GAME SYSTEM, GAME SYSTEM CONTROL METHOD, AND INFORMATION STORAGE MEDIUM

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a game system, a game system control method, and an information storage medium.

BACKGROUND ART

A known game system is a system that displays a commercial advertisement on a game screen (Patent Document 1). With this type of game system, a sales price of game software can be reduced, or the game software can be used free of cost by collecting a charge for commercial advertisements (hereinafter, referred to as “game advertisements”) in the game.

[Patent Document 1] JP 9-10440 A

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
Problems to be solved by the invention

In a game system as described above, it is desired to actualize a mechanism for an evaluation about whether or not a game advertisement is recognized by a player. For instance, such a case is expected that a game advertisement, even when displayed, is not recognized by the player who is concentrating on the game. This being the case, in the case of collecting the charge for the advertisement, it is preferable that a result of the evaluation about whether or not the player recognizes the game advertisement is reflected in the charge for the advertisement.

The present invention has been devised in view of the problems described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a game system, a game system control method, and an information storage medium that are capable of preferably evaluating whether or not the game advertisement is recognized by the player.

Means for Solving the Problems

To solve the problems described above, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game system including: advertisement evaluation information storage means for storing advertisement evaluation information representing an evaluation about outputting an advertisement; advertisement output means for outputting the advertisement; output status determining means for determining whether or not an output status of the advertisement satisfies a predetermined output status criterion; game item selection accepting means for accepting selection of a game item; selection content determining means for determining whether or not the game item selection accepting means has accepted the selection of the game item corresponding to the advertisement; and advertisement evaluation information updating means for updating, based on a result of the determination by the output status determining means and a result of the determination by the selection content determining means, the advertisement evaluation information stored in the advertisement evaluation information storage means.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game system control method that includes: an advertisement output step of causing output means to output an advertisement; an output status determining step of determining whether or not an output status of the advertisement satisfies a predetermined output status criterion; a game item selection accepting step of accepting selection of a game item; a selection content determining step of determining whether or not the selection of the game item corresponding to the advertisement has been accepted in the game item selection accepting step; and an advertisement evaluation information updating step of updating, based on a result of the determination in the output status determining step and a result of the determination in the selection content determining step, advertisement evaluation information stored in advertisement evaluation information storage means structured by storing the advertisement evaluation information representing an evaluation about outputting of the advertisement.

According to the still another aspect of present invention, there is provided a program for causing a computer to function as: advertisement evaluation information storage means for storing advertisement evaluation information representing an evaluation about outputting an advertisement; advertisement output means for outputting the advertisement; output status determining means for determining whether or not an output status of the advertisement satisfies a predetermined output status criterion; game item selection accepting means for accepting selection of a game item; selection content determining means for determining whether or not the game item selection accepting means has accepted the selection of the game item corresponding to the advertisement; and advertisement evaluation information updating means for updating, based on a result of the determination by the output status determining means and a result of the determination by the selection content determining means, the advertisement evaluation information stored in the advertisement evaluation information storage means.

Further, according to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable information storage medium storing the above-described program. Still further, a program distribution device according to the present invention is a program distribution device that includes the information storage medium storing the above-described program, reads the program from the information storage medium, and distributes the program. Yet further, a program distribution method according to the present invention is a program distribution method, while using an information storage medium storing the above-described program, for reading the program from the information storage medium, and distributing the program.

In the present invention, the advertisement evaluation information representing the evaluation about the output of the advertisement is stored. Further, in the present invention, the advertisement is output. Then, it is determined whether or not an output status of the advertisement satisfies the predetermined output status criterion. Moreover, in the present invention, the selection of the game item is accepted. Then, it is determined whether or not the selection of the game item corresponding to the advertisement has been accepted. Then, in the present invention, the advertisement evaluation information is updated based on the result of the determination about whether or not the output status of the advertisement satisfies the predetermined output status criterion and the result of the determination about whether or not the selection of the game item corresponding to the advertisement has been accepted. According to the present invention, it is feasible to preferably evaluate whether or not the game advertisement is recognized by the player.

