Storage medium having stored thereon game program, game apparatus, game system, and game processing method

• US 8,845,430 B2
• Filed: 01/31/2012
• Issued: 09/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: Hayashi, Yugo, Sumaki, Kazuya
• Primary Examiner(s): Lewis, David L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hoel, Matthew D
• Application Number:
  US13/362,381
• Publication Number:
  US 20120231883A1
• Time in Patent Office: 973 Days
• Field of Search: 463/30, 463/31, 463/32, 463/33, 463/34, 463/35, 463/29, 463/40, 463/41, 463/42, 463 36- 39, 463/47
• US Class Current: 463/31
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/20 Input arrangements for video game devices
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/211 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/213 comprising photodetecting means, e.g. cameras, photodiodes or infrared cells A63F13/219, A63F13/655 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/214 for locating contacts on a surface, e.g. floor mats or touch pads
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/218 using pressure sensors, e.g. generating a signal proportional to the pressure applied by the player
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/235 using a wireless connection, e.g. infrared or piconet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/26 having at least one additional display device, e.g. on the game controller or outside a game booth
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/428 involving motion or position input signals, e.g. signals representing the rotation of an input controller or a player's arm motions sensed by accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/44 involving timing of operations, e.g. performing an action within a time slot
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/5255 according to dedicated instructions from a player, e.g. using a secondary joystick to rotate the camera around a player's character
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/816 Athletics, e.g. track-and-field sports
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/105 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1068 being specially adapted to detect the point of contact of the player on a surface, e.g. floor mat, touch pad
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/301 using an additional display connected to the game console, e.g. on the controller
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/403 Connection between platform and handheld device
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6045 for mapping control signals received from the input arrangement into game commands
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6676 by dedicated player input
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6684 by dynamically adapting its position to keep a game object in its viewing frustrum, e.g. for tracking a character or a ball
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8005 Athletics
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 : Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 : Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/20 : Linear translation of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/60 : Rotation of whole images or parts thereof

Abstract

On the basis of data based on an attitude and/or a motion of a portable display apparatus body, an action of a player object placed in a virtual world is controlled, and on the basis of a position and/or an attitude of the player object, it is determined whether or not the player object has received an attack. Further, when the player object has received a predetermined attack, an attack effect image representing an effect of the predetermined attack is generated, and a first image is generated by superimposing the attack effect image on an image of the virtual world and displayed on the portable display apparatus. Then, the effect of the predetermined attack in an area in the attack effect image is repaired, the area overlapping a predetermined range whose center is a touch position on a touch panel.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a game program to be executed by a computer of a game apparatus capable of displaying an image on a portable display apparatus that outputs at least body state data based on an attitude and/or a motion of the portable display apparatus body and touch position data based on a touch position on a touch panel provided on a surface of a display screen of the portable display apparatus, the game program causing the computer to execute:

controlling, on the basis of the body state data, an action of a player object placed in a virtual world;

determining, on the basis of a position and/or an attitude of the player object, whether or not the player object has received an attack from another object;

generating, when the player object has received a predetermined attack from another object, an attack effect image representing an effect of the predetermined attack;

generating a first image by superimposing the attack effect image on an image of the virtual world viewed from the player object, or on an image of the virtual world including at least the player object;

displaying the first image on the portable display apparatus; and

repairing, when the attack effect image is displayed on the display screen, the effect of the predetermined attack in an area in the attack effect image in accordance with a touch operation performed on the touch panel, the area overlapping a predetermined range whose center is the touch position indicated by the touch position data.

2. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 1, the game program further causing the computer to execute

calculating an attitude and/or a motion of the portable display apparatus on the basis of the body state data, wherein

at least one of a direction, the attitude, and the position of the player object in the virtual world is controlled on the basis of the calculated attitude and/or motion of the portable display apparatus.

3. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 2, wherein

when the player object and another object have collided with each other in the virtual world, it is determined, on the basis of the direction, the attitude, and the position of the player object in the virtual world, that the player object has received an attack.

4. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 3, wherein

when a specific portion of the player object has collided with another object in the virtual world, it is determined, on the basis of the direction, the attitude, and the position of the player object in the virtual world, that the player object has received an attack, and

when the player object has received the attack at the specific portion, the attack effect image representing an effect of the attack is generated.

5. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 2, wherein

the action of the player object is controlled such that the player object rotates or moves in accordance with an angle by which a direction of the portable display apparatus body is changed.

6. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 5, wherein

the action of the player object is controlled such that the greater a change in the angle by which the direction of the portable display apparatus body is changed, the greater the player object rotates or moves.

7. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 2, wherein

the attitude and/or the motion of the portable display apparatus are calculated with respect to a predetermined direction in real space, and

on the basis of the attitude and/or the motion of the portable display apparatus with respect to the predetermined direction in real space, at least one of the direction, the attitude, and the position of the player object is controlled with respect to a direction that corresponds to the predetermined direction and is set in the virtual world.

8. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 7, wherein

the attitude and/or the motion of the portable display apparatus are calculated with respect to a direction of gravity in real space, using the direction of gravity as the predetermined direction, and

on the basis of the attitude and/or the motion of the portable display apparatus with respect to the direction of gravity in real space, at least one of the direction, the attitude, and the position of the player object is controlled with respect to a direction corresponding to a direction of gravity set in the virtual world.

9. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 8, wherein

at least the attitude and/or the motion of the portable display apparatus that are obtained by rotating the portable display apparatus about the direction of gravity in real space are calculated, and

on the basis of the attitude and/or the motion of the portable display apparatus that are obtained by rotating the portable display apparatus about the direction of gravity in real space, at least one of the direction, the attitude, and the position of the player object is controlled such that the player object rotates about the direction of gravity set in the virtual world.

10. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 8, wherein

at least the attitude and/or the motion of the portable display apparatus that are obtained by swinging the portable display apparatus upward and downward about a horizontal direction perpendicular to the direction of gravity in real space are calculated, and

on the basis of the attitude and/or the motion of the portable display apparatus that are obtained by swinging the portable display apparatus upward and downward about the horizontal direction in real space, at least one of the direction, the attitude, and the position of the player object is controlled such that the player object rotates about a horizontal direction set in the virtual world.

11. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 2, wherein

at least the attitude and/or the motion of the portable display apparatus that are obtained by rotating the portable display apparatus about two axes orthogonal to a perspective direction of, and perpendicular to, the display screen of the portable display apparatus are calculated, and

at least one of the direction, the attitude, and the position of the player object is controlled such that in accordance with the attitude and/or the motion of the portable display apparatus that are obtained by rotating the portable display apparatus about the two axes, the player object rotates about two axes that correspond to the two axes in real space and are included in the virtual world.

12. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 11, wherein

at least the attitude and/or the motion of the portable display apparatus that are obtained by rotating the portable display apparatus about an axis along a width direction of the display screen and an axis along a height direction of the display screen are calculated, each axis being orthogonal to the perspective direction, and

at least one of the direction, the attitude, and the position of the player object is controlled such that:

in accordance with the attitude and/or the motion of the portable display apparatus that are obtained by rotating the portable display apparatus about the axis along the width direction, the player object rotates about a horizontal axis in the virtual world; and

in accordance with the attitude and/or the motion of the portable display apparatus that are obtained by rotating the portable display apparatus about the axis along the height direction, the player object rotates about a vertical axis in the virtual world.

13. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 2, the game program further causing the computer to execute

setting a first virtual camera for generating an image of the virtual world viewed from the player object or an image of the virtual world including at least the player object, and controlling an attitude and/or a position of the first virtual camera on the basis of the calculated attitude and/or motion of the portable display apparatus, wherein

the first image is generated by superimposing the attack effect image on the image of the virtual world viewed from the first virtual camera.

14. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 13, wherein

a direction of a line of sight of the first virtual camera is controlled so as to be the same as the controlled direction of the player object.

15. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 2, wherein

the portable display apparatus includes at least one of a gyro sensor and an acceleration sensor, and

the attitude and/or the motion of the portable display apparatus are calculated on the basis of data output from the at least one of the gyro sensor and the acceleration sensor.

16. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 1, wherein

an image that hinders a field of view toward the virtual world when superimposed on the image of the virtual world is generated as the attack effect image, and

when the image is superimposed on the image of the virtual world, the area in the attack effect image that overlaps the predetermined range is repaired so that the field of view toward the virtual world is not hindered.

17. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 1, wherein

image data indicating the first image is output to the portable display apparatus,

the portable display apparatus includes an image data acquisition unit that acquires the image data output from the game apparatus, and

a display screen of the portable display apparatus displays the first image indicated by the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit.

18. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 17, the game program further causing the computer to execute

generating compression image data by compressing the image data indicating the first image, wherein

the generated compression image data is output to the portable display apparatus,

the image data acquisition unit acquires the compression image data output from the game apparatus,

the portable display apparatus further includes a display image decompression unit that decompresses the compression image data to obtain the image data indicating the first image, and

the display screen of the portable display apparatus displays the first image indicated by the image data that has been acquired by the image data acquisition unit and has been decompressed by the display image decompression unit.

19. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 1, wherein

besides the first image, a second image representing the virtual world is further displayed on another display apparatus connected to the game apparatus.

20. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 19, the game program further causing the computer to execute

generating compression image data by compressing the image data indicating the first image, wherein

the generated compression image data is output to the portable display apparatus, and, besides the compression image data, image data indicating the second image is output to said another display apparatus without being compressed, and

the portable display apparatus includes:

an image data acquisition unit that acquires the compression image data output from the game apparatus; and

a display image decompression unit that decompresses the compression image data to obtain the image data indicating the first image, wherein

a display screen of the portable display apparatus displays the first image indicated by the image data that has been acquired by the image data acquisition unit and has been decompressed by the display image decompression unit.

21. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 19, wherein

an image including the player object in the virtual world viewed from a point of view different from a point of view toward the virtual world for generating the first image is displayed as the second image on said another display apparatus.

22. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 19, wherein

a point of view toward the virtual world for generating the second image is set at a position further away from the player object than a point of view toward the virtual world for generating the first image is from the player object, and

a range wider than a range of the virtual world represented by the first image is displayed as the second image on said another display apparatus.

23. The computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon the game program according to claim 19, wherein

a point of view for generating the second image is set at a position of viewing from a bird'"'"'s-eye view the player object in the virtual world, and

an image obtained by viewing from a bird'"'"'s-eye view the player object placed in the virtual world is displayed as the second image on said another display apparatus.

24. A game apparatus capable of displaying an image on a portable display apparatus that outputs at least body state data based on an attitude and/or a motion of the portable display apparatus body and touch position data based on a touch position on a touch panel provided on a surface of a display screen of the portable display apparatus, the game apparatus comprising:

a player object action control unit that controls, on the basis of the body state data, an action of a player object placed in a virtual world;

an attack presence/absence determination unit that determines, on the basis of a position and/or an attitude of the player object, whether or not the player object has received an attack from another object;

an attack effect image generation unit that generates, when the player object has received a predetermined attack from another object, an attack effect image representing an effect of the predetermined attack;

a first image generation unit that generates a first image by superimposing the attack effect image on an image of the virtual world viewed from the player object, or on an image of the virtual world including at least the player object;

a display control unit that displays the first image on the portable display apparatus; and

an attack effect image repair unit that repairs, when the attack effect image is displayed on the display screen, the effect of the predetermined attack in an area in the attack effect image in accordance with a touch operation performed on the touch panel, the area overlapping a predetermined range whose center is the touch position indicated by the touch position data.

25. A game system including a plurality of apparatuses configured to communicate with each other, the game system capable of displaying an image on a portable display apparatus that outputs at least body state data based on an attitude and/or a motion of the portable display apparatus body and touch position data based on a touch position on a touch panel provided on a surface of a display screen of the portable display apparatus, the game system comprising:

a player object action control unit that controls, on the basis of the body state data, an action of a player object placed in a virtual world;

an attack presence/absence determination unit that determines, on the basis of a position and/or an attitude of the player object, whether or not the player object has received an attack from another object;

an attack effect image generation unit that generates, when the player object has received a predetermined attack from another object, an attack effect image representing an effect of the predetermined attack;

a first image generation unit that generates a first image by superimposing the attack effect image on an image of the virtual world viewed from the player object, or on an image of the virtual world including at least the player object;

a display control unit that displays the first image on the portable display apparatus; and

an attack effect image repair unit that repairs, when the attack effect image is displayed on the display screen, the effect of the predetermined attack in an area in the attack effect image in accordance with a touch operation performed on the touch panel, the area overlapping a predetermined range whose center is the touch position indicated by the touch position data.

26. A game processing method performed by a processor or a cooperation of a plurality of processors included in a game system including at least one information processing apparatus capable of displaying an image on a portable display apparatus that outputs at least body state data based on an attitude and/or a motion of the portable display apparatus body and touch position data based on a touch position on a touch panel provided on a surface of a display screen of the portable display apparatus, the game processing method comprising:

controlling, on the basis of the body state data, an action of a player object placed in a virtual world;

determining, on the basis of a position and/or an attitude of the player object, whether or not the player object has received an attack from another object;

generating, when the player object has received a predetermined attack from another object, an attack effect image representing an effect of the predetermined attack;

generating a first image by superimposing the attack effect image on an image of the virtual world viewed from the player object, or on an image of the virtual world including at least the player object;

displaying the first image on the portable display apparatus; and

repairing, when the attack effect image is displayed on the display screen, the effect of the predetermined attack in an area in the attack effect image in accordance with a touch operation performed on the touch panel, the area overlapping a predetermined range whose center is the touch position indicated by the touch position data.