Music game machine with selectable controller inputs

Details Music game machine with selectable controller inputs Music game machine with selectable controller inputs

1999-11-23

2002-07-30

Martin-Wallace, Valencia (Department: 3713)

Amusement devices: games

Including means for processing electronic data

In a game requiring an element of a participants physical...

C463S043000, C463S036000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06425822

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game system which is constituted in order to enjoy an operation according to music and the like.
2. Description of Related Art
In such a kind of game system, at least one of plural operation members provided in the game input device is allocated as a section to be operated used in the game, and operation timing during the game relating to the section to be operated is previously set according to the predetermined music. When the game is started, an instruction is given to the player through the game screen so that each section to be operated is operated at the set timing in cooperation with music. When the player operates the operation member in response to the instruction, accuracy of the operation is judged and the play result is determined based on the judged result, and the player is notified of the play result.
In the above game system, a number of sections to be operated has relative relation to degree of difficulty of the game, and thus it is desirable to increase a number of sections to be operated and set the degree of difficulty higher in order to enjoy the game for a long period. On the contrary, it is difficult for a player who is not used to the game to accurately operate a lot of sections to be operated while checking instruction on the screen, and thus when a number of sections to be operated is large, the player would loose his or her interest in the game. Moreover, when a number of sections to be operated is large, it becomes difficult to grasp a corresponding relationship between the instructions on the screen and operation members on the input unit. This possibly confuses the player who is not used to the game.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been achieved with such points in view. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a game system in which operational environment which is suitable for a level of a player can be set when a game is executed in such a manner that operation members of an input unit are operated according to a rhythm or the like of music.
There will be described below the present invention. Here, in order to make the understanding of the invention easy, reference numerals of attached drawings which are put in parentheses are given, but the present invention is not limited to embodiments of the drawings.
The invention according to a first aspect provides a game system, characterized by comprising: a display device (
20
) for displaying a game screen; an input unit (
52
A,
52
B) having a plurality of operation members (PB
1
through PB
14
, PB
21
through PB
31
) to be operated by a player for outputting a signal corresponding to an operation state of the operation members; a storage device (
44
,
13
) for storing operation timing data which specifies operation timing in a game relating to a predetermined number of operated sections allocated to at least some of a plurality of the operation members; and a game control unit (
11
) for checking the output signal from the input unit and the data recorded in the storage means, and simultaneously executing the game according to a predetermined procedure on a screen of the display device, wherein the game control unit comprises: an operation instructing device for displaying on the screen of the displaying device during the game, an instruction image(
101
) for instructing the player to operate each of the predetermined number of operated sections at timing defined by the operation timing data, a mode selecting device for selecting a first mode for setting a number of said operated sections used in the game to said predetermined number, or a second mode for limiting the number of the operated sections to a limited number smaller than the predetermined number according to an instruction from the player, an operation instruction limiting device for changing the instruction image displayed through the operation instructing device so as to instruct the player to operate only said limited number of operated sections, during in the second mode, an evaluating device for evaluating the operation by the player on said input unit performed in response to the instruction from said operation instructing device based on the operation timing data, and an evaluation informing device for informing the player of information relating to the evaluated result by said evaluating device. According to the first aspect, when the second mode is selected to execute the game, a number of the operated sections which are instructed to be operated by the player through the screen of the display device is decreased compared with the case where the first mode is selected to execute the game. Therefore, difficulty of the second mode can be relatively lowered with respect to the first mode, and it is not necessary for a player who is not used to the game to lower difficulty of the first mode. As a result, operation environment which is suitable for various levels of players can be provided.
The invention according to a second aspect provides the game system depending from the first aspect characterized in that: the operation instructing device displays a gauge (
101
) which is dividable into parallel tracks (
102
a
through
102
i
) corresponding to the predetermined number of operated sections and has indexes (
103
) for showing the operation timing of the operated sections correspondingly to each of the tracks, and gradually changes display positions of the indexes along the tracks according to the proceeding of the game so that when the operation timing of the operated sections corresponding to the tracks comes, the indexes reach predetermined positions of the gauge; and the operation instruction limiting device provides an image effect for making the player realize that the operations of the operated sections corresponding to some of the tracks (for example,
102
a
,
102
b
,
102
h
, and
102
i
) of the parallel tracks are not required. Therefore, all the tracks are used for the instruction of the operations in the first mode, and some of the tracks are not used for the instruction of the operations in the second mode. For this reason, a number of the tracks to which the player should pay attention is reduced in the second mode, and as a result the difficulty of the game is lowered.
The invention according to a third aspect provides the game system depending from the second aspect characterized in that the image effect is to lower lightness of some of the tracks. Therefore, it can be clear to the player that the player does not have to pay attention to some of the tracks.
The invention according to a fourth aspect provides the game system depending from the third aspect characterized in that the some of the tracks are positioned in ends of the gauge in a direction in which the tracks are arranged. Therefore, in the case where the game is executed in the second mode, the player pays attention only to the tracks arranged on the center of the plural tracks, and thus an instruction of the operations can be obtained more easily.
The invention according to a fifth aspect provides the game system depending from the first aspect characterized by further comprising a sound output device (
30
) for outputting a predetermined sound, wherein the storage device (
44
,
13
) stores music data and sound effect data for outputting predetermined music and sound effects corresponding to the operations of the operated sections from the sound output device, the game control unit (
11
) comprises a music reproduction instructing device for outputting the music based on the music data from the sound output device during the game, a sound effect automatic output instructing device for outputting a sound effect according to the operation from the sound output device based on the sound effect data when the game is executed in the second mode, where an indication is made by the operation indication device in the first mode and the operated sections of which operations are not indicated are regarded as being operated with a

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