In one example of the present invention, the game item selection accepting means may include: restricting means for restricting the selection of the game item corresponding to the advertisement; and restriction canceling means for canceling the restriction by the restricting means, depending on the result of the determination by the output status determining means, in which the advertisement evaluation information updating means may update, when the selection content determining means determines that the game item selection accepting means has accepted the selection of the game item corresponding to the advertisement, the advertisement evaluation information stored in the advertisement evaluation information storage means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view showing the overall architecture of a game system according to this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a game device according to this embodiment.

FIG. 3 are diagrams showing one example of a controller.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing one example of a game screen.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing one example of a game item purchase screen.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing one example of the game screen.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing one example of the game item purchase screen.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing one example of the game screen.

FIG. 9 is a function block diagram of the game system according to this embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing one example of a game item table.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing one example of an advertisement table.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing one example of a holding game item table.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing one example of an advertisement point table.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing one example of an output status table.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing processing executed on the game device.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the processing executed on the game device.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A detailed description of one example of an embodiment of the present invention will be made based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall architecture of a game system according to this embodiment. A game system 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes an advertisement management server 2 and a plurality of game devices 10 (a plurality of game terminals). The game device 10 is connected for communication to the advertisement management server 2 via a communication network 4 such as the Internet.

The advertisement management server 2 is a known server computer system. The advertisement management server 2 includes an advertisement management database (DB). The advertisement management database includes a known data-readable/writable storage device such as a hard disk storage device. The advertisement management server 2 accesses the advertisement management database on demand, thereby writing or reading various data needed for the advertisement management. Thus, the advertisement management server 2 manages game advertisements output by the game device 10, advertisement points for outputting the advertisements during the game, and so on.

The game device 10 may mainly include, e.g., the home game machine. The game device 10 may mainly include a commercial game machine (a so-called arcade machine), a portable game machine, a personal computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a mobile phone.

Exemplified herein is an example in which the game device 10 mainly includes the home game machine. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the game device 10, which mainly includes the home game machine. The game device 10 illustrated in FIG. 2 is configured by installing a DVD-ROM 25 defined as an information storage medium into a home game machine 11 and further connecting a monitor 18 and a speaker 22 to the home game machine 11. For example, the monitor 18 involves using a TV receiving set for domestic use, and the speaker 22 involves employing a built-in speaker thereof.

The home game machine 11 is a well-known computer game system comprising a bus 12, a microprocessor 14, an image processing unit 16, a sound processing unit 20, a DVD-ROM reproducing unit 24, a main memory 26, an auxiliary storage device 28, an input/output (I/O) processing unit 30, and controllers 32. An enclosure accommodates the components other than the controllers 32.

The bus 12 is used for exchanging addresses and data among the respective units of the home game machine 11. The microprocessor 14, the image processing unit 16, the main memory 26, and the I/O processing unit 30 are connected to each other via the bus 12 so as to be communicable with each other.

The microprocessor 14 controls the individual units of the home game machine 11 on the basis of an operating system (OS) stored in a ROM (not shown), a program read from the DVD-ROM 25, and the data read from the auxiliary storage device 28. The main memory 26 comprises, for example, a RAM, and the program read from the DVD-ROM 25 and the data read from the auxiliary storage device 28 are written in the main memory 26 if necessary. The main memory 26 is also employed as a working memory for the microprocessor 14.

The image processing unit 16, including VRAM, renders a game screen in the VRAM based on the image data sent from the microprocessor 14. Then, the image processing unit 16 converts a content thereof into video signals and outputs the video signals to the monitor 18 at a predetermined timing. To be specific, the image processing unit 16 receives, from the microprocessor 14, vertex coordinates (X, Y, Z) in a viewpoint coordinate system, vertex color information (R, G, B), texture coordinates (VX, VY), and an alpha value (an alpha value: a semitransparent blending ratio) of respective polygons. Then, the image processing unit 16 renders, in the VRAM, the color information, a Z-value (depthwise information), the alpha value, etc, of respective pixels which form a display image by use of these items of information. This display image is output to the monitor 18 at the predetermined timing.

