Interactive feature game

Abstract

A gaming machine comprises a display, a game player input means and a game controller arranged to control images displayed on the display. The game controller controls play of a game in which a winning game result causes a prize to be awarded to a game player. The game comprises an interactive sequence related to a tournament in which a representation of a first video-player, of one team is displayed. An action of the first video-player to be executed is selected by the game player via the game player input means and the game controller selects an action to be performed by another video player. Depending on an outcome resulting from the selected actions, an award is made to the game player.

Claims

1. A gaming machine comprising: a credit input mechanism configured to receive a physical item representing a monetary value for establishing a credit balance, the credit balance being increasable and decreasable based at least on wagering activity; a display; a game player input interface; a payout mechanism configured to cause a payout associated with the credit balance; and a game controller configured to, in accord with the established credit balance, control images displayed on the display, and control play of a game in which a winning game result causes a prize to be awarded to a game player via the payout mechanism, wherein the game comprises an interactive sequence related to a tournament in which a representation of a first video-player of one team is displayed, an action of the first video-player to be executed being selected by the game player via the game player input interface and in which the game controller selects an action to be performed by another video player and, depending on an outcome resulting from the selected actions, an award is made to the game player, and wherein each video-player has an associated indicium, the indicium being representative of a number of points to be awarded to the game player in the event of a successful outcome.

2. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the game comprises a plurality of game sequences each of which is awarded points.

3. The gaming machine of claim 2, and wherein the points are accumulated and a prize awarded depending on the number of points accumulated by one of (a) the end of the game sequences and (b) when some other predetermined milestone has been reached.

4. The gaming machine of claim 3, and wherein the prize to be awarded is dependent on in which one of a plurality of ranges of values the accumulated points tally falls.

5. The gaming machine of claim 4, and wherein the ranges correspond to different categories of jackpot pools with a top range corresponding to a top jackpot pool, and the other ranges corresponding to jackpot pools of correspondingly lower values, at least the top jackpot being a progressive pool.

6. The gaming machine of claim 1, and wherein the action selected by the gaming machine in response to the game player selected action is an action by a video-player in the same team or the opposing team depending on the type of tournament.

7. The gaming machine of claim 6, and wherein the action required to be selected by the game player is the direction in which a penalty goal in a soccer tournament is to be aimed.

8. The gaming machine of claim 7, and wherein the game controller selected response is to make a goalkeeper move either in a direction to save the goal or in a direction to miss saving the goal.

9. The gaming machine of claim 1, and wherein each video-player for which the game player selects an action is allocated by the game controller.

10. The gaming machine of claim 1, and wherein the game player selects the video-player to take the action.

11. The gaming machine of claim 1, and wherein a score allocated to a successful game sequence is also related to the action selected by the game player.

12. The gaming machine of claim 1, and wherein additional bonus points are awarded to the game player if an additional bonus event occurs during a game sequence.

13. The gaming machine of claim 12, and wherein the additional bonus event is randomly triggered.

14. A gaming system comprising: a gaming server; a plurality of gaming machines, each gaming machine having: a credit input mechanism configured to receive a physical item representing a monetary value for establishing a credit balance, the credit balance being increasable and decreasable based at least on wagering activity; a display; a game player input interface; a payout mechanism configured to cause a payout associated with the credit balance; and a game controller configured to, in accord with the established credit balance, control images displayed on the display, and control play of a game in which a winning game result causes a prize to be awarded to a game player via the payout mechanism; and a communications system connecting each of the plurality of gaming machines to the gaming server, wherein the game played on at least one of the gaming machines comprises an interactive sequence related to a tournament in which a representation of a first video player of one team is displayed, an action of the first video player to be executed being selected by the game player via the game player input means and in which the game controller selects an action to be performed by another video player and, depending on an outcome resulting from the selected actions, an award is made to the game player, and wherein each video-player has an associated indicium, the indicium being representative of a number of points to be awarded to the game player in the event of a successful outcome.

