WO2008035453A1 - Game device - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is save data which can be easily handled by a game program. A save API processing module (300a) is configured when a save data utility function for data save is called by an application processing unit (124). A state acquisition unit (310) acquires state information indicating a state of an execution environment of the game program. An additional processing unit (324) adds the acquired state information as additional information to the game data acquired by a game data acquisition unit (322) and stores it in a hard disc. On the other hand, an additional acquisition unit (342) in a load API processing module (300b) acquires the additional information from the save data and a judging unit (344) judges whether the current state information coincides with the additional information. The judgment result is reported top the application processing unit (124) by a report unit (346).

Description

 Specification

 Game device

 Technical field

 TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a game device that executes a game application, and more particularly to a game device having a function of saving and / or loading game data.

 Background art

 [0002] The user can play the game from the previous game using the game data stored in the storage device by storing the progress of the game play in the storage device. The save data is stored, for example, in a directory associated with the game application. The game device feeds the saved data from the directory associated with the game application to be executed to the internal memory.

 [0003] For example, a breeding simulation game is a game that enjoys growing a character over time, but when the saved data of the grown character is copied to a user other than the execution user, the user It will be possible to obtain high-level character data suddenly, and the meaning of the game will be spoiled. The situation is the same for other types of games, and if the save data can be copied easily, the willingness to proceed with the game will decrease, reducing the value of the game application. It leads to that.

 Disclosure of the invention

 Problems to be solved by the invention

[0004] Under such circumstances, it is preferable to provide an environment in which the game device can take some measures against the game application when necessary. Note that the degree of desire to copy other people's high-level saved data differs depending on the game application. Whether to use the environment provided by is preferably set for each game application.

 [0005] In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique related to save data that enables a game program to perform a desired process, and to provide a technique for processing such save data.

 Means for solving the problem

 [0006] In order to solve the above problems, a game device according to an aspect of the present invention includes an application processing unit that executes a game program, a save processing unit that saves game data related to game progress in a storage device, and save data. A load processing unit that loads from the storage device; and a state acquisition unit that acquires state information indicating a state of an execution environment of the game program. The save processing unit includes an additional processing unit that adds the state information acquired by the state acquisition unit as additional information to the game data and stores the additional information in the storage device, and the load processing unit stores the game information stored in the storage device. An additional information acquisition unit that acquires additional information from the data, a determination unit that determines the consistency between the state information acquired by the state acquisition unit and the corresponding additional information acquired by the additional information acquisition unit, and a determination result A notification unit for notifying the application processing unit.

 [0007] It is to be noted that any combination of the above-described components, and a conversion of the expression of the present invention between a method, an apparatus, a system, a recording medium, a computer program, and the like are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

 Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a game system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

 FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the game device.

 FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an OS hierarchy.

 FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the main controller.

 FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a function block of an API processing module configured in an OS execution unit.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram of list selection type load processing (L i stLoad O). Explanation of symbols

 [0009] 1 ■ ■ ■ Game system, 1 0 ■ ■ ■ Game device, 1 2 ■ ■ ■ ■ Output device, 2

0 ■ ■ ■ Power button, 22 · ■ ■ LED 24-■ ■ System controller, 30 ■ ■ ■ Device controller, 32. ■ ■ Media drive, 34 ■

■ ■ Hard disk drive, 36 · ■ 'Switch, 38 · ■ ■ Wireless interface, 40 ■ ■ ■ Game controller, 50 ■ ■ ■ Media, 1 00-

■ ■ Main controller, 1 02 · ■ 'Main memory, 1 04 · ■ ■ Input receiving unit, 1 20 · ■ ■ Execution processing unit, 1 22 · ■ ■ OS execution unit, 1 24 · ■ ■ Application Chillon processing unit, 1 40 · ■ ■ Flash memory, 1 42 · ■ 'Body

1 D holding unit, 1 44 · ■ ■ User ID holding unit, 1 60 · ■ ■ Memory controller — 1 62 · ■ ■ Mouth memory, 200 · ■ ■ Output processing unit, 300 a-

■ ■ A PI processing module for saving, 300 b '■ ■ API processing module for loading, 302 ■ ■ ■ Status acquisition unit, 31 0 ■ ■ ■ Status acquisition unit, 320 ■ ■

■ Save processing unit, 322 · ■ ■ Game data acquisition unit, 324 · ■ ■ Additional processing unit, 330 ■ ■ ■ Status acquisition unit, 340 · ■ ■ Load processing unit, 342 · ■ 'Additional information acquisition unit, 344 · ■ ■ Judgment part, 346 · ■ ■ Notification part, 350 · ■ ■

 BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

 FIG. 1 shows a game system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Game system

 1 includes a game device 10 that executes a game application, and an output device 12 that outputs a processing result in the game device 10.