The I/O processing unit 30 is an interface used for the microprocessor 14 to access the sound processing unit 20, the DVD-ROM reproducing unit 24, the memory card 28, and the controller 32. The sound processing unit 20, the DVD-ROM reproducing unit 24, the auxiliary storage device 28, and the controller 32 are connected to the I/O processing unit 30.

The sound processing unit 20, comprising a sound buffer, reproduces and outputs, via the speaker 22, various sound data such as game music, game sound effects, messages or the like, that are read from the DVD-ROM 25 and stored in the sound buffer.

The DVD-ROM reproducing unit 24 reads the program stored in the DVD-ROM 25 in accordance with an instruction given from the microprocessor 14. It is to be noted that the DVD-ROM 25 is employed for supplying the program to the home game machine 11. However, any of various other information storage medium such as CD-ROMs, ROM cards or the like may also be used. Further, the program may also be supplied to the home game machine 11 from a far-off area via the communication network 4.

The auxiliary storage device 28 is a known type of storage device such as a hard disk storage device, a memory card reader, and a magneto-optical storage device. In this embodiment, various data (the advertisement data) related to the game advertisement are downloaded from the advertisement management server 2 and stored in the auxiliary storage device 28.

The controller 32 is a general-purpose operation input means used for a player to input a variety of game operations. The I/O processing unit 30 scans statuses of the respective portions of the controller 32 at an interval of a fixed period (e.g., every 1/60 second), and transfers operation signals representing scanned results to the microprocessor 14 via the bus 12. The microprocessor 14 determines, based on this operation signal, the game operation by the player. The home game machine 11 is configured to be connectable with the plurality of controllers 32, and the microprocessor 14 performs the game control on the basis of the operation signals input from the respective controllers 32.

FIG. 3 are diagrams showing an example of the controller 32. The controller 32 shown in FIG. 3 is a general-purpose game controller. As illustrated in FIG. 3(a), the surface of the controller 32 is provided with a direction button 34, a start button 36, and buttons 38X, 38Y, 38A, and 38B. The surfaces of the buttons 38X, 38Y, 38A, and 38B are marked with symbols of a “square”, “triangle”, “cross”, and “circle”, respectively. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 3(b), on an upper side surface of the controller 32, buttons 42L and 42R are respectively provided bilaterally on the front surface side, and buttons 40L and 40R are respectively provided bilaterally on the rear surface side. The direction button 34 takes a cross-shape and is normally used for designating a moving direction of a character or a cursor. The start button 36 is a small-sized push button having a triangular shape and is normally used for starting or forcibly terminating the game. The buttons 38X, 38Y, 38A, 38B, 40L, 40R, 42L, and 42R are used for other game operations.

In the game device 10 having the configuration described above, the game program read from the DVD-ROM 25 is executed, thereby providing a three-dimensional action game. A game story of the three-dimensional action game proceeds in the way that the player moves a player character (which is an operation object game character of the player) within a virtual three-dimensional space and defeats an enemy character (which is a game character as an opponent against the player character) by operating the controller 32.

To be specific, the game program runs, whereby the virtual three-dimensional space (the three-dimensional game space) in which to allocate the player character and the enemy characters is built up (generated) in the main memory 26 of the game device 10. For instance, a viewpoint disposed up in the air behind the player character and following a movement of the player character, is set up in the virtual three-dimensional space. Then, the monitor 18 displays the game screen obtained by viewing the virtual three-dimensional space from this viewpoint. The player operates the controller 32 while observing this game screen, and gives action instructions such as a moving instruction, an attacking instruction, or the like to the player character.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing one example of the game screen displayed on the monitor 18. A player character 50 and an item shop 52 are displayed on the game screen illustrated in FIG. 4. The player character 50 moves within the virtual three-dimensional space, according to how the controller 32 is operated. When the player moves the player character 50 to just before the item shop 52, a game item purchase screen is displayed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing one example of the game item purchase screen. On the game item purchase screen, the player selects a game item to be held by the player character 50. The game item is associated with various game events such as a game event that increments or decrements parameters of the player character 50 or of the enemy character. In this way, when the player causes the player character 50 to use the game item, the game event associated with the game item occurs. In the action game according to this embodiment, for example, the game item that increments a value of a hit point parameter of the player character 50 is prepared. Herein, the hit point parameter is a parameter that is decremented when attacked. When the value of the hit point parameter of the player character 50 reaches “0”, the game is over, thereby restricting (e.g., disabling) the progression of the game.

