EP1498860A1 - Gaming machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for playing a game, atleast comprising player credit storage means for storing a player'scredit, starting means for starting a new game session, determining meansfor determining the quality of prizes to be won by playing the game,display means for displaying, each time a game session has ended, thequality of the prize that has been won as determined by said determiningmeans, as well as payout means for paying out the prize that the playermay have won.

The known gaming devices are set or adjusted in such amanner as regards their playing behaviour that the prize to be paid outby the device will at all times represent a certain percentage of theamount of money inserted by the players. Said percentage is also calledthe payout factor, which is always lower than 1 and which generallyranges from 0.7 to 0.99. Furthermore, said payout factor has a fixedvalue for a specific gaming device, so that the playing behaviour or thepayout behaviour of the gaming device is likewise fixed for all players.

The object of the present invention is to increase theversatility of the prior art gaming device and make it more attractivefor the player to play. According to the invention, the gaming device isto that end incorporated in a system consisting of two or more gamingdevices being in communication with each other, the determining meansbeing arranged for determining the quality of the prizes to be won independence on the number of gaming devices being in use.

Description

• The invention relates to a device for playing a game, atleast comprising player credit storage means for storing a player'scredit, starting means for starting a new game session, determining meansfor determining the quality of prizes to be won by playing the game,display means for displaying, each time a game session has ended, thequality of the prize that has been won as determined by said determiningmeans, as well as payout means for paying out the prize that the playermay have won.
• Such a generally known device is for example described inDutch patent application No. 1015125. Such a device is for exampleembodied as a fruit machine comprising fruit rolls and a control unitcomprising a random number generator. Stepping motors for rotating andstopping the fruit rolls are controlled on the basis of a numbergenerated by said random number generator.
• The determining means in that case comprise the randomnumber generator, and the display means comprise the fruit rolls incombination with a win scheme. The prior art device furthermore comprisesstarting means including a start button for starting a single session ofthe game, after which the determining means determine the quality(points) to be won by playing said single session of the game, and thedisplay means display the quality (points) as determined by thedetermining means of the prize that has been won after said singlesession, which may or may not take place in the form of a combination offruits on the fruit rolls. When the player presses the start buttonagain, the above procedure is repeated, etc.
• The prior art device may furthermore include player creditstorage means for storing a player's credit, for example in the form ofthe total quality (points) of the prizes won by a player, which can be increased by inserting money and which can be decreased or increased eachtime a game session is played. When the player's credit reaches valuezero, money will have to be inserted first before the game can be playedagain one or more times.
• In addition to that, the known gaming device comprisespayout means, which are arranged for paying out the player's creditstored in the player credit storage means to said player in the form of aprize associated with said credit (for example in the form of tokens ormoney).
• The known gaming devices are set or adjusted in such amanner as regards their playing behaviour that the prize to be paid outby the device will at all times represent a certain percentage of theamount of money inserted by the players. Said percentage is also calledthe payout factor, which is always lower than 1 and which generallyranges from 0.7 to 0.99. Furthermore, said payout factor has a fixedvalue for a specific gaming device, so that the playing behaviour or thepayout behaviour of the gaming device is likewise fixed for all players.
• The object of the present invention is to increase theversatility of the prior art gaming device and make it more attractivefor the player to play.
• According to the invention, the gaming device is to thatend incorporated in a system consisting of two or more gaming devicesbeing in communication with each other, the determining means beingarranged for determining the quality of the prizes to be won independence on the number of gaming devices being in use.
• As a result of this aspect of the invention, the gamingdevice will no longer exhibit a fixed playing or payout behaviour, butits behaviour will vary in dependence on the number of gaming devicesthat are active within the system. The player thus operates a gamingdevice which - depending on the number of gaming devices that are activewithin the system - exhibits a variable playing behaviour and a variable associated payout behaviour.
• In a special embodiment, the determining means are arrangedfor increasing or decreasing said quality in dependence on the number ofactive gaming devices being in use.
• Thus the player may be confronted with a gaming deviceexhibiting a playing behaviour and an associated payout behaviour ofhigher or lower prizes to be won.
• More specifically, in another embodiment of the gamingdevice according to the invention, wherein the playing behaviour andconsequently the payout behaviour is variable or adjustable, thedetermining means determine the quality of prizes to be won by playingthe game partially on the basis of a payout factor, whose value forms thepercentage of the amount of the prizes to be paid out to the players inproportion to the player credit as inserted by the players, and whereinthe determining means are arranged for increasing or decreasing the valueof the payout factor in dependence on the number of gaming devices beingin use.
• In a very functional embodiment, all the gaming devices areinterconnected by means of telecommunication links.
• In order to be able to determine in a simple manner whichones of the interconnected gaming devices incorporated in the system arebeing actively played, the system comprises establishing means arrangedfor establishing the number of gaming devices in the system that areactive.
