Patent Application
20080004097
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments and, together with the detailed description, serve to explain the principles and implementations of the invention.
In the drawings:
Embodiments are described herein in the context of a gaming device with customizable template for advertising display. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following detailed description is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure. Reference will now be made in detail to implementations as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same reference indicators will be used throughout the drawings and the following detailed description to refer to the same or like parts.
In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.
The invention provides for generating a customizable gaming-machine template for advertising on a gaming-machine. A customizable template may be generated to allow a user, such as a casino or licensee, to customize secondary gaming information to be displayed on the gaming-machine. The template would allow the user to specify what advertising images to display, where to display the advertising image, how long to advertise the advertisement, and to match the timing of advertisement to a state of the gaming-machine.
The gaming-machine may provide for player interaction with the secondary gaming information through an interactive display. For example, should the player be interested in learning more about an advertised game, the player may merely touch the screen and instant information about the advertised game may be displayed. Additionally, if the player is interested about the menu at the Cafe, the player may merely touch the screen and the menu would be displayed. The information may be displayed in any known manner such as in text form, via video format, or by any other means. It will be appreciated that, for example, the player may effectively initiate the assessing of the advertisement by making a request via a graphical user interface (GUI). The player may, for example, select a menu-item. As such, it is preferable that the gaming-machine have an operating system for an active video platform (AVP) as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/040,239 filed on Jan. 3, 2002, entitled “Game Development Architecture That Decouples The Game Logic From The Graphics Logic” which is incorporated herein in its entirety and for all purposes. The operating system will not be discussed herein to prevent obfuscation of the present invention.
There are a number of requirements unique to the gaming industry.
It takes about six weeks to obtain approval from the regulatory agency at 208. Once approved, it takes about nine weeks for the game to be packaged in a game box and/or portable memory device and delivered to the casino at 210.
Once authenticated, the gaming software may be stored on a memory 308 of the gaming-machine that is in communication with the master gaming controller 300. The master gaming controller 300 may then communicate with a menu generator 310 to generate a template listing the various advertising images that may be displayed on the gaming-machine.
The menu generator is typically available only to a gaming-machine operator. Thus, the gaming-machine is placed in a “special” operator mode before the menu generator is accessible. For example, in some embodiments, an operator inserts a key into to the gaming-machine that places the gaming-machine in operator mode. While in operator mode game play features on the gaming-machine are disabled.
After being placed in the operator mode, the operator mode functions, such as the menu generator may appear on the main display of the gaming-machine. In one embodiment, the menu generator may comprise various option buttons that are compatible with touch screen interface on the main display and/or mechanical input buttons coupled to the gaming-machine. The present invention is not limited to using the main display and other devices on the gaming-machine, such as a secondary display, may be used to provide an interface to the menu generator.
The menu generator may allow an operator to select and customize information included in the approved gaming software on the gaming-machine for output on at least one of the gaming-machine interfaces. The gaming-machine interfaces include any gaming devices coupled to the gaming-machine that may be used to transmit information to a user, such as displays, audio output devices, light panels, etc). The menu generator may allow the operator to select what type of information is to be displayed, when is it displayed (e.g., specific days, times of day, random times and/or days), triggers for its display (e.g., particular states of the gaming-machine) and a format for its display (e.g., size, shape, device, colors, display locations, etc.).
To allow the customization to be output on the gaming-machine interface, the customized information has to be pre-approved by a regulatory board for incorporation into the game because it is part of a game software package that is allowed to execute on the game hardware (e.g., processor, RAM, motherboard) that controls a play of a game of chance. Any game logic and data (e.g., programs, text, sounds, graphics, etc.) that is executed or stored on the game hardware that controls the game play on the gaming-machine interface is highly regulated. As noted in the background, the regulatory standards for logic and data processed on gaming devices, such a player tracking units, not approved to control a play of a game of chance are much less stringent. However, the gaming devices, such as player tracking units, not approved for controlling a game are not allowed to access devices, such as a main display, speakers, input devices, etc, comprising the gaming-machine interface that are coupled to the master gaming controller. Therefore, to output customized information, gaming devices, such as player tracking units, include an output interface separate from the gaming-machine interface controlled by the game hardware. To keep costs down associated with having two separate output interface on the gaming-machine with overlapping functionality (i.e., a player tracking display, speakers, input devices, versus a separate gaming-machine interface display, speakers and input devices) as well as space limitations, the capabilities of the output interface on gaming devices not approved for controlling a game, such as a player tracking unit, is less capable and smaller than the gaming-machine interface.
In a particular embodiment, the menu generator may include options for integrating the customized information into game play. For example, a wagering game with a food theme may be customized to advertise restaurants or food at a particular establishment. In another example, the operator may be allowed to customize certain symbols or sounds in a slot game for advertising purposes.
In general, the menu generator may allow an operator to select customized graphics, texts and sounds for placement in a video slot game. The video game package may include a number of places where the customized information, such as text, sound and graphics, may be inserted using the menu generator. These places may vary depending on the type of game being played. The menu generator may highlight the available places in a game that may include customization by showing various screen shots of the game with indicators as to where custom information may be inserted and how it will be displayed. The screen shots may also indicate the default graphics, texts and sounds that are used when customization is not used.
In a particular embodiment, the menu generator may include a preview mode that outputs on the gaming-machine interface customization selections made using the menu generator. For example, when the menu generator is used to insert custom graphics and/or sounds into a slot game, then a preview of the slot game with the custom graphics and/or may be output to the operator via the gaming-machine interface. In another example, the menu generator may be used to set-up an advertising feature for a secondary display on the gaming-machine and the preview feature may allow the operator to view an implementation of the set-up on the secondary display. After the preview is displayed, the menu generator may allow the operator to save their choices or enter new ones.
