Patent Application
20060148553
This invention generally relates generally to amusement and gaming machines and more specifically to gaming machines having rotating reels on which are gaming indicia. The game is started by a player and the reels spin. When the reels stop the displayed indicia are analyzed for winning combinations of indicia. More particularly, the game is an electronic game implemented by a game program running on a computer and having a video display on which are displayed the rotating reels as well as other game elements.
In the prior art gaming machines in the form of slot machines with rotating reels having indicia such as plums, cherries melons, etcetera are well known in the art. A player places one or more bets and commences the spinning of the reels by pulling a handle. When the reels stop spinning the displayed indicia are analyzed for winning combinations of indicia.
Early slot machines were mechanical devices that had an operating handle to initiate reel spin. These evolved into electromechanical slot machines. A player pulling the operating handle initiates spinning of the reels, resulting in the reels spinning at a generally constant initial speed, whether the rotation initiating force was produced through a strictly mechanical drive mechanism or from an electrical drive motor or solenoid based drive mechanism. This meant that the initial speed of rotation or angular velocity that was imparted to the reels was generally constant regardless of the speed with which the operating handle was pulled.
This purely mechanical operation evolved into electromechanical implementations using electronic circuitry to detect the speed of movement of the operating handle through its operating stroke and thereafter apply an electrical signal to an electrical motor means associated with a reel drive mechanism, where the amplitude of the electrical signal is proportional to the detected pull speed of the operating handle and thereby varies the speed of initial rotation that is imparted to the reels of the gaming machine. The electronic circuitry is also adapted to vary or alter the issuance of the electrical signals and cause the reels to be stopped, with the duration of the period of rotation or spin time for each reel varying in accordance with the detected speed of the pulling of the handle. Whether purely mechanical, or electro-mechanical, such approaches to implementing player control of reel spin speed are very complex and costly.
Many modern slot machines do not utilize mechanical or electro-mechanical reels or mechanisms, or pull handles. Instead they are electronic video games that utilize a game program running on a computer having a video display of the rotating reels and on-screen buttons and other displays that are touched to provide player input to the gaming machine and feedback to the player. The ability of a player to affect personal control of the spin of the reels of the slot machine is lost because there is no pull handle that may be pulled at different speeds to effect personal control of the spinning of the reels.
Typical prior art slot machines take a predetermined amount of time to get all the reels spinning, the spin of each reel takes a predetermined amount of time, and takes a predetermined amount of time to stop each of the spinning reels. These times are cumulatively called the speed of game play. The speed of game play is fixed and is picked to satisfy an average person. However, inexperienced slot machine players often find the speed of game play too fast and an experienced slot machine player finds the speed of game play too slow.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a new, simple and less expensive way to provide a player a way to control the speed of game play on an electronic slot machine game with a video display to meet their own individual tastes as to the speed of game play.
The need in the prior art for a new, simple and less expensive way to provide a player a way to control the speed of game play on an electronic slot machine with a video display is satisfied by the present invention. There is no pull handle, with associated complex and costly mechanical or electromechanical mechanism, for a player to pull to play the same or to affect control over the speed of spin of the reels of slot machine. This is particularly advantageous to elderly or other people who have arthritis or other joint problems that make it difficult or impossible for them to raise their arm and pull the handle of a slot machine. Even if a player has some shoulder and elbow joint mobility problems continuous pulling of a handle over a period of time results in pain in those joints.
As mentioned in the Background of the Invention typical prior art slot machines typically have a fixed, average speed of game play that does not satisfy all players. With the present invention a player has the ability to select the speed of game play. The player can vary the length of time the reels spin before they are stopped, and/or they call vary the rotational speed of the reels during game play. An inexperienced slot machine player can slow the speed of game play, and an experienced slot machine player can increase the speed of game play, to satisfy their individual desires.
To implement the present invention with an electronic slot machine with video display a new combination on-screen button and display entitled “Speed” is provided. Each time a player touches the on-screen Speed button the display integrated with the button steps through a number of speed settings in a cyclical manner. The display integrated with the button indicates that the player has selected one of a plurality of speed of game play settings. At the slowest speed of game play setting the length of time that the reels spin before stopping is the longest and the reels of the video slot machine individually spin at a slowest rotational rate of speed. At the highest speed of game play setting the length of time that the reels spin before stopping is the shortest, and the reels of the video slot machine individually spin at the fastest rotational rate of speed. The electronic slot machine monitors the touch of the Speed button and records the player's choice of speed of game play before game play commences. At the commencement of each round of game play the software program implementing the slot game uses the player selected speed of game play to spin the reels accordingly.
