Abstract:
An electronic game includes a housing shaped like a fighter ship, a display mounted on the housing, an input device mounted within the housing, and a processor connected to control the display and receive input from the input device. The display is rotatable relative to the housing. The processor is programmed to cause the display to display an element representing the fighter ship that remains stationary relative to the housing when a player rotates the display relative to the housing. The processor causes the display to display a play zone that includes the stationary element and one or more zone elements, the zone elements rotating as the player rotates the display. The zone elements include objects that move toward a perimeter of the play zone, fired objects. The fired objects may emanate from the perimeter-moving objects—these fired objects move toward the play zone perimeter. The fired objects may concurrently or alternatively emanate from the stationary element in response to signals from the input device. When a fired object strikes the stationary element, the stationary element is destroyed. When a fired object strikes a zone element, the zone element is destroyed.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The invention relates to a hand-held electronic game. 
     BACKGROUND 
     A variety of hand-held electronic games are known. Typically, these games have a display and buttons that allow a player to manipulate the images on the display. 
     SUMMARY 
     A hand-held electronic fighter game includes a housing shaped like a fighter ship, a display mounted on top of the housing and viewable by a player, an input device mounted on a handle of the housing, and a processor connected to the display and the input device. The player holds, with one hand, the handle that protrudes from a front of the housing and concurrently rotates, with the other hand, the display. While the player holds the housing and rotates the display, a soft end of the housing rests on the player&#39;s chest, thus stabilizing the game. The display includes a game screen that includes an icon of the fighter ship and icons of various enemy ships. During game play, the player rotates the viewer to change the fighter ship&#39;s direction, avoids incoming fire from enemy ships, and fires shots at the enemy ships by activating the input device on the handle. 
     The invention provides an electronic game that includes a housing, a display mounted on the housing and rotatable relative to the housing, and a processor connected to control the display. The processor is programmed to cause the display to display an element that remains stationary relative to the housing when the display is rotated relative to the housing. 
     Embodiments may include one or more of the following features. For example, the housing may be shaped like a vehicle. The housing may include a handle that enables the player to hold the housing using one hand and rotate the display using the other hand. The display may include a liquid crystal display (LCD). 
     The housing may include an end that couples to the player&#39;s chest. The coupled end of the housing may include a softer material to protect the player&#39;s chest. 
     The processor may cause the display to display a play zone that includes the element. The play zone may include one or more zone elements that rotate as the display is rotated relative to the housing. 
     The zone elements may include objects that move toward a perimeter of the play zone, and fired objects. The game may include an input device that is mounted in the housing and coupled to a player&#39;s hand. The processor may be connected to the input device. 
     The fired objects may emanate from the perimeter-moving objects and move toward the play zone perimeter. When a fired object strikes the stationary element, the stationary element may be destroyed. 
     The game may further include a speaker connected to and controlled by the processor. The processor may be programmed to play one or more sounds from the speaker when the stationary element is destroyed. The processor may be programmed to alter the play zone when the stationary element is destroyed. The processor may be programmed to display a game update that provides game information to the player. The processor may be programmed to permit the game update to display a value associated with a number of destroyed stationary elements. 
     The fired objects may emanate from the stationary element in response to signals from the input device. When a fired object strikes a zone element, the zone element may be destroyed. 
     The game may include a speaker connected to and controlled by the processor. The processor may be programmed to play one or more sounds from the speaker when a zone element is destroyed. The game may also include a speaker connected to and controlled by the processor. The processor may be programmed to play one or more sounds from the speaker when a zone element is destroyed. The processor may be programmed to display a game update that displays a score associated with a number of destroyed zone elements. 
     Other features and advantages will be apparent from the following description, including the drawings, and from the claims. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hand-held electronic fighter game. 
     FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of the game of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a front view of the game of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 4 is a side perspective view of a player holding the game of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 5 is a block diagram of operating components of the game of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 6 is a flow chart of game play using the game of FIG.  1 . 
     FIGS. 7-9,  10 A and  10 B are details of a display screen of the game of FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to FIGS. 1-4, a hand-held electronic fighter game  100  includes a housing  105  in the shape of a fighter spaceship. The housing  105  may be made of a rigid plastic material and formed of either a single piece or several pieces that fit together to form a hollow volume to house, for example, one or more action figures. 
