Abstract:
There is an interactive video game having a lotterized aspect incorporated therein. In addition to the traditional interactive video game, instant and future win opportunities are presented to the player throughout the game. The game and win opportunities are played with a plurality of virtual currencies, the virtual currencies comprising credits for purchasing virtual goods in the game play instance, tokens applicable within the game play instance for participating in the real world lottery, and gifts representative of virtual goods exchangeable between players.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims priority under 35 USC 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/492,702, filed on Jun. 2, 2011, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/492,644, filed on Jun. 2, 2011, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/430,889, filed on Jan. 7, 2011, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to the field of online gaming and more particularly, online gaming incorporating a lotterized aspect therein and the management of various types of virtual currencies. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE ART 
     An online game is a game played over some form of a computer network, such as the Internet. The expansion of online gaming has reflected the overall expansion of computer networks from small local networks to the Internet and the growth of Internet access itself. Online games can range from simple text based games to games incorporating complex graphics and virtual worlds populated by many players simultaneously. Many online games have associated online communities, making online games a form of social activity beyond single player games. 
     A lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize and it may come in various formats. For example, the prize can be a fixed amount of cash or goods. Alternatively, the prize may be a fixed percentage of the receipts, such as a “50-50” draw, where the prize is 50% of the revenue. 
     The demographics targeted and attracted to online games vs. lottery games vary widely. Providers of such games are always looking for ways to increase the population segments that will show an interest in either type of game. 
     SUMMARY 
     There is described herein an interactive video game having a lotterized aspect incorporated therein. In addition to the traditional interactive video game, instant and future win opportunities are presented to the player throughout the game. The game and win opportunities are played with a plurality of virtual currencies, the virtual currencies comprising credits for purchasing virtual goods in the game play instance, tokens applicable within the game play instance for participating in the real world lottery, and gifts representative of virtual goods exchangeable between players. 
     In accordance with a first broad aspect, there is provided a system for executing an interactive video game having a lotterized component, the system comprising: at least one computer server communicable with at least one client computing device over a network, the server having a processor and a memory; a gaming engine module stored on the memory and executable by the processor, the gaming engine module having program code that when executed, generates an interactive game play instance playable on the client computing device; a lottery services module stored on the memory and executable by the processor, the lottery services module having program code that when executed, conducts a real world lottery transaction within the game play instance; and a virtual currency module stored on the memory and executable by the processor, the virtual currency module having program code that when executed, issues and manages separately credits for purchasing virtual goods in the game play instance, tokens applicable within the game play instance for participating in the real world lottery, and gifts representative of virtual goods exchangeable between players. 
     In some embodiments, the game play instance corresponds to a collecting game simulating a shopping experience. The collecting game may require players to collect sets of virtual goods in order to obtain an opportunity to win real-world equivalents of the virtual goods. Such opportunities may only be provided when predefined sets of the virtual goods have been completed. 
     In accordance with another broad aspect, there is provided a computer-implemented method for providing an interactive video game having a lotterized component, the method comprising executing on a processor program code for: generating an interactive game play instance playable on the client computing device; conducting a real world lottery transaction within the game play instance; and issuing and managing separately virtual currency in the interactive video game, the virtual currency comprising credits for purchasing virtual goods in the game play instance, tokens applicable within the game play instance for participating in the real world lottery, and gifts representative of virtual goods exchangeable between players. 
     In accordance with yet another aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having stored thereon program code executable by a processor for providing an interactive video game having a lotterized component, the program code executable for: generating an interactive game play instance playable on the client computing device; conducting a real world lottery transaction within the game play instance; and issuing and managing separately virtual currency in the interactive video game, the virtual currency comprising credits for purchasing virtual goods in the game play instance, tokens applicable within the game play instance for participating in the real world lottery, and gifts representative of virtual goods exchangeable between players. 
