Patent Publication Number: US-2009221341-A1

Title: Gaming System with Interactive Feature and Control Method Thereof

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/028,085, filed on Feb. 12, 2008; the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a gaming system including an engine for interactively advancing a game by a conversation with a player using sounds and texts as media, and a control method thereof. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     United States patent application publication 2005/0059474, 2005/0282618 or 2005/0218590 discloses a gaming machine in which a player can participate in a game displayed on a communal display by operating a gaming terminal connected to the communal display via a network. 
     In such a gaming machine, the player operating the gaming terminal is accepted to participate in a game in synchronized timing with game procedures displayed on the communal display. 
     The present invention provides a new entertaining feature by making it easier for players using various languages to participate in a game. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A first aspect of the present invention provides a gaming system that includes a host server and plural gaming terminals connected to the host server via a network. Each of the gaming terminals includes a display for displaying information on a game executed repeatedly, a microphone for being input an utterance by a player, a conversation engine for generating a reply to the input utterance by analyzing the utterance input into the microphone, a speaker for outputting the reply generated by the conversation engine, and a controller. The controller is operable to (A) get the conversation engine to specify a language used by the player based on a manual operation by the player or the input utterance, (B) execute a game according to a conversation with the player using the conversation engine corresponding to the language, (C) receive an input of a message to be sent to another gaming terminal and translate the input message into a language used in the other gaming terminal using a translating program, (D) send the translated message to the other gaming terminal and (E) provide a message sent from another gaming terminal to the player. 
     A second aspect of the present invention provides a gaming system that includes a host server and plural gaming terminals connected to the host server via a network. The host server is provided with a conversation database of plural languages and plural translating programs between each of the plural language and a reference language. Each of the gaming terminals includes a display for displaying information on a game executed repeatedly, a microphone for being input an utterance by a player, a conversation engine for generating a reply to the input utterance by analyzing the utterance input into the microphone with reference to the conversation database, a speaker for outputting the reply generated by the conversation engine, and a controller. The controller is operable to (A) get the conversation engine to specify a language used by the player based on a manual operation by the player or the input utterance, (B) execute a game according to a conversation with the player using the conversation engine corresponding to the language, (C) receive an input of a message to be sent to another gaming terminal and translate the input message into a language used in the other gaming terminal using the translating programs, (D) send the translated message to the other gaming terminal and (E) provide a message sent from another gaming terminal to the player. 
     A third aspect of the present invention provides a gaming system that includes a host server and plural gaming terminals connected to the host server via a network. The host server is provided with a conversation database of plural languages and plural translating programs between each of the plural language and a reference language. Each of the gaming terminals includes a display for displaying information on a game executed repeatedly, a storing unit for storing conversation data stored in the conversation database and the translating programs, a microphone for being input an utterance by a player, a conversation engine for generating a reply to the input utterance by analyzing the utterance input into the microphone with reference to the conversation database, a speaker for outputting the reply generated by the conversation engine, and a controller. The controller is operable to (A) get the conversation engine to specify a language used by the player based on a manual operation by the player or the input utterance, (B) read out conversation data and a translating program corresponding to the player&#39;s language from the host server and store the conversation data and the translating program in the storing unit, (C) execute a game according to a conversation with the player using the conversation engine, (D) receive an input of a message to be sent to another gaming terminal and translate the input message into a language used in the other gaming terminal using the translating programs, (E) send the translated message to the other gaming terminal and (F) provide a message sent from another gaming terminal to the player. 
     A fourth aspect of the present invention provides a control method of a gaming system that includes: specifying a language used by a player based on a manual operation or an input of an utterance into a microphone by a player at each of plural gaming terminals; executing, in each of the gaming terminals, a game interactively (in the game, the utterance input into the microphone is received, a reply to the input utterance is generated by a conversation engine and then the reply is output from a speaker as a sound in the game); and translating, in case where a message is to be sent from one gaming terminal to another gaming terminal, the message input in the one gaming machine into a language used in the other gaming machine and sending the translated message to the other gaming machine. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a flow chart showing a general process flow of game execution processing in a gaming system according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing a gaming terminal in an embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is an apparent perspective view showing a general configuration of a roulette game machine in the embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a plan view of a roulette unit in the embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a screen image example displayed on a display of the gaming terminal shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the roulette game machine in the embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the roulette unit in the embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the gaming terminal in the embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 9  is a functional block diagram showing a conversation controller according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 10  is a functional block diagram showing a speech recognition unit; 
         FIG. 11  is a timing chart showing processes of a word hypothesis refinement portion; 
         FIG. 12  is a flow chart showing process operations of the speech recognition unit; 
         FIG. 13  is a partly enlarged block diagram of the conversation controller; 
         FIG. 14  is a diagram showing a relation between a character string and morphemes extracted from the character string; 
         FIG. 15  is a table showing uttered sentence types, two-alphabet codes representing the uttered sentence types, and uttered sentence examples corresponding to the uttered sentence types; 
         FIG. 16  is a diagram showing details of dictionaries stored in an utterance type database; 
         FIG. 17  is a diagram showing details of a hierarchical structure built in a conversation database; 
         FIG. 18  is a diagram showing a refinement of topic identification information in the hierarchical structure built in the conversation database; 
         FIG. 19  is a diagram showing data configuration examples of topic titles (also referred as “second morpheme information”); 
         FIG. 20  is a diagram showing types of reply sentences associated with the topic titles formed in the conversation database; 
         FIG. 21  is a diagram showing contents of the topic titles, the reply sentences and next plan designation information associated with the topic identification information; 
         FIG. 22  is a diagram showing a plan space; 
         FIG. 23  is a diagram showing one example a plan transition; 
         FIG. 24  is a diagram showing another example of the plan transition; 
         FIG. 25  is a diagram showing details of a plan conversation control process; 
         FIG. 26  is a flow chart showing an example of a main process by a conversation control unit; 
         FIG. 27  is a flow chart showing a plan conversation control process; 
         FIG. 28  is a flow chart, continued from  FIG. 27 , showing the rest of the plan conversation control process; 
         FIG. 29  is a transition diagram of a basic control state; 
         FIG. 30  is a flow chart showing a discourse space conversation control process; 
         FIG. 31  is a flow chart showing gaming processings of a sever and the roulette unit in the roulette game machine of a first embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 32  is a flow chart showing gaming processings of a sever and the roulette unit in the roulette game machine of the first embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 33  is a flow chart showing game execution processing of the gaming terminal in the roulette game machine of the first embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 34  is a flow chart showing language confirmation processing shown in  FIG. 33 ; 
         FIG. 35  is a flow chart showing betting period confirmation processing shown in  FIG. 33 ; 
         FIG. 36  is a flow chart showing bet accepting processing shown in  FIG. 33 ; 
         FIG. 37  is a screen image example displayed on the display; 
         FIG. 38  is a screen image example displayed on the display; 
         FIG. 39  is a screen image example displayed on the display; 
         FIG. 40  is a flow chart showing conversation database setting processing shown in  FIG. 33 ; 
         FIG. 41  is a flow chart showing conversation translating program setting processing shown in  FIG. 33 ; 
         FIG. 42  is a flow chart showing conversation sending processing shown in  FIG. 33 ; 
         FIG. 43  is a flow chart showing confirmation processing of a destination terminal language shown in  FIG. 42 ; 
         FIG. 44  is a flow chart showing conversation receiving processing shown in  FIG. 33 ; 
         FIG. 45  is a flow chart showing another example of conversation receiving processing shown in  FIG. 33 ; 
         FIG. 46  is a flow chart showing game execution processing of a gaming terminal in the roulette game machine of a second embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 47  is a flow chart showing conversation data download processing shown in  FIG. 46 ; 
         FIG. 48  is a flow chart showing translating program download processing shown in  FIG. 46 ; 
         FIG. 49  is a screen image example of a display  8 ; 
         FIG. 50  is a screen image example of the display  8 ; 
         FIG. 51  is a screen image example of the display  8 ; 
         FIG. 52  is a screen image example of the display  8 ; 
         FIG. 53  is a screen image example of the display  8 ; 
         FIG. 54  is a screen image example of the display  8 ; and 
         FIG. 55  is a screen image example of the display  8 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT 
       FIG. 1  is a flow chart showing a general process flow of game execution processing executed in a gaming system according to the present invention.  FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing a gaming terminal  4  ( 4   a  to  4   i ) provided in a plurality in the gaming system according to the present invention.  FIG. 8  is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the gaming system. Hereinafter, the general process flow in the gaming system according to the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings. 
     A terminal CPU  91  shown in  FIG. 8  confirms a player&#39;s language on a gaming terminal  4   a  (here, the gaming terminal  4   a  is represented as an example) through a player&#39;s input operation or an after-mentioned conversation engine (step S 1  in  FIG. 1 ). A recognition processing of language will be explained later. 
     Next, the terminal CPU  91  configures a conversation database  1500  corresponding to the language confirmed in the process of step S 1  among a conversation database  1500  (see  FIG. 9 ) stored in a hard disc drive (HDD)  34  of a server  13  shown in  FIG. 6  and corresponding to plural languages (step S 2 ). For example, if the player&#39;s language is “Japanese”, a conversation database  1500  corresponding to “Japanese” is configured. 
     The terminal CPU  91  configures a translating program corresponding to the language confirmed in the process of step S 1  from translating programs which are stored in the HDD  34  of the server  13  shown in  FIG. 6  and correspond to plural languages (step S 3 ). For example, if the player&#39;s language is “Japanese”, a “Japanese-English” translating program is configured. 
     Subsequently, the terminal CPU  91  executes a roulette game with conducting a conversation with the player using a conversation engine (step S 4 ). 
     In a conversational processing during a roulette game execution, conversation data input into a microphone  15  of the gaming terminal  4   a  are analyzed (step S 4   a ). Then, a reply to this conversation is generated by the conversation engine and the generated reply is output as sound from a speaker  10  (step S 4   b ). 
     For example, if the player makes an utterance “Tell me how to place a bet! ” into the microphone  15 , the conversation engine analyzes the utterance using the Japanese conversation database and outputs a reply sentence “please insert medals into a medal insertion slot or press bet buttons.” from the speaker  10  in Japanese. Since the terminal CPU  91  outputs the reply in the player&#39;s language, the player can easily understand the reply output from the gaming terminal  4   a.    
     In addition, in the gaming system according to the present invention, utterance data can be transmitted from the gaming terminal  4   a  to another gaming terminal  4   b  (here, the gaming terminal  4   b  is represented as an example) (step S 5 ). Specifically, in case where utterance data are transmitted to the gaming terminal  4   b , the terminal CPU  91  acquires a player&#39;s utterance using the microphone  15  and further translates the utterance data into a player&#39;s language used at the gaming terminal  4   b  which is to be a destination (step S 5   a ). 
     Then, the utterance data are converted into sound data and output from the speaker  10  in the gaming terminal  4   b  which received the utterance data. Alternatively, the utterance data are converted into document data and displayed on a display  8  (step S 5   b ). 
     For example, if the player makes an utterance “Let me buy you something” at the gaming terminal  4   a , the utterance data are translated into a player&#39;s language used at the gaming terminal  4   b  and then transmitted to the gaming terminal  4   b . Therefore, players using different languages at respective gaming terminals  4  can easily have a conversation with each other. 
     Next, a gaming system in an embodiment according to the present invention will be explained in detail.  FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing a gaming terminal in a first embodiment according to the present invention.  FIG. 3  is an apparent perspective view showing a general configuration of a roulette game machine  1  including the gaming terminal shown in  FIG. 2 , which is an example of the gaming system of the embodiment according to the present invention.  FIG. 4  is a plan view of a roulette unit  2  provided in the roulette game machine  1 .  FIG. 5  is a screen image example displayed on a display of the gaming terminal shown in  FIG. 2 . 
