Patent Application
20060287113
The present invention relates to infrared (IR) toy shooting games, and more particularly to IR gun and game device combination interactive systems in communication with one or more other shooting apparatus.
Shooting game toys are generally known including shooting apparatus embodied as gun apparatus. IR electronic shooting games include communication devices for transmission and reception of IR light signals, operating on principles of IR remote control. IR shooting games typically include two channels of IR communication, namely, a channel for transmitting an IR signal (i.e., a tag or shot) and a channel for receiving the transmitted IR signals. Such IR electronic shooting games involve two or more players, each equipped with an apparatus for sending IR signals (e.g., a gun) and an apparatus for receiving IR signals (e.g., a target), wherein the object of the game is to target and shoot opponents with an IR signal, thereby scoring a “hit” or a “tag” until only one player or team remains in the game. Such infrared electronic shooting games are relatively well known and have been available since about 1979. For example, one infrared electronic shooting game sold beginning in about 1986 by WORLDS OF WONDER TM, permitted players to fire invisible beams at one another with each player being provided with a game unit for emission of an infrared light beam. In the WORLDS OF WONDER TM game, a target was affixed to each player in order to count the number of “hits” registered by the target associated with each player, and a player was tagged “out” when six hits were registered for that player. Other infrared electronic shooting games that are known include indoor arena games such as LASER QUEST TM and the like.
In view of the forgoing, traditional implementations of IR shooting game, the several described embodiments for a Lazer Tag Advanced (LTA) system in accordance with the present inventions facilitates novel Infrared Shooting Games (IRSG) systems as well as novel game play and environments for IRSG play. Traditionally, IRSG are simply shooting games. Prior advancements in the art were either electromechanical details such as improved receiver design or improvements in the method of defining a game or storing the results.
In at least a first described embodiment that LTA differs from previous IRSG systems is that it moves away from the pure shooting model. A large element of LTA play is out-thinking your opponents rather than simply out-shooting them. In addition to the expected “tags” or “shots”, there are also “special attacks” which can cause simulated damage, loss of resources or capabilities, or chaotic behavior of the opponent's “gun” (hereinafter referred to collectively with the rest of the apparatus as a “Tagger”) if not properly countered by the successful completion of a short video game, logic puzzle, or code-breaking challenge. Further, players must weigh the option of diverting some of their game resources to the acquisition of “dismissals” for those types of special attacks against which they have the most trouble defending themselves.
In at least a second described embodiment in which LTA advances the art is that the capability of the Tagger itself to evolve as the user gains more experience. Prior IRSG systems kept track of who tagged who only long enough to score the game and perhaps print out the results. Each game was a self-contained entity which had no effect on any future games other than such artificial rules as the players themselves might choose to implement. But in LTA, the outcome of each game feeds into the cumulative total game experience of the Tagger and this in turn affects the capabilities of that Tagger for future games. New types of attacks and defenses become available to the user only as they prove they have mastered previous ones, and failure to master these new capabilities can result in the loss of their use.
In at least a third described embodiment in which LTA differs from traditional IRSG play is in the use of a short-range, wide-angle transmitter for local-area gaming as opposed to the long-range narrow-angle transmitter more normally associated with IRSG style gaming (called “Wide-Area Gaming”). This is of particular use in circumstances where playing with traditional “shooting game” style toys would not be possible or desirable. In playing the Local Area form of gaming, players are using the same special attacks which they could normally be “shooting” at each other in the wide-area gaming mode, but in this case they do not have to be carefully aimed and there is no physical running around needed
In at least a fourth described embodiment in which LTA differs from traditional IRSG is that the special attacks carry with them specific information regarding the sending Tagger. This is particularly important when attempting to implement real-world forms of Fantasy Role-Playing games in which the Tagger represents a player's “character”. In such games, it is not simply the attack itself but the experience “level” of the character launching the attack versus that of the character being attacked which determines how much damage the attack will do if successful. In LTA, this information is used in the scoring of the games (lower-level units gain more experience from defeating higher-level units than do higher-level units for defeating lower-level ones). However, this information could also be used to scale the damage done by such attacks or even to determine whether or not the attack would be registered at all, in accordance with defined game rules.
In at least a fifth described embodiment in which LTA differs from most prior IRSG systems is an extremely non-gun-like appearance. As previously mentioned, this is mainly for the purpose of making LTA's use more acceptable in places or circumstances where a “shooting toy” would not be appropriate. However, it is also envisioned that this will allow for the development of toys strongly themed to the Fantasy Role Playing market which the other LTA capabilities can exploit—for example, “magical” staffs for wizard duels.
