HK1034586B - Incidental music game system - Google Patents

Description

Game system for dubbing music

The present invention relates to a game system for entertaining an operation performed in accordance with music.

For example, JP h 11-151380 a discloses a game system that uses an operation performed in accordance with music as a recreation. In such a game system, a step of operating an operation member (button or the like) in the input device in accordance with music reproduced as BGM is instructed to the player through a game screen of the monitor. When a player operates an input device in response to an instruction, an effect sound corresponding to the operation is synthesized with BGM, and the operation of the player is evaluated based on the degree of coincidence between the instructed operation step and the actually performed operation.

JP-a 11-7504 discloses a system in which a CPU, a liquid crystal display, or the like is provided inside a secondary storage device for data storage in a home game machine, and the secondary storage device itself can be used as a portable game machine. In such a game system, there is an attempt to provide a game that is not available through a single game machine by: some correlation is provided between a game executed by the game machine on the main body side and a game executed by the portable game machine as the auxiliary storage device.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a music-designating game system which is improved in novelty in connection with a game run by a game machine on the main body side and a game run by a game machine as an auxiliary input device thereof.

The present invention is described below. In addition, the drawings are provided with parentheses for the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the drawings.

The 1 st invention of the present invention solves the above-described problems by a game system including the 1 st and 2 nd game machines, wherein the 2 nd game machine (20) is provided with a storage mechanism (25) for storing the 2 nd game machine as an auxiliary storage device of the 1 st game machine, and wherein the 1 st and 2 nd game machines each include: an input device (12, 23) that has a plurality of operation members and outputs operation signals corresponding to the operation members; game memory means (3, 25) for storing, for each music piece, music reproduction data for reproducing each of a plurality of music pieces, and time count data specifying a series of operations in the input device related to the corresponding music piece of the plurality of music pieces; a music selection means (24) for selecting 1 music from the plurality of music; an operation guide means (1, 41, 9, 24, 31, 22) for instructing a player of a series of operations of the input device related to the selected music piece based on the time data corresponding to the selected music piece; a music reproduction means (1, 6, 10, 24, 32, 33) for reproducing the selected music piece based on the music reproduction data corresponding to the selected music piece; in the 1 st game machine, a storage realizing means (1, 11) is provided for storing information relating to the progress of the game operated by the 1 st game machine in the storage means in the 2 nd game machine by using the data stored in the game storage means, and in the 2 nd game machine, a selection range setting means (24) is provided for setting a music range selectable by the music selecting means in the 2 nd game machine based on the information relating to the progress of the game stored in the storage means.

According to the present invention, in the respective game machines of the 1 st game machine and the 2 nd game machine, an arbitrary music piece is selected from a plurality of music pieces, and a series of operations related to the music piece can be instructed to the player by operating the guide mechanism. When a player operates the input device in accordance with an instruction given by the operation guide mechanism, the player can experience joy of playing music or performing music by reproducing a music corresponding to the selected music and giving the player a feeling of operating the input device in accordance with the music. Since the range of music pieces selectable by the 2 nd game machine varies corresponding to the progress of the game in the 1 st game machine, an element that is not realized by only a single game machine, which is a variation in the number of music pieces selectable by the 2 nd game machine, is added as one of the games in the 1 st game machine. Thus, the novelty of the game system is improved, and the player can have a sufficient interest. Further, the progress of the 1 st game machine may be represented by, for example, the number of played music pieces, the number of music pieces whose game result is higher than a prescribed score, or the like. The game result can be evaluated by, for example, matching a series of operations defined by the time counting data and the actual operation of the input device by the player. The consistency can be evaluated by, for example, the magnitude of the time difference between the timing of a series of operations specified by the timing data and the timing of the operation actually performed. In the case of the method of reproducing music by the music reproducing means, the main melody of the music may be continuously reproduced regardless of the presence or absence of the operation of the input device, or the main melody may be reproduced when the input device is operated in accordance with the instruction from the operation guide means.

The 2 nd invention of the present invention relates to the game system according to the 1 st invention, wherein the 1 st game machine is provided with a selection range setting means (1) for setting a music range selectable by the music selection means of the 1 st game machine, in accordance with the progress of the game in the 1 st game machine.

According to the invention, the range of music pieces selectable by the respective game machines of the 1 st game machine and the 2 nd game machine is changed in accordance with the progress of the game in the 1 st game machine. Accordingly, if the range of music pieces selectable in the two game machines is expanded in such a manner that the progress of the game run by the 1 st game machine increases, the enthusiasm of the player with respect to the progress of the 1 st game machine is increased, whereby the interest in the game system can be further increased.

The 3 rd aspect of the present invention relates to the game system according to the 2 nd aspect of the present invention, wherein the selection range setting means in the 1 st game machine expands the range of the music pieces selectable by the 1 st game machine as the progress of the game increases; the selection range setting means in the 2 nd game machine expands the range of the music selectable by the music selection means in the 2 nd game machine with an increase in the progress identified in the information on the progress of the game stored in the data-storage means.

