JP7541906B2 - Game information display device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a game information display device.

In conventional gaming information display devices, as described in Patent Document 1, for example, it is common for the number of starts after a jackpot (number of non-winning games) at the end of the previous day's business to be displayed at the start of business, and players refer to this number of starts to select the gaming machine to play first thing in the morning.

Patent No. 4440671

However, at gaming parlors, test plays are sometimes conducted to check the operation of gaming machines after business hours. In such cases, the game information display device is switched to a test play mode so that data during the test play is not included in the business data.

However, if a gaming machine is configured to give a player an advantageous state based on the number of starts after a jackpot, the starts during the test play are counted, and the number of starts that actually occurred on the gaming machine includes the number of starts during the test play. This can lead to a situation where the number of starts displayed on the gaming information display device does not match the number of starts on the actual gaming machine, which can cause trouble with players or arouse distrust among players.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a gaming information display device that can improve operations in the morning by giving a sense of security to players who arrive first thing in the morning, even if they are trying out the game after business hours have ended.

According to the invention of claim 1, when a test play is conducted to check the operation of the gaming machine after the business hours, the player is informed that the actual number of times the gaming machine has not won a jackpot as a result of the test play has increased. This gives a sense of security to players who play first thing in the morning, and is expected to have the effect of increasing the operating rate in the morning.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention; Front view of the gaming machine Functional block diagram of the gaming machine Front view of the game information display device Functional block diagram of the game information display device A front view of the liquid crystal display unit of the gaming machine in a normal state. A front view of the liquid crystal display unit of the gaming machine in the time-saving state. FIG. 1 is a front view of a liquid crystal display unit of a game information display device at the start of business.

Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 shows a schematic diagram of the overall configuration. A plurality of gaming machine islands are provided in an amusement center, and each gaming machine island is equipped with a large number of gaming machines 1, such as pachinko machines and slot machines, as well as a rental device 2 and a gaming information display device 3 corresponding to each gaming machine 1. Every two gaming machines 1, rental devices 2, and gaming information display devices 3 are connected to one relay device 4. The relay device 4 is connected to a management device 6 via a LAN 5, and relays communications between the gaming machines 1, rental devices 2, and gaming information display devices 3 and the management device 6.
In addition, within the amusement facility, equipment such as a POS (not shown) that performs prize exchange processing is installed, and these equipment are also connected to the management device 6 via the LAN 5 so that they can communicate with each other.

The management device 6 is installed, for example, in a management room, and is connected to a monitor 7, a keyboard 8, and a printer (not shown). The management device 6 manages the operating status of the gaming machines 1, the rental devices 2, the gaming information display devices 3, etc. Although omitted from FIG. 1, several hundred different types of gaming machines 1 are subject to management by the management device 6. Furthermore, when the gaming machine 1 is a pachinko machine, the gaming value (gaming medium) is balls (pachinko balls), and when the gaming machine 1 is a slot machine, it is medals.

The gaming machine 1 will be described as a pachinko machine. As shown in FIG. 2, the gaming machine 1 has a launch handle 9, a speaker 10, and a pair of decorative lamps 11, and also has a gaming board 12 with an LCD display 13, a through-type normal (regular pattern) start hole 14, a special pattern 1 start hole 15, a special pattern 2 start hole 16, a special pattern 1 display section 17, a special pattern 2 display section 18, a normal pattern display section 19, a big prize hole 20, an outlet hole 21, an upper tray 22, and a lower tray 23. Note that a large number of nails are set into the gaming board 12, but these are omitted from FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, the gaming machine 1 has, as its electrical configuration, a main control unit 24, a special chart 1 display unit 17, a special chart 2 display unit 18, a regular chart display unit 19, a performance control unit 25, an AMP 26, a display control unit 27, a payout control unit 28, a payout mechanism unit 29, a power supply circuit unit 30, a special chart 1 winning sensor 31, a special chart 2 winning sensor 32, a regular chart winning sensor 33, a special winning sensor 34, a special chart 2 start port SLD (solenoid) 35, and a special winning port SLD 36. Note that FIG. 3 does not show the I/F unit that transmits and receives various signals and information between the lending device 2 and the management device 6.

