Gaming machine having secondary display for providing video content

• US RE44,295 E1
• Filed: 04/01/2004
• Issued: 06/11/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Hedrick, Joseph R., Luciano, Robert A. Jr., Legras, Jean Pierre, Griswold, Chauncey W., Stephan, Don C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Layno, Benjamin
• Application Number:
  US10/817,625
• Time in Patent Office: 3,358 Days
• Field of Search: 273/143.R, 273/138.2, 463/20, 463/12, 463/13, 463 25- 29, 463/42, 463/46
• US Class Current: 463/20
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3211 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3244 Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3267 Game outcomes which determine the course of the subsequent game, e.g. double or quits, free games, higher payouts, different new games

Abstract

A gaming machine includes main and secondary displays. The secondary display is disposed apart from the primary display and is used for presenting primary, secondary, or even tertiary information. The main display is controlled electronically by a gaming machine controller, which main display presents the results of a play on the gaming machine. In the case of a slot machine, the main display may be the glass display through which the spinning reels of a game play are viewed. In a video poker gaming machine, the main display is usually a cathode ray tube (“CRT”) which displays a video game image to the player and other information directly associated with the game play. The secondary display may be provided at various locations on the gaming machine such as in a top glass portion of the gaming machine or a belly glass portion of the gaming machine, which belly glass portion is located below a main display portion of the gaming machine. The secondary display itself may be a liquid crystal display, a cathode ray tube, a field emission display, a plasma display, a digital micromirror device (DMD), etc.

Claims

1. A gaming machine comprising:

a chassis defining a gaming machine interior region and a gaming machine exterior surface;

a gaming machine controller for controlling the outcome of a primary game played on said gaming machine;

a main display capable of presenting the outcome of the primary game on the gaming machine;

a secondary display, which is a flat panel display, provided on said gaming machine at a location disposed apart from said main display and displaying video content including a secondary bonus game of chance play, wherein a single wager concurrently activates both the primary game and the secondary bonus game, and wherein the outcome of the secondary game depends only on at least one of (i) the number of plays on the primary game and (ii) the outcome of those plays on the primary game, without depending upon a race against a timer or against players on other gaming machines; and

a player tracking device mounted on said chassis, said player tracking device comprising,

(a) a display, separate from said main display and said secondary display,

(b) one or more interfaces designed or configured to input player tracking information into the gaming machine;

(c) a network interface designed or configured to send and to receive player tracking information over a player tracking network;

(d) a logic device, separate from the gaming machine controller, designed or configured to send player tracking information to the gaming machine controller,

wherein the gaming machine controller is designed or configured to cause player tracking information and video content related to the player tracking information to be displayed on at least one of the main display and the secondary display.

2. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising a secondary display support on which said secondary display is mounted, said secondary display support being attached to the gaming machine chassis by a hinge.

3. The gaming machine of claim 2, wherein the hinge allows the secondary display to be moved from (i) an operating position in which at least a portion of the gaming machine interior is blocked to (ii) a maintenance position in which said portion is accessible.

4. The gaming machine of claim 2 1, wherein the secondary display is provided in a top box portion of the gaming machine, which top box portion is located above the main display portion of the gaming machine.

5. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the secondary display is provided in a belly portion of the gaming machine, which belly portion is located below a main display portion of the gaming machine.

6. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the secondary display is selected from the group consisting of flat panel cathode ray tubes, liquid crystal displays, plasma displays, field emission displays, digital micromirror displays, LCD touchscreens, and combinations thereof.

7. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the main display comprises a set of spinning reels.

8. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the video content includes material selected from the group consisting of a casino kiosk, television programming, a secondary game, primary game outcome infonnation, player attraction material, video conferencing, casino service notification and combinations thereof.

9. The gaming machine of claim 8, wherein the video content is a secondary game which includes a bonusing component to a primary game, which primary game has its results displayed on the main display.

10. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising one or more speakers provided in the gaming machine and one or more ports for transmitting sound from the speakers to locations outside the gaming machine.

11. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the secondary display support includes a casing which encloses one or more memory devices.

12. The gaming machine of claim 11, wherein at least one of said memory devices stores animation data for display on said secondary display.

13. The gaming machine of claim 1, further comprising a top glass located in front of said secondary display and said secondary display support.

14. A method of displaying video content on a gaming machine having (i) a main display capable of presenting the outcome of a primary game play on the gaming machine, (ii) a secondary display, which is a flat panel video display, provided on said gaming machine at a location disposed apart from said main display, and iii) a player tracking device capable of receiving player tracking information and sending said player tracking information to a gaming machine controller on the gaming machine the method comprising:

receiving a wager;

in response to a player initiating a play on the gaming machine, presenting the outcome of the play of the primary game on the main display of the gaming machine;

displaying play of a secondary bonus game of chance on the secondary display, wherein a single wager concurrently activates both the primary game and the secondary bonus game, and wherein the outcome of the secondary game depends only on at least one of (i) the number of plays on the primary game and (ii) the outcome of those plays on the primary game, without depending upon a race against a timer or against players on other gaming machines;

receiving player tracking information input into the player tracking device from at least one of a player and a remote server; and

displaying a portion of the player tracking information or video content related to the player tracking information to at least one of the main display and the secondary display.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the gaming machine includes a secondary display support on which said secondary display is mounted and the method comprises moving said secondary display support from an operating position in which at least a portion of the gaming machine interior is blocked to a maintenance position in which said portion is accessible.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein said video content comprises material selected from the group consisting of a casino kiosk, television programming, a secondary game, player attraction material, video conferencing, casino services notification and combinations thereof.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the video content is a bonusing game that provides awards dependent upon the outcome of said primary game play which has its outcome displayed on the main display.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the bonusing game results in awards of credits or increased jackpots.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the secondary display employed in the step of displaying video content is selected from the group consisting of flat panel cathode ray tubes, liquid crystal displays, plasma displays, field emission displays, digital micromirror displays, LCD touchscreens, and combinations thereof.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein presenting the results of a play on the main display is made in response to a play on a game selected from the group consisting of a video slot game, a spinning reel game, an electronic video poker card game, an electronic keno game, and an electronic blackjack game.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein presenting the results of a play on the main display is made in response to a play on a video card game.