     The housing  105  includes a handle  110  that protrudes downward from the front of the spaceship to facilitate a player&#39;s grip on the game  100 . The handle  110  is ergonomically designed to fit a player&#39;s hand so as to reduce player fatigue. The housing  105  includes a rear tip  115  made of a softer material, such as rubber. When the player  120  holds the game  100 , the rear tip  115  rests on the player&#39;s chest to prevent the game  100  from tipping rearward or moving about while playing. 
     A rotatable viewer  125  is positioned atop the housing  105  at an angle that enables the player to clearly observe the viewer  125  during game play. The viewer  125  may be detachable from the housing and made of an outer plastic shell formed from two pieces to facilitate manufacture. The two pieces, when joined, form a cavity in which components of the game are housed. The viewer  125  is circular to ease manipulation of it. When the player holds the handle  110  with one hand, for example the left hand  130 , and rests the rear tip  115  against his or her chest, the other hand, in this example the right hand  135 , is free to rotate the viewer  125 . Likewise, the player may grip the handle with his or her right hand, enabling the left hand to rotate the viewer  125 . 
     Various buttons are placed on the game  100  to enable the player  120  to control the game  100 . For example, a fire button  140  is formed on an outer edge of the handle  110 . This arrangement enables the player  120  to hold the game  100  at the handle  110  and fire shots from a fighter displayed on the viewer  125  with a single hand (which is the left hand  130  in the example above). Several control buttons are formed on a top face  145  of the rotatable viewer  125 . These control buttons are used by the player to, for example, start the game, control sound functions, and determine scores and skill levels. 
     The viewer  125  includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen  150  that is covered by a partially-transparent window  155 . The LCD screen  150  is visible to the player holding the game  100  at the handle with the rear tip  115  resting on the player&#39;s chest. The LCD screen  150  displays a game screen (designed to simulate a view that a fighter pilot would see in outer space), a score update, and a game update. 
     Briefly, game play consists of rotating the viewer  125  to change the fighter ship&#39;s direction of travel and, correspondingly, the view presented on the display. The player&#39;s first goal is to avoid incoming fire from enemy ships. The player&#39;s second goal is to line up enemy ships in the fighter&#39;s sights and fire shots at the enemy ships to destroy them and collect points. The enemy ships enter the LCD screen  150  from different directions and fire at the fighter ship. The fighter ship is displayed as an icon on the LCD screen  150 . When the player rotates the viewer  125 , the icon remains stationary relative to, for example, the handle  115 , so that it appears to the player that the fighter ship is rotating in the space displayed by the viewer  125 . 
     The housing  105  further includes a cockpit  200  with a pilot shield  205 . An action figure 210 (representing the pilot of the fighter ship) is inserted into the cockpit  200  through a cockpit hatch  215  located on the bottom of the housing  105 . The cockpit hatch  215  is opened to insert the action figure 210 into the cockpit  200  and closed thereafter to prevent the action figure 210 from falling out of the cockpit  200 . An additional action figure 220 may be placed behind the cockpit  200 , the additional action figure 220 representing the pilot&#39;s assistant. The housing  105  also includes opposable wings  225  that extend from the front of the housing  105 . 
     The rotatable viewer  125  may further include knobs  230  on the top face  145  that indicate the positions through which the viewer  125  is rotated. The viewer  125  rotates through any number of discrete positions. This number is limited by the size of the viewer  125  and the game controller capabilities, both of which affect the manufacturing cost and therefore the price of the game  100 . In one implementation, the viewer  125  rotates through eleven positions. 
     A removable battery compartment cover  235  is formed in the viewer&#39;s bottom surface. The compartment cove  235  is secured to the viewer by removable screws. 
     To create a more realistic game atmosphere, the partially-transparent window  155  may be artistically rendered. For example, in the implementation in which the game  100  is a fighter ship flying through outer space, the window  155  may include around its edge a black background with stars. Similarly, if the game  100  were implemented as a water vehicle cruising underwater, the window  155  could include around its edge a blue-green background with fish. In any case, the window  155  is transparent in a center area to enable the player  120  to view the LCD screen  150 . 
     On the top face  145  of the viewer  125  are the control buttons—reset  300 , on  305 , sound  310 , game  315 , and score  320 . The player presses the reset button  300  to reset the game  100 . The player presses the on button  305  to initially turn on the game, change a player&#39;s reward rating, and play again. The player presses the sound button  310  to alternately turn sound effects on and off. The player presses the game button  315  to start a new game at a lowest reward rating and easiest skill level. The player presses the score button  320  to display a saved best score. 