The main control unit 24 is composed of a microcomputer having a CPU 24a, ROM 24b, RAM 24c, and I/O 24d, and controls operations related to shooting balls, winning prizes, etc., by executing a control program stored in ROM 24b. The main control unit 24 also has a random number generation unit 37 that generates random numbers within a predetermined range, and a random number extraction unit 38 that extracts one of the random numbers generated by the random number generation unit 37 and draws a lottery.

When the special prize sensor 31, the special prize sensor 32, the normal prize sensor 33, and the large prize sensor 34 detect a prize in the special prize starting hole 15, the special prize starting hole 16, the normal prize starting hole 14, and the large prize starting hole 20, respectively, they output a corresponding prize detection signal to the main control unit 24. When the special prize starting hole SLD 35 receives an opening command signal from the main control unit 24, it opens the electric device in the special prize starting hole 16. The special prize starting hole 16 is structured so that a prize can be won only when the electric device is opened. When the large prize starting hole SLD 36 receives an opening command signal from the main control unit 24, it opens the large prize starting hole 20.
When a display command signal is input from the main control unit 24, the special chart 1 display unit 17, the special chart 2 display unit 18, and the regular chart display unit 19 change the patterns of the special chart 1, the special chart 2, and the regular chart, respectively.

When the performance control unit 25 receives a performance command signal from the main control unit 24, it outputs performance sounds from the speaker 10 via the AMP 26, causes the decorative lamp unit 11 to display a performance, and causes the LCD display unit 13 to display a performance via the display control unit 27. When the LCD display unit 13 receives a display command signal from the main control unit 24, it displays, for example, a pattern corresponding to special chart 1 and a pattern corresponding to special chart 2. When the payout control unit 28 receives a payout command signal from the main control unit 24, it performs a payout using the payout mechanism unit 29. The power supply circuit unit 30 supplies operating power to the entire gaming machine 1, including the main control unit 24.

The gaming machine 1 operates as follows.
(1) When the special chart 1 starting hole 15 is won, a special chart 1 lottery is executed in which one of the random numbers generated by the random number generating unit 37 is extracted by the random number extracting unit 38, and the pattern change of the special chart 1 begins.
(2) When the normal drawing start port 14 is won, a normal drawing lottery is executed in which one of the random numbers generated by the random number generating unit 37 is extracted by the random number extracting unit 38, and the pattern variation of the normal drawing starts. When the normal drawing lottery is won, the winning pattern is displayed on the normal drawing display unit 19, and the electric device of the special drawing 2 starting port 16 is opened, making it possible to win the special drawing 2 starting port 16. When the special drawing 2 starting port 16 is won, a special drawing 2 lottery is executed in which one of the random numbers generated by the random number generating unit 37 is extracted by the random number extracting unit 38, and the pattern variation of the special drawing 2 starts.

(3) The results of the lottery for Special Chart 1 and Special Chart 2 are stored up to a maximum of four, and the patterns are changed sequentially. The number of reserved balls is displayed as a two-digit number in the reserved display section 13a (see FIG. 2) in the lower right corner of the liquid crystal display section 13. The number on the left of the two-digit number in the reserved display section 12a corresponds to Special Chart 1, and the number on the right corresponds to Special Chart 2. In the Special Chart 1 lottery and Special Chart 2 lottery, two types of jackpots are drawn: a 16R jackpot and an 8R jackpot.