     In this specification, the term “virtual credits” is intended to mean a virtual currency used in a virtual world to purchase virtual items, without possibility for conversion to a real world currency. The term “tokens” refers to a virtual currency applicable in a virtual world to obtain win opportunities to win real world prizes. The term “win opportunities” refers to instant chances to win a real world prize via a lottery or other type of gambling game, and/or future chances to enter a draw to win a real world prize. The term “gifts” refers to virtual items that players may send to friends in the virtual world. In some instances, the gifts are special virtual items not available to a player except through gifting. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in combination with the appended drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary lotterized video game; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic illustration of an exemplary organization of virtual items into categories and levels; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic illustration of an exemplary tool used by a player for record-keeping; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic illustration of a system for executing a lotterized video game, in accordance with one embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary application running on the processor of the system of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary gaming engine module for the application of  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary lottery services module for the application of  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary virtual currency module for the application of  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 9  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary currency issuing module for the virtual currency module of  FIG. 8 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary managing module for the virtual currency module of  FIG. 8 ; and 
         FIG. 11  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary player account manager for the application of  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
    
     It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is a flow-chart illustrating an exemplary lotterized video game. In this embodiment, the interactive video game is a collecting game that uses a shopping metaphor in order to provide a simulated environment. Virtual items are organized into sets and players advance through the game by completing sets when they acquire all of the virtual items of a given set. Advancement in the game may cause the players to gain access to increasingly valuable and exclusive virtual items for their collections. Players may earn win opportunities in the real world via the interactive game. The win opportunities may correspond to real-world items from the collected sets, money, or participations in an instant or future lottery draw. 
     Players may participate in the lotterized video game by first purchasing a virtual currency bundle  102 . This is how the game is monetized. Each bundle may comprise an amount of credits used to purchase virtual goods (i.e. the virtual items to be collected into a set), a number of tokens applicable in the virtual game for win opportunities, and a number of gifts. 
     Credits are used to purchase virtual items in collections. Credits cannot be converted into cash or prizes and so can be used to provide an incentive for any activity that the game operator wishes to encourage. For example, players can be paid in credits for engaging in an activity that adds value to the game, such as sending invitations or gifts to friends. 
     Tokens represent lotterized opportunities to win prizes. In some embodiments, players may apply tokens to completed sets for an opportunity to win a prize from that set. Alternative win opportunities using tokens include instant win prizes and future participations in a lottery draw. Since tokens can be converted into cash or prizes, they are to be controlled in the game economy. 
     Gifts are items players can send to friends to encourage them to play the game as well. In one embodiment, a daily gift is provided to a player each time he returns to the game. This gift allows the player to send a virtual item to a friend. The virtual item may then become an item in the friend&#39;s collection. In an alternative embodiment, a player is allowed to gift a double of an item that has already been purchased using credits and therefore forms part of his collection. Other possible variations on gifting will be understood by those skilled in the art. 
     In some embodiments, a wish list is used to inform other players of virtual items that players would like to receive as a gift from friends. Players may be informed which of their friends have put a given item on their wish list, or which friends have made updates to their wish list. In some embodiments, players can increase their social status in the game by sending gifts that their friends have indicated they would like to receive, as well as increase the likelihood of their friends reciprocating with gifts they themselves need. 
     Virtual currency bundles may be purchased on a one-time basis, as part of a regular subscription, or in the form of a micro-transaction. The subscription may be on a daily, weekly; monthly, or yearly basis, or according to any other desired frequency. The amounts of credits, tokens, and gifts making up a virtual bundle may be fixed or they may vary as a function of a purchase price. For example, $3.00 may buy 500 credits, 6 tokens and 3 gifts; $5.00 may buy 800 credits, 12 tokens, 9 gifts; $10.00 may buy 2000 credits, 30 tokens, and 15 gifts. An exclusive subscription may correspond to $10.00/week in order to obtain 2100 credits, 35 tokens, and 25 gifts. Other combinations of credits, tokens, and gifts are also possible. Micro-transactions may be done using either a lottery jurisdiction wallet or one of several other micro-transaction systems provided by various vendors, such as Apple™, Facebook™, PayByPhone™, etc. 
     Once a player has purchased a virtual currency bundle, they may begin to play the interactive video game. In the present context, this means purchasing virtual items using credits to form collections  104 . The virtual items may be provided to the players in various formats, such as in an auction setting, in a virtual shopping mall, via a scavenger hunt in a virtual world, etc. 
     In one embodiment, the player may only complete a set by receiving a gift from a friend  106 . If the gift is provided before the set is complete  108 , the player continues to collect items until the set is completed. If the set is completed, the player may have the opportunity to apply a token to a completed set  110  and gain a win opportunity  112 . Whether the token results in a win or not, the player may then advance in the game by proceeding to a next level  114  and beginning the process of collecting other virtual items using accumulated credits  104 . 
