A tracking device for use in obtaining information for controlling an execution of a game program by a processor for enabling an interactive game to be played by a user and related apparatus are disclosed.

A system that incorporates the subject disclosure may include, for example, a gaming system that cooperates with a graphical user interface to enable user modification and enhancement of one or more audio streams associated with the gaming system. In embodiments, the audio streams may include a game audio stream, a chat audio stream of conversation among players of a video game, and a microphone audio stream of a player of the video game. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

A thick-game client device includes all of the game data processing on-board while a thin-game client device includes only a small portion of game data processing such as to render visual displays while the majority of the game data processing is network based. A thick-voice client devices includes all of the voice processing on-board while a thin-voice client device includes only a small portion of the voice processing such as to generate acoustic parameter data discussed below while the remainder of the voice processing occurs at a voice services node. It will be appreciated that a client device may be thick with respect to both game processing and voice processing, may be thick with respect to one type of processing and thin with respect to the other, or may be thin with respect to both types of processing.

A wagering game system and its operations are described herein. In some embodiments, the operations can include determining a classification of a first sound provided by a first wagering game application for presentation via one or more output devices of a wagering game machine. Further, a second wagering game application provides a second sound for concurrent presentation via the one or more output devices. The first wagering game application is independent from the second wagering game application. In some embodiments, the operations further include determining a prioritized relationship between the first sound and the second sound based on the classification, and controlling presentation of the first sound and the second sound via the one or more output devices according to the prioritized relationship.

A computer-implemented system and method are described for managing audio chat for an online video game or application. For example, a system according to one embodiment comprises: an online video game or application execution engine to execute an online video game or application in response to input from one or more users of the video game or application and to responsively generate audio and video of the video game or application; and a chat subsystem to establish audio chat sessions with the one or more users and one or more spectators to the video game or application, the chat subsystem establishing a plurality of audio chat channels including a spectator channel over which the spectators participate in audio chat and a user channel over which the users participate in audio chat.

A wagering game system and its operations are described herein. In embodiments, the operations can include determining that a sound problem would occur if first content were to be presented simultaneously with second content via one or more output devices of a wagering game machine. In some examples, the first content is provided by a first application and the second content is provided by a second application independent from the first application. In some embodiments, the operation can further include modifying one or more characteristics of one or more of the first content and the second content based on the determining that the sound problem would occur.

A method for handling communication for a computer game is provided. Once example method includes executing an application for recording one or more audio messages authored by a user for automatic transmission to one or more recipients during game play of a video game. During game play, the method includes detecting that a qualifying event has occurred, and, in response, selecting an audio message from the one or more audio messages for the automatic transmission. The method further includes transmitting, automatically, the audio message to a client device of a predefined recipient for presentation of the audio message.

Game client, game server, Web application server, and database server including database with data representative of a virtual world. Game client or server, or both, includes motifs, motif manager, character manager, scenes-a-faire manager, and display manager coupled to display, all in communication with game manager, and pseudorandomizer, which can instigate changing of a motif. Motifs are representative of a game character or environment. A user interface has mass sensor, accelerometer, haptic device, first device for visual input, output, or both, second device for audio input, output, or both, and tactile sensor, effector or both. Included may be automatic translator, or TTS/STT module. The online game can be virtual world representative of at least two of a northern continent, a western continent, a southern continent, a central continent, and an eastern continent. Methods provide game client, game server, and a database that manipulate character or environment motifs and scenes-a-faire.

Examples described herein provide various devices that enable users to participate in a session. The examples allow a user that is unable to hear, or that is incapable of hearing, to participate in an in-session voice chat by receiving text messages that have been converted from speech to text (e.g., transcribed messages). The user enables a speech-to-text conversion feature on his or her own device. Based on the enabled feature, a notification can be sent to other devices participating in the session. Based on the notification, the other devices are tasked with capturing utterances and sending corresponding speech data to a speech-to-text conversion device so that voice communications can be converted to text messages. Subsequent to conversion, the text messages can be displayed in a chat interface presented as part of the displayed content for the session.

A reward associated with a game may be provided based at least partly on a characteristic associated with a user device used to play the game. A threshold or level associated with the device characteristic may be determined. A current level of the characteristic while a user is playing the game via the user device may be determined. Based at least partly on a determination that the current level of the characteristic satisfies the threshold or the level during play of the game, a reward associated with the game may be provided to the user device and/or the user.