(4) The gaming states of the gaming machine 1 include a normal state, a limited time-saving state, a time-saving state, and a jackpot state (16R/8R). In the normal state, a lottery is executed for the jackpot state. The winning probability of the jackpot lottery (jackpot probability) is 1/300, and when a jackpot occurs, the jackpot winning hole 20 is opened for the allocated round (R). When a jackpot is won, 16R and 8R are allocated at 1/2 each. In the 16R jackpot state, the jackpot winning hole 20 is opened 16 times, and in the 8R jackpot state, the jackpot winning hole 20 is opened 8 times. The opening lasts a maximum of 30 seconds, and closes when 10 prizes are won.
The opening time of the electric role of the special figure 2 starting hole 16 is 3 seconds in the time-saving state and the time-saving state, and 0.2 seconds in the normal state. The upper limit of the number of winnings in 1R is 10, the upper limit of the opening time is 30 seconds, and 1R ends when either the upper limit of winnings or the upper limit of the opening time is met.

(5) After the 16R jackpot state ends, the machine transitions to the time-saving probability state, which continues until 100 symbol changes have been made. In the time-saving probability state, the probability of a jackpot increases to 1/30, and if no jackpot occurs within 100 symbol changes, the machine transitions to the normal state. After the 8R jackpot ends, the machine transitions to the normal state.

(6) Normally, if no jackpot is reached until a predetermined number of pattern changes (e.g., 1000 times), in other words, if the condition for 1000 consecutive non-wins is met, a transition to a ceiling time-saving state occurs. The ceiling time-saving state continues until, for example, a maximum of 1000 pattern changes have been made. In other words, the ceiling time-saving state continues until the pattern change display is performed 1000 times or a jackpot is reached.

(7) The number of starts (number of jackpot draws) stored in RAM 23a is maintained even after the power is turned off due to the closing of business, but is initialized to zero by a reset operation (initialization operation) performed by the gaming center. Therefore, if there is no reset operation by the gaming center, the number of starts will be carried over to the next business day, but if a reset operation is performed, the number of starts will be 0 when business opens on the next business day.

The slot machine shown on the right side of Figure 1 has a display window 39, a start lever 40, a stop button 41, a medal insertion slot 42, a BET button 43, etc. A player can view the symbols drawn on the reels provided inside through the display window 39. A player inserts medals into the medal insertion slot 42 or operates the BET button 43 to bet a predetermined number of credit medals, and when the start lever 40 is operated in this state, an internal lottery is executed and the fluctuation of the symbols begins, and when the stop button 41 is operated, the fluctuation of the reels is stopped by so-called pull-in control.

As is well known, slot machines have bonus roles (BB and RB roles) in addition to small roles and replay roles. If the player operates the stop button 41 when any role is internally won during the internal lottery, the symbol corresponding to the internally won role is stopped and displayed on a pre-set pay line by so-called sliding control, and if the stopped display is successful, a win occurs and the corresponding number of medals are paid out, or a transition to a bonus state (jackpot state) occurs, etc.

The gaming machine 1 is capable of adjusting the setting value that determines the probability of winning in multiple stages. For example, there are six setting values from "1" to "6" for setting the probability of winning (ball payout rate), and one of these setting values is assigned by operation on the gaming facility side. The higher the setting value, the more advantageous the setting is for the player, and the lower the value, the more disadvantageous the setting is for the player.

The gaming machine 1 outputs the following game signals to the management device 6 via the relay device 4 in response to the execution of a game.
(1) Game media consumption signal: indicates the number of game media consumed in a game.
(2) Game media award signal: indicates the number of game media awarded as a result of winning.
(3) Jackpot lottery signal: indicates the number of jackpot lotteries etc. executed during a game.
(4) Jackpot signal: This is output when a jackpot state occurs, and indicates that a jackpot state exists.
The gaming machine 1 outputs not only these game signals but also various other signals depending on the model.

As shown in FIG. 1, the lending devices 2 include a pachinko machine lending device located on the left side of the pachinko machine, and a slot machine lending device located on the right side of the slot machine, each of which is provided with one for each gaming machine 1. Each lending device 2 has an insertion slot 44 for inserting bills (thousand yen), and lends gaming media in response to the insertion of bills and transmits sales information.