     Plural (nine in the drawing) gaming terminals  4  ( 4   a  to  4   i ) in the first embodiment shown in  FIG. 2  are provided as parts of the roulette game machine  1  shown in  FIG. 3 . In addition, the roulette game machine  1  includes the roulette unit  2  and a server (host server)  13 . Each of the gaming terminals  4 , the roulette unit  2  and the server  13  can be connected each other via a local network and so on. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, each of the gaming terminals  4  are connected with a shop terminal  86  (see  FIG. 8 ) for serving beverages and foods to players via the local network. 
     At the roulette unit  2 , the roulette game will be executed under the control of the server  13 , and the game can be visible by players. Players use the gaming terminals  4  which are arranged around the roulette unit  2  to participate in a roulette game displayed by the roulette unit  2 . In the present embodiment, the roulette game machine  1  includes the nine gaming terminals  4 . Therefore, up to nine players can participate in a communal roulette game simultaneously. 
     A roulette game displayed on the roulette unit  2  is executed repeatedly at prescribed time intervals under the control of the server  13 . Accordingly, a player who participates in a game play with each of the gaming terminals  4  can place a bet for a current roulette game. A display  8  is provided at each of the gaming terminals  4  for placing the bet on the current roulette game. A betting screen  61  (see FIG.  5 ) for betting on a roulette game is displayed on the display  8 . Displayed contents on the betting screen  61  will be explained later in detail. 
       FIG. 4  is a plan view of the roulette unit provided in the roulette game machine shown in  FIG. 3 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the roulette unit  2  includes a frame  21  and a roulette wheel  22  which is accommodated and supported rotatably inside the frame  21 . Plural number pockets  23  (thirty-eight in total in the present embodiment) are formed on an upper surface of the roulette wheel  22 . In addition, number plates  25  are provided on an upper surface of the roulette wheel  22  outside the number pockets  23  for displaying numbers “0”, “00” and “1” to “36” in correspondence to the respective number pockets  23 . 
     A ball launching port  36  is provided inside the frame  21 . A ball launching unit  104  (see  FIG. 7 ) is coupled with the ball launching port  36 . With driving the ball launching unit  104 , a ball  27  is launched from the ball launching port  36  onto the roulette wheel  22 . In addition, the entire roulette unit  2  is covered by a hemispherical transparent acrylic cover  28  (see  FIG. 3 ) covers over. 
     A wheel drive motor  106  (see  FIG. 7 ) is provided beneath the roulette wheel  22 . As the wheel drive motor  106  is driven, the roulette wheel  22  spins. Metal plates (not shown) are attached on a back surface of the roulette wheel  22  with space apart each other at prescribed intervals. A proximity sensor of a pocket position detecting circuit  107  (see  FIG. 7 ) detects these metal plates to detect the positions of the number pockets  23 . 
     The frame  21  is moderately inclined toward its inner side and the guide wall  29  is formed around an intermediate circumference of the frame  21 . The guide wall  29  guides the launched ball  27  to spin with counter working a centrifugal force of the ball  27 . The ball  27 , as its velocity slows down, loses its centrifugal force and rolls down on the inclined surface of the frame  21 . And then, the ball  27  reaches the spinning roulette wheel  22  and gets across the number plates  25 . The ball  27  falls into one of the number pockets  23 . As a result, the number of the number plate  25  corresponding to the number pocket  23  into which the ball  27  has fallen, is detected by a ball sensor  105  and determined as a winning number. 
     Next, the configuration of the gaming terminal  4  will be explained. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the gaming terminal  4  includes at least a medal insertion slot  7  for inserting game media having currency values such as cash, chips, medals and so on, and the above-mentioned display  8  for displaying images related to the game on its upper surface. The gaming terminal  4  accepts a player&#39;s betting operation via the medal insertion slot  7  and the display  8 . A player can advance a displayed game by operating a touchscreen  50  (see  FIG. 8 ) provided on an upper surface of the display  8  and so on while watching the images displayed on the display  8 . Note that, in the following explanation, the game media may be referred as their representative “medals”. 
     In addition to the medal insertion slot  7  and the display  8  described above, a payout button  5 , a ticket printer  6 , a bill insertion slot  9 , a speaker  10 , a microphone  15  and a card reader  16  are provided on the upper surface of the gaming terminal  4 . A medal payout chute  12  and a medal tray  14  are provided on a front face of the gaming terminal  4 . 
     The payout button  5  is a button for inputting a command for paying out credited medals from the medal payout chute  12  onto the medal tray  14 . The ticket printer  6  prints out a bar code ticket including the data such as the credits, the date, and the identification number of the gaming terminal  4 . A player can use the bar code ticket at another gaming terminal  4  to place a bet on a game at that gaming terminal  4  or can exchange the bar code ticket to bills and so on at a prescribed location in a gaming facility (for example, a cashier in a casino). 
     The bill insertion slot  9  judges the legitimacy of bills and accepts legitimate bills. The speaker  10  outputs music, effect sounds, sound messages for a player and so on. The microphone  15  collects sound messages uttered by a player. 
     A smart card can be inserted into the card reader  16 . The card reader  16  reads data from the inserted smart card and writes data into the inserted card. The smart card is carried by a player and corresponds to the player&#39;s member&#39;s card, credit card or the like. 
     A smart card stores data about playing history played by a player (playing history data) together with data for identifying the player. Information on game kinds played, points provided in played games, language kind used by the player in game plays and so on are included in the playing history data. Data equivalent to coins, bills or credits may be stored in a smart card. Read-from/write-into method with a smart card may employ contact type or non-contact type (RFID type) Alternatively, a magnetic stripe card may be employed. 
     A WIN lamp  11  is provided on an upper portion of the display  8  of each gaming terminal  4 . In the case where the number (“0”, “00” and “1” to “36” in the present embodiment) on which a bet has been placed at the gaming terminal  4  in a game comes to a winning number, the WIN lamp  11  of the winning gaming terminal  4  will be turned on. In addition, in the jackpot (referred hereafter also as JP) bonus game for awarding JP, the WIN lamp  11  of the JP winning gaming terminal  4  will be turned on similarly. Note that the WIN lamp  11  is provided at a position that is visible from all of the arranged gaming terminals  4  (nine in the present embodiment) so that other players playing at the same roulette game machine  1  can always check turning-on of the WIN lamp  11 . 
     A medal sensor  97  (see  FIG. 8 ) is provided inside the medal insertion slot  7 . The medal sensor  97  identifies medals inserted into the medal insertion slot  7  and counts the inserted medals. In addition, a hopper  94  (see  FIG. 8 ) is provided inside the medal payout chute  12 . The hopper  94  payouts a prescribed number of medals from the medal payout chute  12 . 
       FIG. 5  is a diagram showing a screen image example displayed on the display  8 . A betting screen  61  shown in  FIG. 5  is displayed on the display  8  on each of the gaming terminals  4 . The betting screen  61  includes a table-type betting board  60 . A player can place a bet by operating a touchscreen  50  (see  FIG. 8 ) provided on a front surface of the display  8 , by using own chips, which are credited as an electronic data in the gaming terminal  4 . 
     Specifically, a player pointed out a bet area  72  (in a section of a number or a section of a number&#39;s mark, or on a grid line(s)) to place a chip for betting by a cursor  70 . Then, a bet chip amount is set by bet buttons  66  and the bet chip amount is fixed by a bet fixing button  65 . These setting and fixing are executed by player&#39;s fingers directly touching on the bet areas  72 , the bet buttons  66  and bet fixing button  65  displayed on the display  8 . 
     Note that the bet buttons  66  are provided with four kinds of buttons, a one-bet button  66 A, a five-bet button  66 B, a ten-bet button  66 C and a one-hundred-bet button  66 D for a bet chip amount capable of being placed by one operation. 
     A payout counter  67  displays a player&#39;s bet chip amount and a payout credits amount for a payout in the last game. In addition, a credit counter  68  displays the current credits owned by a player. Furthermore, a bet time counter  69  displays remaining time in which a player can place a bet. 
     Note that the next game starts at the time when the ball  27  launched onto the roulette wheel  27  fell into any one of the number pockets  23  and the current game has ended. 
     A MEGA counter  73  displaying a credit amount accumulated for a “MEGA” JP, a MAJOR counter  74  displaying a credit amount accumulated for a “MAJOR” JP and a MINI counter  75  displaying the number of credits accumulated for a “MINI” JP are provided at the right side of the bet time counter  69 . If any one of the JP&#39;s is won in a JP bonus game, a credit amount is awarded according to the winning JP among the JP&#39;s displayed on the counters  73  to  75  and then an initial value (200 credits for “MINI”, 5000 credits for “MAJOR” and 50000 credits for “MEGA”) is displayed the corresponding counter. 
     In addition, a conversation send button  77  is provided on the display  8 . A player at one of the gaming terminals  4   a  can send a message to another player at another of the gaming terminals  4  (for example,  4   b ) by touching the conversation send button  77 . In this case, the message can be sent by an after-mentioned translating processing even though the languages used by the two players are different each other. 
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the roulette game machine  1  according to the present embodiment. As shown in  FIG. 6 , the roulette game machine  1  is configured with the server  13 , the roulette unit  2  connected to the server  13  via the local network and the plural gaming terminals  4  (nine in the present embodiment). Further, the local network is laid in a hall and the shop terminal  86  provided in a shop for serving beverages and foods to players is connected thereto. Note that an internal configuration of the roulette unit  2  and an internal configuration of the gaming terminals  4  ( 4   a  to  4   i ) will be described later in detail. 
     The server  13  shown in  FIG. 6  includes a server CPU  81  for executing the overall control of the server  13 , a ROM  82 , a RAM  83 , a timer  84 , an LCD (liquid crystal display)  32  connected via an LCD driving circuit  85 , a keyboard  33  and the HDD  34 . 
     The server CPU  81  executes various processings according to input signals supplied from the gaming terminals  4  and data and programs stored in the ROM  82  and the RAM  83 . In addition, the server CPU  81  sends command signals to the gaming terminals  4  according to the processing results to control the gaming terminals  4  under its initiative. Specifically, the server CPU  81  transmits control signals to the roulette device  2  to control launching of the ball  27  and spinning of the roulette wheel  22 . 
     The ROM  82  is configured by a semiconductor memory or the like and stores programs which implement basic functions of the roulette game machine  1 , programs which execute notification of maintenance time and setting/management of notification condition, odds data of a roulette game (payout credits per one chip at winning), programs for controlling the gaming terminals  4  under their initiatives and so on. 
     In addition, the RAM  83  temporarily stores a chip-betting information supplied from each of the gaming terminals  4 , a winning number of the roulette unit  2  detected by the sensor, an accumulated JP credits, data on results of processings executed by the server CPU  81  and so on. 
     Furthermore, the timer  84  for counting time is connected to the server CPU  81 . Time information of the timer  84  is transmitted to the server CPU  81 . The server CPU  81  executes controls of spinning the roulette wheel  22  and launching the ball  27  based on the time information of the timer  84 . 
     The HDD  34  stores translating programs between English, which is set as a reference language, and various other languages. For example, plural translating programs are stored such as a “Japanese-English” translating program, a “Chinese-English” translating program or a “French-English” translating program. Note that, although an example case is explained in the present embodiment where “English” is represented as the reference language, the reference language is not limited to English but may be any other language. In addition, translating programs between two languages except the reference language may be prepared such as “Japanese-Chinese”. 
     Furthermore, the HDD  34  stores conversation data to be used in the conversation engine explained later. In other words, the HDD  34  includes a function as the conversation database  1500  shown in  FIG. 9 . The conversation database stores conversation data used at generating a reply sentence to a player by the conversation engine and is provided for each of the plural languages. For example, a conversation database for English, a conversation database for Japanese, a conversation database for Chinese and so on are provided. 
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the roulette unit  2  according to the present embodiment. As shown in  FIG. 7 , the roulette unit  2  includes a controller  109 , the pocket position detecting circuit  107 , the ball launching unit  104 , the ball sensor  105 , the wheel drive motor  106  and a ball collecting device  108 . 
     The controller  109  includes a CPU  101 , a ROM  102  and a RAM  103 . The CPU  101  controls launching the ball  27  and spinning the roulette wheel  22  based on control commands supplied from the server  13  and data and programs stored in the ROM  102  and the RAM  103 . 
