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WO1998000207A9 - Jeu electronique perfectionne - Google Patents

Jeu electronique perfectionne

Info

Publication number
WO1998000207A9
WO1998000207A9 PCT/US1997/012765 US9712765W WO9800207A9 WO 1998000207 A9 WO1998000207 A9 WO 1998000207A9 US 9712765 W US9712765 W US 9712765W WO 9800207 A9 WO9800207 A9 WO 9800207A9
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
gaming machine
recited
video
display
screen
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US1997/012765
Other languages
English (en)
Other versions
WO1998000207A1 (fr
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US08/672,775 external-priority patent/US6287202B1/en
Priority claimed from US08/692,454 external-priority patent/US5800264A/en
Application filed filed Critical
Priority to CA002259354A priority Critical patent/CA2259354C/fr
Priority to AU38882/97A priority patent/AU3888297A/en
Publication of WO1998000207A1 publication Critical patent/WO1998000207A1/fr
Publication of WO1998000207A9 publication Critical patent/WO1998000207A9/fr
Priority to AU27589/02A priority patent/AU778909B2/en

Links

Definitions

  • the present invention relates generally to electronic gaming apparatus, and more particularly to an improved gaming machine for improving the play and display of gaming graphics utilizing a vertically oriented video screen having touch screen input as a player interface to the device.
  • Electronic gaming devices have long been provided for playing gambling games such as roulette, poker, bingo, keno, lotto and various other games, and have historically been constructed in a slot machine format typically including a pay board wherein the winning pay-out combinations are displayed; a play section in which electronic or mechanical reels, card-playing indicia or other gaming objects are displayed; and a third area in which a player interface is provided by means of an assortment of buttons, switches, etc.
  • More modern gaming machines have included a video display screen (CRT tube) that is driven by an image generator coupled to a microprocessor that serves as the game controller.
  • CTR tube video display screen
  • standard television-style cathode ray tubes have normally been used, and electronically generated reels, cards and other objects have been depicted thereon for implementing play of the game.
  • the pay board is also included as part of the video display, but because this limits the active display area available for gaming presentation, a different screen or type of screen separate and apart from the video display is often utilized.
  • Touch screen interfaces have also been used in gaming machines, but are often limited in their application because of the limited space available on the video screen.
  • Another limitation of the prior art devices using video display screens is that the display has been quite sterile in its presentation, often comprising nothing more than an attempt to electronically present a two-dimensional image replicating the functional display elements of the prior art mechanical gaming apparatus.
  • Another objective of the present invention is to provide an electronic gaming machine having an electronic interface which is substantially larger than the standard television-type video screen typically used in present casino-type games.
  • Still another objective of the present invention is to provide an improved user interface for slot machine- type games that readily accommodates in well-known three-part format, but on a single screen, the pay board, play screen, and user interface commonly used in gaming stations.
  • Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide an enlarged video display screen which provides a complete display of all gaming essentials, yet generally conforms to the familiar and more or less standard "slot machine" footprint and height-to-width ratio common in casinos throughout the world.
  • a further objective of the present invention is to provide a gaming machine having both lifelike graphics and realistic high-quality sound generators.
  • a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a cabinet for housing video and sound generating electronics, coin-handling and pay-out mechanisms, and a video display screen.
  • the display screen is substantially taller than it is wide and preferably has a touch screen associated therewith.
  • the displayed video presentation may take any form, the preferred slot machine display embodiment includes graphics replicating the standard play board at top, game board in middle, and principal user input interface below.
  • An important advantage of the present invention is that since it uses a video screen that is substantially taller than it is wide, all familiar aspects of a standard slot machine can be dynamically and graphically presented on the video screen in their usual positional format. Another advantage of the present invention is that a multitude of different types of games can be selectively displayed on a single gaming station.
  • Still another advantage of the present invention is that unusual attract modes can be selectively displayed on the video screen to attract the attention of potential players.
  • a still further advantage of the present invention is that unusual video displays can be presented to communicate and perhaps hold the attention of players as well as observers.
  • Yet another advantage of the present invention is that since a large part of the frontal surface area is occupied by the display screen, a plurality of adjacent machines can be electronically linked together and driven in concert with complementary video to create a segmented "picture wall” effect when not in use by players. And even when in use, an integrated background display can be used to change environmental "mood” or "setting" of the game room.
  • Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a gaming machine in accordance with the present invention
  • Fig. 2 depicts a typical screen display in accordance with the present invention
  • Fig. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating the principal functional components used in the gaming machine of the present invention.
  • Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are diagrams generally illustrating software architecture and features of the preferred embodiment.