As shown in FIG. 4, the game information display device 3 includes a liquid crystal display unit 45 (a means for displaying the number of big wins, a means for displaying the number of non-wins on the current day, a means for displaying the number of non-wins on the previous day, a means for displaying test play information, a means for displaying initialization information, a means for displaying the number of non-wins on the previous day after correction, and a means for displaying the number of non-wins after the test play big win), a lamp unit 46, a call button 47, a group of operation buttons 48 including a menu button and a My Data button, and a remote control light receiving unit 49. Of these, the call button 47 is an operation button for the player to call an employee, and the menu button is an operation button for displaying a pop-up menu. The My Data button is an operation button for the player to instruct the start of recording personal game data (My Data) on the core game machine 1, and the remote control light receiving unit 49 receives a remote control signal transmitted from a remote control 50 (see FIG. 1) carried by the employee.

Figure 5 is a functional block diagram showing the gaming information display device 3 at its center. The control unit 51 of the gaming information display device 3 (a jackpot count display means, a non-win count display means for the current day, a non-win count display means for the previous day, a display mode switching means, a test play information display means, an initialization information display means, a non-win count calculation means for the test play, a non-win count calculation means for the previous day corrected, a non-win count display means for the previous day corrected, a non-win count display means for the test play after jackpot display means) is mainly composed of a microcomputer having a CPU 51a, a ROM 51b, a RAM 51c, an I/O 51d, etc. The control unit 51 is connected to a transmission/reception unit 52 that transmits/receives various signals and information between the management device 6 and the gaming machine 1, as well as a liquid crystal display unit 45, a lamp unit 46, a call button 47, a group of operation buttons 48, a remote control light receiving unit 49, etc.

As shown in FIG. 4, the game information display device 3 can divide the display area on the liquid crystal display unit 45 into multiple display areas, and receives game signals from the gaming machine 1 via the relay device 4 to create various game data and display it in each display area, or displays various information received from the management device 6 in each display area.

The management device 6 can be connected to the Internet 53 (public communication line) shown in FIG. 1, and can communicate with a server 54 installed at a center via the Internet 53 or the like.
The server 54 is operated, for example, outside the amusement facility by an information provider (a third party separate from the amusement facility), collects and stores gaming information regarding the gaming machines 1 from the management device 6 of each amusement facility via the Internet 53, and uses the Internet 53 to provide various web services including a my data viewing service.

The portable terminal 55 accesses the server 54 via the Internet 53, and the server 54 transmits My Data and the like to the portable terminal 55 in response to access from the portable terminal 55, thereby enabling the data of each gaming machine 1 to be viewed on the portable terminal 55. That is, the server 54 manages the connection ID (e.g., IP address or personal URL) of the portable terminal 55 in association with the portable ID, and stores My Data in association with the connection ID corresponding to the portable ID output by the management device 6.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the normal state, the game information display device 3 displays the symbols 13b corresponding to special chart 1 and special chart 2 on the liquid crystal display unit 13, and displays the reserved balls of special chart 1 and special chart 2 on the reserved display unit 13a. The left side of the reserved balls corresponds to special chart 1, and the right side corresponds to special chart 2. Also, as shown in FIG. 7, in the time-saving state, a message 13c indicating that the time-saving state is in progress, symbols 13b corresponding to special chart 1 and special chart 2, the number of times remaining on the ceiling 13d, and reserved balls 13a for special chart 1 and special chart 2 are displayed. In addition to the normal state described above, the game information display device 3 has a trial mode as a display mode, and the display mode can be switched between the business mode and the trial mode by the operation of the person in charge.