     The pocket position detecting circuit  107  includes the proximity sensor to detect spinning position of the roulette wheel  22  by detecting the metal plates attached onto the roulette wheel  22 . 
     The ball launching unit  104  is a unit for launching the ball  27  onto the roulette wheel  22  from the ball launching port  36  (see  FIG. 4 ). The ball launching unit  104  launches the ball  27  at the initial speed and the timing set in a control data. 
     The ball sensor  105  is a unit for detecting the number pocket  23  into which the ball  27  has fallen. The wheel drive motor  106  is a unit for spinning the roulette wheel  22  and it stops its spinning when a motor driving time set in the control data has elapsed since a start of the driving. 
       FIG. 8  is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the gaming terminal according to the present embodiment. Note that each of the nine gaming terminals  4  ( 4   a  to  4   i ) has an identical configuration basically and the gaming terminal  4   a  will be explained as the representative hereinafter. 
     As shown in  FIG. 8 , the gaming terminal  4   a  includes a terminal controller  90  configured by a terminal CPU  91 , a ROM  92  and a RAM  93 . The ROM  92  is configured by a semiconductor memory or the like. The ROM  92  stores programs which implement basic functions of the gaming terminal  4   a , various programs which are necessary for controlling the gaming terminal  4   a , data tables and so on. In addition, the RAM  93  is a memory for temporarily storing various data calculated by the terminal CPU  91 , a credit amount currently owned by the player (deposited at the gaming terminal  4   a ), a player&#39;s betting status, a flag F for indicating whether or not during the betting period and so on. 
     A payout button  5  (see  FIG. 2 ) is connected to the terminal CPU  91 . The payout button  5  is a button to be pressed by a player usually when the game is over. Medals will be paid out from the medal payout chute  12  according to credits which have been provided in games and currently owned by the player (usually one medal for one credit) when the payout button  5  is pressed by the player. 
     In addition, the terminal CPU  91  receives command signals from the sever CPU  81  and controls peripheral devices constituting the gaming terminal  4   a , so as to proceed with the game at the gaming terminal  4   a . Furthermore, the terminal CPU  91  executes various processings according to the above-mentioned input signals and data and programs stored in the ROM  92  and the RAM  93  depending on the processing contents. The terminal CPU  91  controls the peripheral devices constituting the gaming terminal  4   a  according to the processing results, so as to proceed with the game. 
     In addition, the hopper  94  is connected to the terminal CPU  91 . The hopper  94  payouts a prescribed number of medals from the medal payout chute  12  (see  FIG. 3 ) according to a command signal from the terminal CPU  91 . 
     Furthermore, the display  8  is connected to the terminal CPU  91  via an LCD drive circuit  95 . The LCD drive circuit  95  includes a program ROM, an image ROM, an image control CPU, a work RAM, a VDP (Video Display Processor) and a video RAM. The program ROM stores image control programs and various selection tables for displaying on the display  8 . The image ROM stores dot data for forming images to be displayed on the display  8 , for example. The image control CPU determines images to be displayed on the display  8  among the dot data in the image ROM according to the image control programs stored in the program ROM based on parameters set up in the terminal CPU  91 . The work RAM is provided as a temporary memory unit during an execution of the image control programs by the image control CPU. The VDP forms screen images according to the display contents determined by the image control CPU and outputs them to the display  8 . Note that the video RAM is provided as a temporary memory unit during the VDP forming screen images. 
     In addition, the touchscreen  50  is attached on the front surface of the display  8 . Information of a player&#39;s operation onto the touchscreen  50  is sent to the terminal CPU  91 . A player&#39;s chip-betting operation is done via the bet screen  61  (see  FIG. 5 ) on the touchscreen  50 . Specifically, the player&#39;s operation onto the touchscreen  50  is done for the selection of the bet area  72 , the input via the bet buttons  66  and the bet fixing button  65  and so on. The information of a player&#39;s operation is sent to the terminal CPU  91  when the touchscreen  50  has been operated. Then, the player&#39;s current betting information (the bet area and the bet amount placed via the bet screen  61 ) is stored into the RAM  93  sequentially according to that information. Furthermore, this betting information is sent to the server CPU  81  and stored in a betting information storing area in the RAM  83 . 
     In addition, a sound output circuit  96  and the speaker  10  are connected to the terminal CPU  91 . The speaker  10  outputs various effect sounds when various effects are generated and interactive conversation messages to a player for proceeding a game interactively based on output signals from the sound output circuit  96 . 
     In addition, a sound input circuit  98  and the microphone  15  are connected to the terminal CPU  91 . The microphone  15  transmits player&#39;s reply message sound in response to interactive message sound output from the speaker  10  to the terminal CPU  91  via the sound input circuit  98 . 
     Furthermore, a second external storage unit  76  is connected to the terminal CPU  91 . A conversation database of a language (Japanese, for example) of a player who is playing at the gaming terminal  4  is downloaded to the second external storage unit  76 . Additionally, a translating program between the player&#39;s language and the reference language, i.e. English, is downloaded. The second external storage unit  76  is configured by an HDD unit. Its details will be described later. 
     In addition, the medal sensor  97  is connected to the terminal CPU  91 . The medal sensor  97  detects medals inserted from the medal insertion slot  7  (see  FIG. 3 ) and counts the inserted medals to send the counting result data to the terminal CPU  91 . The terminal CPU  91  increases the player&#39;s credit amount stored in the RAM  93  according to the data. 
     Furthermore, the WIN lamp  11  is connected to the terminal CPU  91 . The terminal CPU  91  lights up the WIN lamp  11  in a prescribed color when credits bet via the bet screen  61  has won or when a JP winning has been awarded. 
     In addition, a first external storage unit  99  is connected to the terminal CPU  91 . The first external storage unit  99  is configured by an HDD unit. The terminal CPU  91  reads/writes data from/to the first external storage unit  99  if needed. 
     The gaming terminal  4  having the terminal control unit  90  includes the conversation engine. At least some of the roulette game procedures on the gaming terminal  4  are executed by the conversation engine interactively with the player by using the display  8 , the speaker  10  and the microphone  15  as interfaces. Therefore, message sound for the player is output from the speaker  10  via the sound output circuit  96  in certain situations according to the roulette game procedures. In addition, contents of player&#39;s message sound input via the microphone  15  and the sound input circuit  98  are construed. 
     Such a conversation engine can be realized using a conversation controller described in, for example, United States patent application publication 2007/0094007, United States patent application publication 2007/0094008, United States patent application publication 2007/0094005 or United States patent application publication 2005/0094004. As will be explained hereinafter, such a conversation controller can be realized using the display  8 , the speaker  10 , the microphone  15 , the terminal controller  90  and the first external storage unit  99  of the gaming terminal  4 . 
     Here, a configuration of the conversation controller described in United States patent application publication 2007/0094007, which can be applied as the conversation engine installed in the gaming terminal  4  of the present embodiment, will be explained with reference to  FIGS. 9 to 30 .  FIG. 9  is a functional block diagram showing a configuration example of the conversation controller. 
     As shown in  FIG. 9 , the conversation controller  1000  comprises an input unit  1100 , a speech recognition unit  1200 , a conversation control unit  1300 , a sentence analyzing unit  1400 , a conversation database  1500 , an output unit  1600  and a speech recognition dictionary memory  1700 . 
     [Input Unit] 
     The input unit  1100  receives input information (user&#39;s utterance) input by a user. The input unit  1100  outputs a speech corresponding to contents of the received utterance as a voice signal to the speech recognition unit  1200 . Note that the input unit  1100  may be a character input unit such as a keyboard and a touchscreen. In this case, the after-mentioned speech recognition unit  1200  doesn&#39;t need to be provided. 
     [Speech Recognition Unit] 
     The speech recognition unit  1200  specifies a character string corresponding to the uttered contents based on the uttered contents obtained via the input unit  1100 . Specifically, the speech recognition unit  1200  that has received the voice signal from the input unit  1100  compares the received voice signal with the conversation database  1500  and dictionaries stored in the speech recognition dictionary memory  1700  based on the voice signal to output a speech recognition result estimated based on the voice signal to the conversation control unit  1300 . In a configuration example shown in  FIG. 9 , the speech recognition unit  1200  requests acquisition of memory contents of the conversation database  1500  to the conversation control unit  1300  and then receives the memory contents of the conversation database  1500  which the conversation control unit  1300  retrieves according to the request from the speech recognition unit  1200 . However the speech recognition unit  1200  may directly retrieves the memory contents of the conversation database  1500  for comparing with the voice signal. 
     [Configuration Example of Speech Recognition Unit] 
       FIG. 10  is a functional block diagram showing a configuration example of the speech recognition unit  1200 . The speech recognition unit  1200  includes a feature extraction unit  1200 A, a buffer memory (BM)  1200 B, a word retrieving unit  1200 C, a buffer memory (BM)  1200 D, a candidate determination unit  1200 E and a word hypothesis refinement unit  1200 F. The word retrieving unit  1200 C and the word hypothesis refinement unit  1200 F are connected to the speech recognition dictionary memory  1700 . In addition, the candidate determination unit  1200 E is connected to the conversation database  1500  via the conversation control unit  1300 . 
     The speech recognition dictionary memory  1700  connected to the word retrieving unit  1200 C stores a phoneme hidden Markov model (hereinafter, the hidden Markov model is referred as the HMM). The phoneme HMM is described with various states and each of the states includes the following information. It is configured with (a) a state number, (b) an acceptable context class, (c) lists of a previous state and a subsequent state, (d) parameters of an output probability density distribution, and (e) a self-transition probability and a transition probability to a subsequent state. The phoneme HMM used in the present embodiment is generated by converting a prescribed Speaker-Mixture HMM in order to specify which speakers respective distributions are derived from. An output probability density function is a Mixture Gaussian distribution with a 34-dimensional diagonal covariance matrix. The speech recognition dictionary memory  1700  connected to the word retrieving unit  1200 C further stores a word dictionary. The word dictionary stores symbol strings each of which indicates a reading represented as a symbol per each word in the phoneme HMM. 
     A speaker&#39;s speech is input into a microphone or the like and then converted into a voice signal to be input to the feature extraction unit  1200 A. The feature extraction unit  1200 A converts the input voice signal from analog to digital and then extracts a feature parameter from the voice signal to output the feature parameter. There are various methods for extracting and outputting the feature parameter. For example, an LPC analysis is executed to extract a 34-dimensional feature parameter including a logarithm power, a 16-dimensional cepstrum coefficient, a Δ-logarithm power and a 16-dimensional Δ-cepstrum coefficient. The time series of the extracted feature parameters are input to the word retrieving unit  1200 C via the buffer memory (BM)  1200 B. 
     The word retrieving unit  1200 C retrieves word hypotheses with a one-pass Viterbi decoding method based on the feature parameters input from the feature extraction unit  1200 A via the buffer memory (BM)  1200 B by using the phoneme HMM and the word dictionary stored in the speech recognition dictionary memory  1700 , and then calculates likelihoods. Here, the word retrieving unit  1200 C calculates a likelihood in a word and a likelihood from a speech start for each state of the phoneme HMM at each time. The likelihood is calculated each of an identification number of a calculating-object word, a speech start time of the word and a difference of a preceding word previously uttered before the word. The word retrieving unit  1200 C may reduce grid hypotheses of the lower likelihoods among all of the calculated likelihoods based on the phoneme HMM and the word dictionary in order to reduce a computing throughput. The word retrieving unit  1200 C outputs information on the retrieved word hypotheses and the likelihoods of the retrieved word hypotheses together with time information regarding an elapsed time from the speech start time (e.g. frame number) to the candidate determination unit  1200 E and the word hypothesis refinement unit  1200 F via the buffer memory (BM)  1200 D. 