15. The gaming system of claim 14, and wherein the game comprises a plurality of game sequences each of which is awarded points.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) An embodiment of the invention is now described by way of example with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a first style of gaming machine, suitable for use in systems implementing embodiments of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a second style of gaming machine, suitable for use in systems implementing embodiments of the present invention;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a control circuit of the gaming machines of FIGS. 1 and 2;

(5) FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a system implementing an embodiment of the present invention; and

(6) FIGS. 5 to 32 show screen images at various stages in the play of a game embodying the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(7) Referring to FIG. 1 a typical gaming machine is illustrated of a type to which the present invention can be applied. The machine illustrated. in FIG. 1 is of a type that allows credit input by insertion of coins or bills but the invention can also be applied to machines that additionally, or only, allows credit input by transfer of credit from a central cashier or from another gaming machine. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 generally designates a gaming machine, including a game or games to be played by a game player of the machine. The machine 10 includes a console 12 having a display in the form of a video display unit 14 on which a game 16 is played. The video display unit 14 may be implemented as a cathode ray screen device, a liquid crystal display, a plasma screen, or the like. The game 16 as illustrated in FIG. 1 is a spinning reel game which simulates the rotation of a number of spinning reels 18. However many other styles of game are also possible.

(8) A mid-trim 20 of the machine 10 optionally houses a game player input means, such as, for example, a keypad 22, for enabling a game player to play the game 16. The mid-trim 20 also ‘houses a credit input mechanism 24 including a coin input chute 24.1 and a bill collector 24.2. As illustrated in FIG. 2, some gaming machines use a touch screen for game player input, in which case the keypad 22 may not be required. Instead the keys of the keypad 22 of the FIG. 1 machine would be represented as a graphic image 29 on the screen 16 and touch sensors 38 (refer to FIG. 3) located adjacent the screen surface detect touching of the screen 16 to record game player input. In all other respects, the machines of FIGS. 1 and 2 are essentially functionally identical.

(9) The machine 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a top box 26 on which artwork 28 is carried. The artwork 28 includes pay-tables, details of bonus awards, etc. The artwork 28 in the top box 26 may optionally be displayed on a video display such as a CRT or LCD panel.

(10) A coin tray 30 is mounted beneath the console 12 for cash payouts from the machine 10.

(11) Referring to FIG. 3 of the drawings, a control circuit 32 of the gaming machine 10 is illustrated. A program which implements the game and game player interface is run on a processor 34 of the control circuit 32. The processor 34 forms part of a controller 36 that drives the screen of the video display unit 14. and that receives input signals from game player inputs such as the optional keypad 22 (see FIG. 1) or the optional sensors 38 associated with the pseudo-keypad 29 (see FIG. 2). The sensors 38, if used, include touch sensors mounted in the screen of the video display unit 14 and are associated with the representation of pseudobuttons of the keypad 29, displayed on the display 16, thereby replicating the buttons of the keypad 22. The controller 36 also receives input pulses from the mechanism 24 to determine whether or not a game player has provided sufficient credit to commence playing. The credit input mechanism 24 may comprise one or more of several credit input devices such as the coin input chute 24.1, the bill collector 24.2, and a card reader 24.3 or any suitable other type of validation device. In some embodiments of the present invention, there may be a game player tracking input device, such as the card reader 24.3, that can be used to associate a particular game player with a particular game player profile and, optionally, a credit held in a system 100, as described in greater detail below. Game player tracking does not require knowing the actual identity of the game player but is only used to associate the game player with ‘a particular game player profile and/or credit. This is achieved in the ‘preferred embodiment by using a game player tracking card 27 which is a simple magnetic stripe card encoded with a unique code that is issued to the game player either when the game player enters the establishment or when the game player establishes a credit in the system and is read by the card reader 24.3. However other methods of game player identification can be employed in tracking systems such as PIN's, scannable tags of various known types such as magnetic stripe cards, smart cards, etc., iris recognition, finger prints or other bio-sensor systems.