[0011] The game device 10 is an information processing device that processes a game application and generates an image signal and an audio signal indicating the processing result of the game application. The game device 10 is connected to at least one output device 12, displays video on the output device 12, and outputs sound. The output device 12 may be a television set that includes a display unit that outputs an image and further includes an audio output unit that outputs audio. The output device 12 may be connected to the game device 10 with a wired cable, and may be connected to a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) or the like. May be wirelessly connected.

 FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of game device 10. Game device 1 0 is a power button 2 0, LED 2 2, system controller 2 4, device controller — controller 30, media drive 3 2, hard disk drive 3 4, switch 3 6, wireless interface 3 8 A main controller 10 0, a main memory 1 0 2, and an output processing unit 2 0 0. The game device 10 holds identification information (hereinafter referred to as “main body ID”) for identifying itself in the flash memory.

 [0013] The power button 20 is an input unit for performing an operation input from a user, and is operated to turn on or off the power supply to the game apparatus 10. The power button 20 may be a push button, and the power on or off may be controlled by being pressed. The power button 20 may have another structure such as a touch sensor that allows the user to turn on / off the power. L E D 2 2 lights up the power on / off status. When the system controller 24 detects that the power button 20 is pressed or not, and when it detects a state transition from the power-off state to the pressed state, it starts the main controller 10 0 and operates it. Start up the system boot sequence and control the lighting of LED 2 2. When the power cable is inserted into the game apparatus 10, the system controller 24 maintains the standby mode even when the power is off, and monitors the pressing of the power button 20.

 [0014] The device controller 30 is configured as an LSI (Large-Scale Integrated Circuit) that exchanges information between devices like a south bridge. As illustrated, devices such as a system controller 24, a media drive 32, a hard disk drive 34, a switch 36, and a main controller 100 are connected to the device controller 30. The device controller 30 absorbs differences in the electrical characteristics and data transfer speeds of each device, and controls data transfer timing.

[0015] The media drive 3 2 drives the media 5 0 on which the game program is recorded. It is a drive device that moves and reads the game program from the media 50. The medium 50 is a recording medium such as an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a blu-ray disk, and is inserted into the media drive 32 to be used as a game program supply medium. Media 50 records identification information (hereinafter referred to as “media ID”) for identifying itself in a predetermined storage area. The media ID is a number unique to the media and varies from media to media. The media ID may be given to all recording media capable of recording the game program, and may be given to an internal recording medium such as a hard disk or a flash memory 140. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, an example in which a media ID is assigned to the medium 50 as a representative of the recording medium will be described.

[0016] The game program includes an execution program for executing the game application and information for specifying the game application (hereinafter referred to as "application ID"). The execution program is a program necessary for application processing, and the game application proceeds by running the execution program. The application ID is set for each type of game application, and is recorded in a predetermined storage area of the media 50.

 The hard disk drive 34 is a drive device that drives an internal hard disk to write / read data. In the game device 10, game data relating to game progress is stored (saved) in the internal hard disk. The game data includes data representing the progress of game play, game high score data, character data, and the like. Note that it is not necessary to save all of these data to the hard disk, and game data to be saved for each game application is set.

[0018] The switch 36 is an Ethernet (registered trademark) switch, and is a device that transmits and receives information by connecting to an external device in a wired or wireless manner. The game apparatus 10 can be connected to a network such as an external Internet via the switch 36. In this embodiment, the external network has a distribution server. For example, the game device 10 can download an application from the server. At this time, the user must register as a user on the server, and information for identifying the user (hereinafter referred to as the “user ID”) is set. The set user ID is required when receiving the distribution service, but is also used as information for uniquely identifying the user in the game device 10. Therefore, the game device 10 stores the user ID notified from the distribution server in the flash memory. A user who is not registered in the server does not have a user ID.