An experienced player will most likely want to play the slot game faster in order to increase their odds of winning over a given period of time and will select to play at the fastest selectable speed of game play. A casual player that is playing for fun as well as to win will most likely choose to play at a slower rate of game play that is most enjoyable to them. All players are satisfied.
The invention will be better understood upon reading the following Detailed Description in conjunction with the drawing in which:
In
On display screen 10 are shown five reels R1-R5 each with three rows of typical slot machine symbols. The symbols show are a bell, plum, strawberry, watermelon, cherries, and the number 7. More, less or different slot symbols may be used. There are several on-screen displayed buttons 14-17, display blocks 11, 12 and 18, and a combination button/display block 17. Other buttons and display blocks may be displayed on display screen 10 that are not necessary to the understanding of the present invention so they are not shown in
In accordance with the teaching of the invention there is a new Speed button/display 13 that is used by a player prior to the start of game play to indicate the speed of game play at which they wish to play the slot game. Button/display 13 has a total of seven circles of different size displayed thereon in ascending order of size, as shown in
One set of examples of the speed of game play that are represented by the circles in Speed display/button 13, but by no means tie exclusive range or levels of speeds of game play, are shown in the following Table 1. While three of the seven possible speeds of game play levels are shown the other levels are easily derived by interpolating between the numbers given.
At the slowest speed of game play (one circle shown), when a player touches Start button 17 all the reels R1-R5 jiggle for about three seconds, then the first reel R1 briefly spins slowly, emulating a mechanical slot machine, and then the first reel R1 commences spinning at the slowest rotational speed (Reel Rotational Speed-1). Within two second thereafter all five reels R1-R5 are spinning. The first reel R1 stops after spinning for thirteen seconds. The fifth reel R5 stops after spinning for twenty-four seconds. Reels R2-R4 stop after spinning for intermediate periods of time as indicated in Table 1. All reels spin vertically at the same, slowest rotational speed when they are spinning.
At the intermediate or middle speed of game play (four circles shown), when a player touches Start button 17 the reels R1-R5 jiggle for about three seconds, then the first reel R1 briefly spins slowly, emulating a mechanical slot machine, and then the first reel R1 commences spinning at a faster, intermediate rotational speed. In less than two second thereafter all five reels R1-R5 are spinning. The first reel R1 stops after spinning for six seconds. The fifth reel R5 stops after spinning for eight seconds. Reels R2-R4 stop after spinning for intermediate periods of time as indicated in Table 1. All reels spin vertically at the same, intermediate rotational speed when they are spinning.
At the fastest speed of game play (seven circles shown), when a player touches Start button 17 the reels jiggle for four seconds, then the first reel R1 briefly spills slowly emulating a mechanical slot machine, and then the first reel R1 commences spinning at the fastest rotational speed. In about one second thereafter all five reels R1-R5 are spinning. The first reel R1 stops after spinning for two seconds. The fifth reel R5 stops after spinning for three seconds. Reels R2-R4 stop after spinning for intermediate periods of time as indicated in Table 1. All reels spin vertically at the same, fastest rotational speed when they are spinning.
At speeds of game play between those described in the previous three paragraphs the speed of game play is adjusted accordingly.
An experienced player will most likely want to play the slot game faster in order to increase their odds of winning over a given period of time and will select seven circles in block/button 13 in
In
As is described at the beginning of the Detailed Description the electronic slot machine may have a slot for inserting coins or tokens for placing a number of wagers or bets for each round of game play. Alternatively, there may be a slot for the insertion of a debit card from which CPU 20 debits the number of wagers or bets placed by a player, and to which CPU 20 credits any winnings. These monetary functions are shown at the box entitled Money/Card Sensor 22 which is connected to CPU 20 to receive indications of coin or token insertions, and to read and write a debit card under control of CPU 20. Also, if there is a slot for insertion of coins or tokens there will be a tray into which winnings in the form of coins of tokens are dispensed. This tray is shown as Payoff Device 23 which is controlled by CPU 20 to dispose winnings in the form of coins or tokens.