(12) Finally, the controller 36 optionally drives a payout mechanism which, for example, may be ticket printer 41 or a coin hopper 40 for feeding coins to the coin tray 30 to make a pay out to a game player when the game player wishes to redeem his or her credit. Again, however, in embodiments of the present invention, a payout mechanism is not essential as the game player may remove the credit held in the machine by transferring it to another machine or to a cashier.

(13) In an embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of the machines 10 form part of a gaming system 100 (FIG. 4) and are linked via a computer network 63 to a gaming server or system controller 54 which controls the network 63. Each gaming machine is connected to the network 63 by a system interface 51 and network connection 52. The network connections 52 are preferably connected to the remainder of the network 63 via a hub 53 although other networking architectures such as daisy chaining may also be employed. A cashier's station 55 is optionally connected, either to the system controller 54 directly, as illustrated in FIG. 4, or alternatively via the network hub 53. The cashier's terminal may be replaced, or supplemented, by an electronic cashier's terminal or cash in/cash out terminal 59 comprising a controller 56 to which is connected a game player controlled touch screen 58 and a card reader 57. The electronic cashier's terminal 59 uses EFT transactions to debit or credit a game player's account at a financial institution to establish or refund a game player's credit in the gaming system 100.

(14) Game player profiles are saved on the system controller 54 and credits can be applied to and cleared from the machines 10 via the network 63. The credits can either be established at the cashier's station 55 or the terminal 59 and transferred to the machine 10 or, instead, a game player might already have credits in another machine 10 in the network 63 and which the game player may wish to transfer to a new machine that he or she wishes to play.

(15) To facilitate the establishment and use of game player profiles to enhance game player enjoyment and to enable the secure transfer of cash to a machine. 10, each machine 10 is provided with the card reader 24.3 and the game player is issued with a game player tracking card 27 either when entering the premises or when establishing credit in the system. This tracking card 27 is inserted into the card reader 24.3 of a machine 10 by the game player after the game player has established a credit on the system 100 and has had the credit transferred to the desired machine 10. Alternatively, the card 27 is a membership card permanently in the possession of the game player and the game player establishes a credit in an account associated with the game player's membership record. By inserting the card 27 into the card reader 24.3 of the machine he or she intends to play, the game player identifies himself or herself to the machine 10 and establishes that a credit held in the system 100 belongs to the game player. In the illustrated embodiment, the card reader 24.3 is not connected directly to the machine's controller 36 but to the system interface 51 which is connected to the network 63 via interconnection 52.

(16) While embodiments of the invention will be described by way of example in the context of the gaming machine 10 and the gaming system 100 described above, it will be recognized that the invention is equally applicable to other game playing apparatus and environments such as internet gaming where games are played on a personal computer connected to an internet gaming website, on a hand held device such’ as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or Mobile Phone, on a stand alone hand held device or, any other suitable gaming environment.

(17) The present invention relates particularly to a new game type, an example of which is described below. The game of the invention can be provided as a main game of the gaming machine 10. However, in the example described below, the game is provided as a bonus game which is triggered by a random trigger unrelated to the outcome of a current base game. The random triggering mechanism of the preferred embodiment is known as the “Hyperlink”” system and is described in Accepted Australian Patent Application No. 754689 incorporated herein by reference. The advantage of the “Hyperlink a”” system is that the trigger is applicable with any base game and allows progressive jackpot systems to be implemented on networks to which machines of different denominations are connected. In the illustrated example, the bonus game relates to a soccer tournament and has a soccer theme. The bonus game is an interactive game where the game player is afforded the opportunity to have a series of video-players of a soccer team take kicks at goal with each kick being worth a predetermined number of points as will be described in greater detail below.