The switch 36 is connected to a wireless interface 38, and the wireless interface 38 is connected to a game controller 40 having a wireless communication function using a communication protocol such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) protocol or IEEE802.11 protocol. The game controller 40 functions as an input unit for performing operation input from the user.

 [0020] The main controller 100 has a multi-core CPU, and has one general-purpose processor core and a plurality of simple processor cores in one CPU. In this embodiment, the general-purpose processor core is called PPU (Power Processing Unit), and the remaining processor cores are called SPU (Synergistic Processing Unit).

[0021] The main controller 100 provides a function and environment for efficiently using the game device 10 and provides an operating system (hereinafter simply referred to as "OS (Operating System)") that controls the entire device in an integrated manner. Is called). Multiple application software can be executed on the OS. The OS layer of the game apparatus 10 in this embodiment has three layers from the top: the user layer, the Kerne I layer, and the hypervisor layer. In the game device 10, the software of the user layer, the kernel layer, and the hypervisor layer are integrated to function as the “OS” of the game device 10. Software that manages the hypervisor layer is called privileged software. The hypervisor layer is in charge of the lowest layer functions. The software always starts first with priority.

 [0022] FIG. 3 shows the OS hierarchy. When the power is turned on by the power button 20, the system controller 24 supplies power to the main controller 100, the output processing unit 200, etc. via the device controller 30. When power is supplied to the main controller 100, P P U first executes the OS boot- er to read the privileged software and starts up the host OS hypervisor layer with the privileged software. Next, P P U activates the OS layer and then activates the user layer to prepare for accepting the game program supplied from the media 50.

 [0023] The game apparatus 10 of the present embodiment may be equipped with a plurality of OSs. At that time, the OS shown in FIG. 3 functions as the host OS and has a function of operating the guest OS on the virtual machine created in the hypervisor layer of the host OS. For management by the main controller 100, the virtual machine environment and guest OS are programs that run on the host OS.

The host OS hypervisor layer must always be up. Host o

S activation is performed by P P U, but may be performed in cooperation with S P U

[0024] The power layer manages system resources and allows other programs to operate on those resources. Specifically, the power layer manages the communication between hardware, including memory, CPU and other devices, and higher-level software, and constitutes the core part of OS.

[0025] The user layer performs a bridge with the force layer so that the application program can be efficiently executed. The user layer may be composed of a plurality of function modules, including an API processing module that implements the API (application programming interface) functions provided to the game program. The API is an interface for programming and generates rules for creating programs. In this embodiment, a save program for saving game data and a load program for loading save data. The program is prepared as a library (hereinafter referred to as “save data utility”), and the API processing module is configured by calling the save data utility function. By configuring an API processing module for saving or speaking, the game program can save game data to the hard disk and load saved data from the hard disk. The game device 10 of this embodiment has a plurality of types of save / load processing functions, and a save data utility function corresponding to the processing to be executed is prepared on the hard disk.

 [0026] An outline of a plurality of types of save processing and load processing in the game apparatus 10 will be described below. Note that a save data utility function is prepared for each of the following save processing and load processing, and the API function module is added to the OS user layer by calling the save utility function requested by the game program. Is configured. As a result, the save process or the load process desired by the game program can be executed.

 [0027] (1) List selection type save / load processing

 In the list selection type save process (ListSaveO), the list of existing save data is presented to the user, and the user is allowed to select whether to save over any of the save data or create a new one.

 In list selection type load processing (ListLoadO), the list of existing save data is presented to the user, and the save data selected by the user is squeezed.

[0028] (2) Fixed save / load processing

 In the fixed save processing (FixedSaveO), one save data specified by the application is presented to the user, and the save data is overwritten and saved. In the fixed load processing (FixedLoadO), one save data specified by the application is presented to the user and the saved data is squeezed.

[0029] (3) Auto save / load processing

In the auto save process (AutoSaveO), the application specifies one save data and overwrites the save data without presenting it to the user. Exist.

 In the autoload process (AutoLoadO), the application specifies one save data and loads the save data without presenting it to the user.