A name, an effect, and a price of the game item that can be held by the player character 50 are displayed on the game item purchase screen illustrated in FIG. 5. Note that the “effect” represents a content of the game event associated with the game item. On the game item purchase screen, the player emphatically displays (distinctively displays) a desired game item by operating an upward direction instructing portion or a downward direction instructing portion of the direction button 34, and thereafter presses a “circle” button (the button 38B). When the “circle” button is pressed, the game item emphatically displayed at that point in time is added to a holding game item list of the player character 50.

Incidentally, the game device 10 is constructed to output the advertisement (the game advertisement) in the middle of performing the game. The game advertisements are provided by a variety of sponsors in the form of, e.g., static images, movies, sounds, character data (text data), etc, and are stored in the advertisement management database by the advertisement management server 2. The various advertisement data stored in the advertisement management database are transmitted to the game device 10 via the communication network 4 at appropriate times. The game device 10 is constructed to output (output the display or output the sounds) during the performance of the game on the basis of the received advertisement data. In this embodiment, a signboard object representing an advertisement signboard is disposed in the virtual three-dimensional space, whereby the game screen as illustrated in, e.g., FIG. 6 is displayed on the monitor 18. A signboard 54 for a “drink A” is displayed together with the player character 50 on the game screen shown in FIG. 6.

Further, in the game device 10, the game item corresponding to the game advertisement is displayed on the game item purchase screen displayed when the player character 50 moves, after the game advertisement (the signboard 54) has been displayed on the game screen, to just before the item shop 52. For instance, the “drink A” is, as illustrated in, e.g., FIG. 7, displayed on the game item purchase screen after displaying the signboard 54 of the “drink A” as illustrated in, e.g., FIG. 6. Note that in the following discussion, the game item (the “drink A” etc.) associated with the game advertisement (the signboard 54) is called an advertisement game item, while the game items (a “drug”, a “miracle drug” and a “high-grade miracle drug”) other than the advertisement game item are called general game items.

The advertisement game item is associated with any one of the general game items, and a substance of the advertisement game item is the general game item. Namely, the advertisement game item is displayed as the game item which exhibits the same effect as any one of the general game items does and is priced the same. In other words, the advertisement game item is displayed as the game item equivalent to any one of the general game items. On the game item purchase screen illustrated in FIG. 7, the “drink A” is displayed as the game item equivalent to the “miracle drug”. On the game item purchase screen, when the “drink A” is selected, this “drink A” is added to the holding game item list of the player character 50.

In the action game according to this embodiment, when the player presses a predetermined button (e.g., the button 40L) in a state where the game screen illustrated in FIG. 4 or FIG. 6 is displayed, a holding game item window 56 as illustrated in, e.g., FIG. 8 is displayed. The game items held by the player character 50 are displayed as the list in this holding game item window 56. The player can check the holding game items of the player character 50 by referring to the holding game item window 56. On this game screen, the player selects an arbitrary game item and enables the player character 50 to use this selected game item. In other words, the game event associated with the game item can be made to occur. For instance, when the “miracle drug” is selected, “the game event that increments the hit point parameter of the player character 50 by 100 points at the maximum” occurs. Further, when the advertisement game item is selected, the game event corresponding to the general game item associated with the advertisement game item occurs. For example, when the “drink A” is selected, the game event associated with the “miracle drug” occurs.

By the way, on the game item purchase screen (see FIG. 7), when the advertisement game item is selected from within the equivalent game items, this selecting action can be considered highly likely to be influenced by the player's recognition of the game advertisement (the signboard 54). Namely, an evaluation that the player recognizes the game advertisement can be acquired. Such being the case, in a game system 1, when the advertisement game item is selected on the game item purchase screen, the advertisement management server 2 is notified of this fact. For instance, when the “drink A” is selected in the game item purchase screen shown in FIG. 7, the advertisement management server 2 is notified of this. Then, the advertisement management server 2 retains a notification (selection) count for every game advertisement. Namely, the advertisement management server 2 accumulates, for every game advertisement, a result of the evaluation about whether or not the game advertisement is recognized by the player. As a consequence, the game system 1 is configured to charge a fee for the advertisement based on, e.g., a content of the accumulation in a way that reflects the result of the evaluation about whether or not the game advertisement is recognized by the player.

