of players; and

a game unit operatively connected to said at least one player input device, said game unit comprising;

a video input port for receiving a video signal containing both video images and game data;

a player input port for receiving inputs from said at least one player input device;

scoring logic for awarding point values to players according to their respective inputs, and for keeping accumulated scores of said players;

a game data extraction section for extracting said game data from said video signal;

a video processing section for producing processed video, said processed video comprising at least said accumulated scores of said plurality of players;

a video switching section for switching a video display device to be selectively operatively connected to either said video images or to said processed video, such that said video display device selectively displays either said video images or said video images plus player score information.

9. The interactive entertainment system of claim 8 wherein said game unit sends command signals to a video playback device that command the video playback device to jump to specified prerecorded scenes on a recorded video medium.

10. An interactive entertainment system comprising:

at least one player input device, said input device outputting a wireless player command signal;

a game unit comprising;

a receiver for receiving said wireless player command signal;

a processor for controlling progression of a game;

an output port for outputting a video playback control signal, said video playback control signal selectively controlling which portion of a prerecorded video program will be played; and

logic for detecting a state of said game and, depending on said state of said game, in response to said wireless player command signal performing either the step of (a) sending a command to a video playback device to move an on-screen cursor, or (b) detecting which of a plurality of players responded first to a game event.

11. An interactive entertainment system comprising:

at least one input device;

a control unit comprising;

an input interface for receiving commands from said at least one input device;

a signal formatter for receiving at least one received wireless signal from said input device, and for programming said control unit to produce output signals according to a detected communication protocol of said received wireless signal such that the output signals utilize the detected communication protocol of the received wireless signal; and

a wireless transmitter that transmits said output signals according to said detected communication protocol, said output signals being capable of selectively controlling playback of portions of a separate video playback device utilizing the communication protocol of the input device;

a game controller having;

game control logic;

a first port operatively connected to said at least one input device;

a second port for receiving an input video signal and game data encoded therein from an external video source;

a third port for sending at least a portion of said video signal to an external video display device; and

audio signal circuitry for producing an audio signal according to progression of a game.

12. The interactive entertainment system according to claim 11 wherein said game controller further comprises:

a fourth port for sending said produced audio signal to said external video display device.

13. The interactive entertainment system according to claim 11 further comprising video program control means to selectively activate particular portions of a prerecorded video program to be played by said external video source.

14. An interactive entertainment system comprising:

at least one input device;

a control unit comprising;

an input interface for receiving commands from said at least one input device;

a signal formatter for receiving at least one received wireless signal from said input device, and for programming said control unit to produce output signals according to a detected communication protocol of said received wireless signal such that the output signals utilize the detected communication protocol of the received wireless signal; and

a wireless transmitter that transmits said output signals according to said detected communication protocol, said output signals being capable of selectively controlling playback of portions of a separate video playback device utilizing the communication protocol of the input device;

a game data extraction unit for receiving a video signal from said video playback device, the video signal containing video information and game data, and for extracting the game data; and

a plurality of interactive game units, each interactive game unit comprising;

a first display and at least one user input means associated therewith; and

response logic for determining whether an input received from said at least one user input is a correct input in response to the video information being shown on a second display, and for indicating on the first display that the user'"'"'s input was correct.

15. The entertainment system of claim 14 wherein said game data extraction unit is contained within a separate housing from said video playback device.

16. The entertainment system of claim 14 wherein said game data extraction unit and said video playback device are integrated into the same housing.

17. The entertainment system of claim 16 wherein said video playback device is a video disk player.

18. The entertainment system of claim 14 further comprising:

recorded media having recorded thereon said video signal having said game data encoded therein.

19. The entertainment system of claim 18 further comprising:

a television set for receiving and displaying said video information; and

a remote control for sending commands to the video playback device.

20. The entertainment system of claim 14 wherein:

said game data extraction unit has a wireless transmitter for transmitting the game data to the interactive game unit, and the interactive game unit has a wireless receiver for receiving the game data.

21. The entertainment system of claim 14 wherein the response logic comprises scoring logic for determining a player'"'"'s cumulative score and for posting said cumulative score on the interactive game unit'"'"'s display.

22. In combination:

An interactive entertainment system comprising;

at least one input device;

a control unit comprising;

an input interface for receiving commands from said at least one input device;

a signal formatter for receiving at least one received wireless signal from said input device, and for programming said control unit to produce output signals according to a detected communication protocol of said received wireless signal such that the output signals utilize the detected communication protocol of the received wireless signal;

a wireless transmitter that transmits said output signals according to said detected communication protocol, said output signals being capable of selectively controlling playback of portions of a separate video playback device utilizing the communication protocol of the input device; and

a digital versatile disk (DVD) having machine instructions within video blanking intervals within video data stored on the DVD, wherein said machine instructions are associated with a video sequence on said DVD and said machine instructions cause multiple interactive game units to process data.