Amusement devices: games – Including means for processing electronic data – With communication link
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-25
2003-12-09
Walberg, Teresa (Department: 3713)
Amusement devices: games
Including means for processing electronic data
With communication link
C463S016000, C463S017000, C463S025000, C463S026000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06659874
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for performing a game in which a game value is transferred between an owner and at least one player; a game server and at least one client apparatus connected to the game server to constitute a game system, and to be operated by a game participant; and a computer-readable recording medium provided with a program for operating a computer constituting the game server.
There has hitherto been employed a system which artificially reproduces a gambling game to be performed in a casino, such as roulette or blackjack, by executing a suitable computer program. For instance, there are mentioned a roulette game machine and a blackjack game machine, which are installed in an amusement arcade. In connection with the roulette game machine, a game participant; that is, a player, predicts the number that will come up on the roulette wheel and bets on the predicted number a gaming token or chip (i.e., a game value) possessed by the player. If the thus-betted number has hit, the player can receive a predetermined number of gaming tokens from the owner; i.e., the owner. In connection with the blackjack game machine, a game participant acts as a player and plays a match with the owner. When having won the match, the player can receive a predetermined number of gaming tokens from the owner.
In such a roulette game machine, the game participant can hitherto enter a game only as a player. In addition to the roulette game machine and the blackjack game machine, a poker game machine or the like has also been known. However, such a game machine also enables a game participant to enter a game only as a player.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a game performing method and a game system, which can provide a new entertainment value to a game participant by adding a new game element to a game, wherein a game value is transferred between the owner and a player. Further, the present invention provides a game server and a client apparatus which is connected to the game server to constitute the game system, and is to be used by a game participant, and a computer-readable recording medium provided with a program for operating a computer constituting the game server.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a method of performing a game in which game values are transferred between an owner and at least one player, comprising the steps of:
a) inputting a player entry request to a computer in which the game is executed via a network, the player entry request being issued from a game participant who wants to participate in the game as a player;
b) inputting an owner entry request to the computer via the network, the owner entry request being issued from a game participant who wants to participate in the game as an owner;
c) determining an owner from at least one game participant who has issued the owner entry request, in accordance with a predetermined owner requirement;
d) receiving a first amount of game values and a player-payout requirement used in the game from the game participant who has issued the player entry request;
e) executing the game while involving the player participated in the step a) and the owner determined in the step c);
f) judging whether the player satisfies the player-payout requirement, after the step e) is finished;
g) paying out a second amount of game values to the player who satisfies the player-payout requirement, the second amount of game values being determined in accordance with the first amount of game values and the player-payout requirement; and
h) paying out at least a part of a total amount of the first game values received in the step d) to the owner, in accordance with a predetermined owner-payment requirement.
In this method, a new game element; that is, the ability to enable entry of a user as the owner, is added to the game. There is attained an advantage of ability to provide new game entertainment value to game participants.
Furthermore, since information about game values of game participants can be concentrated on the computer, there is no necessity of taking into account the size and space of a machine, such as a related roulette machine installed in an amusement arcade. There is also attained an advantage of ability to develop a large-scale game involving a large number of participants.
In this method, an amount of game values possessed by a game participant can be used as the owner requirement in the step c).
In this method, depending on the kind of game, various player-payout requirements (step d) are conceivable. For instance, in the case of a roulette game, the player-payout requirements correspond to occurrence of a match between numbers where tokens serving as game values are bets and numbers determined by the roulette wheel. In the case of a blackjack game, hands of respective players to receive payouts must be closer to the number 21 than is the hand of a dealer.
In this method, depending on the kind of game, various methods are conceivable as payout methods to be employed in the step g). For instance, there are conceived a method of paying game values from all the game values received in the step d); a method of paying game values from the game values possessed by the owner; and a method of paying game values from the game values accumulately stored in the computer which effects progress in the game.
In this method, depending on the kind of game, various methods are conceivable as payout methods to be employed in the step h). It is determined in association with the payout method employed in the step g). For example, when a method of paying game values from the game values possessed by the owner is employed as a payout method for step g), there may also be employed a method of paying to the owner all game values received from players.
The computer is connected to the client apparatuses used by the game participants by way of the network. Data are exchanged between the game participants and the computer by way of the network. The network is not limited to a global network such as the Internet but may be a closed network which enables communication between specific persons or a network constituted within a limited space such as an amusement arcade. The method is embodied by the game system constituted through use of the network. As a result, a plurality of game participants-using a plurality of client apparatuses can participant the game by way of a network such as the Internet.
According to the invention, there is also provided a game system for performing a game in which game values are transferred between an owner and at least one player, comprising:
a game server, in which the game is executed;
at least one client apparatus, connected to the game server via a network to perform the game;
a player entry request sender provided in the client apparatus, which sends a player entry request from a game participant who wants to participate in the game as a player;
a player entry request receiver provided in the game server, which receives the player entry request;
an owner entry request sender provided in the client apparatus, which sends an owner entry request from a game participant who wants to participate in the game as an owner;
an owner entry request receiver provided in the game server, which receives the owner entry request;
an owner determinant provided in the game server, which determines an owner from at least one game participant who has issued the owner entry request, in accordance with a predetermined owner requirement;
a game value receiver provided in the game server, which receives a first amount of game values and a player-payout requirement used in the game from the game participant who has issued the player entry request;
a game-executer provided in the game server, which-executes the game while involving the game participant participated as the player and the game participant determined as the owner;
a game information provider provided in the game server, which provid
Konami Corporation
Mendoza Robert
Sughrue & Mion, PLLC
Walberg Teresa
LandOfFree
Method of performing game, game server and client apparatus... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method of performing game, game server and client apparatus..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method of performing game, game server and client apparatus... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3176584