Using, touch screen 24 CPU 20 monitors a player touching buttons 13 through 17 and responds accordingly to implement pre-game functions as previously) described and the start of game play. More particularly, CPU 20 monitors the touch of Speed button 13 and records the players final choice of speed of game play when game play commences by the player touching Start button 17. Responsive to the player selected speed of game play CPU 20, under control of the slot software program it is running, spins reels R1-R5 as previously described with reference to
Referring back to Table 1, therein is shown one example, but not the only example, of the timing of three of seven player selected speeds of game play. They are the slowest, intermediate and fastest speeds of game play. Speeds of game play in between these numbers may easily be interpolated. All speed of game play timing numbers that are pre-determined for game play are stored in memory 21 in
The video slot machine is a computer as described with reference to
After the detection of the insertion of coins, tokens or a debit card the program exits Play? block 31 at YES and progresses to Read Buttons block 32 where it reads the operation of on-screen buttons 13-17 prior to the player touching Start button 17. The player's final bet is detected by the operation of buttons 14-16.
A player selected speed of game play is detected by the program as the number of times that the player touches Speed button/display 13 prior to the start of game play. Initially, the number of circles for the previous round of game play are displayed on Speed button/display 13 and each time this button is touched by the player the speed of game play is incremented by one step until seven circles are displayed (fastest speed of game play). See Table 1 above. Another touch of Speed button 13 by the player changes the number of displayed circles to one (slowest speed of game play), and subsequent touches of Speed button 13 increase the Count to two, three, etcetera, back to seven circles. The program responds to the count of the number of times that Speed button 13 is touched to change the number of circles that are displayed in button/display 13.
In this manner a player has the ability to select a speed of game play that suits their individual desires. An inexperienced slot machine player can slow the speed of game play down, and an experienced slot machine player can increase the speed of game play. The timings of three of seven player selected speeds of game play are shown in Table 1. By selecting a particular speed of game play, a player can vary the rotational speed of the five reels R1-R5 during game play, vary the length of time of rotation of the reels spin before they are stopped, and vary length of play of a round of game play.
After a player has placed their bets and has selected their speed of game play they will touch Start button 17 in
At Read Speed Settings block 34 CPU 20 reads the player selected speed of game play and retrieves the corresponding stored timing figures as represented in Table 1. It should be kept in mind that the timing figures in Table 1 are for only three of the seven possible speeds of game play and the other four sets, not shown are also stored and those timing figures are interpolated between the timing figures shown in Table 1. In addition, the actual number of steps of player selected speeds of game play may be fewer than or more than the seven levels described herein. Further, the timing figures may be different than those shown in Table 1 while not departing from the teaching of the invention.
The program then progresses to Spin Reels block 35 where the program uses the retrieved timing figures and generates signals that are sent to display 10 in
At Spin Finished? decision block 36 CPU 20 waits for the end of spinning of the reels R1-R5 which indicates the end of the game and time to determine any winnings the player may have. Per Table 1 the period of game play may be between nine seconds for the fastest speed of game play and thirty seconds for the slowest speed of game play so CPU 20 must wait accordingly.
When the reels R1-R5 have stopped spinning on display 10 the program progresses to Determine Winnings block 37 where any player winnings are determined. The slot game as described herein has a number of pay lines that are fixed and are selected by a player by the number of bets that they place. If the player places one bet they get one predetermined pay line, if they place nine bets they get nine predetermined pay lines, and so forth up to the maximum number of pay lines. The combination of slot symbols along each of the pay lines played by the player are checked to determine if there are any winning combinations of slot symbols. Using a pay table, not shown but well known in the art, any winning combinations of slot symbols are used to determine the winnings of the player for the round of game play.
The program then progresses to Pay Winnings block 38 where the winnings of the player are paid. If the video slot machine utilizes coins or tokens a signal is sent to payoff device 23 in
A round of game play having been completed, the program being run in CPU 20 progresses to Card/Coin? decision block 39 to determine if the present player's debit card is still inserted into the debit card slot at Money/Card Sensor block 22, or of if they have inserted additional coins or tokens. If the player's debit card has been removed, or if no coins or tokens are inserted within a finite period of time, the program exits block 39 at NO and goes to the input of Play? decision block to await a player to insert coins, tokens or debit card. The operation thereafter is as described above. If the player's debit card has not been removed, or if coins or tokens are inserted within the finite period of time, it is assumed that the same player is playing and the program exits block 39 at YES and goes to the input of Read Buttons block 32 to read button operations as previously described.
While what has been described herein is a preferred embodiment of the invention it will be understood that numerous changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, while a single speed of game play selection described herein determines a few factors such as the length of a round of game play and how long each of the reels will rotate, a variant of the game can provide a player with the ability to individually change all these parameters.