When the person in charge checks the operation of the gaming machine 1 after the business hours, the person in charge first performs a display switching operation to switch the display mode of the gaming information display device 3 from the business mode to the test play mode, and then performs the test play. This display switching operation is performed based on a command from the management device 6 or the remote control 50.
During the test mode, the game information display device 3 displays various game data such as the number of starts (number of non-winning attempts during the test), payout rate, etc. Therefore, during the test mode, the person in charge checks the operation while checking the game data displayed on the game information display device 3.

Here, the game information display device 3 manages the game data during the trial mode separately from the game data during the business mode, so the display data during the business mode is not affected. For example, the number of starts during the trial mode is not added to the current start at the end of the business mode, and even if a jackpot occurs, it is not added to the number of jackpots.
However, when a jackpot occurs, the number of starts stored in the game machine 1 is reset, so a process is executed to reset the final start, which is the current start at the end of the business mode of the previous day, and to store the actual number of starts (non-winning number) after the jackpot.
In this manner, the person in charge checks the operation of the gaming machine 1 based on the number of starts and payout rate in the trial mode, and adjusts the setting values as appropriate based on the results.

Then, when the next business day begins and the power is turned on, the game information display device 3 starts operating and displays the following data based on the information stored in the RAM 24c.
(1) Number of jackpots today (2) Number of jackpots the day before (3) Number of jackpots the day before (4) Last start on the previous day (number of starts at the end of business on the previous day (number of non-winners on the previous day))
(5) Now starting (the number of starts from the opening of business to the present time. Resets to zero and restarts after each jackpot)
(6) Cumulative starts (the total number of starts since the start of business)
(7) Difference in balls trend graph (displays the trend of [number of balls paid out - number of balls inserted] for the last three days in graph form)
(8) Various messages

The gaming machine 1 counts the number of starts after a jackpot to determine whether the ceiling time-saving state has been reached, but it also continues to count the number of starts in the trial mode described above. For this reason, if the gaming information display device 3 displays the previous day's final start at the start of business, the previous day's final start displayed by the gaming information display device 3 will be smaller by the number of starts during the trial mode, and the displayed data will differ from the actual data stored in the gaming machine 1, which may cause trouble with the player.

For these reasons, in this embodiment, if a test play is performed to check the operation of the gaming machine 1 after the close of business on the previous day, this fact can be displayed, and the number of starts during the test play mode and the adjusted final start of the previous day (adjusted number of non-winning starts on the previous day) obtained by adding this number of starts to the final start of the previous day can be displayed.
In the example shown in Figure 8, the final start on the previous day was 345, but 51 starts were made during the trial mode, and at the end of the trial mode the gaming machine 1 stores 396 starts, so a message is displayed indicating that the corrected final start on the previous day is 396.

In addition, if a big win occurs during the trial mode, the following processing is executed in response to operation of the management device 6 or the remote control 50.
(1) Change the previous day's final start to the actual value.
(2) A message is displayed in the message display area stating, "Because a jackpot occurred during the trial play, the final start value of the previous day differs from the value at the end of business."

On the other hand, even if the number of starts after winning a jackpot stored in the gaming machine 1 is initialized to zero after the previous day's business has ended, the displayed data and the actual number of starts will differ. Therefore, by inputting a message on the management device 6 or remote control 50, it is possible to display initialization information indicating whether or not the number of starts stored in the gaming machine 1 was initialized after the previous day's business has ended.

According to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
When the display mode is switched from the business mode to the trial play mode after business hours, the game information display device 3 manages the data during the trial play by excluding it from the data to be displayed, and when displaying the previous day's final start, it displays the corrected previous day's final start by adding the number of starts in the trial play mode, so that it appeals to players who come first thing in the morning that the number of starts has not been initialized, and when a trial play is performed, it provides the player with an accurate previous day's final start including the data during the trial play, giving the player a sense of security and ultimately contributing to an improvement in the operation rate first thing in the morning.
In addition, it is possible to display the fact that the number of starts has not been initialized (reset to zero) after the closing time, which gives the player a sense of security.