(18) In the present example, the base game is a relatively standard pseudo spinning-reel video game, for which a part of a base game screen is illustrated in FIG. 5. The base game is essentially a standard spinning reel game, does not form part of the invention and will not be described in detail here. The occurrence of a triggering event for a bonus game is indicated by a banner 70 which pops up at the end of an instance of the base game to signal the imminent commencement of a bonus game. After the banner 70 appears, a referee 71 appears running across the screen, as illustrated in FIG. 6. This serves to further draw the game player's attention to the imminent commencement of the bonus game.

(19) The bonus game comprises a series of game play sequences as illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 28. Referring to FIG. 7, the game player is presented with an image of a video-player of an opposing soccer team. More particularly, the video-player is a goalkeeper, or “goalie”, 72 who is depicted in front of a set of goal posts 73, with a ball 74 placed ready for kicking.

(20) In a first sequence of the bonus game, a first video-player of the game player's team is randomly selected by the game controller 36 of the gaming machine 10 to take a kick at goal. The video-player selected by the game controller 36 is depicted on the display by way of that video-player's shirt 75. The number appearing on the shirt 75 is representative of the number of points to be awarded to the game player if a successful outcome results, i.e. if a goal is scored. In this case, the game controller 36 has selected a video-player whose shirt 75 has the numeral′ 2 on its back indicating that video-player number 2 in the team will take the shot at goal. As shown in FIG. 8 of the drawings, a message appears advising the game player that the current action, if successful, will have a points value of 2. The message further advises the game player that the game player must select one of six buttons (43, 44, 45, 46, 47 & 48 in FIGS. 1 & 2) of the keypad 22 or the graphic image 29, as the case may be, to indicate the direction in which the video-player is to kick the ball. The six directions corresponding to the six buttons are the top left, centre or right, or bottom left, centre or right of the goal.

(21) When the game player makes a selection by pressing one of the six buttons, an. animation of the ball flying through the air is played to indicate that the ball has been kicked. As shown in FIG. 9 of the, drawings, the ball 74 is seen in the goal area behind the posts after the kick with the goalie 72 on the ground having failed to save the goal resulting in a successful outcome for the game player. A score of two points is added to a jackpot score meter 76.

(22) In this embodiment, the game player has a 58% chance of scoring a goal in each of the game sequences and a random number generator of the game controller 36 decides whether the game player will be successful or not. The game player's selection of the direction in which the kick is to be taken selects the video sequence illustrating the trajectory of travel of the ball towards the goal and, once the game player has selected a direction, the game controller 36 randomly decides, with a 58% weighting towards the game player, whether or not the goalie 72 will save the goal. In the case of a determination that an unsuccessful outcome is to result, the game controller 36 then selects a sequence randomly from two possible sequences, one being that the goalie 72 dives in the correct direction and punches the ball away and the other being that the goalie 72 dives in the correct direction and catches the ball. In the case where the video-player scores a goal, the machine chooses a direction other than the direction chosen by the game player for the goalie 72 to dive and plays an animation of the goalie 72 diving away from the ball.

(23) Once the first sequence of the bonus game has been completed as seen in FIGS. 7, 8 & 9, a second sequence commences as illustrated in FIGS. 10, 11 & 12. In this instance the sequence is identical except that the shirt 75 of the video-player randomly selected by the game controller 36 carries the number 6 and hence the points being played for are 6. It is to be noted that the selection of the number on the video-player's shirt 75 is made without replacement, i.e. the number on the shirt in any bonus game is not repeated except in the case of a free kick, described in greater detail below.

(24) As illustrated in FIG. 12, the game player in the second sequence has scored a goal and has been awarded a further 6 points giving a total of 8 points as shown on the jackpot score meter 76.