According to this invention, as described as an example of the invention 2, the enthusiasm of the player with respect to the progress of the game machine 1 is increased, whereby the interest in the game system can be further increased.

The 4 th aspect of the present invention is the game system according to the 1 st or 2 nd aspect, wherein the storage realizing means in the 1 st game machine stores, in the storage means for saving, information for determining whether or not a corresponding piece of the plurality of pieces of music is selected by the game run by the 1 st game machine as the information related to the progress; the selection range setting means in the 2 nd game machine sets the range of selectable music pieces based on the information on the progress stored in the storage means, in such a manner that: the music corresponding to the music selected for the game run by the 1 st game machine can be selected by the 2 nd game machine.

According to this invention, in the 1 st game machine, if the number of selectable pieces of music is set to increase as the progress of the game increases, the number of pieces of music selectable by the 2 nd game machine increases as the progress increases. In addition, when a music newly selectable by the 1 st game machine is selectively played, a music corresponding to the music is selectable by the 2 nd game machine, and thus the above-described correspondence is achieved, so that the interest of the player can be further increased. For example, if a musical instrument is selected by the 1 st game machine, if the same musical composition as the musical instrument is played by the 2 nd game machine, the progress of the game executed by the 1 st game machine is first increased, and the interest of the player is thus raised. Further, if the progress is raised, then a newly selectable music piece can be played in the 2 nd game machine, after which the progress of the 1 st game machine is raised again. In the above manner, the interest of players in each gaming machine can be attracted unbiased, and not only the 2 nd gaming machine is used as the auxiliary storage device of the 1 st gaming machine, but also the 2 nd gaming machine can be effectively used as a mechanism for providing fun that cannot be realized only by the 1 st gaming machine.

The 5 th invention of the present invention relates to the game system according to the 1 st or 2 nd invention, wherein the plurality of music pieces provided in association with the 2 nd game machine are identical to at least a part of the plurality of music pieces provided in association with the 1 st game machine, and the storage realizing means in the 1 st game machine stores, in the storage storing means, information for judging whether or not the corresponding music piece of the plurality of music pieces is selected by the game run by the 1 st game machine as the information related to the progress; the selection range setting means in the 2 nd game machine sets the range of the selectable music pieces in such a manner that: on the basis of the information on the progress stored in the storage means for saving, a music piece which agrees with the music piece selected for the game run by the 1 st game machine and which does not agree with the unselected music piece can be selected by the 2 nd game machine.

According to this invention, as in the case of the above-described 4 th invention, in the 1 st game machine, if the number of pieces of music selectable is set to be larger as the progress of the game is higher, the number of pieces of music selectable by the 2 nd game machine is also increased as the progress is higher. Further, since, particularly in the case of selectively playing a musical composition newly selectable by the 1 st game machine, the same musical composition as the musical composition can be selected by the 2 nd game machine, so that in the case of selecting a musical composition by the 1 st game machine, if the same musical composition as the musical composition can be played in the 2 nd game machine, the interest of the players in the respective game machines can be attracted unbiased, not only the 2 nd game machine serves as the auxiliary storage device of the 1 st game machine, but also the 2 nd game machine can be effectively used as a mechanism for providing a fun which cannot be realized only by the 1 st game machine. In addition, the main melody may be played in the same way for the same musical composition, and even if the accompaniment or composition is different, the main melody is included in the same range.

The 6 th invention of the present invention relates to the game system according to the 5 th invention, wherein the 2 nd game machine is provided with an information display means (24) for displaying information on the number of pieces of music selected for the game run by the 1 st game machine on a screen of a display (22) provided in the 2 nd game machine, based on the information on the progress stored in the storage means for saving.

According to the present invention, the player can easily confirm the number of currently selected music pieces through the 2 nd game machine.

The 7 th aspect of the present invention is the game system according to the 1 st aspect, wherein the data for music reproduction in the game storage means of the game machines 1 and 2 nd aspect includes data for sound generation for generating a predetermined sound effect in response to a series of operations defined by the time data, and the music reproduction means of the game machines 1 and 2 nd aspect generates sound effects corresponding to the respective operations based on the data for sound generation, and the player operates the input device in response to an instruction of the series of operations generated by the operation guide means.

According to the present invention, if the player operates the input device in accordance with the instruction of the operation guide mechanism, an effect sound corresponding to the operation is generated. Thus, the enjoyment of playing music or combining effect sounds with predetermined music can give a player a stronger impression.

The 8 th aspect of the present invention is the game system according to the 7 th aspect, wherein the data for generating the effect sound stored in the game storage means in the 2 nd game machine is configured such that: when the player correctly operates the input device in response to a series of operation instructions given by the operation guide mechanism in the 2 nd game machine, the music reproduction mechanism reproduces the melody of the selected music piece.

According to the present invention, the 2 nd game machine originally serves as the auxiliary storage means of the 1 st game machine, and even when the performance of the game machine is inferior to that of the 1 st game machine, the main melody can be reproduced, and the correlation of music can surely give a deep impression to the player.