Herein, a functional configuration of the game system 1 will be described. FIG. 9 illustrates mainly the function blocks related to the present invention among the function blocks realized in the game system 1. The advertisement management server 2 and the game device 10 execute the programs supplied via the information storage medium such as the CD-ROM, the DVD-ROM or the like, or via the communication network 4, thereby realizing these functions.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the game system 1 includes a storage unit 60, a game item selection accepting unit 68, a game process executing unit 70, an advertisement output unit 72, an output status determining unit 74, a selection content determining unit 76, an advertisement evaluation information updating unit 78, and an advertisement evaluation information storage unit 80. Herein, discussion will be made on the assumption that the advertisement evaluation information storage unit 80 is provided in the advertisement management server 2, and other functional blocks are provided in the game device 10. It is to be noted that these functional blocks may be provided in either the advertisement management server 2 or the game device 10. For instance, the advertisement data storage unit 66 may also be provided in the advertisement management server 2.

[1. Storage Unit]

The storage unit 60 is realized mainly with the DVD-ROM 25, the main memory 26 and the auxiliary storage device 28. The storage unit 60 stores various data employed for performing the game. For example, the storage unit 60 stores the data about various objects allocated in a virtual three-dimensional space 50. Further, the storage unit 60 includes a game item information storage unit 62, a holding game item information storage unit 64, and an advertisement data storage unit 66.

[2. Game Item Information Storage Unit]

The game item information storage unit 62 stores information on the general game items appearing in the game. The game item information storage unit 62 stores a game item table as illustrated in, e.g., FIG. 10. The game item table illustrated in FIG. 10 contains a “game item ID” field, a “game item name” field, a “description” field, and a “price” field. The “game item ID” field stores identifying information for uniquely identifying the general game item. The “game item name” field stores a name of the game item. The “description” field stores a content of the game event corresponding to the game item. The “price” field stores a price of the game item.

[3. Advertisement Data Storage Unit]

The advertisement data storage unit 60 stores the advertisement data (such as statistic image data, video data, sound data, or character (text) data) used for displaying the game advertisement on the game screen. Moreover, the advertisement data storage unit 60 stores an advertisement table as shown in, e.g., FIG. 11. The advertisement table shown in FIG. 11 contains an “advertisement ID” field, an “advertisement image data” field, a “position” field, an “advertisement game item name” field, and a “game item ID” field. The “advertisement ID” field stores identifying information for uniquely identifying the game advertisement. The “advertisement image data” field stores information that specifies the advertisement image data. The advertisement image data is, for example, a texture image mapped to a signboard object. The “position” field stores information indicating a position, within the virtual three-dimensional space, at which the signboard object is allocated. The “advertisement game item name” field stores, e.g., a name of a commercial product etc. that is related to the game advertisement. The “game item ID” field stores a game item ID of the general game item associated with the game advertisement.

[4. Holding Game Item Information Storage Unit]

The holding game item information storage unit 64 stores the game item held by the player character 50. The holding game item information storage unit 64 stores a holding game item table as illustrated in, e.g., FIG. 12. The holding game item table illustrated in FIG. 12 shows types of the game items held by the player character 50 and the number of game items held by the player character 50. The holding game item table illustrated in FIG. 12 contains an “item ID” field and an “item count” field. The “item ID” field stores a game item ID or an advertisement ID. More specifically, the game item ID is stored with respect to the general game item, and the advertisement ID is stored with respect to the advertisement game item. The “item count” field stores a holding item count of the general game items identified with the game item IDs or the advertisement game items identified with the advertisement IDs. The holding game item window 56 (see FIG. 8) is displayed based on contents of this holding game item table.

