U.S. Pat. No. 8,480,496

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Preferred embodiments of an online game server, an online game program product and a game apparatus according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the appending drawings.

FIG. 1is a block diagram that shows an example of a configuration of an online game delivery system according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 1, an online game delivery system100includes an online game server10, a plurality of player terminals21to2N (“N” is an arbitrary integer), and an advertisement site server40.

Each of the online game server10, the plurality of player terminals21to2N and the advertisement site server40, which constitute the online game delivery system100, is connected to a communication network30such as the Internet, for example.

The online game server10is managed by a system administrator of the online game delivery system100, for example. The advertisement site server40is managed by a site administrator who manages an advertisement site, for example. The online game server10and the advertisement site server40have various functions for delivering an online game and the advertisement site related to an object (item and the like) in the online game to each of the player terminals21to2N. Each of the online game server10and the advertisement site server40is configured by an information processing apparatus such as a WWW server.

Each of the player terminals21to2N is managed by a player (user) who plays the online game, and is configured from, for example, an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer and a personal digital assistant. Each of the player terminals21to2N is provided with hardware such as a communication module for connecting to the communication network30and software such as communication software. Each of the player terminals21to2N is provided with a display device having an image display section (display screen) constructed from a television apparatus, a liquid crystal display or the like inside or outside the player terminal.

Here, the online game of the present embodiment is a game that is delivered to each of the player terminals21to2N from the online game server10via the communication network30by means of downloading (DL) or the like, for example, and is played in each of the player terminals21to2N in response to operations of the player. In the online game, when an object selectably displayed on a game display screen is selected, access to the advertisement site server40, which launches an advertisement site as a related site that is related to this object and includes game progress information necessary for progress of the online game, is carried out, and the advertisement site is displayed so as to be available for browsing as part of playing the online game.

In the online game delivery system100, the player is allowed to browse an advertisement and the like of an object without uncomfortable feeling as part of playing the online game while the delivered online game is caused to proceed by selecting an object in the game display screen when the player plays the online game. Thus, it is to be obvious that the form of the online game, in which a player is allowed to browse advertisements related to objects in the game display screen without spoiling interest of the player in the online game due to interruption of the online game, is great useful because it had never been implemented at the filing date of the present invention.

FIG. 2is a block diagram that shows an example of a configuration of the online game server10. As shown inFIG. 2, the online game server10includes a control section11, a communication control section12, and a game information storage section15.

The control section11includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM and the like, and executes control processes of the whole online game server10in accordance with control programs, for example, of various programs stored in the game information storage section15.

The communication control section12has a function to carry out various communication processes between the player terminals21to2N via the communication network30such as the Internet, for example.

The game information storage section15is configured from a database apparatus or the like, for example, and is a storage medium in which the control programs for the online game and various data are stored.

In this regard, the online game of the present embodiment is an adventure type game in which the player selects various objects provided in a three-dimensional virtual space using an input device such as a mouse, for example, the online game proceeds while the player figures out various puzzles (or mysteries) set up in a story of the online game, and the story of the online game is finally to be completed.

FIG. 3is an explanatory drawing that illustrates an example of the game display screen of the online game according to the present embodiment.FIG. 4is an explanatory drawing that illustrates a game object of the online game.FIG. 5is a flowchart that illustrates an example of a process during progress of the online game in the online game delivery system100. As shown inFIG. 3, in the game display screen of the online game of the present embodiment, a plurality of virtual space images that show, for example, the state of the inside of a saloon or a bar are displayed on the display screen of the display device while the story proceeds.

In these virtual space images, various objects such as chairs, a counter, a table, bottles of alcoholic drinks and the like are drawn like an actual saloon or bar. Story objects that are closely related to the story of the online game particularly (that is, objects necessary for progress of the online game) and articles (goods or products) that are actually manufactured and sold are also included in these objects. The player plays the online game while solving puzzles presented in the story of the online game, for example, by moving a cursor Z as shown with an outlined arrow inFIG. 3to select an object drawn in these virtual space images by means of a click operation or the like, or by moving an object by means of a drag and drop operation.

In the online game of the present embodiment, as shown inFIG. 4, an object Y indicating a “cocktail glass” is searched for in addition to an object X indicating a “mixing glass” and objects A to F used in this object X through such operations of the player, for example. Thus, it is an object of the online game to complete a predetermined “cocktail” to be finally poured in the object Y by collecting all of the objects A to F, X, and Y with progress of the story of the online game.

In this regard, the above objects A to F indicate materials necessary for making a “cocktail”, and indicate as follows, for example. Namely, the object A indicates “shochu (clear liquor) (or a bottle of shochu)”, the object B indicates a “lemon”, and the object C indicates “rock ice”. Further, the object D indicates “yogurt (or a pot of yogurt)”, the object E indicates “grenadine (pomegranate) syrup”, and the object F indicates a “bar spoon”.