The 9 th aspect of the present invention relates to the game system according to any one of the above 1 to 8, wherein a power battery (30) is provided in the 2 nd game machine, and a portable game machine that can be operated is formed by electric power supplied from the power battery.

According to the present invention, even if the 2 nd game machine is separated from the 1 st game machine and goes anywhere, the player can carry around and can play a bonus game even if no external power source is provided. Thereby, the fun of the game system can be further increased.

The 10 th aspect of the present invention relates to a storage medium (15) usable by a game system including 1 st and 2 nd game machines, wherein the 2 nd game machine (20) is provided with a storage means (25) for storing a game machine 2 as an auxiliary storage device of the 1 st game machine, the storage medium being computer-readable, the medium including a game program for playing a predetermined game related to music by a computer provided in each of the 1 st and 2 nd game machines through a corresponding one of the 1 st and 2 nd game machines, and a data set necessary for realizing the game program; the game data set includes music reproduction data for each music piece, the music reproduction data being for reproducing a plurality of music pieces, respectively, and time count data for each music piece, the time count data specifying a series of operations in the input device related to a corresponding music piece of the plurality of music pieces; the game program is configured in such a manner that: making the respective computers in the 1 st and 2 nd game machines have a performance of a mechanism including a music selecting mechanism that selects 1 music from the plurality of music; an operation guide unit that instructs the player of a series of operations of the input device related to the selected music piece, based on the time data corresponding to the selected music piece; and a music reproducing means for reproducing the selected music piece based on the music reproduction data corresponding to the selected music piece and making the computer in the 1 st game machine have a function of a storage realizing means for storing information on the progress of the game operated by the 1 st game machine in the storage storing means in the 2 nd game machine, and the computer in the 2 nd game machine has a function of a selection range setting means for setting a music piece range selectable when the computer in the 2 nd game machine is used as the music piece selecting means based on the information on the progress of the game stored in the storage storing means.

According to this invention, the game system of the invention of claim 1 can be constituted by: the program and the data set stored in the storage medium are read by the computer in each game machine, and the program is executed.

The drawings are explained below.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a gaming system according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view showing an external appearance of a portable game machine employed in the game system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control system of the gaming machine of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a game program and data stored on a CD-ROM in the game system of FIG. 1;

fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a game screen displayed in the main game executed according to the main game program of fig. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the structure of data of a music piece X stored on a CD-ROM;

fig. 7 is a diagram showing a part of the timing data of fig. 6(b) in a timing chart;

FIG. 8 is a view showing a state in which the operation timing data of FIG. 6(b) is read into a memory;

fig. 9 is a flowchart of the steps of a main game process performed by the CPU of the game machine main body of fig. 1;

fig. 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of operation determination processing simultaneously performed by the CPU during BGM reproduction by the processing of fig. 9;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing data written in a nonvolatile memory in the portable game machine of FIG. 3;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing steps of a mini game process performed by the CPU in the portable game machine of FIG. 1;

fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a game screen displayed in the mini game played by the CPU in the portable game machine in accordance with the mini game program of fig. 4;

fig. 14 is a diagram showing another example of a screen displayed in the process of the mini game of fig. 1.

The present invention will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a control system in a home-use game system to which the present invention is suitably applied. The home game system runs a predetermined game in accordance with a game program stored on a CD-ROM15 as a storage medium.

The game system includes a CPU1, the CPU1 is configured to have a microprocessor as a main body; ROM2 and RAM3 as main storage devices with respect to the CPU 1; a Graphic Processing Unit (GPU)4 and a Sound Processing Unit (SPU)6 for image processing and sound processing; buffer memories 5, 7 with respect to these mechanisms; a CD-ROM reading device 8. The ROM2 has written therein an operating system as a program necessary for controlling the overall operation of the game machine. The RAM3 stores therein, as necessary, game programs and data read from a CD-ROM15 as a storage medium. The GPU4 receives image data from the CPU1, draws a game screen on the frame buffer 5, converts the drawn image data into a predetermined video reproduction signal, and outputs the signal to the monitor 9 at a predetermined timing. The SPU6 reproduces the sound, music, or the like data, or sound source data, or the like, read from the CD-ROM15 and stored in the sound buffer memory 7, and outputs it from the speaker 10. The CD-ROM reading device 8 reads the program or data stored in the CD-ROM15 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU, and outputs a signal corresponding to the read content. Programs or data necessary for running the game are stored on the CD-ROM15, but these will be described later. The monitor 9 is generally a home-use television receiver, and the speaker 10 is generally a built-in speaker in the television receiver.

Further, the communication control device 11 is connected to the CPU1 through the bus 14, and the controller 12 and the portable game machine 20 are detachably connected to the device 11, respectively. The controller 12 serves as an input device, and an operation member that receives an operation of a player is provided therein. For example, a cross-shaped switch 12a or a push switch 12b … for inputting in the up-down, left-right directions is provided as the operation members 12a, 12 b. The communication control apparatus 11 scans the operation states of the operation members 12a, 12b, etc. in the controller 12 at a certain cycle (for example, 1/60 seconds), and outputs a signal corresponding to the scanning result to the CPU 1. The CPU1 determines the operating state of the controller 12 based on the signal. In addition, the controller 12 may take various structural forms.