 [0030] The main controller 100 includes a memory controller connected to the main memory 102. The PU has a register, has a main processor as an operation execution subject, and efficiently assigns a task as a basic processing unit in each application to each SPU. P P U itself may execute the task. The SPU has a register, and has a sub-processor as the main execution unit and a oral memory (dedicated RAM) as a normal storage area. The SPU has a dedicated DMA (Direct Memory Access) controller as a control unit, and by transferring data between the main memory 102 and the oral memory, data can be streamed at high speed and output processing is also possible. High-speed data transfer can be realized between the frame memory built in the unit 200 and the local memory

[0031] The output processing unit 200 is connected to the output device 12 and outputs a video signal and an audio signal as processing results of the application. The output processing unit 200 includes a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) that realizes an image processing function. GPU uses HDM I (High Definition Multimedia Interface) and can output video signals digitally without going through analog.

 FIG. 4 shows the internal configuration of the main controller 100. The main controller unit 100 includes an input reception unit 104, an execution processing unit 120, a flash memory 140, a memory controller 160, and a oral memory 1602.

[0033] In FIG. 4, each element described as a functional block that performs various processes can be configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), memory, and other LS I in terms of hardware. Specifically, it is realized by a program or the like registered in the memory. As described above, the main controller 100 has one PPU and multiple SPUs. Each functional block can be configured by U and SP u individually or in cooperation. Accordingly, it is understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by hardware only, software only, or a combination thereof, and is not limited to any one.

 The main controller 100 has an input receiving unit 104 as means for transmitting / receiving control information to / from the device controller 30. The input receiving unit 10 4 receives a user's operation input from the game controller 40 and receives a user ID set at the time of user registration from a distribution server on the network. In the game system 1, the user can use the game controller 40 to input the game operation and proceed with the game, and when the game data is saved / spoken, the data is output by 8 I of 0 3 etc. While viewing the GUI (Graphic User Interface) displayed on the screen of the device 12, it is possible to perform an operation input instructing to save or load the game data. In the present embodiment, the user performs at least an operation input for instructing to save or load data, and the input reception unit 104 receives the instruction and notifies the execution processing unit 120. When the save / load process is started, the user performs a predetermined confirmation input or selection input from the GUI presented from the execution processing unit 120.

 The flash memory 140 has a main body ID holding unit 14 2 and a user ID holding unit 14 4 in its storage area. The main body ID holding unit 1 4 2 holds the main body ID as identification information of the game apparatus 10. The user ID holding unit 1 4 4 holds the user ID received by the input receiving unit 1 0 4. As described above, since the user ID is given at the time of user registration to the distribution server, when user registration is not performed, empty data is written in the user ID holding unit 1 4 4. Yes.

In the game device 10 of the present embodiment, information such as the main body ID set to the game device 10 and the assigned user ID is not stored in the flash memory 14 0 but in the hard disk registry. It may be stored. The main body ID holder 1 4 2 and user ID holder 1 4 4 shown in FIG. Although it is illustrated that the area of memory 140 is used, it may be an area of a hard disk or other storage device.

 [0037] The execution processing unit 120 has an OS execution unit 122 that executes OS and an application processing unit 124 that executes application. When the power is turned on, the OS execution unit 1 2 2 activates the OS hypervisor layer preferentially, and then activates the kernel layer and the necessary user layer. This provides an environment in which the application processing unit 1 2 4 executes the game execution program.

 [0038] The memory controller 160 controls the writing / reading of the external main memory 1002 and the oral memory 1662 built in the SPU. The memory controller 160 stores the data read from the hard disk or media 50 in the main memory 10 2 or the oral memory 16 2. The execution processing unit 1 2 0 executes processing based on the data stored in the main memory 1 0 2 and / or the oral memory 1 6 2.

 [0039] When performing the game data save process or load process, the application processing unit 1 2 4 saves the OS execution unit 1 2 2 for executing a desired type of save process or load process. Calls data utility functions. When the OS execution unit 1 2 2 receives this call request, the AP processing module is activated in the OS user layer.

 In this embodiment, the saving API processing module has a function of adding state information indicating the execution environment of the game program to the game data and saving it to the hard disk. In addition, when loading save data from the hard disk, the API processing module for loading performs verification processing of the save data from the additional information of the save data and the status information indicating the execution environment of the game program at the time of dictation. Has the function to do.