  • FIG. 1 A preferred embodiment of the present invention is depicted at 10 in Fig. 1 and includes a more or less rectangularly configured cabinet 12 forming an enclosure for the various functional mechanical, electrical and electronic components.
  • the front face 14 of cabinet 12 is uniquely configured to include as the principal component thereof a video display screen 16 disposed in portrait format with its vertical dimension being substantially larger than its horizontal dimension. As is apparent from the illustration, the screen 16 occupies a substantial part of the front face of the device 10.
  • a currency input section 18 including a coin-receiving slot 20, a paper money-receiving slot 22, and a credit/debit card slot 24.
  • a pair of buttons 23 and 25 may be provided for allowing the player to select a "cash" or "credit” mode for payout of winnings.
  • a coin drop receptacle 26 Disposed beneath screen 16 and at the bottom of the front face is a coin drop receptacle 26. Immediately above the coin drop receptacle are a pair of high-quality audio speakers 28 and 30. Above screen 16 is an annunciator 32 including a third high-quality audio speaker or signal generator 34 and a multi-colored, multi-light display apparatus 36. Disposed immediately beneath screen 16 on a slightly protruding shelf 38 are a plurality of user interface buttons 40 that are of conventional configuration. Formed integral with the front face of display screen 16 is a transparent touch screen that is dynamically configurable to allow manual user inputs at screen positions determined by the software associated with the particular game or attract mode being presented. On the right side of cabinet 12 is a conventional pull handle 39 that may be optionally used as a part of the user interface to the gaming apparatus.
  • the cabinet 12 was designed to coincide with the overall dimensions of traditional slot machines so that the device can be placed in existing casino carousels without requiring reconfiguration of the stands or machine layouts.
  • the right side of the cabinet forms a compartment for containing currency input devices such as coin and bill acceptors, a card reader, keypad, and perhaps a display for a player tracking network interface.
  • a locked service door 41 forms the right side wall of the cabinet and allows access to the currency components in this section.
  • the front 43 of the lower section of the enclosure contains a coin hopper (a cache of coins that is used to pay out the player's winnings when playing in cash mode).
  • the back of the lower section of the cabinet (behind the hopper) contains a CPU box with all of the associated electronics and power supplies.
  • a locked service door allows access to the hopper in this section.
  • Player tracking network electronics are located in the top of the system and are accessed by removing a top cover (not shown).
  • the cabinet layout which is more or less traditional for video-type slot machines, leaves a tall and narrow section at the upper left for the CRT that forms the display screen 16.
  • a 26" wide screen CRT display device rotated 90° into a "portrait mode” is used with the screen origin at the bottom left corner, and the image scanned from left to right.
  • "portrait mode” is defined as a display configuration in which a display screen has a height dimension that is substantially larger than its width dimension.
  • the wide screen CRT has a 16x9 (height to width) aspect ratio and a 0.69mm dot pitch allowing for an 856x480 visible display area.
  • Portrait mode configured display screens or CRTs having other aspect ratios may also be used. For example, although less desirable, a standard 4x3 CRT monitor rotated into a portrait mode could be used.
  • the display screen when operating in a game play mode, may be electronically subdivided into three arbitrarily sized regions: an upper region 15 in which a pay board will be displayed, setting forth the jackpot payouts as a function of the coins input; a mid region 17 in which a game board, play reels, card hands, or other game play indicia is displayed; and a lower region 19 in which touch screen "buttons" are displayed for facilitating player selection of various input functions such as “hold”, “bet 1 ", “draw”, etc.
  • a "3-way" screen configuration is illustrated in Fig. 2. Depending on the particular game being played, the dimensions of these regions may change.
  • the configuration of the touch screen responsive areas within each region may likewise change to correspond to associated graphics displayed in one or more of the regions.
  • the screen in "attract mode" the screen may be subdivided into a geometrical grid of regions, e.g., a 2x4 or 2x6 (etc.) grid in which passive or active game logos may be simultaneously displayed for selection by a player. In such mode the touch screen would typically be configured to call up the game corresponding to the logo touched by the player.
  • An integrated touch screen overlaying the display screen, along with the series of "hard” buttons 40 arrayed along the bottom edge of the display, provide the main player interface to the system.
  • a generalized block diagram depicts the principal functional components of the system and includes a central processing unit (CPU) 45, the CRT 16, a user interface 42 that includes the touch screen buttons 40 and pull handle 39, a video storage subsystem 44, an audio storage subsystem 46, a disk storage subsystem 48, a peripheral memory subsystem 50, an annunciator and sound system 52, a network I/O 54, a card reader 56, a coin handler 58, and a bill reader 60.
  • CPU 45 is a 133MHz Pentium processor using a combination of the DUCK Video Codec for motion video, A-RL (Alpha Run-Length) decoding of static graphics, and software compositing for the individual elements.
  • the CPU 45 includes a motherboard, a PCI-based video board and SCSI controller, a peripheral memory board, a GPIO board, a power transformer, a disk drive, and a CPU power supply.
  • the peripheral memory board is installed on the mother board PCI bus and is used to replace the BIOS ROMs of the standard PC architecture.
  • the PCI-to-ISA bridge (PIB) chip provides the interface to the system BIOS ROMs by subtractive decoding of PCI accesses in the normal PCI BIOS range and its high-memory aliases
  • the peripheral memory board in the preferred embodiment responds to accesses to the BIOS address range using positive decoding, responding to the requested cycles before the PIB chip responds. This allows the ROM-based BIOS and OS to reside at these locations without modifying the mother board.