In the online game of the present embodiment developed by such a story, the following processes are executed during progress of the online game. In this regard, the explanation will be made on the assumption that the player selects the story object described above by operating the player terminal21here. The explanation of processes other than the processes particularly related to the present invention may be omitted.

As shown inFIG. 5, the player terminal21first receives object selection information indicating that a story object is selected, and transmits the received story object selection information to the online game server10via the communication network30(Step S101).

The online game server10receives the story object selection information transmitted from the player terminal21via the communication network30(Step S102), and transmits story object advertisement site specification information to the player terminal21via the communication network30(Step S103). A series of processes of the present flowchart is then terminated. The story object advertisement site specification information is used for the player terminal21to access an advertisement site on which an advertisement related to the story object appears via the communication network30.

In this regard, in the present flowchart, the player terminal21in advance downloads image data and the like indicating story objects in addition to various kinds of information relating to the online game from the online game server10to store them in a storage device with which the player terminal21is provided. However, the player terminal21may also download and store story object advertisement site specification information on all of story objects to be used in the online game from the online game server10at this time. In this case, in the player terminal21, when a story object is selected, story object advertisement site specification information related to the story object is read out from a storage device of the player terminal21. The processing flow then proceeds to Step S105of the flowchart inFIG. 5, for example.

As the advertisement site specification information transmitted to the player terminal21at Step S103described above, for example, a URL (as an example, http://www.ZZsaito.com/shouhin/ and the like) which indicates an address of an advertisement site and a search formula for searching for the advertisement site using a search engine may be mentioned. In the case where the search formula is the advertisement site specification information, for example, conditions such as an article name capable of specifying a story object and a manufacturing company are included in the search formula (as one example, [“XXX” and “YYY”] or the like in the case of an advertisement site that is hit by means of the search using keywords “XXX” and “YYY”). Further, for example, in the case where the player wants to hit only a specific advertisement site that a sponsor company of the online game has, a search formula for searching for a search term in a specific domain can be used (as one example, [“XXX” and “YYY” and “ZZsaito.com”] or the like in the case of an advertisement site that is hit by means of the search using keywords “XXX” and “YYY” and resides in a domain “ZZsaito.com”).

The player terminal21receives the story object advertisement site specification information transmitted from the online game server10via the communication network30(Step S104), and accesses the advertisement site server40via the communication network30on the basis of the received advertisement site specification information (Step S105).

In the case where there is access from the player terminal21, the advertisement site server40transmits advertisement site display information for causing the display device to display the advertisement site specified by the advertisement site specification information on the display screen to the player terminal21via the communication network30(Step S106). A series of processes of the present flowchart is then terminated.

The player terminal21receives the advertisement site display information transmitted from the advertisement site server40via the communication network30(Step S107), and causes the display device to display an advertisement site screen based on the advertisement site display information on the display screen of the display device (Step S108). A series of processes of the present flowchart is then terminated.

In this regard, in this process at Step S108, the advertisement site screen may be displayed with various forms including a form in which it is displayed in the game display screen displayed on the display screen of the display device in the player terminal21, a form in which it is displayed side by side with the game display screen, a form in which it is displayed on a display screen of another display device separate from the display device on which the game display screen is displayed, and a form in which it is displayed on a display screen of an external display device that is connected to the player terminal21. For example, as shown inFIG. 7, a balloon-like window80having a starting point at the story object selected by the cursor Z is displayed in the game display screen, and the advertisement site screen may be displayed in this window80. By displaying the advertisement site screen in this manner, browsing of the advertisement is harmonized as part of playing the online game, and the advertisement and the like can be smoothly displayed without uncomfortable feeling. This makes it possible for the player to keep playing the online game successfully without spoiling interest of a player in the online game.

FIG. 6is an explanatory drawing that illustrates an example of an advertisement site screen displayed on the display screen of the display device in the player terminal21at Step S108of the above flowchart. As shown inFIG. 6, an advertisement site screen is displayed as an article display screen, for example, and this article display screen is constituted as follows.

Namely, an article image display region101, an article data display region102, a “continue” button103and a “buy” button104are provided on the article display screen. An actual article image of the story object (or object) selected by the player is displayed in the article image display region101. An article name “XXX”, a price “Y,YYY yen”, a quantity “1 piece” and other detailed data of the article (here, actual articles of the object A) displayed in the article image display region101are displayed in the article data display region102. The “continue” button103is specified (or pressed) for terminating the display of the article display screen to return to the game display screen and for playing a continuation of the online game. The “buy” button104is specified (or pressed) for shifting to a buying page of the article displayed on the article display screen. In this regard, the quantity of articles displayed in the article data display region102is configured so as to be capable of being changed by means of a pull-down menu.

In this article display screen (that is, advertisement site screen), game progress information necessary (essential) for progress of the online game that the player plays is included. Namely, the game progress information is included in the detailed data of the article data display region102in this article display screen, for example, and it is displayed like “the volume required to make a cocktail is AA ml” or the like.