• Said establishing means may be arranged for establishingthe activity of a gaming device on the basis of the amount of a player'scredit and/or (the frequency of) the number of times the player hasactivated the starting means.
• In another embodiment according to the invention, saidestablishing means are arranged for adjusting the determining means ofeach active gaming device as regards the determination of the quality of prizes to be won by playing the game on the basis of the number of activegaming devices.
• More particularly, said establishing means are arranged foradjusting the determining means of each active gaming device as regardsthe increasing or decreasing of the value of the payout factor on thebasis of the number of active gaming devices.
• In another embodiment, the establishing means may beincorporated in a gaming device.
• In another special an embodiment of the invention, eachgaming device is further arranged for indicating to the player the valueof or the change in the payout factor, for example by means of lightand/or sound.
• The display means may be arranged for displaying the valueof or the change in the payout factor to the player.
• The invention furthermore relates to a system consisting oftwo or more gaming devices according to the invention, which are incommunication with each other.
• The invention will now be explained in more detail withreference to a drawing, in which:
• Fig. 1 shows a device according to the prior art;
• Fig. 2 shows an embodiment according to the invention,which is composed of a system comprising several gaming devices accordingto the invention.
• In Fig. 1 a concrete example of a known gaming deviceaccording to the prior art in the form of a slot machine is shown. Thehardware is controlled by means of a control unit. Said unit alsoprocesses the inputs from, for example, thestart button 20. The controlsoftware, among which the buffer means (not shown), runs on said controlunit. The slot machine that is shown in Fig. 1 comprises amoney slot 6,apayout button 7, astart button 20 and display means 4a, 4d fordisplaying the prize that has been won each time a game session has ended. In this case, the prize that has been won is indicated by thecombination of the fruits on the three fruit rolls 4a1, 4a2 and 4a3 thatare aligned on the win line 4a4.
• The known gaming device furthermore comprises player creditstorage means 5 for storing a player's credit T in the form of a totalamount of money or points. Said player's credit is displayed to theplayer and continuously updated, with the player's credit on the one handdecreasing when the player starts a game session by pressing thestartbutton 20 and on the other hand increasing when the started game sessionyields a prize > 0, which prize, at least the quality associatedtherewith, is added to the player's credit. The moment the player'scredit becomes zero, playing the gaming device is no longer possible. Theplayer (or another player) can play the gaming device again by increasingthe credit by inserting money into themoney slot 6.
• By pressing thestart button 20, a single game session isstarted. The player's credit decreases. The fruit rolls 4a1-4a3 of thedisplay means 4a start to rotate. The rolls 4a1-4a3 stop on the basis ofthe quality determined by the determining means and show a combination offruits on the win line 4a4, which combination may be a losing combinationor a winning combination. The prize associated with the winningcombination lights up on the win scheme 4d and is added to the player'scredit, whilst the applicable total for the player's credit is displayedby display means 4c.
• The quality of a prize may be the amount, for example theamount of money or the number of points, zero included, or the nature ofthe prize, for example a feature or a physical product.
• The known gaming devices are set or adjusted in such amanner as regards their playing behaviour that the prize to be paid outby the device will at all times represent a percentage of the amount ofmoney inserted by the players. Said percentage is also called the payoutfactor, which is always lower than 1 and may generally range from 0.7 to 0.99. Furthermore, said payout factor has a fixed value for a specificgaming device, so that the playing behaviour or the payout behaviour ofthe gaming device is likewise fixed for all players.
• Fig. 2 shows an embodiment of a gaming device according tothe invention forming part of asystem 10 comprising two or more, four inthis case, gaming devices indicated A-D. The gaming devices of thisembodiment are identical to each other, viz. fruit machines as shown inFig. 1. For a clear understanding of the invention it is noted that it isalso possible to incorporate different types of gaming devices in thesystem 10.
• The various gaming devices A-D are interconnected in thesystem 10 by means ofsuitable telecommunication links 10a-10d. Saidcommunication links may be telephone links or network links. In theformer case, each gaming device may comprise asuitable modem adapter11a-11d, whilst in the latter case the communication between the variousgaming devices takes place via anetwork adapter 11a-11d.
• The communication between the various devices can takeplace via a Unix or Novell-based network protocol, or via the TCP/IPprotocol, for example, which is related to the Internet.
• According to the invention, each gaming device A-D isarranged in such a manner that the determining means determine thequality of the prizes to be won in dependence on the number of gamingdevices A-D that are active within the system. More in particular, thedetermining means are arranged for increasing or decreasing said quality.
• Unlike the known gaming devices, in which the playing orpayout behaviour is of a fixed, unvarying nature, it is possible tochange said playing or payout behaviour when using a gaming deviceaccording to the invention. This gives the player an opportunity to playa game in which the payout is higher or in which there is a greaterchance of winning a high prize.
• The playing and/or behaviour of a specific gaming device, for example gaming device A, depends on or is determined by the totalnumber of gaming devices in thesystem 10 that are being activelyoperated by a player.
• More in particular, the determining means determine thequality of prizes to be won by playing the game partially on the basis ofthe payout factor, which payout factor represents the total amount of theprizes to be paid out to the players in proportion to the player creditas inserted by the players. The determining means are arranged toincrease or decrease the value of said payout factor in dependence on thenumber of gaming devices that are active. This is shown purely by way ofillustration in the table below.