  • peripheral memory board provides a removable subsystem containing all of the machine states, thereby allowing secure system auditing.
  • the peripheral memory board contains 1MB of EPROM to hold the BIOS and OS (including the secure loader described below), 64KB of nonvolatile RAM to implement a SafeStore system, and 128KB of electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM) to store the system configuration.
  • BIOS and OS including the secure loader described below
  • EEPROM electrically erasable PROM
  • a peripheral memory controller performs byte-assembly and disassembly on memory reads/writes and parity generation on the PCI reads.
  • the preferred embodiment exhibits total immunity to Electric-Static Discharge (ESD) to a level of 27KV.
  • ESD Electric-Static Discharge
  • All standard mother boards support an IEEE 1284 compatible parallel port, and such port provides the interface to the general purpose input/output (GPIO) board.
  • GPIO general purpose input/output
  • the GPIO board provides an electrically isolated interface to the external device ports and maps them to registers accessible through the mother board parallel port.
  • the system software is designed to address the unique requirements of casino gaming machines, including high reliability and security, fault detection and recovery, and responsive performance.
  • the system software architecture is illustrated in Fig. 4.
  • a pSOS real-time operating system serves as the basis for the software platform of the preferred embodiment.
  • This pSOS system consists of a multi-tasking kernel, the pREPC, ANSI-C, run-time library functions, and a driver support library to access physical devices through a set of device drivers.
  • the run-time Application Programmers Interface is a layer of system software providing a set of standard functions that application programmers develop to. Because the API provides a layer of abstraction between the applications and the hardware, the applications are not affected if the hardware or lower level system software are modified.
  • the API is divided into a series of managers, each of which provides either access to some physical device or provides some set of services for the programmer. Examples of these managers are shown in the table illustrated in Fig. 5.
  • the system applications include a Navigator, Play Stoppage, a suite of games, and the Machine Management System.
  • the Navigator presents the player with an animated icon of each game.
  • the animation describes the key features of the game; users enter a game by touching its icon.
  • Each game is a custom application offering a specific set of propositions to the player.
  • Each game is accompanied by on-line help that describes the rules of play, general disclaimers for the game, and so on.
  • Play Stoppage is an application that runs short animations or video segments that entertain the player if a system fault occurs, while communicating information about why a game was interrupted and when it will be returned to play.
  • the Machine Management System provides a graphical interface to all technical support functions of the slot machine. This includes player conflict resolution, accounting, product configuration, and machine diagnostics.
  • a secure loader is the system software component that loads executable files from the disk subsystem into RAM, verifies that the contents are correct, and then executes the image.
  • the secure loader is based on the use of two-key cryptographic authentication from RSA Data Security, Inc. of Redwood City, California.
  • a HASH function designed for cryptographic use When a software release is ready for shipment, a HASH function designed for cryptographic use generates a unique fixed-length string of 128 bits for the loadable code image. This string, called a message digest, is then encrypted using RSA software and the proprietor's private key to produce a digital signature for the image. The signature is then written to disk with the loadable code image.
  • the secure loader decrypts the digital signature using the public key stored in ROM. The secure loader verifies that the image is authentic by comparing the message digest computed for the loadable code image with the message digest decrypted from disk.
  • the software can be authenticated at any time since the console diagnostics include tools that allow the operator to query all loadable applications and run the RSA verification algorithm on them on demand.
  • the authentication process is not limited to just software images. Graphics files or any binary data set can be authenticated. Because the graphics images are so large, they are not verified every time a game is loaded. If needed, critical graphic images such as the faces of cards can be verified before initial use in a game.
  • a SafeStore application provides fault-tolerant storage for critical system data called safe objects stored in system nonvolatile SRAM.
  • state information about each safe object along with the object data is saved in an internal format known as a binary large object (BLOB).
  • BLOB binary large object
  • all safe objects are mirrored across two independent nonvolatile SRAMs. If corruption occurs by hard or soft failures to indicate locations in SRAM, or if complete SRAM failures occur, SafeStore will detect this corruption and recover the data.
  • Fig. 6 depicts a BLOB in SafeStore with all of the important BLOB header fields.
  • the data check sum fields 0 and 1 contain the check sums of the data in data areas 0 and 1 , respectively.
  • the active data area pointer field indicates that data area 0 contains the latest data written to SafeStore.
  • the BLOB header check sum field contains a check sum of the BLOB header, including the data area check sums and the data area pointer.
  • the BLOB header is read into main memory where the header check sum is computed and checked against the value of the header check sum field. If the check sum does not match, the system will tilt. Assuming it matches, the new data is copied into the inactive data area.
  • the copy of the BLOB header in main memory is updated with the check sum of the new data; the active data area pointer is updated to point to the data area 1 ; and the new header check sum is computed and written to SafeStore.

