Amusement devices: games – Including means for processing electronic data – Data storage or retrieval
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-27
2003-01-21
Martin-Wallace, Valencia (Department: 3714)
Amusement devices: games
Including means for processing electronic data
Data storage or retrieval
C463S042000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06508711
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a game machine in which data can be transferred between a main unit and a slave machine.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There has been conventionally a game machine which can execute programs for various games by reading our programs from a recording medium such as a CD and a game player can play the games by operating buttons or the like disposed in the operating unit of the game machine. Furthermore, there has been recently proposed a game machine including a game machine main unit (hereinafter referred to as “a master machine”) and a portable slave machine which is detachably attached to the master machine. In such a game machine, a game character and a mini game, which is a game for the slave machine, are transferred to the slave machine, so that the mini game relevant to a game in the master machine can be played in the portable slave machine. For example, in a fighting game, data on a fighter character and a program for a mini game are transferred to the slave machine. A game player can play a mini game for training the fighter character in the slave machine. Moreover, the result of the mini game is returned to the master machine, in which the fighting game can be played by the use of the fighter character who has been powerfully trained.
However, in the conventional game machine, it is only one program for the mini game that can be transferred once. Consequently, whenever a mini game of a different content is intended to be played in the slave machine, the slave machine must be connected to the master machine so as to transfer a program for the mini game therefrom, with an attendant problem of poor ease of use. Additionally, in the conventional game machine, since the slave machine must be connected to the master machine to transfer the program for the mini game therefrom every time the mini game of the different content is intended to be played, the game is interrupted at every time of the transfer, thereby raising the problem of blunting the interest of the game. For example, there may occur the case where a game player wants to sequentially play a mini game for batting practice and a mini game for fielding practice based on one and the same player data. Even in the case where the game player wants to sequentially play the mini games with respect to one and the same character, the game is forced to be interrupted in the conventional game machine every time the mini game is changed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been accomplished to solve the above-described problems, and therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a game machine in which mini games of different contents can be sequentially played in a slave machine, and a computer-readable recording medium.
In addition to the above-described object, another object of the present invention is to provide a game machine in which a game player can freely select and play one mini game out of a plurality of mini games on the side of a slave machine, and a computer-readable recording medium.
In order to achieve the above-described objects, in a game machine according to the present invention comprising a main unit for reading a program stored in an external memory so as to allow a game to be played therein and a slave machine being configured in a portable manner independently of the main unit and having a function of transferring data to or from the main unit, the slave machine enabling mini games as games for the slave machine to be individually played by using programs for the mini games transferred from the main unit and needed for playing the mini games, the plurality of programs for the mini games are transferred as a unit of data from the main unit to the slave machine.
Moreover, in a game machine according to the present invention comprising a main unit for reading a program stored in an external memory so as to allow a game to be played therein and a slave machine being configured in a portable manner independently of the main unit and having a function of transferring data to or from the main unit, the slave machine enabling mini games as games for the slave machine to be individually played by using programs for the mini games transferred from the main unit and needed for playing the mini games, the plurality of programs for the mini games and a selecting program for fulfilling a function of selecting one program for the mini game out of the plurality programs for the mini games are transferred as a unit of data from the main unit to the slave machine.
Furthermore, in a game machine according to the present invention, the mini game is a kind of fostering game, and data on a game character to be fostered are transferred to the slave machine simultaneously at the time of the transfer of the program for the mini game, so that the mini game for fostering the game character can be played in the slave machine.
In order to achieve the above-described objects, a computer-readable recording medium according to the present invention stores therein: programs for executing games in a main unit for reading a program stored in an external memory so as to allow a game to be played therein and in a slave machine being configured in a portable manner independently of the main unit and having a function of transferring data to or from the main unit; and a program for fulfilling, in the slave machine, a function of selecting one program for the mini game out of the programs for the mini games transferred to the slave machine simultaneously when the program for allowing the mini game as a game for the slave machine to be played is transferred from the main unit to the slave machine.
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Asburn Steven
Martin-Wallace Valencia
Namco Ltd.
Rabin & Berdo P.C.
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