A gaming apparatus is disclosed comprising: a. a top that includes an axially aligned gripping member extending from the upper surface of the body of the top and dimensioned to be held between the thumb and forefinger of a player, the body terminating in a contact point that supports the spinning top, the portion of the body above the contact point in an embodiment being generally conical and having a circular cross-section that tapers outwardly at least a predetermined distance along the axis of the top; b. a planar inclined receiving surface having an upper or elevated end onto which the player releases the spinning top at the commencement of play; c. a generally horizontal scoring zone that is joined to, and is contiguous with the lower end of the inclined receiving surface, the surface of the scoring zone being provided with a plurality of spaced-apart generally circular recessed openings, the openings being of the same or of different diameters that correspond to cross-sectional diameters taken along the axis of the body of the top above the contact point; and d. a continuous enclosing frame that surrounds the inclined receiving surface and the horizontal scoring zone that is configured and dimensioned to retain the spinning top in play and prevent it from leaving the inclined surface and the scoring zone.

Systems and methods for deploying components within pinball machines. In some embodiments, a device may include a physical object coupled to an actuator via a flexible link, the physical object configured to interact with a pinball within a playfield of a pinball machine under control of the actuator. In other embodiments, a pinball machine may include a physical object configured to directly or indirectly interact with a pinball during a pinball game, the physical object coupled to an area within a playfield of the pinball machine other than a playable surface accessible to the pinball during a pinball game, the physical object suspended above the playable surface. In yet other embodiments, a pinball machine may include a plastic playfield cover configured to cover a playfield of the pinball machine, the plastic playfield cover configured to provide a player with access to one or more physical objects within the playfield.

A coin funnel spinning well device includes upper and lower sections connected by a midsection suspension system configured for accommodating oscillating movement in three dimensions between the sections. The upper section includes an observation dome mounted on a funnel with a lower funnel discharge. A coin launch assembly is mounted in the observation dome and receives coins through a coin insert opening in the observation dome. A pair of handles are mounted on opposite sides of the upper section and enable an operator to manipulate movement of the upper section to maintain a coin on a spiral trajectory. The coin funnel spinning well device can be automated with a computerized control system for controlling Internet access, lighting, coin sensing, timer, and input and output device functions.

A coin funnel spinning well device includes upper and lower sections connected by a midsection suspension system configured for accommodating oscillating movement in three dimensions between the sections. The upper section includes an observation dome mounted on a funnel with a lower funnel discharge. A coin launch assembly is mounted in the observation dome and receives coins through a coin insert opening in the observation dome. A pair of handles are mounted on opposite sides of the upper section and enable an operator to manipulate movement of the upper section to maintain a coin on a spiral trajectory. The coin funnel spinning well device can be automated with a computerized control system for controlling Internet access, lighting, coin sensing, timer, and input and output device functions.

A display device of an amusement game is caused to present in a main screen information associated with a first one of a plurality of active game play modes of the amusement game and to present in a secondary screen information associated with a second one of the plurality of active game play modes of the amusement game. A plurality of lighted features and at least one sound generating device are controlled using instructions that are associated only with the first one of the plurality of active game play modes while input received by a plurality of game play devices, resulting from an interaction between the plurality of game play features and an object that is moving relative to a playfield of the amusement game, is used to affect play of and/or scoring of play of the amusement game using instructions that are associated with each of the plurality of active game play modes.

The present invention reduces the amount of data for generating history information that can identify the time when a paper sheet moves along a transport path. The present invention includes an update unit (103) that updates reference timers (Ta and Tb) at predetermined time intervals (10 μs and 1 ms), respectively, an initializing unit (104) that initializes the reference timers at predetermined time intervals (5 s and 25 s), respectively, a storage unit (102) that stores therein the numbers of times of the initialization, and a saving unit (105) that saves difference information (D) identifying current values of the reference timers and the numbers of times of the initialization when a paper sheet moves along a transport path (P).

The present invention reduces the amount of data for generating history information that can identify the time when a paper sheet moves along a transport path. The present invention includes an update unit (103) that updates reference timers (Ta and Tb) at predetermined time intervals (10 μs and 1 ms), respectively, an initializing unit (104) that initializes the reference timers at predetermined time intervals (5 s and 25 s), respectively, a storage unit (102) that stores therein the numbers of times of the initialization, and a saving unit (105) that saves difference information (D) identifying current values of the reference timers and the numbers of times of the initialization when a paper sheet moves along a transport path (P).

A strategy system is described that generates a strategy guide for a gameplay session at an arcade machine. To do so, the strategy system leverages a game-specific hash generated by a hashing system, which includes data describing a log of events that occurred during the gameplay session. The strategy guide includes a summary of the gameplay session curated based on a combination of a particular user associated with the gameplay session, a rulebook describing gameplay event scoring, and the specific event sequence described in the game-specific hash. The game-specific hash and the strategy guide are configured for output based on various considerations, such as display capabilities and network connections of the computing devices implementing the strategy system and/or the hashing system as well as characteristics of a computing device at which the strategy guide is output.

A pinball machine includes a pinball, a tabletop surface, and a play area on the tabletop surface. The play area includes a ramp including a raised surface rotatable about a rotational axis, an upward pass, and a downward pass. The upward pass extends between the tabletop surface and the raised surface and allows the pinball to move from the tabletop surface to the raised surface. The downward pass extends between the raised surface and the tabletop surface and allows the pinball to move from the raised surface to the tabletop surface.

An early education toy is configured to be used with a plurality of balls, and includes: a housing having a ball inlet and a ball outlet, and including a slideway therein, the slideway having an end connected with the ball inlet and another end connected with the ball outlet; a rotating part pivotably arranged to a bottom of the housing; a blocking part arranged in the housing, at least part of the blocking part being arranged in the ball outlet or at the end of the slideway adjacent to the ball outlet and configured to reciprocate to stop or release the ball; a driving part connected with the rotating part and the blocking part, and configured to drive the blocking part to move and to drive the rotating part to rotate relative to the housing.