     Virtual items for collection may be organized into categories, which may contain sub-categories, and further organized into a hierarchy based on the value of the items. Categories or sub-categories may contain collections organized into levels, which themselves may contain the individual items to be collected. An exemplary organizational structure is illustrated in  FIG. 2 . Players drill into a category and may be presented with a selection of virtual items to choose from, organized into collections. At first, only level one collections are available to a player. In some embodiments, the players may be able to see higher level collections, although they cannot access the contents. For example, they may be able to see and purchase the contents of the “entry level sedan” collection and they can see that there is a “luxury sedan” collection, but they cannot see or purchase any of the items in the “luxury sedan” collection. Players must first purchase all of the items in the level 1 collection in a category in order to unlock the level 2 collection in that category. 
     In one exemplary embodiment, each collection consists of a given number of items to collect, such as twelve. Of these twelve items, a given number can be purchased by the player using virtual credits, such as ten. The remaining number of items, in this case two, are special items that can only be received as a gift from another player and cannot be purchased by a player using virtual credits. Additional items, either regular or special, may be available in a set from time to time as a special feature. A player completes a collection by acquiring credits and using them to purchase the items in a set.  FIG. 3  is an exemplary tool used by the player to keep track of collected items. 
     A collection may be considered complete when the ten purchasable items are acquired. When the player has all twelve items in a collection (ten purchased items+two gifted items), the collection may be given a special treatment, such as an animation or screen hint. This indicates to the player that a token can now be applied to win prizes. The prizes may be an item taken directly from the collection or another item, such as a cash prize or a lottery draw ticket. Special time-limited items may appear from time to time to create additional interest. 
     The application of the tokens constitutes the lotterization of the interactive video game. Players ca win instantly, daily, weekly, or on any other desired basis by applying tokens to completed sets. Players may also gain additional entries into daily or weekly draws as a reward for particular in-game actions, such as completing a set, sending another player a gift, sending a fried an invitation to join a game, having the friend accept the invitation, etc. The interface used to apply the draw and instant win token may be embedded directly into the simulated virtual world. For example, once a player completes a set, the presentation of the set changes to make it clear to the player that a token may be applied for a real world win opportunity. If a player applies a token at that instant, a token wallet, on display to the player, is decremented by one and the player is subsequently informed of a win or loss. 
     Additional features, such as achievement badges, special offers, notifications, draw alerts, and promotions on virtual goods and currency may also be provided in the game. Various social components of existing massive multi-player online games, such as invitations, friend lists, and activities/news feeds may be incorporated as well. Leader boards may be used to show various aspects of the game, such as depth of play (players with the most level 3 sets), breadth of play (players who have completed the most categories), cash wins (players who have won the most draws), collecting activities (players who are the biggest spenders), and social status (players with the most completed sets). In some instances, a player accepting an invitation to play the game may immediately be offered one or more win opportunities for real world prizes. 
     A concierge or helper may be provided to guide the player through the various steps of the interactive video game and the lotterized component of the game. The concierge or helper may act as a tutor, especially when the player is just starting out. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , there is illustrated a system for executing the lotterized video game. One or more server(s) are provided remotely and accessible via a network  408 . For example, a series of servers corresponding to a web server, an application server, a database server, and a lottery server may be used. These servers are all represented by server  400  in  FIG. 1 . The server  400  is accessed by a client device  410 , such as a telephone, a computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), an Iphone™, etc, via any type of network  408 , such as the Internet, the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN), a cellular network, or others known to those skilled in the art. 
     The server  400  comprises, amongst other things, a plurality of applications  406   a  . . .  406   n  running on a processor  404 , the processor being coupled to a memory  402 . It should be understood that while the applications  406   a  . . .  406   n  presented herein are illustrated and described as separate entities, they may be combined or separated in a variety of ways. 
     One or more databases (not shown) may be integrated directly into memory  402  or may be provided separately therefrom and remotely from the server  400 . In the case of a remote access to the databases, access may occur via any type of network  408 , as indicated above. The various databases described herein may be provided as collections of data or information organized for rapid search and retrieval by a computer. They are structured to facilitate storage, retrieval, modification, and deletion of data in conjunction with various data-processing operations. They may consist of a file or sets of files that can be broken down into records, each of which consists of one or more fields. Database information may be retrieved through queries using keywords and sorting commands, in order to rapidly search, rearrange, group, and select the field. The databases may be any organization of data on a data storage medium, such as one or more servers. 
