NL1031393C2 - System composed of two or more devices in communication communication with each other for playing at least one game and such a device for playing at least one game. - Google Patents

Description

Brief indication: System composed of two or more devices which are in communication communication with each other for playing at least one game and such a device for playing at least one game.

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DESCRIPTION

The invention relates to a system made up of two or more devices which are in communication communication with each other for playing at least one game, wherein each device comprises at least player credit storage means for storing the player credit of a player, starting means for each time a game is started, determining means for determining qualities of prizes to be won before playing the game, display means for displaying, after playing the game, the quality of the prize won as determined by the determining means, and payment means for possibly paying out the prize to the player.

The invention also relates to such a separate device.

Such a generally known gaming device is described, for example, in Dutch patent application No. 1015125. Such a gaming device is, for example, designed in the form of a fruit machine with fruit rolls with a control unit, which is provided with a random number generator. On the basis of a number generated by the random number generator, stepper motors are driven, which cause the fruit rolls to rotate and to stop again.

However, a device according to the preamble referred to above can also be designed in a different manner, that is to say that the explanation of the invention below with reference to a "fruit machine" is merely illustrative and should not be regarded as a limitation for the invention.

The determining means then comprise the random number generator and the display means the fruit rolls in combination with a win plan. The known game device further comprises starting means provided with a start button to start playing the game once, after which the determining means determine the number of points (points) to be won by playing this game once and the display means after playing this one time of the game show the quantity (points) determined by the 1031393 2 determining means of the prize won this time, whether or not in the form of a combination of fruit on the fruit rolls. By pressing the start button again by the player, the above is repeated, etc.

The known game device can further be provided with player credit storage means for storing the player credit in, for example, the total of qualities (points) of a player, which can be increased by inserting money and by playing the game can be lowered or increased. When the player credit 10 reaches the value zero, money must first be entered before the game can be played again one or more times.

In addition, the known gaming device is provided with payment means which are arranged to pay the player credit stored by the player credit storage means in the form of a prize related to this player credit (for example in the form of coins or money).

Such game devices are often used independently, in which case they are used or played by individual players independently of each other.

The invention has for its object to present an improved game concept in which it is possible to play simultaneously with a large number of game devices. To this end, according to the invention, the system is characterized in that each game device included in the system is adapted to terminate, on the basis of one or more activation signals issued by the system, a game started by the starting means and displaying the game started by the starting means. the quality of the prize won as determined by the means of determination.

With these aspects of the invention, a renewed game concept is offered, in which the handling of a game is indeed performed separately by each game device, but above all is initiated or controlled centrally by the system. In this way, better game occupation of different game devices in, for example, a gaming hall can be controlled.

More specifically, the system comprises central control parts, which central control means are adapted to supply the activation signal to the various game devices. In this way a centralized control of the different game devices can be realized.

In a functional embodiment, the central control means are arranged for outputting the activation signal at predetermined times, so that the system becomes largely autonomous and whereby all, at that time played (or active) game devices can be controlled by the central control means.

Furthermore, in a further embodiment, the central control means can be arranged for outputting the activation signal to only those active game devices, the starting means of which are activated by the relevant player. This offers the possibility to control only those game devices that are "activated", that is to say used by a player. Any "sleeping" or "inactive" game devices are ignored, which benefits the "performance" of the system.

The system can herein comprise determining means which are adapted to determine the number of active game devices included in the system.

The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to a drawing, which drawing successively shows in:

Figure 1 shows a game device according to the prior art; Figure 2 shows an embodiment of the invention, composed of a system of several game devices according to the invention;

Figure 3 shows a step diagram of the game according to the invention.

Figure 1 schematically shows the game principle of a device according to the prior art, for example playing a fruit machine. A player activates the device according to the prior art for playing the game for the first time, whereby the player will usually play for money or points. In the known embodiment, the player must activate the device according to the state of the art by inserting money via a cash-in 6. As a result, the playing credit T of the device increases, which playing credit T is displayed, for example, on the display means 4c.

By pressing the start button 8, the player starts playing the game once. The playing credit accordingly decreases, for example by reducing it by a certain value. The fruit rolls 4a 1, 4a2 4 and 4a3 of the display means 4a start to rotate, since they are driven by stepper motors, which in turn are driven by a control unit (not shown in Fig. 1). A number 5 is also issued on the basis of a number generator (for example a random number generator) which determines the driving and random establishment of the fruit rolls.

However, it is also possible to achieve a game outcome in other ways. In addition to the use of (random) number generators, use can also be made of probability or outcome tables.

In a simple embodiment of the device according to the prior art, the winning line of the fruit rolls 4a1, 4a2, 4a3 can be indicated by the line 4a4. The rollers 4a1-4a3 stop and show a loss combination or a win combination along the line 4a4, in which case the win combination starts burning on the win plan 4th. In the win plan 4e all 15 win combinations of the fruit rolls 4a1-4a3 are shown together with the win price or win qualities associated with the win combination in question X.

In another embodiment, the fruit rolls 4a1, 4a2, 4a3 can be controlled in an electronic manner, the final outcome on the payline in the form of figures, icons or other picture elements being presented to the player on a screen.