     The candidate determination unit  1200 E compares the retrieved word hypotheses with topic specification information in a prescribed discourse space with reference to the conversation control unit  1300 , and then determines whether or not exists a coincident word hypothesis with the topic specification information in the prescribed discourse space among the retrieved word hypotheses. If the coincident word hypothesis exists, the candidate determination unit  1200 E outputs the coincident word hypothesis as a recognition result. On the other hand, if no coincident word hypothesis exists, the candidate determination unit  1200 E requires the word hypothesis refinement unit  1200 F to refine the retrieved word hypotheses. 
     An operation of the candidate determination unit  1200 E will be described. Here, it is assumed that the word retrieving unit  1200 C outputs plural word hypotheses (“KANTAKU (reclamation)”, “KATAKU (pretext)” and “KANTOKU (director)”) and plural likelihoods (recognition rates) for the respective word hypotheses; the prescribed discourse space relates to movies; the topic specification information of the prescribed discourse space includes “KANTOKU (director)” but neither “KANTAKU (reclamation)” nor “KATAKU (pretext)”; among the likelihoods (recognition rates) of “KANTAKU (reclamation)”, “KATAKU (pretext)” and “KANTOKU (director)”, “KANTAKU (reclamation)” is highest, “KANTOKU (director)” is lowest and “KATAKU (pretext)” is intermediate between the two. 
     In the above situation, the candidate determination unit  1200 E compares the retrieved word hypotheses with the topic specification information in the prescribed discourse space, and then specifies the coincident word hypothesis “KANTOKU (director)” with the topic specification information to output the word hypothesis “KANTOKU (director)” to the conversation control unit  1300  as the recognition result. Processed in this manner, the word hypothesis “KANTOKU (director)” relating to the current topic “movies” is selected ahead of the word hypotheses “KANTAKU (reclamation)” and “KATAKU (pretext)” with higher likelihoods. As a result, the recognition result appropriate with the discourse context can be output. 
     On the other hand, if no coincident word hypothesis exists, the word hypothesis refinement unit  1200 F operates to output the recognition result in response to the request from the candidate determination unit  1200 E to refine the retrieved word hypotheses. The word hypothesis refinement unit  1200 F refines the retrieved word hypotheses for the same words having the same speech termination time and different speech start time per each initial phonetic environment of the same words with reference to a statistical language model stored in the speech recognition dictionary memory  1700  based on the plural retrieved word hypotheses output from the word retrieving unit  1200 C via the buffer memory (BM)  1200 D so that one word hypothesis with the highest likelihood may be selected as a representative among all of the likelihoods calculated between the speech start and the utterance termination of the word. And then, the word hypothesis refinement unit  1200 F outputs one word string of the one word hypothesis with the highest likelihood as the recognition result among all word strings of the refined word hypotheses. In the present embodiment, the initial phonetic environment of the same word to be processed is preferably defined with a three-phoneme series containing the last phoneme of the word hypothesis preceding the same word and two initial phonemes of the word hypothesis of the same word. 
     A word refinement process executed by the word hypothesis refinement unit  1200 F will be described with reference to  FIG. 11 . 
     For example, it is assumed that the (i)th word Wi, which consists of a phonemic string a 1 , a 2 , . . . and an, follows the (i−1)th word W(i−1 x ) and six hypotheses Wa, Wb, Wc, Wd, We and Wf exist as a word hypothesis of the (i−1)th word W(i−1). It is further assumed that the last phoneme of the former three word hypotheses Wa, Wb and Wc is /x/, and the last phoneme of the latter three word hypotheses Wd, We and Wf is /y/. If three hypotheses each premised on three word hypotheses Wa, Wb and Wc and also one hypothesis premised on three word hypotheses Wd, We and Wf remain at the speech termination time te, the word hypothesis refinement unit  1200 F is selected one hypothesis with the highest likelihood among the former three hypotheses with the same initial phonetic environment, and other two hypotheses are excluded. 
     Note that, since the initial phonetic environment of the hypothesis premised on the word hypotheses Wd, We and Wf is different from those of the other three hypotheses, that is, the last phoneme of the preceded word hypothesis is not /x/ but /y/, the hypothesis premised on the word hypotheses Wd, We and Wf is not excluded. In other words, one hypothesis is kept for each of the last phonemes of the preceding word hypotheses. 
     In the present embodiment, the initial phonetic environment of the word is defined with a three-phoneme series containing the last phoneme of the word hypothesis preceding the word and two initial phonemes of the word hypothesis of the word. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The initial phonetic environment of the word may be defined with a phoneme series containing a phoneme string of the preceding word hypothesis including the last phoneme of the preceding word hypothesis and at least one serial phoneme with the last phoneme of the preceding word hypothesis and a phoneme string including the first phoneme of the word hypothesis of the word. 
     In the present embodiment, the feature extraction unit  1200 A, the word retrieving unit  1200 C, the candidate determination unit  1200 E and the word hypothesis refinement unit  1200 F are composed of a computer such as a microcomputer. The buffer memories (BMs)  200 B and  200 D and the speech recognition dictionary memory  1700  are composed of a memory unit such as hard disc storage. 
     In the above-mentioned embodiment, the speech recognition is executed by using the word retrieving unit  1200 C and the word hypothesis refinement unit  1200 F. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The speech recognition unit  1200  may be composed of a phoneme comparison unit for referring to the phoneme HMM and a speech recognition unit for executing the speech recognition of a ward with reference to a statistical language model by using, for example, a One Pass DP algorithm. 
     In addition, in the present embodiment, the speech recognition unit  1200  is explained as a part of the conversation controller  1000 . However, an independent speech recognition apparatus configured by the speech recognition unit  1200 , the conversation database  1500  and the speech recognition dictionary memory  1700  may be possibly employed. 
     [Operating Example of Speech Recognition Unit] 
     Next, operations of the speech recognition unit  1200  will be described with reference to  FIG. 12 .  FIG. 12  is a flow chart showing process operations of the speech recognition unit  1200 . 
     The speech recognition unit  1200  executes a feature analysis of the input speech to generate feature parameters on receiving the voice signal from the input unit  1100  (step S 401 ). Next, the feature parameters is compared with the phoneme HMM and the language model stored in the speech recognition dictionary memory  1700 , and then a certain number of word hypotheses and the likelihoods of the word hypotheses are obtained (step S 402 ). Next, the speech recognition unit  1200  compares the obtained certain number of word hypotheses, the retrieved word hypotheses and the topic specification information in the prescribed discourse space to determine whether or not the coincident word hypothesis with the topic specification information in the prescribed discourse space exists among the retrieved word hypotheses (steps S 403  and S 404 ). If the coincident word hypothesis exists, the speech recognition unit  1200  outputs the coincident word hypothesis as the recognition result (step S 405 ). On the other hand, if no coincident word hypothesis exists, the speech recognition unit  1200  outputs the word hypothesis with the highest likelihood as the recognition result according to the obtained likelihoods of the word hypotheses (step S 406 ). 
     [Speech Recognition Dictionary Memory] 
     The configuration example of the conversation controller  1000  is further described with referring back to  FIG. 9  again. 
     The speech recognition dictionary memory  1700  stores character strings corresponding to standard voice signals. The speech recognition unit  1200 , which has executed the comparison, specifies a word hypothesis for a character string corresponding to the received voice signal, and then outputs the specified word hypothesis as a character string signal to the conversation control unit  1300 . 
     [Sentence Analyzing Unit] 
     Next, a configuration example of the sentence analyzing unit  1400  will be described with reference to  FIG. 13 .  FIG. 13  is a partly enlarged block diagram of the conversation controller  1000  and also a block diagram showing a concrete configuration example of the conversation control unit  1300  and the sentence analyzing unit  1400 . Note that only the conversation control unit  1300 , the sentence analyzing unit  1400  and the conversation database  1500  are shown in  FIG. 13  and the other components are omitted to be shown. 
     The sentence analyzing unit  1400  analyses a character string specified at the input unit  1100  or the speech recognition unit  1200 . In the present embodiment as shown in  FIG. 13 , the sentence analyzing unit  1400  includes a character string specifying unit  1410 , a morpheme extracting unit  1420 , a morpheme database  1430 , an input type determining unit  1440  and an utterance type database  1450 . The character string specifying unit  1410  segments a series of character strings specified by the input unit  1100  or the speech recognition unit  1200  into segments. Each segment is a minimum segmented sentence which is segmented in the extent to keep a grammatical meaning. Specifically, if the series of the character strings have a time interval more than a certain interval, the character string specifying unit  1410  segments the character strings there. The character string specifying unit  1410  outputs the segmented character strings to the morpheme extracting unit  1420  and the input type determining unit  1440 . Note that a “character string” to be described below means one segmented character string. 
     [Morpheme Extracting Unit] 
     The morpheme extracting unit  1420  extracts morphemes constituting minimum units of the character string as first morpheme information from each of the segmented character strings based on each of the segmented character strings segmented by the character string specifying unit  1410 . In the present embodiment, a morpheme means a minimum unit of a word structure shown in a character string. For example, each minimum unit of a word structure may be a word class such as a noun, an adjective and a verb. 
     In the present embodiment as shown in  FIG. 14 , the morphemes are indicated as m 1 , m 2 , m 3 , . . . .  FIG. 14  is a diagram showing a relation between a character string and morphemes extracted from the character string. The morpheme extracting unit  1420 , which has received the character strings from the character string specifying unit  1410 , compares the received character strings and morpheme groups previously stored in the morpheme database  1430  (each of the morpheme group is prepared as a morpheme dictionary in which a direction word, a reading, a word class and infected forms are described for each morpheme belonging to each word-class classification) as shown in  FIG. 14 . The morpheme extracting unit  1420 , which has executed the comparison, extracts coincident morphemes (m 1 , m 2 , . . . ) with any of the stored morpheme groups from the character strings. Other morphemes (n 1 , n 2 , n 3 , . . . ) than the extracted morphemes may be auxiliary verbs, for example. 
     The morpheme extracting unit  1420  outputs the extracted morphemes to a topic specification information retrieval unit  1350  as the first morpheme information. Note that the first morpheme information is not needed to be structurized. Here, “structurizing” means classifying and arranging morphemes included in a character string based on word classes. For example, it may be data conversion in which a character string as an uttered sentence is segmented into morphemes and then the morphemes are arranged in a prescribed order such as “Subject+Object+Predicate”. Needless to say, the structurized first morpheme information doesn&#39;t prevent the operations of the present embodiment. 
     [Input Type Determining Unit] 
     The input type determining unit  1440  determines an uttered contents type (utterance type) based on the character strings specified by the character string specifying unit  1410 . In the present embodiment, the utterance type is information for specifying the uttered contents type and, for example, corresponds to “uttered sentence type” shown in  FIG. 15 .  FIG. 15  is a table showing the “uttered sentence types”, two-alphabet codes representing the uttered sentence types, and uttered sentence examples corresponding to the uttered sentence types. 
     Here in the present embodiment as shown in  FIG. 15 , the “uttered sentence types” include declarative sentences (D: Declaration), time sentences (T: Time), locational sentences (L: Location), negational sentences (N: Negation) and so on. A sentence configured by each of these types is an affirmative sentence or an interrogative sentence. A “declarative sentence” means a sentence showing a user&#39;s opinion or notion. In the present embodiment, one example of the “declarative sentence” is the sentence “I like Sato” shown in  FIG. 15 . A “locational sentence” means a sentence involving a locational notion. A “time sentence” means a sentence involving a timelike notion. A “negational sentence” means a sentence to deny a declarative sentence. Sentence examples of the “uttered sentence types” are shown in  FIG. 15 . 
     In the present embodiment as shown in  FIG. 16 , the input type determining unit  1440  uses a declarative expression dictionary for determination of a declarative sentence, a negational expression dictionary for determination of a negational sentence and so on in order to determine the “uttered sentence type”. Specifically, the input type determining unit  1440 , which has received the character strings from the character string specifying unit  1410 , compares the received character strings and the dictionaries stored in the utterance type database  1450  based on the received character string. The input type determining unit  1440 , which has executed the comparison, extracts elements relevant to the dictionaries among the character strings. 
