Bingo game with indicia distributed on videocassette

A bingo game having a card distributed with a videocassette. In play, the player matches gaming indicia displayed in the video presentation with the gaming areas on the card.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to game apparatus and more particularly to a 
Bingo type game which is used in connection with a mass distribution 
videocassette publication. 
Bingo is a traditional game of chance in which players play markers on a 
game board. The game board consists of a patterned array of playing areas 
which are typically squares with numbers within them. The traditional game 
board is square and has twenty five playing areas arranged in five rows 
and five columns. Above the top row there is placed the word Bingo with a 
column under each letter of the word. In play, a caller selects at random, 
a gaming indicia, and announces the indicia. The gaming indicia are 
usually numbered balls selected by random removal from a container. The 
caller announces the number and the players scan their game cards for that 
number. If the player's card has the number, the player covers the 
appropriate square with a token. The gaming procedure continues until a 
player has filled all squares on a row, column, or diagonal of the game 
board. This player announces that he has "Bingo" and the game is over. The 
popularity of the game has not been diminished by the passage of time and 
many improvements have been proposed. 
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,454 has taught the distribution of the 
game board through the use of a mass distribution publication. In this 
variant of the Bingo game, the player matches cents-off promotional 
coupons provided in the publication with the cents-off discounts present 
on the game card. 
The traditional game has also been transported into different gaming media. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,611,811 teaches a video game variant of the Bingo game. In 
this electronic version of the game, the player selects a game card from a 
plurality of cards presented to him on the video screen. Play begins with 
a random collection of numbers displayed to the player. The player 
actuates a switch to select a set of numbers which may be manipulated to 
form a Bingo combination. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In contrast to these teachings of the prior art 
the present invention involves the distribution of a game card in 
conjunction with a videocassette. The videocassette contains the gaming 
indicia. The player views the entire videocassette and collects gaming 
indicia displayed as a video image. A player has won if he can "cover" his 
game card with the gaming indicia contained in the videocassette 
distributed with the gaming card.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
An illustrative embodiment of the invention will be described in connection 
with the drawing. It should be clear that many variations and adaptations 
may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. 
It is preferred to distribute the game card 10 with a mass distribution 
videotape presentation carried on a videotape cassette 11. 
The game card 10, shown in the drawing has a matrix of 100 playing areas 
arranged in a 10.times.10 array. The word "BINGOMAGOO" is preferably 
inscribed over the top row, with each letter of the word aligned with a 
column of the array. This is illustrated at the top of the column labeled 
14 where the gaming indicia 14 is located under the letter G. The game 
card 10 may also carry a unique identifying number to permit verification 
of the authenticity of the game card and to verify the authority of the 
wining player to participate in the game. 
In play, the player marks his card with a writing instrument when his game 
card 10 contains a gaming indicia. This process is schematically 
illustrated in the winning level box 20 by the "x" labeled 22. The gaming 
numbers or other gaming indicia are embedded in the videocassette 
information which accompanies the game card. 
As is shown in the drawing, gaming indicia may take the form of labeled 
balls 19 which carry a suitable indicia such as the numeral 19. The 
indicia may also include color as an element of the indicia as indicated 
by the dark solid rendering of the "ball" which indicates that the "ball" 
is colored black. 
It is preferred to include various advertising commercials or spots on the 
video tape and to incorporate or include the gaming indicia or numbers 
between the advertising segments. It is also possible to merge the gaming 
indicia with the topical material and to display the gaming indicia 
simultaneously with the program material. In this fashion the game of 
Bingomagoo provides an incentive to the viewer to watch the advertising 
segments on the tape. Given the flexibility of the video tape media it is 
possible to substitute other indicia for the traditional gaming numbers. 
The use of colors, numbers, letters, or other visual icons or symbols as 
the gaming elements are contemplated within the scope of this invention. 
It is preferred to "flash" these icons on the screen for a brief period of 
time on the order of one second. However it is possible to utilize other 
time periods without departing from the scope of the invention. 
The viewer is encouraged to view the advertising portion of the tape video 
by awarding prizes based upon the successful match-up or coverage of the 
game card. The preferred scoring technique involves adjacent square 
matches along the rows of the matrix. For example the maximum score would 
correspond to a completely filled row corresponding to 10 adjacent icons. 
Lesser scores may be awarded for adjacent square matches of seven or more. 
It is preferred to distribute advertising segments and the associated game 
icons throughout the videotape presentation. A typical format for 
practicing the present invention includes a videocassette magazine which 
is distributed to subscribers on a periodic basis. The videotape may have 
30 minutes of documents or articles, arranged as six segments of five 
minutes duration each. The advertising may be arranged as six segments of 
five minutes each with each segment comprising a medley of commercial 
spots of ten, fifteen ,twenty, or thirty seconds each. A ten second spot 
may flash a single game icon while a twenty second spot may flash two 
separate game icons. The game icons may be displayed in conjunction with 
the word BINGOMAGOO. This format corresponds to a magazine or periodical 
format. The presence of the game within videotape document discourages the 
subscriber or viewer from erasing or distributing the videotape and also 
encourages the subscriber to review the commercial segments of the tape 
which is desirable.