Abstract

L'invention concerne un jeu électronique (10). Ce jeu comprend un carter (12) dans lequel sont logés les équipements électroniques vidéo et générateurs de sons (8)(30)(32)(34)(36), un mécanisme de gestion des pièces (20) et de paiement (26) ainsi qu'un écran d'affichage vidéo (16). L'écran d'affichage préféré (16) présente une hauteur sensiblement plus importante que sa largeur et un écran tactile. La présentation vidéo affichée peut prendre n'importe quelle forme, mais le mode de réalisation d'affichage de la machine à sous préféré comprend un graphique répliquant la table de jeu standard au sommet (15), la table de jeu au milieu (17) et une interface d'entrée d'utilisateur principale ci-dessous (19).
PCT/US1997/012765 1996-06-28 1997-06-27 Jeu electronique perfectionne WO1998000207A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA002259354A CA2259354C (fr) 1996-06-28 1997-06-27 Jeu electronique perfectionne
AU38882/97A AU3888297A (en) 1996-06-28 1997-06-27 Improved electronic gaming apparatus
AU27589/02A AU778909B2 (en) 1996-06-28 2002-03-22 Improved electronic gaming apparatus

Applications Claiming Priority (6)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US08/672,775 US6287202B1 (en) 1996-06-28 1996-06-28 Dynamic tournament gaming method and system
US08/672,775 1996-06-28
US08/692,454 1996-08-05
US08/692,454 US5800264A (en) 1996-08-05 1996-08-05 Method and apparatus for providing a signal indicating the approximate amount of elapsed time
US86470097A 1997-05-28 1997-05-28
US08/864,700 1997-05-28

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1998000207A1 WO1998000207A1 (fr) 1998-01-08
WO1998000207A9 true WO1998000207A9 (fr) 1998-04-23

Family

ID=27418257

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US1997/012765 WO1998000207A1 (fr) 1996-06-28 1997-06-27 Jeu electronique perfectionne

Country Status (2)

Country Link
CA (1) CA2259354C (fr)
WO (1) WO1998000207A1 (fr)