Subsequently, the win price or game result X of the game will be settled, that is to say that with the standard embodiment of the known game device the win price X is added to the game result credit T, which new game result credit T is shown to the player by the display means 4d. In the situation that the win price X is zero, the device will return to a rest position, where the player can activate the Device again by pressing the start button 8. In the situation that, after the game played, the credit balance T is equal to zero, the player will first have to deposit money again via cash entry 6 in order to increase his credit balance T again.

On the other hand, after certain games, the player can press a payout button 7, after which the number of features represented by the display means 4c in the form of money, tokens or another feature or physical product related to the amount of displayed features is paid to the player.

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According to the invention, several game devices 10-20-30 -... are included in a system 100, the various game devices 10-20-30 being connected by means of connecting lines 10a-20a-30a to central control means 101 (via the signal line 101a ). The central control means 101 are arranged such that they provide an activation signal to the various game devices 10-20-30 on the basis of which activation signal the progress of the games played on the individual game devices 10, 20, 30 is terminated and more or less simultaneously the outcome associated with the relevant game as determined by the determining means of each device is displayed to the player. The display of the outcome of each game device to the relevant player can of course be a profit outcome but also a loss outcome.

For a good control of the system, the central control means are arranged such that they continuously deliver the activation signal to the relevant game devices at preceding times.

This means that each game device waits for the relevant activation signal to be received and, on the basis of that activation signal, terminates the relevant game simultaneously with the other actively played game devices and the outcome of the game (profit or loss) more or less simultaneously to the relevant game. present the player.

In this way a synchronization takes place between the different game devices, which can all play the same game but also different games in which a game aspect is present.

In this embodiment, the central control means are designed to be somewhat passive and only issue one or more activation signals at predetermined times. The activation signal can in fact be a simple electrical signal intended to interrupt the device during the play of a game and finally to present the result determined by the determining means with the random number generator to the relevant player.

More specifically, there are included in the system determining means 102, which are adapted to determine the number of active game devices included in the system. These determining means communicate via the different connecting lines with the different game devices 10-20-30 -... and determine whether the relevant game device is played by a player and therefore 6 is activated. One possibility to determine this by the determining means 102 is to make short contact via the connecting lines with the various game devices and to determine whether the starting means of the relevant game device are activated by a player. In the appropriate case, the relevant activated game device will have to be controlled accordingly by the central control means 101 with regard to ending the started game simultaneously with the other active game devices and thus presenting the result of the game to the relevant player (win or loss).

The method for determining by the determining means 102 whether one or more of the game devices 10-20-30 -... included in the system are activated by a player can take place by means of information exchange over the signal lines.

As also shown in figure 3, in which a step-by-step diagram of the game according to the invention is shown, one of the game devices 10-20-30 -... is activated by a player by inserting money or game coins into the player's credit. player credit storage means is stored. This money or game coins must be entered via cash entry 6.

At the moment that the player actuates the start button 8 (step A in Figure 3), the determining means of the relevant game device will issue a number with the aid of a random number generator, which is a determining factor for controlling and randomly stopping the fruit rolls 4a1-4a2-4a3 (as explained above). The fruit rolls can be mechanical fruit rolls, such as with the known old-fashioned game devices, but can also be displayed in digital form on a screen 4a. On the other hand, the game concept of the game device can be a different game than the widely known fruit-rolling game, such as butter, cheese and eggs, a card game (such as poker or black jack), etc.

Now that at one or more game devices the game has been started by the relevant players (see step B in figure 3), according to the invention, the game will be automatically terminated on the basis of one or more activation signals issued by the central control means 101. To this end, in step C of Figure 3 the relevant game device 10 makes itself known as "active" to the determining means 102 and requests an activation signal for stopping the game in question. To this end, in step D of Figure 3, one or more activation or stop signals are issued by the 7 central control means 101, which signals are time-dependent.

The latter means that the central control means 101 emit one or more stop signals in time at specific times on the basis of which stop signal the currently active game devices end their running game and immediately display the result thereof (as determined by the determining means) in the display means 4a. This last step is represented by E in figure 3.

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Claims (6)

A system composed of two or more devices for playing a game which are in communication communication, wherein each device comprises at least player credit storage means for storing the player's credit, starting means for starting a game each time, determining means for determining qualities of prizes to be won before playing the game, display means for displaying, after playing the game, the quality of the prize won determined by the determining means, and payment means for possibly paying out to the player the prize won, characterized in that each game device included in the system is adapted to end a game started by the starting means on the basis of one or more activation signals issued by the system and to display the game started by the starting means the determination means the quality of the crop price. 2. A system according to claim 1, characterized in that the system comprises central control means, which central control means are adapted to deliver the activation signal to the various game devices. 3. System as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the central control means are arranged for outputting the activation signal at predetermined times. 4. System as claimed in one or more of the claims 1-3, characterized in that the central control means are arranged for outputting the activation signal to only those active game devices, the starting means of which are activated by the relevant player. A system according to claim 4, characterized in that the system comprises locking means which are adapted to determine the number of active game devices included in the system. 6. Device for playing a game according to one or more of the preceding claims. 1031393