     The input type determining unit  1440  determines the “uttered sentence type” based on the extracted elements. For example, if the character string includes elements declaring an event, the input type determining unit  1440  determines that the character string including the elements is a declarative sentence. The input type determining unit  1440  outputs the determined “uttered sentence type” to a reply retrieval unit  1380 . 
     [Conversation Database] 
     A configuration example of data structure stored in the conversation database  1500  will be described with reference to  FIG. 17 .  FIG. 17  is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration example of data stored in the conversation database  1500 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 17 , the conversation database  1500  stores a plurality of topic specification information  810  for specifying a conversation topic. In addition, topic specification information  810  can be associated with other topic specification information  810 . For example, if topic specification information C ( 810 ) is specified, three of topic specification information A ( 810 ), B ( 810 ) and D ( 810 ) associated with the topic specification information C ( 810 ) are also specified. 
     Specifically in the present embodiment, topic specification information  810  means “keywords” which are relevant to input contents expected to be input from users or relevant to reply sentences to users. 
     The topic specification information  810  is associated with one or more topic titles  820 . Each of the topic titles  820  is configured with a morpheme composed of one character, plural character strings or a combination thereof. A reply sentence  830  to be output to users is stored in association with each of the topic titles  820 . Response types for indicating types of the reply sentences  830  are associated with the reply sentences  830 , respectively. 
     Next, an association between the topic specification information  810  and the other topic specification information  810  will be described.  FIG. 18  is a diagram showing the association between certain topic specification information  810 A and the other topic specification information  810 B,  810 C 1 - 810 C 4  and  810 D 1 - 810 D 3  . . . . Note that a phrase “stored in association with” mentioned below indicates that, when certain information X is read out, information Y stored in association with the information X can be also read out. For example, a phrase “information Y is stored ‘in association with’ the information X” indicates a state where information for reading out the information Y (such as, a pointer indicating a storing address of the information Y, a physical memory address or a logical address in which the information Y is stored, and so on) is implemented in the information X. 
     In the example shown in  FIG. 18 , the topic specification information can be stored in association with the other topic specification information with respect to a superordinate concept, a subordinate concept, a synonym or an antonym (not shown in  FIG. 18 ). For example as shown in  FIG. 18 , the topic specification information  810 B (amusement) is stored in association with the topic specification information  810 A (movie) as a superordinate concept and stored in a higher level than the topic specification information  810 B (amusement). 
     In addition, subordinate concepts of the topic specification information  810 A (movie), the topic specification information  810 C 1  (director),  810 C 2  (starring actor/actress),  810 C 3  (distributor),  810 C 4  (runtime),  810 D 1  (“Seven Samurai”),  810 D 2  (“Ran”),  810 D 3  (“Yojimbo”), . . . , are stored in association with the topic specification information  810 A. 
     In addition, synonyms  900  are associated with the topic specification information  810 A. In this example, “work”, “contents” and “cinema” are stored as synonyms of “movie” which is a keyword of the topic specification information  810 A. By defining these synonyms in this manner, the topic specification information  810 A can be treated as included in an uttered sentence even though the uttered sentence doesn&#39;t include the keyword “movie” but includes “work”, “contents” or “cinema”. 
     In the conversation controller  1000  according to the present embodiment, when certain topic specification information  810  has been specified with reference to contents stored in the conversation database  1500 , other topic specification information  810  and the topic titles  820  or the reply sentences  830  of the other topic specification information  810 , which are stored in association with the certain topic specification information  810 , can be retrieved and extracted rapidly. 
     Next, data configuration examples of topic titles  820  (also referred as “second morpheme information”) will be described with reference to  FIG. 19 .  FIG. 19  is a diagram showing the data configuration examples of the topic titles  820 . 
     The topic specification information  810 D 1 ,  810 D 2 ,  810 D 3 , include the topic titles  8201 ,  8202 , . . . , the topic titles  8203 ,  8204 , . . . , the topic titles  8205 ,  8206 , . . . , respectively. In the present embodiment as shown in  FIG. 19 , each of the topic titles  820  is information composed of first specification information  1001 , second specification information  1002  and third specification information  1003 . Here, the first specification information  1001  is a main morpheme constituting a topic. For example, the first specification information  1001  may be a Subject of a sentence. In addition, the second specification information  1002  is a morpheme closely relevant to the first specification information  1001 . For example, the second specification information  1002  may be an Object. Furthermore, the third specification information  1003  in the present embodiment is a morpheme showing a movement of a certain subject, a morpheme of a noun modifier and so on. For example, the third specification information  1003  may be a verb, an adverb or an adjective. Note that the first specification information  1001 , the second specification information  1002  and the third specification information  1003  are not limited to the above meanings. The present embodiment can be effected in case where contents of a sentence can be understood based on the first specification information  1001 , the second specification information  1002  and the third specification information  1003  even though they are give other meanings (other ward classes). 
     For example as shown in  FIG. 19 , if the Subject is “Seven Samurai” and the adjective is “interesting”, the topic title  8202  (second morpheme information) consists of the morpheme “Seven Samurai” included in the first specification information  1001  and the morpheme “interesting” included in the third specification information  1003 . Note that the second specification information  1002  of this topic title  8202  includes no morpheme and a symbol “*” is stored in the second specification information  1002  for indicating no morpheme included. 
     Note that this topic title  8202  (Seven Samurai; *; interesting) has the meaning of “Seven Samurai is interesting.” Hereinafter, parenthetic contents for a topic title  8202  indicate the specification information  1001 , the second specification information  1002  and the third specification information  1003  from the left. In addition, when no morpheme is included in any of the first to third specification information, “*” is indicated therein. 
     Note that the specification information constituting the topic titles  820  is not limited to three and other specification information (fourth specification information and more) may be included. 
     Next, the reply sentences  830  will be described with reference to  FIG. 20 . In the present embodiment as shown in  FIG. 20 , the reply sentences  830  are classified into different types (response types) such as declaration (D: Declaration), time (T: Time), location (L: Location) and negation (N: Negation) for making a reply corresponding to the uttered sentence type of the user&#39;s utterance. Note that an affirmative sentence is classified with “A” and an interrogative sentence is classified with “Q”. 
     A configuration example of data structure of the topic specification information  810  will be described with reference to  FIG. 21 .  FIG. 21  shows a concrete example of the topic titles  820  and the reply sentences  830  associated with the topic specification information  810  “Sato”. 
     The topic specification information  810  “Sato” is associated with plural topic titles ( 820 )  1 - 1 ,  1 - 2 , . . . . Each of the topic titles ( 820 )  1 - 1 ,  1 - 2 , . . . is associated with reply sentences ( 830 )  1 - 1 ,  1 - 2 , . . . . The reply sentence  830  is prepared per each of the response types  840 . 
     For example, when the topic title ( 820 )  1 - 1  is (Sato; *; like) [these are extracted morphemes included in “I like Sato”], the reply sentences ( 830 )  1 - 1  associated with the topic title ( 820 )  1 - 1  include (DA: a declarative affirmative sentence “I like Sato, too.”) and (TA: a time affirmative sentence “I like Sate at bat.”). The after-mentioned reply retrieval unit  1380  retrieves one reply sentence  830  associated with the topic title  820  with reference to an output from the input type determining unit  1440 . 
     Next-plan designation information  840  is allocated to each of the reply sentences  830 . The next-plan designation information  840  is information for designating a reply sentence to be preferentially output against a user&#39;s utterance in association with the each of the reply sentences (referred as a “next-reply sentence”). The next-plan designation information  840  may be any information even if a next-reply sentence can be specified by the information. For example, the information may be a reply sentence ID, by which at least one reply sentence can be specified among all reply sentences stored in the conversation database  1500 . 
     In the present embodiment, the next-plan designation information  840  is described as information for specifying one next-reply sentence per one reply sentence (for example, a reply sentence ID). However, the next-plan designation information  840  may be information for specifying next-reply sentences per topic specification information  810  or per one topic title  820 . (In this case, since plural replay sentences are designated, they are referred as a “next-reply sentence group”. However, only one of the reply sentences included in the next-reply sentence group will be actually output as the reply sentence.) For example, the present embodiment can be effected in case where a topic title ID or a topic specification information ID is used as the next-plan designation information. 
     [Conversation Control Unit] 
     A configuration example of the conversation control unit  1300  is further described with referring back to  FIG. 13 . 
     The conversation control unit  1300  functions to control data transmitting between configuration components in the conversation controller  1000  (the speech recognition unit  1200 , the sentence analyzing unit  1400 , the conversation database  1500 , the output unit  1600  and the speech recognition dictionary memory  1700 ), and determine and output a reply sentence in response to a user&#39;s utterance. 
     In the present embodiment shown in  FIG. 13 , the conversation control unit  1300  includes a managing unit  1310 , a plan conversation process unit  1320 , a discourse space conversation control process unit  1330  and a CA conversation process unit  1340 . Hereinafter, these configuration components will be described. 
     [Managing Unit] 
     The managing unit  1310  functions to store discourse histories and update, if needed, the discourse histories. The managing unit  1310  further functions to transmit some or entire of the stored discourse histories to a part or a whole of the discourse histories to a topic specification information retrieval unit  1350 , an elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360 , a topic retrieval unit  1370  or a reply retrieval unit  1380  in response to a request therefrom. 
     [Plan Conversation Process Unit] 
     The plan conversation process unit  1320  functions to execute plans and establish conversations between a user and the conversation controller  1000  according to the plans. A “plan” means providing a predetermined reply to a user in a predetermined order. 
     The plan conversation process unit  1320  functions to output the predetermined reply in the predetermined order in response to a user&#39;s utterance. 
       FIG. 22  is a conceptual diagram to describe plans. As shown in  FIG. 22 , various plans  1402  such as plural plans  1 ,  2 ,  3  and  4  are prepared in a plan space  1401 . The plan space  1401  is a set of the plural plans  1402  stored in the conversation database  1500 . The conversation controller  1000  selects a preset plan  1402  for a start-up on an activation or a conversation start or arbitrarily selects one of the plans  1402  in the plan space  1401  in response to a user&#39;s utterance contents in order to output a reply sentence against the user&#39;s utterance by using the selected plan  1402 . 
       FIG. 23  shows a configuration example of plans  1402 . Each plan  1402  includes a reply sentence  1501  and next-plan designation information  1502  associated therewith. The next-plan designation information  1502  is information for specifying, in response to a certain reply sentence  1501  in a plan  1402 , another plan  1402  including a reply sentence to be output to a user (referred as a “next-reply candidate sentence”). In this example, the plan  1  includes a reply sentence A ( 1501 ) to be output at an execution of the plan  1  by the conversation controller  1000  and next-plan designation information  1502  associated with the reply sentence A ( 1501 ). The next-plan designation information  1502  is information [ID: 002] for specifying a plan  2  including a reply sentence B ( 1501 ) to be a next-reply candidate sentence to the reply sentence A ( 1501 ). Similarly, since the reply sentence B ( 1501 ) is also associated with next-plan designation information  1502 , another plan  1402  ([ID: 043]: not shown) including the next-reply candidate sentence will be designated by next-plan designation information  1502  when the reply sentence B ( 1501 ) has output. In this manner, plans  1402  are chained via next-plan designation information  1502  and plan conversations in which a series of successive contents can be output to a user. 
     In other words, since contents expected to be provided to a user (an explanatory sentence, an announcement sentence, a questionnaire and so on) are separated into plural reply sentences and the reply sentences are prepared as a plan with their order predetermined, it becomes possible to provide a series of the reply sentences to the user in response to the user&#39;s utterances. Note that a reply sentence  1501  included in a plan  1402  designated by next-plan designation information  1502  is not needed to be output to a user immediately after an output of the user&#39;s utterance in response to an output of a previous reply sentence. The reply sentence  1501  included in the plan  1402  designated by the next-plan designation information  1502  may be output after an intervening conversation on a different topic from a topic in the plan between the conversation controller  1000  and the user. 
     Note that the reply sentence  1501  shown in  FIG. 23  corresponds to a sentence string of one of the reply sentences  830  shown in  FIG. 21 . In addition, the next-plan designation information  1502  shown in  FIG. 23  corresponds to the next-plan designation information  840  shown in  FIG. 21 . 