  
• If only one gaming device, for example gaming device B, isbeing used by a player, said gaming device will function in a mannersimilar to a gaming device according to the prior art as shown in Fig. 1.That is, the gaming device B gears its playing and/or payout behaviour toa payout factor of 88%, i.e. only 88% of the currency unit value beinginserted as money via themoney slot 6 is available in the form of prizesthat may be paid out to the player (or future players).
• If more gaming devices (in this case A, C and D) in thesystem 10 are activated and played by players, the payout factor will increase to 90% in the case of two gaming devices being active within thesystem, the payout factor will be 92% in the case of three gaming devicesbeing active and if the system comprises a total of ten gaming devices,the payout factor will increase to 98% for each gaming device if all tengaming devices of the system are being played simultaneously.
• Likewise, the payout factor will decrease correspondinglywhen a gaming device that was first active within the system becomesinactive, for example because the player credit of the gaming device inquestion is reduced to zero and is not further increased by the player inquestion, for example because the player wishes to stop playing.
• The system comprises establishing means for establishing ifand how many gaming devices in thesystem 10 are being actively used byplayers, which establishing means are arranged for establishing thenumber of gaming devices A-D that are active within the system. Saidestablishing means, which are schematically indicated at 12 in Fig. 2,may be incorporated in thesystem 10 as aseparate unit 12, for example,which separateunit 12 is in communication with all the gaming devices A-Dthat are incorporated in thesystem 10. In another embodiment (likewiseshown in Fig. 2) the establishing means 12 may be incorporated in agaming device, gaming device D in this case, in which the establishingmeans are indicated by numeral 12'.
• The establishing means establish the activity of a gamingdevice A-D on the basis of, for example, the amount of a player's creditand/or the number of times or the frequency (during a particular timeunit) the player in question activates the starting means 20 of thegaming device in question.
• The display means 4 can suitable pass on the amount of theplayer's credit to the establishing means (embodied as acentral unit 12in thesystem 10, or as a unit 12' incorporated in the gaming device D)in the form of control signals via thecommunication links 10a-10d.Likewise, the number of times that the starting means 20 are activated by a player during a particular period can be established in a simple mannerand be passed on to the establishing means 12 (12') in the form of acontrol signal.
• On the basis of said control signals, the establishingmeans establish how many gaming devices are active. Based on Table 1, forexample, the determining means of each gaming device A-D are set orreprogrammed via thevarious communication links 10a-10d as regards themanner in which the determining means determine the quality of the prizesto be won. For example, the establishing means 12 (or 12') can adjust thedetermining means so that said determining means generate higher or lowerprizes in dependence on the number of active gaming devices.
• More in particular, the establishing means 12 (or 12') canadjust the determining means so that said determining means increase ordecrease the payout factor, again in dependence on the number of activegaming devices as established by the establishing means 12 (12').
• Thus the payout factor can be increased or decreased by afixed value, for example by ±1% or ±2% for each gaming device that isactivated or deactivated within the system. On the other hand, the payoutfactor may increase or decrease proportionally in dependence on thenumber of active/inactive gaming devices.
• To enhance the players' perception of the game in thesystem of several gaming devices according to the invention, each gamingdevice may furthermore be arranged for indicating the value or the changein the payout factor to the player, for example by means of light and/orsound. The display means may in that case be arranged for displaying thevalue or the change in the payout factor to the player.
• It will be understood that the attraction and the challengeto the players will increase significantly when this game concept isused, because more prizes can be won (read: more frequent payouts orhigher prizes) if several players simultaneously play the gaming devicesA-D that are incorporated in thesystem 10.
• It will be understood that the embodiment described in thepresent application is not limited to a number of four gaming devices,but that thesystem 10 may comprise ten or more gaming devices, possiblyof different types, as long as said gaming devices are interconnected viasuitable communication links and are furthermore capable of communicatingwith each other via said communication links.
• Although the invention (see the figures) is disclosedherein on the basis of a more or less mechanical embodiment of a slotmachine comprising fruit rolls that rotate with each game session, thusdisplaying a specific combination of fruits to the player, the inventioncan also be implemented very well with a slot machines in which therotation of the fruit rolls is simulated on a display screen and in whichalso the obtained combination of fruits is disclosed via said displayscreen.
• Also other types of slot machines (i.e. not specifically ofthe fruit machine type), in which the outcome of the game is "simulated"on a display screen to the player are considered to fall within the scopeof the invention.