In the above-described configuration, the components other than the monitor 9, the speaker 10, the controller 12, the CD-ROM15, and the portable game machine 20 are integrally received in a predetermined housing, thereby constituting the game machine main body 16.

As shown in fig. 2, the portable game machine 20 includes a housing 21 formed of resin, a liquid crystal display 22 provided on a surface of the housing 21, and an input device 23 provided below the liquid crystal display 22. The liquid crystal display 22 employs, for example, a monochrome liquid crystal panel of 32 × 32 dots in vertical and horizontal directions. The input device 23 is provided with, for example, a cross-shaped switch 23a or push-button switches 23b, 23c, 23d, and 23e for receiving an input in the up-down, left-right directions as an operation member for receiving an operation of a player.

Fig. 3 shows a configuration of a control system in the portable game machine 20. The portable game machine 20 includes a CPU24 configured to include a microprocessor as a main body. The input device 23, the nonvolatile memory 25, the RAM26, the connection port 27, the infrared communication circuit 28, and the timer circuit 29 are connected to the CPU24, and the power supply battery 30 that supplies predetermined power to these components is connected to the CPU 24. The liquid crystal display 22 is connected to the CPU24 through the drive circuit 31 and the speaker 33 through the audio processing circuit 32. The nonvolatile memory 25 is also used as a storage medium for holding data in a game run by the CPU1 in the game machine body 16, and is constituted by, for example, an EEPROM. The work RAM26 is used to provide a working area of the CPU24, and is constituted by, for example, a static random access memory (STAM). The connector 27 is provided on, for example, an end surface of the housing 21 for connecting the portable game machine 20 to the communication control device 11. The infrared communication circuit 28 is used for infrared communication conforming to the IrDA standard between other communicable devices. The sound processing circuit 32 may employ a known sound processing circuit such as a PCM sound source.

The CD-ROM15 in fig. 1 stores programs and data necessary for running a predetermined music game by the game machine main body 16 and the game machine 20, respectively. Fig. 4 shows an example thereof. In this example, a main game program to be run by the game machine main body 16, a data set to be used for the main game, a mini game program to be run by the portable game machine 20, and a data set to be used for the mini game are stored. When the CD-ROM15 is provided in the game machine main body 16, the CPU1 performs a predetermined boot process in accordance with the operating system written in the ROM2, and performs control necessary for starting a game in accordance with the main game program on the CD-ROM 15. The basic contents of the main game run according to the main game program are instructed to the player through the monitor 9 so that the player operates the controller 12 in accordance with the procedure corresponding to the BGM while reproducing a predetermined BGM from the speaker 33, and if the player operates the operation member on the controller 12 in response to the instruction, an effect sound corresponding to the operation is superimposed on the BGMs, and then output from the speaker 33, and the operation is determined and displayed on the monitor 9.

Further, the CD-ROM15 stores a program for reading the above-described mini game program and data set from the CD-ROM15 and downloading them to the nonvolatile memory 25 in the portable game machine 20. The program is called from, for example, a main game program and is run. By running the program downloaded into the portable game machine 20 via the CPU24, a prescribed mini game is executed. The contents of the mini game will be described later.

Fig. 5 shows a basic game screen displayed on the screen of the monitor 9 when the main game is executed. A scale 101 for instructing the player to time the operation of the operation member on the controller 12 is displayed in a substantially middle portion of the game screen 100. In the present embodiment, the game is configured on the premise that the game is executed using 9 operation members corresponding to music. For this purpose, the scale 101 is logically divided into 9 tracks 102a to 102i extending in the up-down direction. On each of the tracks 102a to 102i, a time marker 103 … 103 indicating the operation time of the corresponding operation button is displayed. Virtual lines dividing the tracks 102a to 102i in fig. 5 are not shown in the actual screen. In fig. 5, the line 104 … 104 is shown in the vertical direction for each track 102, but the line may be omitted.

When the game is started, the time marker 103 moves downward gradually inside the tracks 102a to 102i under the control of the CPU 1. When the timing mark 103 reaches the bottom end of the rails 102a to 102i, the operation timing of the operation member corresponding to the rails 102a to 102i is reached. When the player operates the corresponding operation member on the controller 12 in accordance with the operation timing, the CPU1 judges whether or not the operation is good based on the deviation between the operation timing indicated by the timing mark 103 and the actual operation timing, and the judgment result is displayed on the judgment display unit 105 … 105 provided at the bottom end of the rails 102a to 102 i. In each judgment display unit 105, "COOL", "YES!is displayed in accordance with the judgment result! "," WACK ", etc. Further, the determination result may be displayed inside the scale 101.

In the lower left portion of the screen 100, a score display unit 106 is provided, which displays a score of the game (1234 points in the illustrated example). The score is a value calculated from the result of determination of each operation timing. A display unit 107 for displaying the segment content or the BGM subtitles is provided in the lower right of the screen 100. On both sides of the segment 101, character display portions 108L, 108R are provided, respectively. In these display units 108L and 108R, animation of game characters and the like are displayed. The displayed characters change according to BGM, and the content of the animation changes according to the result of determination of, for example, each operation timing. A horizontal scale 110 is displayed below the determination display unit 105. The horizontal scale 110 visually displays an evaluation relating to the skill level of the player in terms of the length from the left end thereof. The higher the evaluation, the greater the length of the horizontal scale 110.