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CA2402389A1 (fr) 2000-03-08 2002-09-19 Shuffle Master, Inc. Systeme de jeu informatise, procede d'utilisation et appareil
US6695696B1 (en) * 2000-07-31 2004-02-24 Igt Gaming device having a replicating display that provides winning payline information
US6939223B1 (en) 2000-10-05 2005-09-06 Igt Gaming device providing pay table information for a symbol through selection of the symbol
US6602135B1 (en) 2000-10-06 2003-08-05 Igt Gaming device having a changing multiple selection set bonus scheme
AUPR076700A0 (en) * 2000-10-16 2000-11-09 Next Generation Entertainment (Aust) Pty Ltd Electronic game for a computer or slot machine
US7192344B2 (en) 2001-01-30 2007-03-20 Igt Gaming device having an award level determination competition
US8025568B2 (en) 2001-03-29 2011-09-27 Wms Gaming Inc. Gaming machine with an overhanging touch screen
WO2003023647A1 (fr) 2001-09-10 2003-03-20 Igt Mise au point de programmes de jeu compatibles avec un systeme et un dispositif d'exploitation de jeu electronique
US20030064784A1 (en) 2001-09-28 2003-04-03 William Wells Wide screen gaming apparatus
US6890255B2 (en) 2001-12-17 2005-05-10 Igt Multiple wheel roulette game
AU2003228617A1 (en) 2002-04-18 2003-11-03 Walker Digital, Llc Method and apparatus for providing a bonus to a player based on a credit balance
RU2205052C1 (ru) * 2002-06-11 2003-05-27 ООО "Креатив Менеджмент" Игровая система
US7625280B2 (en) 2003-02-10 2009-12-01 Igt Gaming device having separately and simultaneously displayed paylines
US20040259627A1 (en) * 2003-03-03 2004-12-23 Walker Jay S. Method and apparatus for alternate display information
WO2005006264A2 (fr) 2003-07-03 2005-01-20 Wagerworks, Inc. Jeu de hasard en mode high-low
US7361087B2 (en) 2003-07-18 2008-04-22 Igt Gaming device having high-low game
US7341513B2 (en) 2003-08-28 2008-03-11 Igt Gaming device having match game with award determined by prediction of correct matches
US7588494B2 (en) 2003-09-05 2009-09-15 Igt Gaming device having a high-low game
US7533885B2 (en) 2004-02-23 2009-05-19 Igt Gaming device having a rotor-based game with a bonus opportunity
US7798902B2 (en) 2004-06-25 2010-09-21 Wms Gaming Inc. Gaming machine with an improved touch screen assembly
TW200702031A (en) * 2005-01-21 2007-01-16 Aruze Corp Gaming machine
US7601061B2 (en) 2005-02-11 2009-10-13 Igt Gaming machine having independent spinning forms and multiple pay lines
US7892096B2 (en) 2005-02-22 2011-02-22 Wms Gaming Inc. Gaming machine with configurable button panel
AU2006327123B2 (en) 2005-12-09 2012-04-12 Igt Rotor-based gaming device having a secondary award system
US8109821B2 (en) 2006-09-08 2012-02-07 Igt Gaming system and method which enables multiple players to simultaneously play multiple individual games or group games on a central display
US7846018B2 (en) 2006-11-08 2010-12-07 Igt Gaming device and method having purchasable enhanced paytables
US8257164B2 (en) 2007-10-30 2012-09-04 Igt Gaming system, gaming device and method for providing an outcome enhancing feature
US8562419B2 (en) 2011-06-30 2013-10-22 Igt Gaming system, device, and method providing a multiple streak game
US8986106B2 (en) 2011-09-02 2015-03-24 Igt Gaming system, gaming device, and method providing selectable different roulette wheels for play of roulette game
US9005004B2 (en) 2011-09-02 2015-04-14 Igt Gaming system, gaming device, and method providing selectable different roulette wheels for play of roulette game
US8333657B1 (en) 2011-09-26 2012-12-18 Igt Gaming system, gaming device and method for displaying multiple concurrent games using dynamic focal points

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US4856787B1 (en) * 1986-02-05 1997-09-23 Fortunet Inc Concurrent game network
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US5429361A (en) * 1991-09-23 1995-07-04 Bally Gaming International, Inc. Gaming machine information, communication and display system
US5356140A (en) * 1993-04-14 1994-10-18 Dabrowski Stanley P Double poker

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