The present invention relates to interactive methods and apparatus for infrared (IR) tag shooting games between participants. In a described embodiment, the information processor is responsive to hit or tag tally as being capable of storing gameplay experience, and the information processor may alter gameplay capabilities based on stored gameplay experience. Information processing is responsive to stored experience for determining a “Level” that defines operation of an IR device associated with the one or more other participants. The apparatus includes a housing configured as an infrared transmitting and receiving toy has an interface display, user switches, and an IR device disposed within the housing for transmitting and receiving first or second data between participants.
An information processor is coupled to the interface and in communication with the IR device, with the first data including tag or hit information and the second data including special attack information. The information processor and IR transmitter are able to send first IR data indicative of one or more tags or shots being fired in response to user actuation of one or more inputs, and the information processor and IR transmitter are able to send second IR data indicative of a selected special attack in response to user actuation of one or more inputs. The information processor generates hit or tag tally upon receiving first data from IR receiver, and generates either an activity including a video-game or puzzle style activity on the interface display or a short duration modification to the functionality of the device upon receiving second data.
The following description is provided to enable those skilled in the art to make and use the described embodiments set forth in the best modes contemplated for carrying out the invention. Various modifications, however, will remain readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Any and all such modifications, equivalents, and alternatives are intended to fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Referring to
With reference to
The information processor 6 is coupled to the interface and in communication with the IR transmitters and receiver. The information processor and IR transmitter are able to send first IR data indicative of one or more tags or shots being fired in response to user actuation of one or more inputs, and the information processor and IR transmitter are able to send second IR data indicative of a selected special attack in response to user actuation of one or more inputs. The information processor generates hit or tag tally upon receiving first data from IR receiver, and generates either an activity including a video-game or puzzle style activity on the interface display or a short duration modification to the functionality of the device upon receiving second data. As discussed further herein, the information processor may be responsive to hit or tag tally and results of video game or puzlle solving activities as being capable of storing gameplay experience, and the information processor may alter gameplay capabilities based on stored gameplay experience. Information processing is responsive to the stored experience for determining a level that defines operation of the device associated with the one or more other participants.
As in most IRSG type games, the wide-angle receiver is positioned such that IR radiation 12 transmitted from other units can be received over a wide angle, preferably 360 degrees. This receiver is located on the Tagger housing in the existing system, but could also be body-worn (including as multiple receivers facing different directions) or head-worn.
The wide-angle transmitter is used to send IR 13 a short distance over a relatively wide pattern, so as to eliminate the need to carefully aim it and still be reasonably certain that it will be properly received on the wide-angle receiver of other units. This is used to communicate game set-up and scoring information before and after games respectively, and to send the special attacks in local-area games.
Although not strictly necessary to the invention, the device presently also contains a non-volatile memory or EEPROM 14 for the permanent storage of the accumulated experience, available attacks and defenses, and name(s) of the user(s). This is to prevent loss of this data when the batteries are replaced. There are alternative ways to accomplish this, such as either having the user enter a code to recreate the data once the batteries have been replaced, or having a set of small memory-back-up batteries to preserve RAM contents within the micro-controller while the main batteries are being changed.
With reference to
This method of communicating wide-angle-transmitter to wide-angle-receiver is also used throughout the entire local-area form of play so that the players do not have to carefully aim their IR beams at one another. It is further used at the end of each game for the various players to exchange scoring information by simply coming close to one another and allowing the Taggers to exchange IR signals without the need to maintain precise alignment of the multiple Taggers.
With reference to
Gaining Experience Points and Levels:
The three modes of play (Practice, Local-Area Gaming, and Wide-Area Gaming) accrue experience points for the user in different ways. The Practice mode allows users to accumulate experience slowly as they practice learning the names of the different attacks, which types of attacks are dismissed by which types of defenses, and how to win the video games associated with each different type of attack. Users cannot lose experience points in this mode. Practice mode however can only take a user up to Level 3 (of 8), beyond which experience points gained in this mode are no longer added to the player's cumulative total.
The Local-Area Gaming mode allows users to more rapidly gain experience points by engaging in one-on-one competitions against other human players. Players learn which attacks and defenses their opponents have and favor for use. Players also get a chance to “try out” the various attacks and defenses of the next level up, so that they will have some idea which of the options they will chose when they advance to that level. Experience points are gained more rapidly than in Practice Mode. Defeats in Local-Area Gaming mode do not cause a loss of experience points. Local-Area Gaming mode however can still only take a user up to Level 6, beyond which experience points gained in this mode are no longer added to the player's cumulative total.
Wide-Area Gaming mode pits multiple players against one another simultaneously, using only those special Attacks and Countermeasures which they have earned by advancing in Level. This mode can very rapidly gain experience points for a user, and these points are good for advancing the user's Level all the way up to the maximum of Level 8. However, significant defeats in this mode will cost the user experience points, potentially resulting in demotion to a lower Level.