     Note that linkages between the plans  1402  are not limited to form a one-dimensional geometry shown in  FIG. 23 .  FIG. 24  shows an example of plans  1402  with another linkage geometry. In the example shown in  FIG. 24 , a plan  1  ( 1402 ) includes two of next-plan designation information  1502  to designate two reply sentences as next replay candidate sentences, in other words, to designate two plans  1402 . The two of next-plan designation information  1502  are prepared in order that the plan  2  ( 1402 ) including a reply sentence B ( 1501 ) and the plan  3  ( 1402 ) including a reply sentence C ( 1501 ) are to be designated as plans each including a next-reply candidate sentence. Note that the reply sentences are selective and alternative, so that, when one has been output, another is not output and then the plan  1  ( 1501 ) is terminated. In this manner, the linkages between the plans  1402  is not limited to forming a one-dimensional geometry and may form a tree-diagram-like geometry or a cancellous geometry. 
     Note that it is not limited that how many next-reply candidate sentences each plan  1402  includes. In addition, no next-plan designation information  1502  may be included in a plan  1402  which terminates a conversation. 
       FIG. 25  shows an example of a certain series of plans  1402 . As shown in  FIG. 25 , this series of plans  1402   1  to  1402   4  are associated with reply sentences  1501   1  to  1501   4  which notify crisis management information to a user. The reply sentences  1501   1  to  1501   4  constitute one coherent topic as a whole. Each of the plans  1402   1  to  1402   4  includes ID data  1702 , to  17024  for indicating itself such as “1000-01, 1000-02”, “1000-03” and “1000-04”, respectively. Note that each value after a hyphen in the ID data is information indicating an output order. In addition, each of the plans  1402   1  to  1402   4  further includes ID data  1502 , to  15024  as the next-plan designation information such as “1000-02, 1000-03”, “1000-04” and “1000-0F”, respectively. Especially, “0F” is information indicating the final plan (the last in the order). 
     In this example, the plan conversation process unit  1320  starts to execute this series of plans when a user has uttered&#39;s utterance has been “Please tell me a crisis management applied when a large earthquake occurs.” Specifically, the plan conversation process unit  1320  searches in the plan space  1401  and checks whether or not a plan  1402  including a reply sentence  1501   1  associated with the user&#39;s utterance “Please tell me a crisis management applied when a large earthquake occurs,” when the plan conversation process unit  1320  has received the user&#39;s utterance “Please tell me a crisis management applied when a large earthquake occurs.” In this example, a user&#39;s utterance character string  1701   1  associated with the user&#39;s utterance “Please tell me a crisis management applied when a large earthquake occurs,” is associated with a plan  1402   1 . 
     The plan conversation process unit  1320  retrieves the reply sentence  1501   1  included in the plan  1402   1  on discovering the plan  1402   1  and outputs the reply sentence  1501   1  to the user as a reply sentence in response to the user&#39;s utterance. And then, the plan conversation process unit  1320  specifies the next-reply candidate sentence with reference to the next-plan designation information  1502   1 . 
     Next, the plan conversation process unit  1320  executes the plan  1402   2  on receiving another user&#39;s utterance via the input unit  1100 , a speech recognition unit  1200  or the like after an output of the reply sentence  1501   1 . Specifically, the plan conversation process unit  1320  judges whether or not to execute the plan  1402   2  designated by the next-plan designation information  1502   1 , in other words, whether or not to output the second reply sentence  1501   2 . More specifically, the plan conversation process unit  1320  compares a user&#39;s utterance character string (also referred as an illustrative sentence)  1701   2  associated with the reply sentence  1501   2  and the received user&#39;s utterance, or compares a topic title  820  (not shown in  FIG. 25 ) associated with the reply sentence  1501   2  and the received user&#39;s utterance. And then, the plan conversation process unit  1320  determines whether or not the two are related to each other. If the two are related to each other, the plan conversation process unit  1320  outputs the second reply sentence  1501   2 . In addition, since the plan  1402   2  including the second reply sentence  1501   2  also includes the next-plan designation information  1502   2 , the next-reply candidate sentence is specified. 
     Similarly, according to ongoing user&#39;s utterances, the plan conversation process unit  1320  transit into the plans  1402   3  and  1402   4  in turn and can output the third and fourth reply sentences  1501   3  and  1501   4 . Note that, since the fourth reply sentence  1501   4  is the final reply sentence, the plan conversation process unit  1320  terminates plan-executions when the fourth reply sentence  1501   4  has been output. 
     In this manner, the plan conversation process unit  1320  can provide previously prepared conversation contents to the user in a predetermined order by sequentially executing the plans  1402   1  to  1402   4 . 
     [Discourse Space Conversation Control Process Unit] 
     The configuration example of the conversation control unit  1300  is further described with referring back to  FIG. 13 . 
     The discourse space conversation control process unit  1330  includes the topic specification information retrieval unit  1350 , the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360 , the topic retrieval unit  1370  and the reply retrieval unit  1380 . The managing unit  1310  totally controls the conversation control unit  1300 . 
     A “discourse history” is information for specifying a conversation topic or theme between a user and the conversation controller  1000  and includes at least one of “focused topic specification information”, a “focused topic title”, “user input sentence topic specification information” and “reply sentence topic specification information”. The “focused topic specification information”, the “focused topic title” and the “reply sentence topic specification information” are not limited to be defined from a conversation done just before but may be defined from the previous “focused topic specification information”, the “focused topic title” and the “reply sentence topic specification information” during a predetermined past period or from an accumulated record thereof. 
     Hereinbelow, each of the units constituting the discourse space conversation control process unit  1330  will be described. 
     [Topic Specification Information Retrieval Unit] 
     The topic specification information retrieval unit  1350  compares the first morpheme information extracted by the morpheme extracting unit  1420  and the topic specification information, and then retrieves the topic specification information corresponding to a morpheme in the first morpheme information among the topic specification information. Specifically, when the first morpheme information received from the morpheme extracting unit  1420  is two morphemes “Sato” and “like”, the topic specification information retrieval unit  1350  compares the received first morpheme information and the topic specification information group. 
     If a focused topic title  820   focus  (indicated as  820   focus  to be differentiated from previously retrieved topic titles or other topic titles) includes a morpheme (for example, “Sato”) in the first morpheme information, the topic specification information retrieval unit  1350  outputs the focused topic title  820   focus  to the reply retrieval unit  1380 . On the other hand, if no topic title includes the morpheme in the first morpheme information, the topic specification information retrieval unit  1350  determines user input sentence topic specification information based on the received first morpheme information, and then outputs the first morpheme information and the user input sentence topic specification information to the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360 . Note that the “user input sentence topic specification information” is topic specification information corresponding-to or probably-corresponding-to a morpheme relevant to topic contents talked by a user among morphemes included in the first morpheme information. 
     [Elliptical Sentence Complementation Unit] 
     The elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360  generates various complemented first morpheme information by complementing the first morpheme information with the previously retrieved topic specification information  810  (hereinafter referred as the “focused topic specification information”) and the topic specification information  810  included in the final reply sentence (hereinafter referred as the “reply sentence topic specification information”). For example, if a user&#39;s utterance is “like”, the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360  generates the complemented first morpheme information “Sato, like” by including the focused topic specification information “Sato” into the first morpheme information “like”. 
     In other words, if it is assumed that the first morpheme information is defined as “W” and a set of the focused topic specification information and the reply sentence topic specification information is defined as “D”, the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360  generates the complemented first morpheme information by including an element(s) in the set “D” into the first morpheme information “W”. 
     In this manner, in case where, for example, a sentence constituted with the first morpheme information is an elliptical sentence which is unclear as language, the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360  can include, by using the set “D”, an element(s) (for example, “Sato”) in the set “D” into the first morpheme information “W”. As a result, the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360  can complement the first morpheme information “like” into the complemented first morpheme information “Sato, like”. Note that the complemented first morpheme information “Sato, like” corresponds to a user&#39;s utterance “I like Sato.” 
     That is, even when user&#39;s utterance contents are provided as an elliptical sentence, the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360  can complement the elliptical sentence by using the set “D”. As a result, even when a sentence constituted with the first morpheme information is an elliptical sentence, the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360  can complement the sentence into an appropriate sentence as language. 
     In addition, the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360  retrieves the topic title  820  related to the complemented first morpheme information based on the set “D”. If the topic title  820  related to the complemented first morpheme information has been found, the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360  outputs the topic title  820  to the reply retrieval unit  1380 . The reply retrieval unit  1380  can output a reply sentence  830  best-suited for the user&#39;s utterance contents based on the appropriate topic title  820  found by the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360 . 
     Note that the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360  is not limited to including an element(s) in the set “D” into the first morpheme information. The elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360  may include, based on a focused topic title, a morpheme(s) included in any of the first, second and third specification information in the topic title, into the extracted first morpheme information. 
     [Topic Retrieval Unit] 
     The topic retrieval unit  1370  compares the first morpheme information and topic titles  820  associated with the user input sentence topic specification information to retrieve a topic title  820  best-suited for the first morpheme information among the topic titles  820  when the topic title  820  has not been determined by the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360 . 
     Specifically, the topic retrieval unit  1370 , which has received a retrieval command signal from the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360 , retrieves the topic title  820  best-suited for the first morpheme information among the topic titles associated with the user input sentence topic specification information based on the user input sentence topic specification information and the first morpheme information which are included in the received retrieval command signal. The topic retrieval unit  1370  outputs the retrieved topic title  820  as a retrieval result signal to the reply retrieval unit  1380 . 
     Above-mentioned  FIG. 21  shows the concrete example of the topic titles  820  and the reply sentences  830  associated with the topic specification information  810  (=“Sato”). For example as shown in  FIG. 21 , since topic specification information  810  (=“Sato”) is included in the received first morpheme information “Sato, like”, the topic retrieval unit  1370  specifies the topic specification information  810  (=“Sato”) and then compares the topic titles ( 820 )  1 - 1 ,  1 - 2 , . . . associated with the topic specification information  810  (=“Sato”) and the received first morpheme information “Sato, like”. 
     The topic retrieval unit  1370  retrieves the topic title ( 820 )  1 - 1  (Sato; *; like) related to the received first morpheme information “Sato, like” among the topic titles ( 820 )  1 - 1 ,  1 - 2 , based on the comparison result. The topic retrieval unit  1370  outputs the retrieved topic title ( 820 )  1 - 1  (Sato; *; like) as a retrieval result signal to the reply retrieval unit  1380 . 
     [Reply Retrieval Unit] 
     The reply retrieval unit  1380  retrieves, based on the topic title  820  retrieved by the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360  or the topic retrieval unit  1370 , a reply sentence associated with the topic title  820 . In addition, the reply retrieval unit  1380  compares, based on the topic title  820  retrieved by the topic retrieval unit  1370 , the response types associated with the topic title  820  and the utterance type determined by the input type determining unit  1440 . The reply retrieval unit  1380 , which has executed the comparison, retrieves one response type related to the determined utterance type among the response types. 
     In the example shown in  FIG. 21 , when the topic title retrieved by the topic retrieval unit  1370  is the topic title  1 - 1  (Sato; *; like), the reply retrieval unit  1380  specifies the response type (for example, DA) coincident with the “uttered sentence type” (DA) determined by the input type determining unit  1440  among the reply sentences  1 - 1  (DA, TA and so on) associated with the topic title  1 - 1 . The reply retrieval unit  1380 , which has specified the response type (DA), retrieves the reply sentence  1 - 1  (“I like Sato, too.”) associated with the response type (DA) based on the specified response type (DA). 
     Here, “A” in above-mentioned “DA”, “TA” and so on means an affirmative form. Therefore, when the utterance types and the response types include “A”, it indicates an affirmation on a certain matter. In addition, the utterance types and the response types can include the types of “DQ”, “TQ” and so on. “Q” in “DQ”, “TQ” and so on means a question about a certain matter. 