Claims (12)

1. A device for playing a game, at least comprising playercredit storage means for storing a player's credit, starting means forstarting a new game session, determining means for determining thequality of prizes to be won by playing the game, display means fordisplaying, each time a game session has ended, the quality of the prizethat has been won as determined by said determining means, as well aspayout means for paying out the prize that the player may have won,characterized in that the gaming device is incorporated in a systemconsisting of two or more gaming devices being in communication with eachother, the determining means being arranged for determining the qualityof the prizes to be won in dependence on the number of gaming devicesbeing in use.
2. A device according to claim 1,characterized in that thedetermining means are arranged for increasing or decreasing said qualityin dependence on the number of active gaming devices being in use.
3. A device according to claim 1 or 2,characterized in thatthe determining means determine the quality of prizes to be won byplaying the game partially on the basis of a payout factor, whose valueforms the percentage of the amount of the prizes to be paid out to theplayers in proportion to the player credit as inserted by the players,the determining means being arranged for increasing or decreasing thevalue of the payout factor in dependence on the number of gaming devicesbeing in use.
4. A device according to any one or more of the precedingclaims,characterized in that all the gaming devices are interconnectedby means of telecommunication links.
5. A device according to any one or more of the precedingclaims,characterized in that the system comprises establishing meansarranged for establishing the number of gaming devices in the system that are active.
6. A device according to claim 5,characterized in that saidestablishing means are arranged for establishing the activity of a gamingdevice on the basis of the amount of a player's credit and/or (thefrequency of) the number of times the player has activated the startingmeans.
7. A device according to claim 5 or 6,characterized in thatsaid establishing means are arranged for adjusting the determining meansof each active gaming device as regards the determination of the qualityof prizes to be won by playing the game on the basis of the number ofactive gaming devices.
8. A device according to claim 5 or 6,characterized in thatsaid establishing means are arranged for adjusting the determining meansof each active gaming device as regards the increasing or decreasing ofthe value of the payout factor on the basis of the number of activegaming devices.
9. A device according to any one or more of the claims 5-8,characterized in that said establishing means are incorporated in agaming device.
10. A device according to any one or more of the claims 3-9,characterized in that each gaming device is further arranged forindicating to the player the value of or the change in the payout factor,for example by means of light and/or sound.
11. A device according to claim 1,characterized in that thedisplay means may be arranged for displaying the value of or the changein the payout factor to the player.
12. A system consisting of two or more gaming devices accordingto any one or more of the preceding claims, which are in communicationwith each other.

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