FIG. 5 shows functional blocks of the API processing module configured in the OS execution unit 1 2 2. The save API processing module 3 0 0 a is configured by calling the save data utility function for the data save by the application processing unit 1 2 4. API processing module for saving 3 0 0 a includes a status acquisition unit 3 1 0 and a save processing unit 3 2 0, and the save processing unit 3 2 0 includes a game data acquisition unit 3 2 2 and an additional processing unit 3 2 4.

 The status acquisition unit 3 10 acquires status information indicating the status of the game program execution environment. The elements indicating the state of the execution environment include the game device itself that executes the game application, the medium 50 that supplies the game program to the game device 10, the type of the game program, and the user who plays the game. Corresponding to these elements, the status acquisition unit 3 1 0 specifies, as status information, a main body ID that identifies the game device 10, a media ID that identifies the media 50, and a game program application (game type). Get the identification ID to be used and the user ID to identify the game user.

 [0043] The status acquisition unit 3 1 0 reads and acquires the main unit ID from the main unit ID holding unit 1 4 2, the media ID and application ID from the media 50, and the user ID from the user ID holding unit 1 4 4 respectively. . Note that the media ID and application ID may be obtained from the internal memory if they have already been read to the internal memory such as the main memory 10 2 and the oral memory 1 6 2, and have already been read to the hard disk. If it is, it may be obtained from the hard disk. Note that the state acquisition unit 3 10 preferably acquires two or more pieces of state information, and more preferably acquires all of them. The more state information to be acquired, the more state information that can be used by the game program. In other words, the game program can selectively use the necessary state information according to the situation. A desired process corresponding to the information can be executed.

[0044] The save processing unit 3 2 0 has a function of saving game data relating to game progress to a hard disk. The game data acquisition unit 3 2 2 acquires game data to be saved, such as application processing results, from the application processing unit 1 2 4. The additional processing unit 3 2 4 adds the state information acquired by the state acquisition unit 3 10 as additional information to the game data acquired by the game data acquisition unit 3 2 2 and stores it in the hard disk. This saves The data is stored as game data with additional information.

 Thus, by adding state information to game data to be saved, the game data itself can include the environmental state at the time of saving. Thereby, the game device 10 can know the environment at the time of saving the game data by referring to the additional information of the save data.

 [0046] For example, when the main body ID is added as the state information, the game device 10 refers to the added main body ID, so that the game device is saved by itself or another game device Can be determined.

 [0047] When the media ID is added as the status information, the game device 10 refers to the added media ID, so that the save data is created with the same media as the currently activated media, or You can determine if it was created with another media.

 [0048] When application ID is added as state information,

 1 0 can refer to the added application ID to determine whether the saved data was created by the same application as the currently running application, or was created by another application.

 [0049] When the user ID is added as the status information, the game device 10 refers to the added user ID, so that the save data is saved by the current user or saved by another user. Can be determined.

 [0050] The load A PI processing module 3 0 0 b is configured by the application processing unit 1 2 4 calling a save duty function for data loading. The load API processing module 3 0 0 b includes a status acquisition unit 3 3 0, a load processing unit 3 4 0, and a load execution unit 3 5 0. The load processing unit 3 4 0 includes an additional information acquisition unit 3 4 2, Has judgment part 3 4 4 and notification part 3 4 6.

[0051] Similarly to the state acquisition unit 3 1 0, the state acquisition unit 3 3 0 acquires state information indicating the state of the game program execution environment. The status acquisition unit 3 3 0 uses the machine ID, media ID, and application as status information! D, low user ID It is preferable to obtain at least two. The status acquisition units 3 1 0 and 3 3 0 are composed of the same program module, and each acquire status information of the same type.

 [0052] The load processing unit 3 4 0 has a function of loading save data from the hard disk. First, the additional information acquisition unit 3 42 acquires additional information from the game data recorded on the hard disk before the game data is loaded. The determination unit 3 44 determines the consistency between the pre-load status information acquired by the status acquisition unit 3 30 and the additional information acquired by the additional information acquisition unit 3 42. In principle, consistency is determined based on whether or not there is a complete match. The notification unit 3 46 notifies the application processing unit 1 2 4 of the consistency determination result by the determination unit 3 4 4.