     If the response type takes an interrogative form (Q), a reply sentence associated with this response type takes an affirmative form (A). A reply sentence with an affirmative form (A) may be a sentence for replying to a question and so on. For example, when an uttered sentence is “Have you ever operated slot machines?”, the utterance type of the uttered sentence is an interrogative form (Q). A reply sentence associated with this interrogative form (Q) may be “I have operated slot machines before,” (affirmative form (A)), for example. 
     On the other hand, when the response type is an affirmative form (A), a reply sentence associated with this response type takes an interrogative form (Q). A reply sentence in an interrogative form (Q) may be an interrogative sentence for asking back against uttered contents, an interrogative sentence for getting out a certain matter. For example, when the uttered sentence is “Playing slot machines is my hobby,” the utterance type of this uttered sentence takes an affirmative form (A). A reply sentence associated with this affirmative form (A) may be “Playing pachinko is your hobby, isn&#39;t it?” (an interrogative sentence (Q) for getting out a certain matter), for example. 
     The reply retrieval unit  1380  outputs the retrieved reply sentence  830  as a reply sentence signal to the managing unit  1310 . The managing unit  1310 , which has received the reply sentence signal from the reply retrieval unit  1380 , outputs the received reply sentence signal to the output unit  1600 . 
     [CA Conversation Process Unit] 
     When a reply sentence in response to a user&#39;s utterance has not been determined by the plan conversation process unit  1320  or the discourse space conversation control process unit  1330 , the CA conversation process unit  1340  functions to output a reply sentence for continuing a conversation with a user according to contents of the user&#39;s utterance. 
     The configuration example of the conversation controller  1000  is further described with referring back to  FIG. 9 . 
     [Output Unit] 
     The output unit  1600  outputs the reply sentence retrieved by the reply retrieval unit  1380 . The output unit  1600  may be a speaker or a display, for example. Specifically, the output unit  1600 , which has received the reply sentence from the reply retrieval unit  1380 , outputs voice sounds of the received reply sentence (for example, “I like Sato, too,”) based on the received reply sentence. With that, describing the configuration example of the conversation controller  1000  has ended. 
     [Conversation Control Method] 
     The conversation controller  100  with the above-mentioned configuration puts a conversation control method in execution by operating as described hereinbelow. 
     Next, operations of the conversation controller  1000 , more specifically the conversation control unit  1300 , according to the present embodiment will be described. 
       FIG. 26  is a flowchart showing an example of a main process executed by conversation control unit  1300 . This main process is a process executed each time when the conversation control unit  1300  receives a user&#39;s utterance. A reply sentence in response to the user&#39;s utterance is output due to an execution of this main process, so that a conversation (an interlocution) between a user and the conversation controller  100  is established. 
     Upon executing the main process, the conversation controller  100 , more specifically the plan conversation process unit  1320  firstly executes a plan conversation control process (S 1801 ). The plan conversation control process is a process for executing a plan(s). 
       FIGS. 27 and 28  are flow charts showing an example of the plan conversation control process. Hereinbelow, the example of the plan conversation control process will be described with reference to  FIGS. 27 and 28 . 
     Upon executing the plan conversation control process, the plan conversation process unit  1320  firstly executes a basic control state information check (S 1901 ). The basic control state information is information on whether or not an execution(s) of a plan(s) has been completed and is stored in a predetermined memory area. 
     The basic control state information serves to indicate a basic control state of a plan. 
       FIG. 29  is a diagram showing four basic control states which are possibly established due to a so-called scenario-type plan. 
     (1) Cohesiveness 
     This basic control state corresponds to a case where a user&#39;s utterance is coincident with the currently executed plan  1402 , more specifically the topic title  820  or the example sentence  1701  associated with the plan  1402 . In this case, the plan conversation process unit  1320  terminates the plan  1402  and then transfers to another plan  1402  corresponding to the reply sentence  1501  designated by the next-plan designation information  1502 . 
     (2) Cancellation 
     This basic control state is a basic control state which is set in a case where it is determined that user&#39;s utterance contents require a completion of a plan  1402  or that a user&#39;s interest has changed to another matter than the currently executed plan. When the basic control state indicates the cancellation, the plan conversation process unit  1320  retrieves another plan  1402  associated with the user&#39;s utterance than the plan  1402  targeted as the cancellation. If the other plan  1402  exists, the plan conversation process unit  1320  start to execute the other plan  1402 . If the other plan  1402  does not exist, the plan conversation process unit  1320  terminates an execution(s) of a plan(s) 
     (3) Maintenance 
     This basic control state is a basic control state which is set in a case where a user&#39;s utterance is not coincident with the topic title  820  (see  FIG. 21 ) or the example sentence  1701  (see  FIG. 25 ) associated with the currently executed plan  1402  and also the user&#39;s utterance does not correspond to the basic control state “cancellation”. 
     In the case of this basic control state, the plan conversation process unit  1320  firstly determines whether or not to resume a pending or pausing plan  1402  on receiving the user&#39;s utterance. If the user&#39;s utterance is not adapted for resuming the plan  1402 , for example, in case where the user&#39;s utterance is not related to a topic title  820  or an example sentence  1701  associated with the plan  1402 , the plan conversation process unit  1320  starts to execute another plan  1402 , an after-mentioned discourse space conversation control process (S 1802 ) and so on. If the user&#39;s utterance is adapted for resuming the plan  1402 , the plan conversation process unit  1320  outputs a reply sentence  1501  based on the stored next-plan designation information  1502 . 
     In case where the basic control state is the “maintenance”, the plan conversation process unit  1320  retrieves other plans  1402  in order to enable outputting another reply sentence than the reply sentence  1501  associated with the currently executed plan  1402 , or executes the discourse space conversation control process. However, if the user&#39;s utterance is adapted for resuming the plan  1402 , the plan conversation process unit  1320  resumes the plan  1402 . 
     (4) Continuation 
     This state is a basic control state which is set in a case where a user&#39;s utterance is not related to reply sentences  1501  included in the currently executed plan  1402 , contents of the user&#39;s utterance do not correspond to the basic control sate “cancellation” and use&#39;s intention construed from the user&#39;s utterance is not clear. 
     In case where the basic control state is the “continuation”, the plan conversation process unit  1320  firstly determines whether or not to resume a pending or pausing plan  1402  on receiving the user&#39;s utterance. If the user&#39;s utterance is not adapted for resuming the plan  1402 , the plan conversation process unit  1320  executes an after-mentioned CA conversation control process in order to enable outputting a reply sentence for getting out a further user&#39;s utterance. 
     The plan conversation control process is further described with referring back to  FIG. 27 . 
     The plan conversation process unit  1320 , which has referred to the basic control state, determines whether or not the basic control state indicated by the basic control state information is the “cohesiveness” (step S 1902 ). If it has been determined that the basic control state is the “cohesiveness” (YES in step S 1902 ), the plan conversation process unit  1320  determines whether or not the reply sentence  1501  is the final reply sentence in the currently executed plan  1402  (step S 1903 ). 
     If it has been determined that the final reply sentence  1501  has been output already (YES in step S 1903 ), the plan conversation process unit  1320  retrieves another plan  1402  related to the use&#39;s utterance in the plan space in order to determine whether or not to execute the other plan  1402  (step S 1904 ) because the plan conversation process unit  1320  has provided all contents to be replied to the user already. If the other plan  1402  related to the user&#39;s utterance has not been found due to this retrieval (NO in step S 1905 ), the plan conversation process unit  1320  terminates the plan conversation control process because no plan  1402  to be provided to the user exists. 
     On the other hand, if the other plan  1402  related to the user&#39;s utterance has been found due to this retrieval (YES in step S 1905 ), the plan conversation process unit  1320  transfers into the other plan  1402  (step S 1906 ). Since the other plan  1402  to be provided to the user still remains, an execution of the other plan  1402  (an output of the reply sentence  1501  included in the other plan  1402 ) is started. 
     Next, the plan conversation process unit  1320  outputs the reply sentence  1501  included in that plan  1402  (step S 1908 ). The reply sentence  1501  is output as a reply to the user&#39;s utterance, so that the plan conversation process unit  1320  provides information to be supplied to the user. 
     The plan conversation process unit  1320  terminates the plan conversation control process after the reply sentence output process (step S 1908 ). 
     On the other hand, if the previously output reply sentence  1501  is not determined as the final reply sentence in the determination whether or not the previously output reply sentence  1501  is the final reply sentence (step S 1903 ), the plan conversation process unit  1320  transfers into a plan  1402  associated with the reply sentence  1501  following the previously output reply sentence  1501 , i.e. the specified reply sentence  1501  by the next-plan designation information  1502  (step S 1907 ). 
     Subsequently, the plan conversation process unit  1320  outputs the reply sentence  1501  included in that plan  1402  to provide a reply to the user&#39;s utterance (step  1908 ). The reply sentence  1501  is output as the reply to the user&#39;s utterance, so that the plan conversation process unit  1320  provides information to be supplied to the user. The plan conversation process unit  1320  terminates the plan conversation control process after the reply sentence output process (step S 1908 ). 
     Here, if the basic control state is not the “cohesiveness” in the determination process in step S 1902  (NO in step S 1902 ), the plan conversation process unit  1320  determines whether or not the basic control state indicated by the basic control state information is the “cancellation” (step S 1909 ). If it has been determined that the basic control state is the “cancellation” (YES in step S 1909 ), the plan conversation process unit  1320  retrieves another plan  1402  related to the use&#39;s utterance in the plan space  1401  in order to determine whether or not the other plan  1402  to be started newly exists (step S 1904 ) because a plan  1402  to be successively executed does not exist. Subsequently, the plan conversation process unit  1320  executes the processes of steps S 1905  to S 1908  as well as the processes in case of the above-mentioned step S 1903  (YES). 
     On the other hand, if the basic control state is not the “cancellation” in the determination process in step S 1902  (NO in step S 1902 ) in the determination whether or not the basic control state indicated by the basic control state information is the “cancellation” (step S 1909 ), the plan conversation process unit  1320  further determines whether or not the basic control state indicated by the basic control state information is the “maintenance” (step S 1910 ). 
     If the basic control state indicated by the basic control state information is the “maintenance” (YES in step S 1910 ), the plan conversation process unit  1320  determined whether or not the user presents the interest on the pending or pausing plan  1402  again and then resumes the pending or pausing plan  1402  in case where the interest is presented (step S 2001  in  FIG. 28 ). In other words, the plan conversation process unit  1320  evaluates the pending or pausing plan  1402  (step S 2001  in  FIG. 28 ) and then determines whether or not the user&#39;s utterance is related to the pending or pausing plan  1402  (step S 2002 ). 
     If it has been determined that the user&#39;s utterance is related to that plan  1402  (YES in step S 2002 ), the plan conversation process unit  1320  transfers into the plan  1402  related to the user&#39;s utterance (step S 2003 ) and then executes the reply sentence output process (step S 1908  in  FIG. 27 ) to output the reply sentence  1501  included in the plan  1402 . Operating in this manner, the plan conversation process unit  1320  can resume the pending or pausing plan  1402  according to the user&#39;s utterance, so that all contents included in the previously prepared plan  1402  can be provided to the user. 
     On the other hand, if it has been determined that the user&#39;s utterance is not related to that plan  1402  (NO in step S 2002 ) in the above-mentioned S 2002  (see  FIG. 28 ), the plan conversation process unit  1320  retrieves another plan  1402  related to the use&#39;s utterance in the plan space  1401  in order to determine whether or not the other plan  1402  to be started newly exists (step S 1904  in  FIG. 27 ). Subsequently, the plan conversation process unit  1320  executes the processes of steps S 1905  to S 1908  as well as the processes in case of the above-mentioned step S 1903  (YES). 
     If it is determined that the basic control state indicated by the basic control state information is not the “maintenance” (NO in step S 1910 ) in the determination in step S 1910 , it means that the basic control state indicated by the basic control state information is the “continuation”. In this case, the plan conversation process unit  1320  terminates the plan conversation control process without outputting a reply sentence. With that, describing the plan control process has ended. 