[5. Advertisement Evaluation Information Storage Unit]

The advertisement evaluation information storage unit 80 is realized by a known hard disk storage device and a database management system. The advertisement evaluation information storage unit 80 stores, for every game advertisement, advertisement evaluation information representing an evaluation about the output of the game advertisement. The advertisement evaluation information storage unit 80 stores an advertisement point table as illustrated in, e.g., FIG. 13. The advertisement point table illustrated in FIG. 13 contains an “advertisement ID” field and an “advertisement point” field. The advertisement point is numerical value information added based on a result of the determination by the selection content determining unit 76 described below and on a result of the determination by the output status determining unit 74 described below, and is applied to a basis for calculating, for example, an amount of money charged for the advertisement.

[6. Advertisement Output Unit]

The advertisement output unit 72 is realized mainly with the image processing unit 16 and the monitor 18. The advertisement output unit 72 outputs the game advertisement on the basis of the advertisement data stored in the advertisement data storage unit 60. The advertisement output unit 72 according to this embodiment displays the game advertisement on the game screen. To be specific, the advertisement output unit 72 displays, on the monitor 18, the game screen (see FIG. 6) obtained by viewing “the virtual three-dimensional space in which to allocate the signboard object based on the storage contents of the advertisement data storage unit 66” from a given viewpoint.

[7. Output Status Determining Unit]

The output status determining unit 74 determines whether or not an output status of the game advertisement satisfies a predetermined output status criterion. For example, the output status determining unit 74 may count an output count of the game advertisement and may thus determine whether or not this output count reaches a predetermined count (an output status criterion). In this case, the output status determining unit 74 may determine, when outputting the game advertisement so as to satisfy the predetermined criterion, that a “single count of output” of this game advertisement has been performed. For instance, the output status determining unit 74 may determine, when the whole of the signboard 54 is displayed on the game screen, that the “single count of output” of this game advertisement related to the signboard 54 has been performed, and may also determine, when a part of the signboard 54 is displayed on the game screen, that the “single count of output” of the game advertisement related to the signboard 54 has been conducted.

The output status determining unit 74 according to this embodiment determines whether or not the signboard 54 related to each game advertisement is displayed on the game screen at least once. Note that in this embodiment, when the whole of the signboard 54 is displayed on the game screen, the determination that “the signboard 54 has been displayed” is made. Moreover, the output status determining unit 74 according to this embodiment stores an output status table as illustrated in, e.g., FIG. 14. The output status table as illustrated in FIG. 14 contains an “advertisement ID” field and an “output status flag” field. A value “0” or “1” is stored in the “output status flag” field. When the signboard 54 of the game advertisement identified with the advertisement ID is displayed on the game screen even once, “1” is stored therein.

[8. Game Item Selection Accepting Unit]

The game item selection accepting unit 68 guides the player to select the game item, and accepts the selection thereof. Further, the game item selection accepting unit 68 restricts the acceptance of selecting the game item associated with the game advertisement and cancels the restriction, according to a result of the determination by the output status determining unit 74. The game item selection accepting unit 68 according to this embodiment causes the monitor 18 to display the game item purchase screen as shown in, e.g., FIG. 5 or 7 and prompts the player to select the game item. Details thereof will be described later on (see FIGS. 15 and 16).

[9. Selection Content Determining Unit]

The selection content determining unit 76 determines whether or not the game item selection accepting unit 68 has accepted the selection of the game item (the advertisement game item) corresponding to the game advertisement. The selection content determining unit 76 according to this embodiment determines whether or not the game item selected on the game item purchase screen is the advertisement game item. Details thereof will be described later on (see FIG. 16).

[10. Game Process Executing Unit]

The game process executing unit 70 executes the game process based on a result of the acceptance by the game item selection accepting unit 68. The game process executing unit 70 according to this embodiment updates, based on the result of the acceptance by the game item selection accepting unit 68, the storage contents of the holding game item information storage unit 64. Details thereof will be described later on (see FIG. 16).

[11. Advertisement Evaluation Information Updating Unit]

The advertisement evaluation information updating unit 78 updates, based on a result of the determination by the output status determining unit 74 and a result of the determination by the selection content determining unit 76, advertisement evaluation information stored in the advertisement evaluation information storage unit 80. The advertisement evaluation information updating unit 78 according to this embodiment updates, if the output status of the game advertisement has been determined to satisfy the predetermined output status criterion and the selection of the game item (the advertisement game item) corresponding to the game advertisement has been accepted, the advertisement evaluation information stored in the advertisement evaluation information storage unit 80. Details thereof will be described later on (see FIG. 16).