Fig. 6 shows a configuration of data provided in association with reproduction of BGM or display control of the scale 101, in particular, in the above-described data group for the main game. In the present game system, a plurality of pieces of music are provided exclusively in advance as BGM for a game, and data shown in fig. 6(a) is created for each piece of music and stored on the CD-ROM 15. The data of the music piece X includes waveform data, waveform table data and performance data. The waveform data includes BGM data, which is data defining a waveform for reproducing the music piece X, and effect sound data, which is data defining sound generated when the controller 12 is operated in the game. These data are made into, for example, PCM data, or ADPCM data, and then stored on the CD-ROM 15. The reason why the data of each music piece includes the sound effect data is to generate an appropriate sound effect corresponding to the type of BGM. The waveform table data expresses information necessary for extracting data of a desired BGM or effect sound from the above waveform data.

As shown in fig. 6(b), the performance data includes operation timing data, automatic performance timing data, designated waveform number data and speed data. The operation timing data refers to data specifying the operation timings of the operation members mounted respectively corresponding to the tracks 102a to 102i, corresponding to the elapsed time from the start of performance of the music X. In other words, the operation timing means sets in advance data indicating at what time point in the reproduction of the music X the push switch or the like of the controller 12 should be operated for each of the tracks 102a to 102 i. The operation timing data forms a basis for determining the display of the scale 101 or the operation of the controller 12.

Fig. 7 shows a part of the operation timing data for each of the operation buttons a to I in the form of a time chart. The open position in the figure corresponds to a timer for operating the operation buttons a to I. In the operation timing data, each operation timing is specified at a time elapsed from the top of the music X according to a time axis (corresponding to the horizontal axis in the figure) with reference to the top of the BGM. The music piece X as BGM is composed of a plurality of phrases, and the division times t1, t2, t3 … of each of these phrases are stored in the operation timing data in correspondence with the phrase numbers. The phrase number refers to a number to be added as necessary for playing a phrase after the first phrase is set to 1.

The automatic performance timing data in fig. 6(b) is set so that the effect tone is produced without the operation of the controller 12. That is, the automatic performance timer data is data for specifying the timer for producing the sound effect in accordance with the elapsed time from the beginning of the music X, which is data in which the operation buttons a to I are operated. Further, the automatic performance data is not necessarily required during the game execution, and thus the data can be omitted.

The designated waveform number data refers to data that designates the relationship between the operation of the controller 12 and the effect sound. The relationship may be constant throughout the music piece X, or may vary for each appropriate passage (e.g., a phrase in the music piece X). By this designated waveform number data, the outputted sound effect is designated when the operating member in the controller 12 is operated at the operation timing defined by the operation timing data and the automatic performance timing data. That is, in the present embodiment, the waveform number data is specified, and the sound effect data specified by the data is used as the sound effect reproduction data.

The relationship between the music reproduced according to the BGM data and the effect sound specified according to the specified waveform number data may be configured as follows, or vice versa: the main melody of the music piece X is reproduced by BGM data, and by specifying the waveform number data, an effect sound equivalent to the accompaniment or the impulse performance for the main melody is synthesized. The tempo data refers to data representing the tempo of the performance of the music piece X. When the tempo changes during the course of the music piece X, the tempo is stored in accordance with the time when the performance starts. In the present game system 1, the display range of the scale 101 is controlled with reference to the speed data.

Fig. 8 shows a relationship between the reading range of the operation timing data during the game play and the display range of the scale 101. During the game play, a buffer area for reading first for the operation timing data is provided in the RAM3, and the operation timing data from the current time tx to the time ty with the performance start time as a reference is read in this area. Of the data read into the read-ahead buffer area, the operation timing data in the range from the current time tx to the time tn (< ty) is further read into the display buffer area of the RAM 3. The time from the time tx to the time tn is set in a manner equal to 2 bars in the music X, but the length of the time varies depending on the performance tempo of the music X. Then, the CPU1 refers to the speed data, specifies the time tn 2 bars after the current time tx, and reads the operation timing data from the time tx to the time tn as the display range of the scale 101 to the display buffer area. The CPU1 calculates the setting of the timing mark 103 in the scale 101 in accordance with the operation timing data read into the display buffer area, and creates image data for displaying the scale 101 based on the calculation result. The GPU4 updates the game screen 100 based on the image data, and thereby displays the scale 101 corresponding to the current time tx on the game screen 100. Further, the time ty in the range of the read-ahead region may be changed in accordance with the speed of the music X. The read amount read into the display buffer area is not limited to an amount equivalent to 2 bars, and various changes may be made thereto.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing the steps of game processing executed by the CPU1 in accordance with the main game program. In this process, first, data necessary for starting the game is read from the CD-ROM15 (step S1), and an environment necessary for playing the game is set (step S2). In the following step S3, a predetermined music selection process is performed. The music selection process is performed in the following manner: the playable music is displayed to the player, from which the player selects the playable music. At this time, the range of selectable music pieces varies corresponding to the progress of the game. For example, only the music pieces that are easy to select can be selected at first, and if they are erased, the music pieces that are difficult to select can be played slowly as candidates for selection. A part of the music is set as an impossible, so-called hidden element as long as it does not satisfy a certain condition as a game. Conditions for causing the music to appear as the masking element are, for example, a game score, the number of times of playing a game, and the like.