22. The method of claim 14, further comprising a step of accessing data stored on a memory device provided within said secondary display support, the accessed data being used to display said video content on the secondary display.

23. A gaming machine comprising:

a chassis defining a gaming machine interior region and a gaming machine exterior surface;

a gaming machine controller for controlling the outcome of a primary game played on said gaming machine;

a main display capable of presenting the outcome of the primary game on the gaming machine;

a secondary display, which is a flat panel display, provided on said gaming machine at a location disposed apart from said main display and displaying video content capable of presenting a secondary game;

a player control mechanism on the chassis which, when actuated by a player, concurrently activates both the primary game displayed on the main display and the secondary game displayed on the secondary display, and wherein the outcome of the secondary game depends only on at least one of (i) the number of plays on the primary game and (ii) the outcome of those plays on the primary game, without depending upon a race against a timer or against players on other gaming machines; and

a player tracking device mounted on said chassis, said player tracking device comprising,

(a) a display, separate from said main display and said secondary display,

(b) one or more interfaces designed or configured to input player tracking information into the gaming machine;

(c) a network interface designed or configured to send and to receive player tracking information over a player tracking network;

(d) a logic device, separate from the gaming machine controller, designed or configured to send player tracking information to the gaming machine controller,

wherein the gaming machine controller is designed or configured to cause player tracking information and video content related to the player tracking information to be displayed on at least one of the main display and the secondary display.

24. A gaming machine comprising:

a chassis defining a gaming machine interior region and a gaming machine exterior surface;

a gaming machine controller for controlling the outcome of a primary game played on said gaming machine;

a main display capable of presenting the outcome of the primary game on the gaming machine;

a secondary display, which is a flat panel display, provided on said gaming machine at a location disposed apart from said main display and displaying video content capable of presenting a secondary game;

a player control mechanism on the chassis which, when actuated by a player, plays both the primary game displayed on the main display and the secondary game displayed on the secondary display, and wherein the outcome of the secondary game depends only on at least one of (i) the number of plays on the primary game and (ii) the outcome of those plays on the primary game, without depending upon a race against a timer or against players on other gaming machines; and

a player tracking device mounted on said chassis, said player tracking device comprising,

(a) a display, separate from said main display and said secondary display,

(b) one or more interfaces designed or configured to input player tracking information into the gaming machine;

(c) a network interface designed or configured to send and to receive player tracking information over a player tracking network;

(d) a logic device, separate from the gaming machine controller, designed or configured to send player tracking information to the gaming machine controller,

wherein the gaming machine controller is designed or configured to cause player tracking information and video content related to the player tracking information to be displayed on at least one of the main display and the secondary display.

25. A gaming machine comprising:

a chassis defining a gaming machine interior region and a gaming machine exterior surface;

a gaming machine controller for controlling the outcome of a primary game played on said gaming machine;

a main display capable of presenting the outcome of the primary game on the gaming machine;

a secondary display, which is a flat panel display, provided on said gaming machine at a location disposed apart from said main display and displaying video content including a secondary bonus game of chance play; and

a player tracking device mounted on said chassis, said player tracking device comprising,

(a) a display, separate from said main display and said secondary display,

(b) one or more interfaces designed or configured to input player tracking information into the gaming machine;

(c) a network interface designed or configured to send and to receive player tracking information over a player tracking network;

(d) a logic device, separate from the gaming machine controller, designed or configured to send player tracking information to the gaming machine controller,

wherein the gaming machine controller is designed or configured to cause player tracking information and video content related to the player tracking information to be displayed on at least one of the main display and the secondary display.

26. A gaming machine comprising:

a chassis defining a gaming machine interior region and a gaming machine exterior surface;

a gaming machine controller for controlling the outcome of a primary game played on said gaming machine;

a main display capable of presenting the outcome of the primary game on the gaming machine;

a secondary display, which is a flat panel display, provided on said gaming machine at a location disposed apart from said main display and displaying video content including a secondary bonus game of chance play; and

a player tracking device mounted on said chassis, said player tracking device comprising,

(a) a display, separate from said main display and said secondary display and,

(b) one or more interfaces designed or configured to input player tracking information into the gaming machine wherein the gaming machine controller is designed or configured to cause player tracking information and video content related to the player tracking information to be displayed on at least one of the main display and the secondary display.

27. A gaming machine comprising:

a chassis defining a gaming machine interior region and a gaming machine exterior surface;

a gaming machine controller for controlling the outcome of a primary game played on said gaming machine;

a main display capable of presenting the outcome of the primary game on the gaming machine;

a player tracking device mounted on said chassis, said player tracking device comprising,

(a) a display, separate from said main display,

(b) one or more interfaces designed or configured to input player tracking information into the gaming machine;

(c) a network interface designed or configured to send and to receive player tracking information over a player tracking network;

(d) a logic device, separate from the gaming machine controller, designed or configured to send player tracking information to the gaming machine controller,

wherein the gaming machine controller is designed or configured to cause player tracking information and video content related to the player tracking information to be displayed on the main display.