Herein, processes executed by the game device 10 will be described.

To begin with, a process of displaying the game item purchase screen will be described. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing this process. Execution of the process is triggered when the player character 50 moves to a predetermined area based on the position of the item shop 52. Further, the game device 10 executes the program supplied via the DVD-ROM 25 or via the communication network 4, thereby realizing this process.

As illustrated in FIG. 15, the process starts with initializing a display item list by the game item selection accepting unit 68 (S101). The display item list is a list of an ID, a name, a description, and a price of each game item displayed on the game item purchase screen. In this step, the display item list is initialized to a null status.

Thereafter, the game item selection accepting unit 68 reads a first record (a data set consisting of the game item ID, the game item name, the description, and the price) from the game item information table (S102). Then, the game item selection accepting unit 68 adds, to the display item list, the data set consisting of the game item ID, the game item name, the description, and the price, which are contained in the read record (S103).

Next, the game item selection accepting unit 68 determines, by referring to the “game item ID” field in the advertisement table, whether or not the advertisement ID is associated with the game item ID read in Step S102 (S104). Then, in the case of determining that the advertisement ID is associated therewith, the game item selection accepting unit 68 acquires, based on the contents of the advertisement table, the advertisement ID and the advertisement game item name associated with this advertisement ID (S105). Subsequently, the game item selection accepting unit 68 refers to the output status table and thus determines whether or not “1” is set in the output status flag associated with the advertisement ID acquired in Step S105 (S106). Then, when determining that “1” is set in the output status flag associated with the advertisement ID, the game item selection accepting unit 68 adds, to the display item list, the data set consisting of the advertisement ID and the advertisement game item acquired in Step S105, and the description and the price contained in the record read in Step S102 (S107).

Note that when determining in Step S104 that a plurality of advertisement IDs are associated therewith, the processes of Steps S105 through S107 are executed with respect to each advertisement ID.

Thereafter, the game item selection accepting unit 68 determines whether or not a next record exists in the game item information table (S108). Then, if the next record exists, this record is read (S109), and the processes of Steps S103 through S108 are executed again. On the other hand if no the next record exists, the game item selection accepting unit 68 renders, in the VRAM, the game item purchase screen based on the display item list (S110). The game item purchase screen rendered in the VRAM is displayed on the monitor 18 at the predetermined time.

Given next is a description of a process executed when pressing the “circle” button on the game item purchase screen. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing this process. Further, the game device 10 executes the program supplied via the DVD-ROM 25 or via the communication network 4, thereby realizing this process.

As shown in FIG. 16, in this process, to begin with, the game item selection accepting unit 68 acquires the ID (the game item ID or the advertisement ID) of the game item selected by the player (S201). Namely, the ID of the game item, emphatically displayed at the time of pressing the “circle” button, is acquired.

Next, the game process executing unit 70 updates the holding game item table on the basis of the ID acquired in Step S201 (S202). If the ID acquired in Step S201 has already been registered in the holding game item table, a value of the “item count” field associated with the ID is incremented. On the other and, if the ID acquired in Step S201 is not registered in the holding game item table, a record is newly added. Then, the ID acquired in Step S201 is stored in the “item ID” field of the added record, and “1” is stored in the “item count” field.

Next, the selection content determining unit 76 determines whether or not the game item selected by the player is the advertisement game item (S203). In this embodiment, the selection content determining unit 76, if a first alphabetic letter of the ID acquired in Step S201 is “A”, determines that the player has selected the advertisement game item. On the other hand, the selection content determining unit 76, if the first alphabetic letter of the ID acquired in Step S201 is “I”, determines that the player has selected the general game item.

Then, if the item selected by the player is the advertisement game item, the advertisement point updating unit 74 transmits an advertisement point update request to the advertisement management server 2 (S204). The advertisement point update request is structured to include the ID acquired in Step S201 and is defined as data representing a request for updating the advertisement point. The advertisement management server 2 receiving the advertisement point update request increments a value of the “advertisement point” field associated with the ID (the advertisement ID) contained in the advertisement point update request.