     Referring also to FIG. 5, the game  100  contains within the viewer  125  an electronic controller  500  which connects to and controls other game components. An electrical power source  505  for the controller (for example, a battery) is contained within the viewer and securely held by the battery compartment cover  235 . Switches  510 - 535 , which connect, respectively, to the control buttons  140  and  300 - 320 , inputs from the player to the controller  500 . Rotatable switches  540 - 550 , corresponding to each viewer position, provide input to the controller  500  via a lead  555  connected to and stationary with the housing  105 . 
     Using input from the switches  510 - 550 , the controller  500  controls the image displayed on the LCD screen  150 . As game play requires, the controller  500  also may send an audio signal to a speaker  560  contained by the viewer cavity. The controller  500  performs these tasks using additional information obtained from a processor  565 , memory  570 , a clock  575 , and a counter  580 . 
     Referring also to FIG. 6, game play proceeds according to a procedure  600  that is initiated when the player presses the on button  305  to cause the controller  500  to turn on the game  100  (step  605 ). Game play  600  initially defaults to a demonstration mode which helps the player get acquainted with the game  100 . The fire button  140  may be pressed at any time during demonstration mode to place the game  100  in game mode. Additionally, the reset button  300  may be pressed at any time to begin again. The sound button  310  may be pressed at any time during game play to turn off or turn on the sound from the speaker  560 . 
     The controller  500  determines whether the player wants to start the game with a “clean slate” (step  610 ). A clean slate allows the player to start the game at the most basic game settings—reward rating of one, skill level of one, score at zero, and number of lives at three. The player presses and holds (for a short duration) the game button  315  to indicate that he or she wants a clean slate. The controller  500  then sets default values for reward rating, skill level, score, and number of lives to the clean slate values given above (step  615 ). 
     In any case, when the game button  315  is initially pressed the controller sets the skill level to a default value (step  620 ). The skill level ranges from one (easy play) to a maximum level L max  (difficult play). As the player completes each skill level, an increasingly more difficult skill level is introduced. For example, difficulty may be altered by changing the speed of shots fired from enemy ships, the speed of the enemy ships, or the number of hits required to destroy an enemy ship. As the player advances to higher skill levels, the controller  500  stores the skill level in memory  570  until the game button  315  is pressed again and a new game begins. Then, when the new game begins, the controller  500  sets as the default skill level the skill level that the player reached in the last game played. 
     The controller  500  sets the score to a default value (step  625 ) when the game button  315  is initially pressed. When the player turns on the game for the first time, the default score is zero. As the player advances to higher skill ratings and levels, the controller  500  counts the score using the counter  580  and stores the score in memory  570  until the game button  315  is pressed again and a new game begins. Then, when the new game begins, the controller  500  sets as the default score the stored score that the player reached in the last game played. 
     The controller  500  sets the number of player lives to a default value (step  630 ) when the game button  315  is initially pressed. When the player turns on the game for the first time, the default number of lives is three. As the player advances to higher skill ratings and levels, the controller  500  stores the number of lives in memory  570  until the game button  315  is pressed again and a new game begins. Then, when the new game begins, the controller  500  sets as the default number of lives the number of lives that the player retained in the last game played. The minimum number of lives permitted to the player is one and if the player loses the last life during game play, the player begins the next game with a clean slate. 
     The controller  500  sets the reward rating to a default value (step  635 ) when the game button  315  is initially pressed. The reward rating ranges from one (low reward) to a maximum rating R max  (high reward). As the player completes a reward rating, the controller  500  rewards the player with an extra life. Furthermore, as the player&#39;s reward rating increases, the controller rewards the player with relatively more points for destroying enemy ships. For example, at the highest reward rating the player is rewarded 100 points for destroying an enemy ship whereas at a lower reward rating (and same skill level) the player is rewarded only 50 points for destroying an enemy ship. As the player advances to higher reward ratings, the controller  500  stores the reward rating in memory  570  until the game button  315  is pressed again and a new game begins. Then, when the new game begins, the controller  500  sets the default reward rating to the stored reward rating the player reached in the last game played. 
     The player may, at this point, manually select another reward rating than the default reward rating by pressing the on button  305 . If the controller  500  determines that the player wants to select another reward rating (step  640 ), then the controller sets the reward rating to the reward rating manually selected by the player (step  645 ). 