In accordance with the present preferred embodiment, Tag games are described in a Role-Playing Game context. To this end, the underlying game play is about building up a “Character” and gaining capabilities for that Character even as the Player gains real-world experience of playing the game. A cumulative total of “Experience Points” is maintained, which changes based on the player's performance. As the Experience Points increase above predefined thresholds, the character increases in “Level.” The Experience Points are invisible to the user (they are purely internal), while Level is visible to the user.
The Levels are not evenly spaced in Experience Points, so that the initial two or three Levels are advanced through quickly, but the final Levels take a tremendous amount of play time with good success to achieve. The longer and more intensely the user plays Lazer Tag Advanced, the sooner his Character will be able to advance in Level. Each new Level achieved allows the Player to select new Attacks and Countermeasures that his Character will be able to use—there are two Attacks and two Countermeasures associated with each Level, but the Player must choose only two total for his Character to use when he advances to that Level. He may choose both of the Attacks, or both of the Countermeasures, or either one of each. The two selected abilities then become available for his Character to use in future games for as long as he remains at or above the new Level. The remaining un-chosen items are no longer available. In this way, the Character is shaped by the cumulative set of decisions made as the Player brings his Character up through the Levels and this shaping has an impact on future play.
It is possible, through poor performance in the real-world tagging game, to lose Experience Points and thus potentially decrease in Level. If this happens, the abilities selected when the character increased in Level are lost, and in order to regain them (or select new abilities), the player must advance his character back up into the higher Level again.
User Interface and Design Features:
The user interface includes an LCD screen, a 12-button telephone style keypad, an Up-Down-Left-Right (UDLR) keypad, an ENTER button, a TRIGGER, and a rotating or detachable cover to prevent accidental pressing of buttons.
Most game play options and actions are performed using the UDLR keypad, the ENTER button, and the FIRE trigger. The telephone style keypad is only used to enter text messages or personalization information or to enter values when “purchasing” capabilities for use in a game. Text messaging is performed using a 9-key entry style.
Along the top of the Tagger is a receiver “dome” including two 45-degree IR-LED's (one forward and one aft). The dome also houses a set of 3 IR photodiodes, arranged so that the receiver can receive in a 360-degree horizontal by roughly 60-degree vertical pattern when the Tagger is held vertically. In addition, the dome houses a visible LED which blinks under processor control to indicate the receipt of data. The two IR-LED's are angled fore and aft by about 45 degrees each, so that there is effectively a 180-degree wide by 90-degree tall transmit pattern when the Tagger is laid flat on it's side—these IR-LED's will have a range of 10 to 20 feet depending on lighting conditions and are used for communications which are local in nature and do not need to be carefully aimed.
There is a third IR-LED located behind a lens in the “barrel” at the front of the Tagger. This IR-LED is used for transmitting tags and other information over a longer distance (75-125 feet depending on conditions) in a “tight beam” fashion so that it should only be received by the intended recipient Tagger and only if well aimed.
Attacks, Countermeasures, and Counter-Activities:
Users are trying to increase the Level of their Characters in order to acquire and use the special Attacks and their Countermeasures. Each of the Attacks has a corresponding Countermeasure which will completely foil the Attack.
Attacks are divided into two categories, DAMAGE Attacks 24 and CHAOS Attacks 26. One of each type, along with it's specific Countermeasure, becomes available with each new Level a Character reaches. As the names suggest, DAMAGE Attacks 24 cause simulated damage to the attacked player's Tagger, while CHAOS Attacks 26 cause the attacked Player's Tagger to behave in strange and chaotic ways. Countermeasures are used to dismiss the corresponding Attacks without suffering the damage or chaotic effects. When any Attack is received by a Tagger which has the Countermeasure for that Attack, the Countermeasure causes the Attack to end immediately so that no DAMAGE or CHAOS occurs, but the Countermeasure is also consumed.
Every DAMAGE attack 24 also has a corresponding Counter-activity—a small video game or puzzle, which if played successfully will thwart the Attack. These video games or puzzles are related in theme to the specific type of Attack. No simulated harm comes to the attacked player's Tagger while the Player is performing the Counter-activity, they are simply pass-fail activities which if played successfully will completely thwart the Attack (just as the Countermeasure would have), or if not played successfully result in the Attack having full effect.
There are no Counter-activities for the CHAOS Attacks 26. If a player is the victim of a CHAOS Attack 26 and does not already have the specific Countermeasure, the CHAOS attack 26 performs its action upon the attacked Tagger.