Given next is a description of a process executed when selecting the game item on the game screen illustrated in FIG. 8. The game device 10 executes the program supplied via the DVD-ROM 25 or via the communication network 4, thereby realizing this process.

When selecting the game item on the game screen illustrated in FIG. 8, at first, it is determined whether the game item selected by the player is the general game item or the advertisement game item. This determination is made by determining whether the first alphabetic letter of the ID of the game item selected by the player is “I” or “A”. Then, if the first alphabetic letter of the ID is “I”, i.e., if the player selects the general game item, an occurrence process of the game event corresponding to this general game item is executed. In contrast, if the first alphabetic letter of the ID is “A”, i.e., if the player selects the advertisement game item, the general game item associated by the ID (the advertisement ID) is specified based on the contents of the advertisement table. Then, the occurrence process of the game event corresponding to this general game item is executed.

As described above, in the game system 1, when the game advertisement (the signboard 54) is displayed on the game screen, the game item (the advertisement game item) corresponding to the game advertisement is displayed as the game item equivalent to any one of the general game items on the subsequent game item purchase screen (see FIG. 7). On the game item purchase screen, when the advertisement game item is selected on purpose from among the equivalent game items, this selecting action can be considered to be highly influenced by the player's recognition of the game advertisement. Namely, it can be evaluated that the game advertisement is recognized by the player. Therefore, in the game system 1, when the player selects the advertisement game item on the game item purchase screen, the advertisement management server 2 is notified of this fact. Then, the advertisement management server 2 stores, for every game advertisement, a notification count. Namely, the advertisement management server 2 accumulates, for every game advertisement, the result of the evaluation about whether or not the game advertisement is recognized by the player. As a consequence, the game system 1 is configured to charge the fee for the advertisement based on, e.g., the content of the accumulation in a way that reflects the result of the evaluation about whether or not the game advertisement is recognized by the player.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above.

For instance, the result of the determination (the output status table) by the output status determining unit 74 may be transmitted to and retained in the advertisement management server 2. Moreover, the advertisement evaluation information updating unit 78 may be provided in the advertisement management server 2. In this case, the advertisement evaluation information updating unit 78 may update the storage contents of the advertisement evaluation information storage unit 80 on the basis of the result of the determination by the selection content determining unit 76 that is received via the communication network 4 from the game device 10 (the selection content determining unit 76) and the result of the determination by the output status determining unit 74 that is retained in the advertisement management server 2.

Further, for example, the general game item (i.e., the general game item associated with the advertisement game item) corresponding to the game advertisement may change as the game proceeds. For instance, if the parameter of the player character 50 rises as the game proceeds, the general game item corresponding to the game advertisement may change as the parameter of the player character 50 rises. For example, in an example illustrated in FIG. 11, the general game item “miracle drug” is associated with the advertisement game item “drink A” (the advertisement ID “A001”), but if the maximum hit point parameter (the maximum value of the hit point parameter) of the player character 50 rises up to a predetermined value, the general game item associated with the advertisement game item “drink A” (the advertisement ID “A001”) may change to the “high-grade miracle drug” defined as the general game item exhibiting a larger recovery quantity (increment quantity) of the hit point than the “miracle drug”. If the maximum hit point parameter of the player character 50 rises as the game proceeds, the general game item exhibiting a small recovery quantity of the hit point has a low possibility of being selected by the player. In this point, the above configuration inhibits the general game item having the low possibility of being selected by the player from being associated with the game advertisement, and attains the proper evaluation about whether or not the game advertisement is recognized by the player.

In this case, a table may be stored structured to associate the respective advertisement IDs with a plurality of data sets of maximum hit point parameter ranges and game item IDs of the general game items. Then, it may be determined in Step S104 shown in FIG. 15 whether or not there exists the advertisement ID associated with the data set of the game item ID read in S102 and the range containing the maximum hit point parameter of the player character 50 at that time.

Moreover, for example, the game performed on the game device 10 may also be a so-called network game.

GAME SYSTEM, GAME SYSTEM CONTROL METHOD, AND INFORMATION STORAGE MEDIUM

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