     When the player presses the fire button  140  at this point, the controller  500  begins the game using the default settings stored in memory  570  (step  650 ). If the controller  500  detects at any time that the player has left the game inactive for a preset duration (determined by the time given by clock  575 ), the controller  500  automatically shuts off the game. 
     During game play, the controller  500  determines if the player survives the game (step  655 )—that is, the player was not destroyed by an enemy ship&#39;s fire. If the player were destroyed during the game by an enemy ship&#39;s fire, the controller removes a player&#39;s life (step  660 ) from the number of player lives and determines whether the player has any more lives available (step  665 ). If the player has no more lives left, the controller then sets the skill level, score, number of lives, and reward rating to the clean slate values at step  615 . If the player does have more lives left, the controller advances to set all values to their default values (steps  620 - 645 ) before beginning the next game (step  650 ). For example, if the player has one more life after the controller removes a life at step  660 , then the player begins with one life at the beginning of the next game (step  650 ) 
     If the player does survive through the current game, the controller determines whether the skill level reached by the player is the maximum skill level L max  (step  670 ). If the skill level reached by the player is not the maximum skill level, the controller increments the skill level and saves the new skill level as the default skill level (step  675 ) before setting default skill level, default score, default number of lives and default reward rating (steps  620 - 645 ) for the next game (step  650 ). 
     If the skill level reached by the player is the maximum skill level, the controller rewards the player with an extra life (step  680 ) and determines whether the reward rating reached is the maximum reward rating R max  (step  685 ). If the reward rating reached is not the maximum reward rating, the controller rewards the player by incrementing the reward rating (step  690 ). In either case, the controller then sets default values (step  620 - 645 ) to correspond to those values from the previous game before beginning the next game (step  650 ). 
     Referring also to FIG. 7, the LCD screen  150  displays three smaller screens—a score screen  700 , a settings screen  705 , and a pilot&#39;s eye screen  710 . The controller  500  displays in the score screen  700  a current score  715  of the player, that is, total current points accumulated by the player. If the player presses the score button  320  before the game begins at step  650 , the controller  500  displays in the score screen  700  a best score reached by any previous player. 
     The controller  500  displays in the settings screen  705  the default skill level  720  of the player. Alternately, when the controller  500  determines that the player wants to change the reward rating at step  640 , the controller displays in the settings screen  705  the default or selected reward rating. The controller  500  further displays in the settings screen  705  the number of lives that remain for the player, where a life is represented by an icon  725  of the housing  105 . When the housing  105  is designed as a fighter ship, the icon  725  resembles a fighter ship. Because of the limited amount of space on the LCD screen  150 , the number of icons displayed in the settings screen  705  may be limited to, for example, three. 
     The controller  500  displays in the pilot&#39;s eye screen  710  an icon  730  (depicted as a darkened triangle) of the fighter ship along a player&#39;s line of sight (depicted as solid arrow  735 ). When the player presses the fire button  140  after the controller  500  begins the game at step  650 , the controller  500  displays fired shots  737  from the fighter ship icon  730  in the pilot&#39;s eye screen  710 . 
     As the player rotates the viewer  125  by an angle  740 , the fighter ship icon  730  rotates through an angle-relative to a position (depicted as dashed line  745 ) of the viewer  125 . Therefore, the fighter ship icon  730  remains stationary with respect to the player&#39;s line of sight  735 . Every other object displayed in the pilot&#39;s eye screen  710  remains stationary with respect to the viewer  125 , but rotates along with the viewer through the angle relative to the player&#39;s line of sight  735 . In this way, the player experiences a feeling that she or he is rotating during the game to avoid and/or destroy enemy objects on the LCD screen. 
     The controller  500  displays in the pilot&#39;s eye screen  710  various enemy ships  750  that fire destructive shots  755  at the fighter ship  730 . The controller  500  also displays a control ship  760  that remains inactive for a beginning duration of a game. If the player&#39;s fighter ship  730  survives through the beginning duration (that is, the ship  730  does not get struck by shots  755 ), then the controller  500  activates the control ship  760  and advances it into the pilot&#39;s eye screen  710 . When this happens, the control ship  760  bombards the player&#39;s fighter ship  730  with destructive fire shots. 