In a particular embodiment, it may be possible to by-pass a manual input of data into menu generator and directly input information into the gaming-machine to be used by the menu generator for configuration. For example, the menu generator may be able to access selection information recorded on a printed ticket that is inputted to the gaming-machine via a bill validator or any other input device. The printed ticket may include configuration information utilized by the menu generator and when the ticket is read into the gaming-machine, the menu generator may automatically configure itself with the information read from the ticket. Thus, the menu generator may include a selectable option for allowing data input in this manner. The by-pass mode on the menu generator may allow data read and automatically entered from other input interfaces on the gaming-machine, such as via a USB port, a wireless interface, a smart card, etc.
In one embodiment, after a user has manually entered data into the menu generator, the menu generator may include a selectable option that allows the manual selections to be output to a storage device. For instance, the information may be printed on a ticket output at the gaming-machine or downloaded to a portable electronic memory device. As described in the preceding paragraph, the menu generator information output from a first gaming-machine may then be used to automatically configure a second gaming-machine.
When custom graphics and/or sounds are selected, their placement may be integrated or coordinated with the game play on the gaming-machine interface. The integration may include considerations, such as but not limited to, outputting sounds or displaying graphics in a manner that does not distract a player, complements game play and is likely to be noticed by the player (e.g., for advertising purposes). For instance, the menu generator may allow an operator to output customized information during a lull in the game play, such as a credit roll-up where a player is provided a large award and the player is excited. With an output interface associated with a gaming device not permitted/approved to control the play of game of chance, such as player tracking unit, integration of this type is not possible because the player tracking unit does not have the state information about the game play or control of the devices on the gaming-machine interface to perform the integration.
The menu generator may have a generic template database 312 for generic template forms and a customized database 314 to store customized data. For exemplary purposes only and not intended to be limiting, the list may allow the user to chose an advertisement image for future games from a future game library 318, that lists games that may be released in the future. These may also be referred to as “Coming Soon” or “Upcoming” games. The information in this library is time sensitive as the new game may be released to the public within a few weeks or months. Thus, the advertising image may contain a time stamp to discontinue use of the advertising image after a certain date. Information about games that are available on other gaming-machines in the casino may be obtained from an available games library 320. Additionally, various games on the current gaming-machine for instant play may be obtained from a current game library 316. Lastly, any customized casino related information such as information about the buffet, cafe, shows and attractions at the casino, and the like may be included and obtained from the casino database 322. Since the advertisement may be time-sensitive, such as the “Upcoming” games, the user may specify the dates that the advertisement will run. It will now be realized that there may be various ways to configure the information and the examples above are not intended to be limiting.
Secondary gaming information may be displayed on any part of the gaming-machine, such as on the display monitor 34. However, it is preferable that it be displayed on the secondary display monitor 45. The secondary display monitor 45 has more visual real estate since it is typically larger, wider, and allows for the use of larger fonts and graphics. People with poor vision and/or non-players are able to readily view the advertisements.
As illustrated in
Since the secondary gaming information is embedded into the gaming software, the timing to display the secondary gaming information may be based upon the state of the gaming-machine. Gaming-machines are implemented with special features and additional circuitry that differentiate them from general-purpose computers (e.g., desktop PC's and laptops). A state machine is an example of one of the additional components. The standard method of operation for slot machine game software is to use a state machine. Each function of the game (bet, play, result, etc.) is defined as a state. When a game moves from one state to another, critical data regarding the game software is stored in a custom non-volatile memory subsystem. In addition, game history information regarding previous games played, amounts wagered, and so forth also should be stored in a non-volatile memory device. This feature allows the game to recover operation to the current state of play in the event of a malfunction, loss of power, etc. This is critical to ensure the player's wager and credits are preserved. Typically, battery backed random-access memory (RAM) devices are used to preserve this critical data. These memory devices are not used in typical general-purpose computers. On the generated template, the user may select or match the timing to display the advertising image to a state of the gaming-machine. For example, should the player reach a bonus round, advertisement for a similar game with a similar bonus round may be displayed. Alternatively, if the gaming-machine is in an idle state, information about the casino attractions and features may be displayed.
To further protect, regulate, and prevent cheating, the memory device must be authenticated at 504. There are various authentication methods, however, it is preferable to use the methods discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,106,396, 6,620,047, or 6,685,567 which are incorporated herein in their entirety and for all purposes. The authentication methods and systems will not be discussed herein to prevent obfuscation of the present invention.
A template listing at least one advertising image embedded in the approved gaming software may be generated at 506. A user may select at least one of the advertising images at 508 for display on the gaming-machine. The advertising image may be a future game(s) to be released in the future, information about a game(s) that is available on other gaming-machines at the casino, or another game(s) that is currently on the gaming-machine for immediate play. Lastly, any customized casino related information such as information about the buffet, cafe, shows and attractions at the casino, and the like may be included. The advertisement image itself may also have a time stamp that will discontinue the advertisement after a certain date, such as the date an upcoming game is to be released to the public.
The user may select what type of information is to be displayed, when is it displayed (e.g., times of days), triggers for its display (e.g., particular states of the gaming-machine) and a format for its display (e.g., size, shape, device, colors, display locations, etc.) on the template. The secondary gaming information may be displayed in any format desired as discussed above with reference to
Once the selection is made, the user may preview the selected advertising images at 510 on the display of the gaming-machine. If satisfied, the advertising images are saved and displayed on the gaming-machine at 512.
While embodiments and applications of this invention have been shown and described, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure that many more modifications than mentioned above are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims.