     In one embodiment, the databases are secure web servers and Hypertext Transport Protocol Secure (HTTPS) capable of supporting Transport Layer Security (TLS), which is a protocol used for access to the data. Communications to and from the secure web servers may be secured using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). An SSL session may be started by sending a request to the Web server with an HTTPS prefix in the URL, which causes port number “443” to be placed into the packets. Port “443” is the number assigned to the SSL application on the server. Identity verification of a user may be performed using usernames and passwords for all users. Various levels of access rights may be provided to multiple levels of users. 
     Alternatively, any known communication protocols that enable devices within a computer network to exchange information may be used. Examples of protocols are as follows: IP (Internet Protocol), UDP (User Datagram Protocol), TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), FTP (File Transfer Protocol), Telnet (Telnet Remote Protocol), SSH (Secure Shell Remote Protocol), POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3), SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol), SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol), RFB (Remote Frame buffer) Protocol. 
     The memory  402  accessible by the processor  404  receives and stores data. The memory  402  may be a main memory, such as a high speed Random Access Memory (RAM), or an auxiliary storage unit, such as a hard disk, a floppy disk, or a magnetic tape drive. The memory may be any other type of memory, such as a Read-Only Memory (ROM), or optical storage media such as a videodisc and a compact disc. 
     The processor  404  may access the memory  402  to retrieve data. The processor  404  may be any device that can perform operations on data. Examples are a central processing unit (CPU), a front-end processor, a microprocessor, a graphics processing unit (GPUNPU), a physics processing unit (PPU), a digital signal processor, and a network processor. The applications  106   a  . . .  106   n  are coupled to the processor  404  and configured to perform various tasks as explained below in more detail. An output may be transmitted to the client device  410 . 
       FIG. 5  illustrates an exemplary application  406   a  running on the processor  404 . The application  406   a  comprises at least a gaming engine module  502 , a lottery services module  504 , and a virtual currency module  506 . These three modules interact together in order to provide the lotterized video game that is executable by the processor  404  over the network  108 . The lotterized video game can conduct a lottery transaction within an interactive game play instance which issues a real lottery ticket from a government sanctioned lottery authority. 
     A management module  507  is illustrated as comprising a player account manager  508  and a transaction module  510 . The transaction module  510  is involved in the real world transactional aspects of the game. Real world transactions are involved when players purchase virtual currencies and when players are awarded cash or other real world prizes via the integrated lotteries. Therefore, the transaction module  510  interacts with the lottery services module  504  and the virtual currency module  506  to manage the transactions. The transaction module  510  also interacts with the player account manager  508 . The player account manager  508  is responsible for managing player account functions, such as creating a player account, validating an existing player&#39;s login and password or a new player&#39;s eligibility to play the game, suspending a player&#39;s account, activating a player account, creating a player profile, viewing a player profile, viewing a current balance of a player&#39;s real money in a player account, updating a current balance of a player&#39;s real money account, and updating a player&#39;s virtual ranking/status. 
     The gaming engine module  502  is a flexible and reusable software platform which provides core functionalities needed to develop a game application. This module may be responsible for all aspects of the lotterized video game that relate directly to the interactive game, namely the simulated shopping experience.  FIG. 6  is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the gaming engine module  502 . A game specs module  602  contains specific gaming logic and instructs a rendering and simulation engine  604  to create the virtual world and render images in accordance with this logic. For example, if a player finishes a first level and wishes to continue to a second level, the game specs module  602  will instruct the rendering and simulation engine  604  to display the items available in the second level of the game for the user to purchase. In another example, when a given action occurs in a game, such as the player requesting access to a given store in a virtual shopping mall, the game specs module  602  will instruct the rendering and simulation engine  604  to render the appropriate graphics and display these graphs within the simulated gaming environment. For simplicity, other features of the gaming engine module  502  typically present in such a software platform are not illustrated. Examples of these other features relate to functionalities such as collision detection (and collision response), sound, scripting, animation, artificial intelligence, networking, streaming, memory management, threading, localization support, and a scene graph. These functionalities will be readily understood to be included in the present description by a person skilled in the art. 