     Referring also to FIG. 8, when the game begins at step  650 , the player rotates the viewer  125  to avoid enemy ship&#39;s fire  755  and to destroy enemy ships with fire shots  737 . As shown in the score screen  700 , the player has accumulated  210  total points by destroying enemy ships. Furthermore, the player has three lives as indicated by three fighter ship icons  725  in the settings screen  705 . The game is still in the beginning duration, so the control ship  760  is inactive and rests at the top of the pilot&#39;s eye screen  710 . The player&#39;s fighter ship  730  has just fired some shots  737  at an incoming enemy ship  750 . If the fired shots  737  strike the enemy ship  750  (as they do in FIG.  8 ), the controller indicates this to the player by illuminating  800  the destroyed enemy ship. 
     When the player presses the fire button  140 , the fired shot from the player&#39;s fighter ship will destroy an incoming enemy ship if the fighter ship is directly in line with the incoming enemy ship at the time the player presses the fire button  140 . The player&#39;s fighter ship  730  may get hit by an incoming shot fired from a destroyed enemy ship because the ship&#39;s incoming shots are not destroyed with the destruction of the ship. Because the player&#39;s fighter ship fires shots that travel in straight lines, the player may move the fighter ship out of the way of an incoming enemy ship after firing a shot at that ship, thus avoiding incoming fire from the targeted enemy ship. This maneuver is shown in FIG. 8 because the destroyed enemy ship  800  is not in line with the fighter ship  730 . 
     Referring to FIG. 9, when the player&#39;s fighter ship  730  is struck by the enemy ship&#39;s fire  755 , the game halts and the controller displays a cracked cockpit window, represented by squiggly lines  900  throughout the LCD screen  710 . As shown in the score screen  700 , the player has accumulated 410 total points before the game was halted. Furthermore, the player loses a life (corresponding to step  660  in FIG. 6) and now has only two lives. This is indicated by the two fighter ship icons  725  in the settings screen  705 . Before the fighter ship was struck, the game was still in the beginning duration because the control ship  760  was inactive at the top of the pilot&#39;s eye screen  710 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 10A and 10B, after the beginning duration has expired and if the player&#39;s fighter ship survives incoming fire from the enemy ships, the control ship  760  begins to bombard the fighter ship with fired shots. At this time, the control ship  760  becomes larger in the pilot&#39;s eye screen  710  to signal to the player that the beginning duration has ended and the control ship  760  is active. 
     Unlike the regular enemy ships  750 , the control ship  760  is not always vulnerable to shots fired from the fighter ship  730 . For example, in FIG. 10A, the control ship  760  is vulnerable and the controller causes it to blink once to notify the player of that vulnerability (blinking is represented by radiating lines  1000  in FIG.  10 A). However, in FIG. 10B, the control ship  760  is protected by an energy shield  1005 . 
     When the energy shield is down, the player gets one chance to destroy the control ship  760  by firing a direct hit from the fighter ship up the middle  1010  of the control ship  760 . The player may do this when the fighter ship is positioned at one of several preselected firing positions. Furthermore, while targeting the control ship the player must concurrently maneuver the fighter ship to avoid the control ship&#39;s incoming fire. If the player destroys the control ship, then the controller rewards the player with a larger number of points than are normally rewarded at that skill level for destroying an enemy ship  750 . If the control ship strikes the fighter ship, the player loses a life (step  660  in FIG.  6 ). 
     In FIG. 10B, the control ship  760  is protected by an energy shield  1005  that must first be destroyed by the player before the fighter ship even has access to the control ship. Once the shield  1005  is destroyed, the player may destroy the control ship  760  by firing shots  737  from the fighter ship  730 . To vary the difficulty of the skill levels the controller is configured to only display the energy shield  1005  when the skill level is above a preset skill level. The controller also is configured to display a relatively larger control ship  760  for those skill levels above the preset skill level. 
     The number of times the player must strike the energy shield  1005  before it is destroyed increases with skill level. Therefore, it becomes more difficult to destroy the control ship at higher skill levels. 
     Other implementations also are contemplated. For example, the controller may reward the player with a greater number of points if the player destroys an enemy ship that is relatively close to the fighter ship. The player also may be given a maximum number of shots that may be fired at enemy ships during a game. 
     The game may be configured with no skill levels and/or no reward ratings. Likewise, the number of lives accumulated by the player may be unlimited. Fired shots may be displayed in a unique shape when emitted from the fighter ship. This would help the player to see incoming shots more clearly and distinguish them from shots fired from the player&#39;s fighter ship. 
     Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.