Other Embodiments
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but may be modified or expanded as follows, or each modified example may be combined with the above-described embodiment, or each modified example may be combined.
The corrected previous day's start count is displayed in the message display area, but it may be replaced with the previous day's final start count. In this case, it is preferable to display in the message display area that the previous day's final start count has been replaced with the actual value due to the test shot.

If a jackpot occurs during the trial mode, the previous day's final start is replaced with the actual value, but it is also possible to display a corrected previous day's final start in the message display area without replacing it, as in the case where no jackpot occurs (trial play jackpot information display means). In this case, for example, it is good to display a message (variable information) such as "Since a jackpot occurred during the trial play, the actual previous day's final start is 30 times."

The corrected previous day's final start is displayed as an accurate value, but it is also possible to display only that the previous day's final start has increased without displaying the exact value. In this case, the player cannot know the exact value, but can know that it is larger than the previous day's final start displayed, and so the player will play while anticipating how much larger the value actually is.

In the drawing, 1 is a gaming machine, 3 is a gaming information display device, 45 is a liquid crystal display unit (means for displaying the number of jackpots, means for displaying the number of non-wins on the day, means for displaying the number of non-wins on the previous day, means for displaying the test play information, means for displaying the initialization information, means for displaying the corrected number of non-wins on the previous day, means for displaying the number of non-wins after the test play jackpot), and 51 is a control unit (means for displaying the number of jackpots, means for displaying the number of non-wins on the day, means for displaying the number of non-wins on the previous day, means for switching display modes, means for displaying the test play information, means for displaying the initialization information, means for calculating the number of non-wins during the test play, means for calculating the corrected number of non-wins on the previous day, means for displaying the corrected number of non-wins on the previous day, means for displaying the number of non-wins after the test play jackpot).

Claims (5)

A gaming information display device is attached to a gaming machine configured to generate an advantageous state for a player based on the number of consecutive non-winning jackpot lottery results, and displays gaming information related to the gaming machine.
a jackpot count display means for displaying the number of jackpot occurrences on the day;
a non-winning count display means for displaying the number of non-winning times from the start of business on the day to the time when the first big win occurs on the day, and displaying the number of non-winning times from the end of the most recent big win on the day to the current time;
a previous day non-winning count display means for displaying the previous day non-winning count, which is the number of non-winning counts from the time when the last big win on the previous day ended to the time when business on the previous day ended;
a display mode switching means for switching the display mode of the game information between a business mode and a trial mode;
a test shot information display means for displaying information that allows the user to grasp that the number of non-winning times on the previous day has increased due to the test shots after the business hours are ended, when the display mode switching means switches the display mode from the business mode to the test shot mode after the business hours are ended and then switches back to the business mode by turning on the power;
A game information display device comprising: The gaming machine is configured to be able to initialize the number of non-winning times to zero based on a predetermined initialization operation by an employee of the gaming facility,
2. The game information display device according to claim 1, further comprising an initialization information display means for displaying initialization information enabling the user to know whether the initialization operation has been performed after business hours. a test shot non-winning number calculation means for calculating the test shot non-winning number, which is the number of non-winning numbers from the time of switching to the test shot mode;
a corrected non-winning number calculation means for calculating a corrected non-winning number of the day before by adding the non-winning number of the test play to the non-winning number of the day before;
A correction previous day non-winning count display means for displaying the correction previous day non-winning count;
3. The game information display device according to claim 1, further comprising: The game information display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it is provided with a test play jackpot information display means for displaying, when a jackpot occurs in the test play mode, fluctuation information that allows the user to understand that the number of non-wins on the previous day has fluctuated due to the jackpot during the test play. The game information display device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it is provided with a means for displaying the number of non-wins after a test jackpot, which displays the number of non-wins from the time the jackpot ends when a jackpot occurs in the test mode.

Images