 [0053] The determination unit 3 4 4 determines the coincidence of the plurality of types of loading state information and game data additional information, and generates respective determination results. For example, the status acquisition unit 3 1 0 and 3 3 0 force When acquiring the main unit ID, media ID, application ID, and user ID as the status information, the determination unit 3 4 4 uses the main unit ID, media ID, application ID, and user ID. The identity is determined for the ID, and the notification unit 3 4 6 notifies each determination result to the abrasion processing unit 1 2 4. As a result, the API processing module 3 O Ob for loading can provide detailed information on the environmental state to the application processing unit 1 2 4. Since the application processing unit 1 2 4 can recognize whether there is a change in each of the environmental conditions, it can execute application processing according to individual environmental changes. In addition, because save data is verified based on multiple status information, the verification process itself can be assured and the possibility of supplying useful information to various game programs can be increased. it can.

[0054] The determination unit 3 4 4 performs error determination when the state information at the time of loading and the additional information of the save data do not match, and the notification unit 3 4 6 performs error processing on the error information. Notify Part 1 2 4 For example, the judgment results are displayed by flags. If the status information at the time of loading and the additional information in the save data match, the flag value is “0”. Otherwise, the flag value is “1”. If they do not match, the judgment result is simply error information (that is, the flag value “

1 ”) is notified to the application processing unit 1 24, so that the application processing unit 1 24 can easily handle the determination result of the determination unit 344.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram of list selection type load processing (ListLoadO).

 The application processing unit 124 sends a request to call the ListLoadO function to the OS execution unit 1222 (S10). The directory name prefix of the save data to be acquired and the pointer to the callback function (data list callback, data status callback, file operation callback) are specified as arguments. In the OS execution unit 122, the ListLoadO function is called (S12), and the loading API processing module 300b is configured. The A-P I processing module 300b acquires a list of saved data from the hard disk based on the directory name prefix (S14).

[0056] The load API processing module 300b calls the data list callback with the list of saved data as an argument (S16). In the data list callback, a save data list to be presented to the user is created based on the passed save data list (S 18). When the data list callback returns and the user-provided list is passed to the mouth API processing module 300b (S20), the loading API processing module 300b displays the list of safe data on the GUI. Display (S22) and wait for a response from the user. When the user selects save data to be loaded (S 24), the selection is notified to the API processing module 300b for dictation (S 26), and the loading API processing module 300b displays a confirmation dialog on the GUI. The screen is displayed more (S 28). When the user gives a confirmation response (S 30), the saved data is verified (S 32). In this verification process, as explained in relation to Fig. 5, the status information at the time of saving is compared with the current (loading) status information. And determine consistency.

 [0057] The load A PI processing module 300b calls the data stacker callback (S34). The information passed to the data status callback is attribute information such as the result of the save data verification process, the directory name of the selected save data, and the update date and time.

 The application processing unit 1 24 determines, for example, whether or not to execute a load process from the result of the save data verification process (S 38). For example, when error information is notified regarding the main body ID, it is understood that the save data has been created by a device different from the game device 10. In such a case, the application processing unit 124 may end the loading process because there is a high possibility of trying to execute the game using the save data of another person (1 \ 1 of 338).

 [0059] —On the other hand, if no error is reported for all status information, the application processing unit 124 determines that the load processing is to be executed (Y in S38), and returns from the data status callback. To specify file pre-processing (S 40). The load API processing module 300b performs file operation pre-processing (S42), and calls a file operation callback for each file making up the save data (S44). The information passed to the file operation callback is control information for specifying the read process. The application processing unit 1 24 designates the file to be read (S 48 1) until all saved data files are loaded (S 48 1), and the load execution unit 3 50 loads data from the hard disk. (S 50). When all the files are loaded (Y in S 46), the application processing unit 124 notifies the loading API processing module 300 b of the instruction processing end instruction (S 52), and loads the API processing module 300 for loading. b displays a completion message on the screen and ends the loading process.