DAMAGE attacks 24 do their damage immediately upon failure to thwart them. CHAOS attacks 26 all start immediately if not thwarted with the Countermeasure, and run for 60 seconds.
Defining Multi-Player Games:
In Local Area Gaming, one Player selects “Head To Head” mode and selects a match duration. This causes his Tagger to begin broadcasting a Challenge from the two 45-degree IR-LED's. Another Tagger in the immediate area receives this broadcast, and displays that the player has been Challenged, along with the duration of the Challenge match. If the challenged player “Accepts” the Challenge, his Tagger replies to the first Tagger with an acceptance message and the two Taggers begin a preparatory period prior to the match start.
Every minute that the Challenge match is scheduled to run is worth a fixed number of purchase points to each of the players. During the preparatory period, the players select which abilities they wish to purchase for use in the match, and they may purchase as many of every available Attack and Countermeasure as they desire and can afford. Attacks and Countermeasures may also be purchased at any later time in the game. There are no Tags, Shields, or Reloads in Local Area Game Challenges, it is purely an Attacks and Countermeasures/Counter-activities game. Scoring is based on remaining in the game until the scheduled end and successfully landing Attacks on your opponent while also successfully defending against the Attacks your opponent lands on you. If one player manages to “knock his opponent out” of the game, the remaining player receives double score and the “knocked-out” player receives zero.
If one Player's Character is “knocked out of” the Local-Area Game, that player is the loser and his Tagger broadcasts a packet indicating the fact, which when received by the other Tagger ends the match. The two Taggers then communicate and exchange the scores tallied in each for one another.
In Local-Area Games it is to a player's scoring advantage to prolong the match as much as possible through the use of CHAOS Attacks 26 and lower-Level DAMAGE Attacks 24, and then “finish off” his opponent just before the match time expires.
Wide Area Gaming mode is more like the traditional IRSG play, but with new twists. Instead of all players starting with equal capabilities in their Taggers, they start with equal basic abilities, but also have the option of bringing a number of Special Attacks and/or Countermeasures into the game based on their Character Level and the specific game definition. This mode is played in more traditional IRSG locations, such as parks, schoolyards, and neighborhoods. The outcome of these battles can greatly affect the number of Character Experience Points of the participating Players—this is also the only mode in which Characters can lose Experience points and possibly decrease in Level.
Wide Area Gaming is performed entirely in real-time, and the primary goal is to knock all of the other players “out of the game”—this is because the last player remaining in the game will receive significant bonus points for doing so. Players all receive some points for the amount of time they managed to stay in the game. In addition, each player is trying to successfully land Attacks and tags on the other players (both for the intrinsic point value of doing so as well as for the opportunity to knock the other player out of the game) and effectively defend themselves against such attacks from the other players in order to gain points. Players lose points for being successfully attacked during the game. This is the only mode in which there are Tags (each one of which reduces the tagged Character's Health by 1) and Shields (which deflect received Tags).
A Wide-Area Game is defined on one Tagger (the “Host”) and started. This begins a period in which other Taggers (the “Joiners”) are brought to the Host, communicate with it, and receive the game definition and a unique Player ID for use during the game. At the start of the actual game, a preparatory period begins on all Taggers during which players all make their initial “purchases” of special Attacks and Countermeasures for the game, and take up their initial starting positions. Players can “purchase” more Attacks and Countermeasures during the game if they have purchase points remaining. The Host defines the available purchase points per player in the game, and the players are free to purchase as many or as few of each Attack and Countermeasure available to their Character as they wish.
When the game ends, each Tagger is already holding the scores against itself—these are deducted from the total Experience Points immediately. But the credit for landing attacks and surviving in the game are dependant on “Debriefing”, which is the process of communicating with each of the other Taggers in the game and getting the total of any scores against them (as well as giving them their scores). Thus, it is in each player's self-interest to debrief against every other player in the game, as they have nothing to lose and possibly many points to gain.
Display:
With reference to
Attack Level Examples:
The following is a representative list of Attacks and their effects, Countermeasures, and Counter-Activities as used in Wide-Area Games. In Local-Area games most function in a similar manner, but where the damage would be of no meaning within a Local-Area Game (for example, elimination of 50% of Shields when there are no Shields in a Local-Area Game) then the damage may be different than that listed.
Level 1 Attacks
From the foregoing description and examples, there has been provided features for improved IR-type gun systems and methods. While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects. Therefore, the aim is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. The matter set forth in the foregoing description is offered by way of illustration only and not as a limitation. The actual scope of the invention is intended to be defined by the appended claims when viewed in their proper perspective based on the prior art.
This application claims priority pursuant to 35 USC 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/682,441, filed on May 19, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 60682441 | May 2005 | US |
| Child | 11436399 | May 2006 | US |