(25) There are several additional random bonus features provided in this embodiment of the game, one of which is the appearance of a streaker 77 (FIG. 13) running across the screen followed, as shown in FIG. 14, by the referee 71 blowing his whistle and the appearance of a banner 78 indicating that an extra bonus has been won. In this instance a.circle-solid. streaker bonus is worth 10 points and after the referee 71 progresses off the screen, as shown in FIG. 15, the extra bonus score is added to the jackpot score meter 76 as illustrated in FIG. 16. The screen display is, apart from the change to the amount on the jackpot score meter 76, the same as it was prior to the occurrence of the streaker 71. It should be noted that while the streaker bonus sequence has been illustrated here as occurring after the second game sequence of the game, it is randomly generated and may not occur in every instance of the game. When it does occur, it will occur at a random time. In effect, there is a fixed 5% probability of the streaker bonus occurring at the end of each game sequence of the bonus game.

(26) The third sequence of the bonus game is illustrated in FIGS. 17, 18 & 19, in which a video-player with a shirt 75 carrying the number 11 takes a shot at goal. As indicated in FIG. 19, the game player has been unsuccessful as the goalie 72 has saved a goal being scored by punching the ball away. As a result, no bonus points are awarded.

(27) As illustrated in FIG. 20, a second additional random bonus feature is provided as part of the game in which the video-player, after having taken a kick as part of the normal bonus game sequence, is awarded a free kick as shown by a banner 79. A free kick may be awarded whether or not the previous kick in the normal bonus game sequence was successful and will occur with a 20% probability after each game sequence. In the free kick sequence, the video-player which took the last kick will be awarded the free kick and hence the potential score for the free kick in this example is 11. However, in other instances where a different video-player had taken the previous kick, the score will correspond to that video-player's shirt number. FIG. 21 illustrates the screen prior to the game player selecting a direction for the ball to be kicked and FIG. 22 shows that in this case the video-player has successfully kicked the ball to the centre of the goals while the goalie 72 has moved in the wrong direction thereby missing the save. Due to the successful outcome, the game player has scored 11 points which are added to the total on the jackpot score meter 76.

(28) The two sequences shown in FIGS. 23 to 28 follow the same pattern as the first three games sequences and illustrate fourth and fifth shot sequences respectively. In the illustrated examples these shots were taken by video-player 4 and video-player 10 respectively. In the examples given, the game player has managed to score a goal in each case and 14 points in total are added to the jackpot score meter 76.

(29) Once the game player has been given five bonus game sequences, the jackpot score on the meter. 76 is compared with a series of score ranges or bands and an appropriate jackpot prize is awarded. These bands or ranges are:

(30) TABLE-US-00001  0-34 Mini jackpot; 35-54 Minor jackpot; 55-64 Major jackpot; 65 upwards Grand jackpot.

(31) In this case, because a total of 43 points were scored, a minor jackpot has been won as indicated by the trophy 80 appearing in the middle of the screen as shown in FIG. 29. It is to be noted that, even if the game player obtains zero points after completion of all of the sequences of the bonus game, the game player is still awarded the mini jackpot.

(32) Once the hyperlink progressive feature has been completed, the gaming machine returns to the base game that was being played immediately prior to the hyperlink, sequence commencing, and it will be noted in FIG. 30 that the base game screen now has a message at the bottom indicating that the game player should call an attendant to claim their progressive prize which is a level 3 win. It will be noted that no prize has been added to the credit and win counters at the top of the screen and this is because on this occasion the gaming establishment pays progressive jackpots directly to the game player and not via the machine. Of course it would be possible to add the jackpot prize′ to the credit meter if such an arrangement is allowable in the particular jurisdiction and is the method of operation preferred by the gaming establishment. In the case of manual pay, the machine will lock in the state shown in FIG. 30 until the attendant has come and paid the jackpot at which time the attendant will unlock the machine and the screen will then display the image shown in FIG. 31 indicating that the hyperlink feature has been completed. As illustrated in FIG. 32, the machine will then progress to a screen where it invites the game player to recommence playing the base game.

(33) It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.