If the music selection process is ended, the start of performance (reproduction) of the selected music is instructed with respect to the CD-ROM reading device 8 (step S4), and then the timer for specifying the elapsed time with respect to the start of performance is started (step S5). In the next step S6, the current time is detected, and it is determined whether or not the current time corresponds to the automatic performance timer associated with any of the operation buttons a to I (step S7). If it is the automatic playing time, the effect sounds corresponding to the operation buttons A to I are generated (step S8).

Then, data (for example, coordinates of the hour marker 103) for displaying the scale 101 corresponding to the current time on the monitor 9 is created based on the operation time counting data (step S9), and the display of the scale 101 is updated based on the data (step S10). After the display of the scale 101 is updated, it is determined whether or not the progress of the game play has progressed to the performance end position of BGM based on the current time (step S11), and if the progress has not reached the performance end position, the process returns to step S7. When the musical performance ending position is reached, a predetermined ending process is performed (step S12), and the process of 1 music is ended.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation determination process performed by the CPU1 simultaneously while the processes of steps S7 to S11 are repeated in the process of fig. 9. In this process, first, the player determines whether or not the operation member on the controller 12 corresponding to any of the operation buttons a to I has been operated (step S21), and if so, detects the operation timing (step S22). Next, the speaker 10 generates an effect sound designated with respect to the operated buttons a to I (step S23).

In the following step S24, a time deviation between the operation time detected in step S22 and the operation time closest to the current time (however, limited to the operation time associated with the operation button actually operated) among the operation times specified by the operation time data is detected. Next, it is determined whether or not the operation is good in a plurality of stages based on the detected deviation (step S25). In the next step S26, the track 102 corresponding to the button operated on the screen 100 is displayed, and thereafter, characters and the like corresponding to the determination result are displayed on the determination display unit 105 (see fig. 5).

In the next step S27, a score from the start of performance to the present is calculated in accordance with the determination result in step S25. For example, a standard position is set in the determination result, and when the determination result is better than the standard position, the score is added, whereas when the determination result is worse, the score is decreased, and the like, and the score is adjusted so that the better each operation is, the higher the score is. At this time, the length of the horizontal scale 110 is also adjusted according to the determination result. Then, in step S28, it is determined whether or not the performance is finished, and if it is determined that the performance is not finished, the process returns to step S21, and if it is determined that the performance is finished, the operation determination process is finished.

When a predetermined condition is satisfied (for example, the remaining amount of the horizontal scale 110 is larger than a predetermined amount) at the time when the game of 1 music is completed, the music is returned to zero, and if the player is in the next section, the game is permitted to be played. By repeating such processing, the progress of the game is improved, and the player can play music of various styles.

When the player runs the main game, information on the progress of the game is stored in the RAM3 in the game machine body 16. The information includes, as information relating to the progress of the game, operation history information for determining whether each music piece is played by the player, whether each music piece is returned to zero, the number of operations, and the like, respectively. When the player performs a predetermined save operation on the controller 12 while the main game program is running, information on the progress status of the game stored in the RAM3 at that time is written as a user data file into a predetermined area in the nonvolatile memory 25 in the portable game machine 20 (see fig. 11). The game play history information is contained in the user data file.

Next, with reference to fig. 12 and 13, a mini game to be executed by the portable game machine 20 will be described. The data set for the mini game shown in fig. 4 includes substantially the same data as those in fig. 6(a) and (b). The music recorded in the data set for the mini-game is matched with the music recorded in the data set for the main game. That is, it is considered that the game machine body 16 and the portable game machine 20 play the same music. However, the contents of the waveform table data and the performance data are different for waveform data of the same music in accordance with the difference between the structure of the game machine body 16 and the structure of the portable game machine 20. For example, since the input device 23 of the portable game machine 20 has a smaller number of operating members than the controller 12, the number of operating members defined by the performance data is reduced to 5, and the content of the operation timing is set to be different from the content of the main game data.