     The lottery services module  504  is responsible for all aspects of the lotterized video game that relate directly to the lotterized features incorporated into the interactive game.  FIG. 7  is a simplified exemplary embodiment of the lottery services module  504 . A token application module  702  manages the application of tokens and when applied properly, cooperates with a lottery engine  704 , which is responsible for the actual draws and validating of wins. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 5 , the virtual currency module  506  is used by both the gaming engine module  502  and the lottery services module  504  in that it is involved in issuing and managing credits, gifts, and tokens. Tokens are to be carefully controlled within the gaming environment since they can be redeemed for real world prizes such as cash and other goods. Credits are purchased by the player and used at will to purchase virtual goods. The impact of credits within the game play instance is different from the impact of tokens and therefore, they are to be managed separately. Similarly, the game dynamics can also be modified through a controlled management of gifts. The virtual economy within the game is to be kept at an appropriate equilibrium with regards to the allocation of tokens, credits, and gifts via careful management from the virtual currency module  506 . 
       FIG. 8  illustrates a simplified exemplary embodiment of the virtual currency module, which is mainly responsible for issuing and managing the virtual currencies. A currency issuing module  802 , illustrated in more detail in  FIG. 9 , accepts requests for virtual currencies. As stated above, the requests may be on a one-time basis per player, on a subscription basis, or in the form of multiple mini-transactions. A bundling and issuing engine  908  will, as a function of the requests, access one or more databases containing the credits  902 , tokens  904 , and gifts  906 . The virtual currencies are bundled together in accordance with a set of rules set out by the game operator and issued to the player accordingly. A virtual currency managing module  804  inside the virtual currency module  506  is then responsible for managing use and application of the various virtual currencies. 
       FIG. 10  illustrates in more detail an exemplary virtual currency managing module  804 . A separate set of rules and regulations each dictate the use and application of the various virtual currencies. For example, the credit rules and regulations  1002  impose a limit on the number of credits that may be purchased, regulate the number of credits that are needed for a given action in the interactive video game, and validate each use of the credits in accordance with the rules and regulations using a virtual currency manager  1008 . Similarly, the token rules and regulations  1004  may impose limits on token acquisition and token use, and the virtual currency manager  1008  ensures that these rules and regulations are followed. Also similarly, the gift rules and regulations  1006  may impose limits on gift acquisition and gift use, and the virtual currency manager  1008  ensures that these rules and regulations are followed. 
       FIG. 11  illustrates in more detail the player account manager  508  of  FIG. 5 . An accounts creator  1102  handles the creation of the account, acquisition of personal information of the player, acquisition of financial information of the player, and the general creation of a player profile. The player accounts/profiles are maintained in a database  1106  and updated by a profile manager  1104 . The profile manager  1104  will update the player accounts  1106  whenever new information is available for a player. The new information may have to do with game statistics, updated personal information, updated financial information, leader board data, prizes won, etc. 
     The following is an exemplary description of the interaction of the various modules of  FIGS. 4 to 10  in accordance with game play. When a player launches application  106   a  on his client device  410 , the player account manager  508  will either set up a new account for a new player or access an existing account for an existing player. In the case of a new player, various required information is obtained from the player and recorded in the player account database  1106 . 
     An existing player may continue an existing game or start a new game, while a new player will necessarily start a new game. To start a new game, the player must purchase a virtual currency bundle. The bundling and issuing engine  908  will cooperate with the transaction module  510  in order to perform a financial transaction and issue the requested virtual currency bundle. The player account database  1106  is updated with this new information once a virtual currency bundle has been purchased. 
     An existing game can be accessed by the player using the gaming engine module  502 , which can verify with the player account manager  508  what the player&#39;s status is in the existing game. As the player plays the video interactive game, the gaming engine module  502  continues to provide the appropriate graphics, simulate various environments, and apply gaming logic to allow the player to progress in the game. When a win opportunity is presented, the lottery services module  504  will manage application of the tokens  702  and when appropriate, perform lottery draws and award real world prizes accordingly. The transaction module  510  will be involved in the transactional aspects of the lottery draws and the player account manager  508  is updated with any new information to the player&#39;s account. 
     While illustrated in the block diagrams as groups of discrete components communicating with each other via distinct data signal connections, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present embodiments are provided by a combination of hardware and software components, with some components being implemented by a given function or operation of a hardware or software system, and many of the data paths illustrated being implemented by data communication within a computer application or operating system. The structure illustrated is thus provided for efficiency of teaching the present embodiment. 
     It should be noted that the present invention can be carried out as a method, can be embodied in a system, a computer readable medium or an electrical or electro-magnetic signal. The embodiments of the invention described above are intended to be exemplary only. The scope of the invention is therefore intended to be limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.