In the above example, it is assumed that the application processing unit 124 receives the result of the save data verification process in S 32 and determines whether or not the load can be executed. The application processing unit 1 24 has various states depending on the type of error information. Can behave like

 [0061] A) When error information is generated in the main unit ID

 The application processing unit 1 2 4 may stop the loading process as described above. This makes it difficult for others to use the saved data and makes it difficult for others to copy the saved data. In particular, when the save data is frequently disclosed on the network, if the main unit ID is different, the use and copying of the data cannot be performed, which means that the saved data is disclosed on the network. Can be eliminated. Further, when using save data from different game devices, the game device 10 may be handled as a guest user.

 [0062] B) When error information occurs in media ID

 The application processing unit 1 2 4 stops the load process. This makes it difficult for others to use the saved data and makes it difficult for others to copy the saved data. In particular, when save data is frequently disclosed on the network, if the media ID is different, the use and copying of the media ID will be disabled, thereby making the save data public on the network. Can be eliminated. Further, when using save data from different media, the game apparatus 10 may be handled as a guest user.

 [0063] C) When error information occurs in application ID

 For example, in a series of game applications, when it is desired to use the old version of the game data in the new version, the game apparatus 10 may execute a process with a privilege on the game data.

[0064] D) When error information occurs in user ID

First, if the user ID does not exist, error information is generated because there is no comparison target in the matching determination process. Further, the game apparatus 10 can determine that the user is not registered in the distribution server. For games that require a user ID, the application processor 1 2 4 controls the use of the saved data. It may be limited.

 [0065] When the user IDs are different, the game apparatus 10 can recognize that the saved data is saved by different users and can specify the saved user. Note that the user ID may be notified to the application processing unit 1 2 4 instead of the flag.

 In this way, application processing unit 1 2 4 force By using a plurality of environmental state information, various variations of processing can be executed for each state information consistency determination result. As a result, the protection level of the game program can be increased, and the appeal of the game program can be enhanced by taking measures to give a privilege to the progress of the game.

 [0067] The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. This embodiment is an exemplification, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to the combination of each component and each treatment process, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. That's right.

 Industrial applicability

 [0068] The information processing technology of the present invention can be applied to the field of games.

Claims

The scope of the claims  [1] An application processing unit that executes a game program;  A save processing unit that saves game data relating to game progress in a storage device; a load processing unit that loads save data from the storage device;  A state acquisition unit that acquires state information indicating a state of an execution environment of the game program,  The save processing unit  An additional processing unit that adds the state information acquired by the state acquisition unit as additional information to the game data and stores the additional information in the storage device;  The load processing unit  An additional information acquisition unit that acquires additional information from the game data stored in the storage device;  A determination unit for determining consistency between the state information acquired by the state acquisition unit and the corresponding additional information acquired by the additional information acquisition unit;  A game device comprising: a notification unit that notifies the determination result to the application processing unit. [2] The state acquisition unit acquires a plurality of state information, and the additional processing unit adds the plurality of state information to the game data as additional information,  The determination unit determines the coincidence between the plurality of state information acquired by the state acquisition unit and the corresponding additional information acquired by the additional information acquisition unit,  2. The game device according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit notifies each determination result to the application processing unit. [3] The state acquisition unit acquires, as state information, at least two of the identification information of the game device, the identification information of the game program supply medium, the application information of the game program, and the identification information for identifying the game user. The game device according to claim 2, characterized in that: [4] The determination unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the determination unit performs an error determination when the state information at the time of loading does not match the additional information of the save data. Game device. [5] The game device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the application processing unit does not execute a load process when an error determination is made for predetermined state information. [6] The save processing unit and the load processing unit are configured as an API processing module that implements an API (application programming interface) function provided to a game program. 5. The game device according to any one of 5. [7] On the computer,  A function to execute a game program;  A function for saving game data relating to game progress to a storage device, a function for loading save data from the storage device, and  A function to acquire a plurality of state information indicating the state of the execution environment of the game program,  The save function is  It has a function to add the acquired status information as additional information to the game data and store it in the storage device,  The load function is  A function of acquiring additional information from the game data stored in the storage device, a function of determining a match between each of the acquired plurality of state information and the acquired corresponding additional information,  A program for realizing the function of notifying the game application execution function of each determination result. [8] A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 7 is recorded.