The BGM data or the sound effect data included in the waveform data is also adjusted in accordance with the difference in performance between the SPU6 in the game machine body 16 and the sound processing circuit 32 in the portable game machine 20. Here, as described above, in the game executed by the game machine main body 16, the main melody may be reproduced by the BGM data, and conversely, when the player operates the controller 12 in accordance with the instruction from the scale 101, the designated waveform number data and the sound effect data may be determined so as to reproduce the main melody. However, since the sound processing circuit 32 that can be placed in the portable game machine 20 that is portable is lower in performance such as the number of simultaneous sound emissions compared to the corresponding circuit that can be placed in the game machine main body 16, complicated sound emission processing cannot be performed. In this case, if the player correctly operates the input device 23, it is preferable that the designated waveform number data and the sound effect data are set so as to reproduce the melody of the music piece, and the accompaniment or the improvised performance with respect to the melody is reproduced from the BGM data. That is, since deletion is not related to the performance of the sound processing circuit 32 depending on the accompaniment or the impromptu performance, it is reasonable to add deletion as appropriate to the performance of the sound processing circuit 32, and if the main melody is deleted, it is difficult for the player to grasp what kind of music is played, and first, the main melody is reproduced with the effect sound data, and the BGM data is adjusted within a range that is allowable from the capability of the CPU24 or the sound processing circuit 32.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the mini game process executed by the CPU24 according to the mini game program. In this process, data necessary for starting the game is first read from the nonvolatile memory 25 into the work RAM26 (step S51), and then an environment necessary for starting the game is set based on the read data (step S52). Thereafter, the predetermined subtitle screen is displayed on the liquid crystal display 22 (step S53). The subtitle screen includes "start of mini game", "information display", and "end of mini game" as candidates selectable by the player.

Then, the player operates the input device 23 to determine whether any one of the candidates is selected (step S54), and if so, whether "end of mini game" is selected and "information display" is performed (steps S55, S56). When none of the mini-games is selected, it is determined that "start of mini-game" is selected, and music selection processing is performed (step S57). The music selection process is also similar to step S3 of fig. 9, and shows the playable music to the player, and the player selects the music to be played from the playable music. At this time, the range of selectable music pieces is determined based on the operation history information in the user data file contained in the nonvolatile memory 25. For example, if the player has experience of playing via the game machine body 16, only the judged music is displayed as a selection candidate in the music selection process.

If the music selection process ends, the game process is performed (step S58). The game processing is performed in accordance with the same steps as steps S4 to S11 in fig. 9 and the steps shown in fig. 10, but the specific contents thereof may be simplified in accordance with the capabilities of the portable game machine 20. For example, the game screen displayed by the game process may be simplified in the manner shown in fig. 13.

The game screen 200 in fig. 13 shows only a scale 201, and in the scale 201, only 5 lines 202a to 202e provided corresponding to the operation members in the input device 23, a timing mark 203 for indicating the operation timing of the operation members provided corresponding to the respective lines 202a to 202e, and a timing line 204 for indicating the operation timing so as to keep a synchronous motion with the timing mark 203 are displayed. According to the processing of step S58 in fig. 12, the time marker 203 moves downward along the lines 202a to 202e in accordance with the progress of music, and when the time marker 203 reaches the time line 204, the operation time of the operation member corresponding to the lines 202a to 202e is reached, and the operation time of the operation member corresponding to the lines 202a to 202e is reached. If the player operates the corresponding operation member of the input device 23 in accordance with the operation timing, the CPU24 determines whether the operation is good or not based on the difference between the operation timing indicated by the timing mark 203 and the timing at which the operation is actually performed. The determination result is stored in the work RAM 26.

After the game processing is completed, the game result display processing is performed based on the determination result stored in the work RAM26 (step S59). For example, when the operation of the operation member is evaluated in a plurality of levels, the number of times of evaluation is displayed for each level as shown in fig. 14 (a). As shown in fig. 14(b) or (c), commands for any segment may be set in advance for the line of 1 music piece, and these may be selectively displayed in accordance with all game results. After the result display, it is determined whether or not the player has performed a predetermined resume operation with respect to the input device 23 (step S60). The display of the game result continues until there is a resume operation, and if there is a resume operation, returns to step S53.

When it is judged through step S56 that the information display is selected, information related to the mini game is displayed (step S61). The information displayed at this time includes the number of music pieces playable by the mini game. For example, as shown in fig. 14(d), the total number of music pieces and the number of playable music pieces are displayed. In the above manner, since the pieces of music playable by the mini game are limited to the pieces of music played by the main game run by the game machine main body 16, the player can understand the number of pieces of music not played by the above display. The number of pieces of music selected by the main game can be made to vary depending on the situation of playing the game. Therefore, in order to increase the number of music pieces playable by the mini game, the player must first run the main game to increase the progress thereof. This stimulates the desire of the player to collect the music, and enables the player to have a sufficient interest in the main game.

After the information is displayed, it is determined whether or not the player has performed a predetermined resume operation with respect to the input device 23 (step S62). The display of information continues until there is a resume operation. If there is a recovery operation, return is made to step S53. When it is determined in step S55 that the mini game is to be ended, the time and date are displayed on the screen of the liquid crystal display 22 based on the signal transmitted from the clock circuit 29 (see fig. 3) (step S63), and the processing related to the mini game is ended.

In the above-described embodiment, the music selection mechanism, the operation guide mechanism, the music reproduction mechanism, the storage realization mechanism, the selection range setting mechanism, and the information display mechanism are realized by combining the CPU1 or the CPU24, with its peripheral devices and/or specific software. However, at least a part of these mechanisms may be replaced with a logic circuit such as an LSI.