In the online game of the present embodiment, the player is required to solve a puzzle of query formation such as “how much the volume of shochu required to make a cocktail is?” in the case where the player found out the above object X while the online game proceeds practically, for example. When the player selects the object A in order to solve this puzzle, an advertisement site screen (article display screen) for this object A is displayed, and this allows the player to obtain game progress information necessary for solution of a puzzle.

Therefore, according to the online game of the present embodiment, the player is caused to browse an advertisement and the like of the object in the game display screen as part of playing the online game without interruption of playing the online game, and this allows the player to carry out progress of the online game smoothly. This does not spoil interest of a player in the online game.

In this regard, in the flowchart shown inFIG. 5, it has been described that the advertisement site of the story object (or object) is displayed. However, the player terminal21may be configured so that a related site related to the story object (for example, a site on which the object is introduced, or the like) is displayed in addition to the advertisement site.

Further, there is no need that the player terminal21is connected to the online game server10via the communication network30and the player terminal21does not access the advertisement site until the advertisement site specification information is received. For example, in the case where the object, which is displayed so that it can be selected in the game display screen of the online game executed in the player terminal21by the player, is selected, the player terminal21may search for a related site of this object and access the related site on the basis of a result of search.

In this case, the search for the related site is carried out using a search engine, for example. In the case where a result of search includes a plurality of related sites, the player terminal21may access the related site that is placed on the highest rank by the search engine by priority. This allows the player terminal21to access a related site surely even in the case where the address or the like of the related site is changed.

Further, the online game server10may accumulate accounting information for a site administrator of the advertisement site server40in the game information storage section15shown inFIG. 2, for example. When the advertisement site specification information is transmitted to the player terminal21, the number of times of access may be counted up on the assumption that access to the advertisement site server40is carried out by the player terminal21, for example. The accounting information may be accumulated in the game information storage section15in accordance with the number of times of access thus counted up. By accumulating the accounting information, it is possible to widely provide the online game in which advertisement effects can be heightened by allowing the player terminal21not only to access the advertisement site effectively without placing financial burdens such as a development cost and a management cost of the online game on the side of delivering the online game, such as an administrator of the online game server10, but also to increase the number of times of access.

As described above, in the embodiment described above, the online game server10is constructed so that, in the case where any of the objects A to F and the like selectably displayed in the game display screen of the online game played in the player terminals21to2N operated by their players is selected, the advertisement site specification information in which the game progress information necessary for progress of the online game is included and used for the player terminals21to2N to access the advertisement site for the objects A to F is transmitted to the player terminals21to2N. Thus, when the objects A to F or the like in the game display screen are selected during progress of the online game, access to the advertisement site for the objects A to F or the like is carried out, and this makes it possible to display the advertisement site screen, for example. Therefore, advertisement can be carried out as part of playing the online game without spoiling interest of a player in the online game by causing the player to browse the advertisement for the object in the online game without interruption of playing the online game.

Further, in the embodiment described above, the player terminal is constructed so as to be capable of accessing not only the advertisement site but also the related site related to the objects A to F or the like. Therefore, the player is allowed to browse the related information of the object without interruption of the online game.

In this regard, the site specification information for causing the player terminals21to2N to access the advertisement site or related site (hereinafter, generically referred to as a “site”) may be a URL that indicates an address of the site or a search formula for searching for the site using a search engine. Therefore, it is possible to surely access these sites easily and directly from the player terminals21to2N without the aid of the online game server10.

Moreover, in the embodiment described above, the online game delivery system100is constructed so that the number of times of access is counted up on the assumption that access to a site is carried out by the player terminals21to2N when the online game server10transmits site specification information for the site to the player terminals21to2N, and the accounting information for an administrator of this site is accumulated in accordance with the number of times of access thus counted up. Therefore, it is possible to widely provide the online game by which the player terminal21is allowed not only to access the related site effectively without placing financial burdens such as a development cost and a management cost of the online game on the side of delivering the online game, but also to increase the number of times of access.

Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, each of the player terminals21to2N is constructed so that, when the player terminals21to2N uniquely receive selection of the objects A to F or the like, which are selectably displayed on the game display screen of the online game, by the player, it can search for sites and access the sites on the basis of a result of search. Thus, when the objects A to F or the like in the game display screen are selected by the player during progress of the online game, the player terminal21can access the sites that show advertisements and related information of the object. This allows the player terminal21to surely access the site without interruption of the online game as part of playing the online game without spoiling interest of a player in the online game.

Further, in the embodiment described above, the player terminal21is constructed so that, in the case where a result of search includes a plurality of sites when the player terminal21searches for sites using a search engine, the player terminal21accesses the site that is placed on the highest rank by the search engine. This allows the player terminal21to access any site necessarily even in the case where the address or the like of the site is changed.

The present invention can be applied to an online game server, an online game program product and a game apparatus for delivering an online game, which is played in a player terminal by a player, to the player terminal via a communication network. Therefore, the present invention is useful.