The portable game machine 20 may also be mounted in the controller 12. The input device 12 is not limited to a type operated by a finger of the player, and may be operated by other parts such as a foot. In the above-described embodiment, in both the game machine body 16 and the portable game machine 20, the effect sound corresponding to the operation of the BGM and the input device is reproduced, respectively, but for example, it is also possible to reproduce only the effect sound in the portable game machine 20. In addition, only BGM can be reproduced in both the game machine body 16 and the portable game machine 20.

If the present invention is adopted as described above, a game aimed at playing music-related operations as a recreation is played in each of the 1 st game machine and the 2 nd game machine, and furthermore since the range of the music pieces selectable by the 2 nd game machine is changed corresponding to the progress of the game run by the 1 st game machine, thus forming one kind of recreation of the game played by the 1 st game machine, a change in the number of music pieces selectable by the 2 nd game machine, elements that cannot be realized only by the individual game machine are added to the game system, whereby the novelty of the game system is improved, and a sufficient interest can be generated to the player.

Claims (9)

1. A game system comprising 1 st and 2 nd game machines, wherein the 2 nd game machine is provided with storage means for storage for using the 2 nd game machine as an auxiliary storage device of the 1 st game machine, characterized in that:

the 1 st and 2 nd gaming machines respectively include:

an input device having a plurality of operation members that output operation signals corresponding to the operation members;

a game storage unit that stores, for each music piece, music reproduction data for reproducing each of a plurality of music pieces, and time counting data specifying a series of operations in the input device related to a corresponding one of the plurality of music pieces;

a music selection means for selecting 1 music from the plurality of music;

an operation guide unit that instructs the player of a series of operations of the input device related to the selected music piece, based on the time data corresponding to the selected music piece;

a music reproduction means for reproducing the selected music piece based on the music reproduction data corresponding to the selected music piece;

the 1 st gaming machine may be provided with a storage realizing means for storing information relating to the progress of the game operated by the 1 st gaming machine in the storage means for saving in the 2 nd gaming machine, using the data stored in the game storage means;

in the 2 nd game machine, selection range setting means for setting a music range selectable by the music selection means in the 2 nd game machine, based on the information on the progress of the game stored in the storage means for saving.

2. The game system according to claim 1, wherein the 1 st game machine is provided with selection range setting means for setting a music range selectable by the music selection means in the 1 st game machine in accordance with a progress of the game in the 1 st game machine.

3. The game system according to claim 2, wherein the selection range setting means in the 1 st game machine enlarges a range of the music pieces selectable by the 1 st game machine with an increase in the progress of the game; the selection range setting means in the 2 nd game machine enlarges the range of the music selectable by the music selection means in the 2 nd game machine in accordance with an increase in the progress rate identified in the information on the progress rate of the game stored in the data storage means.

4. The game system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the storage realizing means in the 1 st game machine stores, in the storage means for saving, as the information relating to the progress, information for determining whether or not a corresponding music piece of the plurality of music pieces is selected for the game run by the 1 st game machine;

the selection range setting means in the 2 nd game machine sets the range of selectable music pieces based on the information on the progress stored in the storage means, in such a manner that: the music corresponding to the music selected for the game run by the 1 st game machine can be selected by the 2 nd game machine.

5. The game system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:

a plurality of pieces of music provided in association with the 2 nd game machine, at least a part of the plurality of pieces of music provided in association with the 1 st game machine being kept in agreement;

the storage realizing means in the 1 st game machine stores, in the storage means for storage, information for determining whether or not a corresponding music piece of the plurality of music pieces is selected as the game run by the 1 st game machine, as the information related to the progress;

the selection range setting means in the 2 nd game machine sets the range of the selectable music pieces in such a manner that: on the basis of the information on the progress stored in the storage means for saving, a music which agrees with the music selected for the game run by the 1 st game machine and which does not agree with the unselected music can be selected by the 2 nd game machine.

6. The game system according to claim 5, wherein the 2 nd game machine is provided with information display means for displaying information on the number of pieces of music selected for the game run by the 1 st game machine on a screen of a display provided in the 2 nd game machine, based on the information on the progress stored in the storage means for storage.

7. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein:

the music reproduction data in the game storage means of the game machines 1 and 2 includes data for generating an effect sound for generating a predetermined effect sound in accordance with a series of operations defined by the time counting data;

the music reproduction means of the 1 st and 2 nd game machines generates an effect sound corresponding to each operation based on the data for generating the effect sound, in which the player operates the input device based on the instruction of the series of operations generated by the operation guide means.

8. The game system according to claim 7, wherein the data for generating the effect sound stored in the game storage means in the 2 nd game machine is configured in such a manner that: when the player correctly operates the input device in response to a series of operation instructions given by the operation guide mechanism in the 2 nd game machine, the music reproduction mechanism reproduces the melody of the selected music piece.

9. The game system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, 7 and 8, wherein a power battery is provided in the 2 nd game machine, and a portable game machine operable by power supplied from the power battery is formed.