     The main process is further described with referring back to  FIG. 26 . The conversation control unit  1300  executes the discourse space conversation control process (step S 1802 ) after the plan conversation control process (step S 1801 ) has been completed. Note that, if the reply sentence has been output in the plan conversation control process (step S 1801 ), the conversation control unit  1300  executes a basic control information update process (step S 1804 ) without executing the discourse space conversation control process (step S 1802 ) and the after-mentioned CA conversation control process (step S 1803 ) and then terminates the main process. 
       FIG. 30  is a flow chart showing an example of a discourse space conversation control process according to the present embodiment. The input unit  1100  firstly executes a step for receiving a user&#39;s utterance (step S 2201 ). Specifically, the input unit  1100  receives voice sounds of the user&#39;s utterance. The input unit  1100  outputs the received voice sounds to the speech recognition unit  1200  as a voice signal. Note that the input unit  1100  may receive a character string input by a user (for example, text data input in a text format) instead of the voice sounds. In this case, the input unit  1100  may be a text input device such as a keyboard or a touchscreen. 
     Next, the speech recognition unit  1200  executes a step for specifying a character string corresponding to the uttered contents based on the uttered contents retrieved by the input unit  1100  (step S 2202 ). Specifically, the speech recognition unit  1200 , which has received the voice signal from the input unit  1100 , specifies a word hypothesis (candidate) corresponding to the voice signal based on the received voice signal. The speech recognition unit  1200  retrieves a character string corresponding to the specified word hypothesis and outputs the retrieved character string to the conversation control unit  1300 , more specifically the discourse space conversation control process unit  1330 , as a character string signal. 
     And then, the character string specifying unit  1410  segments a series of the character strings specified by the speech recognition unit  1200  into segments (step S 2203 ). Specifically, if the series of the character strings have a time interval more than a certain interval, the character string specifying unit  1410 , which has received the character string signal or a morpheme signal from the managing unit  1310 , segments the character strings there. The character string specifying unit  1410  outputs the segmented character strings to the morpheme extracting unit  1420  and the input type determining unit  1440 . Note that it is preferred that the character string specifying unit  1410  segments a character string at a punctuation, a space and so on in a case where the character string has been input from a keyboard. 
     Subsequently, the morpheme extracting unit  1420  executes a step for extracting morphemes constituting minimum units of the character string as first morpheme information based on the character string specified by the character string specifying unit  1410  (step S 2204 ). Specifically, the morpheme extracting unit  1420 , which has received the character strings from the character string specifying unit  1410 , compares the received character strings and morpheme groups previously stored in the morpheme database  1430 . Note that, in the present embodiment, each of the morpheme groups is prepared as a morpheme dictionary in which a direction word, a reading, a word class and an inflected forms are described for each morpheme belonging to each word-class classification. 
     The morpheme extracting unit  1420 , which has executed the comparison, extracts coincident morphemes (m 1 , m 2 , . . . ) with the morphemes included in the previously stored morpheme groups from the received character string. The morpheme extracting unit  1420  outputs the extracted morphemes to the topic specification information retrieval unit  1350  as the first morpheme information. 
     Next, the input type determining unit  1440  executes a step for determining the “uttered sentence type” based on the morphemes which constitute one sentence and are specified by the character string specifying unit  1410  (step S 2205 ). Specifically, the input type determining unit  1440 , which has received the character strings from the character string specifying unit  1410 , compares the received character strings and the dictionaries stored in the utterance type database  1450  based on the received character strings and extracts elements relevant to the dictionaries among the character strings. The input type determining unit  1440 , which has extracted the elements, determines to which “uttered sentence type” the extracted element(s) belongs based on the extracted element(s). The input type determining unit  1440  outputs the determined “uttered sentence type” (utterance type) to the reply retrieval unit  1380 . 
     And then, the topic specification information retrieval unit  1350  executes a step for comparing the first morpheme information extracted by the morpheme extracting unit  1420  and the focused topic title  820   focus  (step S 2206 ). 
     If a morpheme in the first morpheme information is related to the focused topic title  820   focus , the topic specification information retrieval unit  1350  outputs the focused topic title  820   focus  to the reply retrieval unit  1380 . On the other hand, if no morpheme in the first morpheme information is related to the focused topic title  820   focus , the topic specification information retrieval unit  1350  outputs the received first morpheme information and the user input sentence topic specification information to the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360  as the retrieval command signal. 
     Subsequently, the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360  executes a step for including the focused topic specification information and the reply sentence topic specification information into the received first morpheme information based on the first morpheme information received from the topic specification information retrieval unit  1350  (step S 2207 ). Specifically, if it is assumed that the first morpheme information is defined as “W” and a set of the focused topic specification information and the reply sentence topic specification information is defined as “D”, the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360  generates the complemented first morpheme information by including an element(s) in the set “D” into the first morpheme information “W” and compares the complemented first morpheme information and all the topic titles  820  to retrieve the topic title  820  related to the complemented first morpheme information. If the topic title  820  related to the complemented first morpheme information has been found, the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360  outputs the topic title  820  to the reply retrieval unit  1380 . On the other hand, if no topic title  820  related to the complemented first morpheme information has been found, the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360  outputs the first morpheme information and the user input sentence topic specification information to the topic retrieval unit  1370 . 
     Next, the topic retrieval unit  1370  executes a step for comparing the first morpheme information and the user input sentence topic specification information and retrieves the topic title  820  best-suited for the first morpheme information among the topic titles  820  (step S 2208 ). Specifically, the topic retrieval unit  1370 , which has received the retrieval command signal from the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360 , retrieves the topic title  820  best-suited for the first morpheme information among topic titles  820  associated with the user input sentence topic specification information based on the user input sentence topic specification information and the first morpheme information included in the received retrieval command signal. The topic retrieval unit  1370  outputs the retrieved topic title  820  to the reply retrieval unit  1380  as the retrieval result signal. 
     Next, the reply retrieval unit  1380  compares, in order to select the reply sentence  830 , the user&#39;s utterance type determined by the sentence analyzing unit  1400  and the response type associated with the retrieved topic title  820  based on the retrieved topic title  820  by the topic specification information retrieval unit  1350 , the elliptical sentence complementation unit  1360  or the topic retrieval unit  1370  (step S 2209 ). 
     The reply sentence  830  is selected in particular as explained hereinbelow. Specifically, based on the “topic title” associated with the received retrieval result signal and the received “uttered sentence type”, the reply retrieval unit  1380 , which has received the retrieval result signal from the topic retrieval unit  1370  and the “uttered sentence type” from the input type determining unit  1440 , specifies one response type coincident with the “uttered sentence type” (for example, DA) among the response types associated with the “topic title”. 
     Consequently, the reply retrieval unit  1380  outputs the reply sentence  830  retrieved in step S 2209  to the output unit  1600  via the managing unit  1310  (S 2210 ). The output unit  1600 , which has received the reply sentence  830  from the managing unit  1310 , outputs the received reply sentence  830 . 
     With that, describing the discourse space conversation control process has ended and the main process is further described with referring back to  FIG. 26 . 
     The conversation control unit  1300  executes the CA conversation control process (step S 1803 ) after the discourse space conversation control process has been completed. Note that, if the reply sentence has been output in the plan conversation control process (step S 1801 ) or the discourse space conversation control (step S 1802 ), the conversation control unit  1300  executes the basic control information update process (step S 1804 ) without executing the CA conversation control process (step S 1803 ) and then terminates the main process. 
     The CA conversation control process is a process in which it is determined whether a user&#39;s utterance is an utterance for “explaining something”, an utterance for “confirming something”, an utterance for “accusing or rebuking something” or an utterance for “other than these”, and then a reply sentence is output according to the user&#39;s utterance contents and the determination result. By the CA conversation control process, a so-called “bridging” reply sentence for continuing the uninterrupted conversation with the user can be output even if a reply sentence suited for the user&#39;s utterance can not be output by the plan conversation control process nor the discourse space conversation control process. 
     Next, the conversation control unit  1300  executes the basic control information update process (step S 1804 ). In this process, the conversation control unit  1300 , more specifically the managing unit  1310 , sets the basic control information to the “cohesiveness” when the plan conversation process unit  1320  has output a reply sentence, sets the basic control information to the “cancellation” when the plan conversation process unit  1320  has cancelled an output of a reply sentence, sets the basic control information to the “maintenance” when the discourse space conversation control process unit  1330  has output a reply sentence, or sets the basic control information to the “continuation” when the CA conversation process unit  1340  has output a reply sentence. 
     The basic control information set in this basic control information update process is referred in the above-mentioned plan conversation control process (step S 1801 ) to be employed for continuation or resumption of a plan. 
     As described the above, the conversation controller  1000  can executes a previously prepared plan(s) or can adequately respond to a topic(s) which is not included in a plan(s) according to a user&#39;s utterance by executing the main process each time when receiving the user&#39;s utterance. 
     In the gaming terminal  4  of the present embodiment, the input unit  1100  of the conversation controller  1000  explained above may be configured by the touchscreen  50  attached to the display  8  and the microphone  15 . In addition, the output unit  1600  may be configured by the display  8  and the speaker  10 . Furthermore, the speech recognition unit  1200 ; the conversation control unit  1300 ; and the character string specifying unit  1410 , the morpheme extraction portion  1420  and the input type determining portion  1440  of the sentence analyzing unit  1400  may be configured by the terminal controller  90 . In addition, the morpheme database  1430  and the utterance type database  1450  of the sentence analyzing unit  1400 , and the speech recognition dictionary memory  1700  can be configured by the first external storage unit  99 . Note that, although the conversation database  1500  can be stored also in the first external storage unit  99 , it is stored in the HDD  34  of the above-mentioned server  13  in the present embodiment (see  FIG. 6 ). And, as explained later, there are methods such as directly accessing the HDD  34  and downloading the conversation data stored in the HDD  34  at the time when using the conversation data stored in the conversation database  1500 . 
     And, in the present embodiment, the language to be used in the roulette game can be determined through a conversation with the player by the conversation engine achieved with the above-mentioned configuration in the gaming terminal  4  by the conversation controller  1000 . 
     Here, the speech recognition dictionary memory  1700  of the conversation controller  1000  configured by the first external storage unit  99  has word dictionaries for the plural languages in order to confirm a language type of sound messages input into the microphone  15  by the player. In addition, the morphological database  1430  of the conversation controller  1000  configured by the first external storage unit  99  has the morpheme groups for the plural languages (morpheme dictionaries). Furthermore, the utterance type database  1450  of the conversation controller  1000  configured by the first external storage unit  99  also has dictionaries of the respective utterance types for the plural languages. 
     In addition, “sentence” data for the plural languages are also stored in the conversation database  1500  configured by the terminal controller  90  in order to output sound messages from the speaker  10  to the player in the language selected by the player or to display the messages on the display  8 . The “sentences” include a message for requesting an input (by an utterance or an operation on the display  8 ) of a specific phrase or sentence in the language desired to be used in the roulette game, a message for confirming the player to proceed the roulette game in the language of the input specific phrase or sentence, or the like. 
     The operations of the above-mentioned conversation engine of the gaming terminal  4  of the present embodiment will be explained later. 
     Next, contents of gaming processing executed in each of the server  13 , the roulette unit  2  and the gaming terminals  4  on the roulette game machine  1  according to the present embodiment will be explained. 
     To begin with, gaming processing of the server, which is executed by the server CPU  81  of the server  13  according to the programs stored in the ROM  82 , and gaming processing of the roulette unit, which is executed by the CPU  101  of the roulette unit  2  according to the programs stored in the ROM  102 , will explained based on  FIGS. 31 and 32 .  FIGS. 31 and 32  are flow charts of the gaming processings of the server and the roulette unit in the roulette gaming machine according to the present embodiment. 
     First, the gaming processing of the server  13  will be explained based on  FIGS. 31 and 32 . At first, as shown in  FIG. 31 , the server CPU  81  starts counting the betting period (step S 101 ). The betting period is a period during which a player can place a bet(s). A player participating in a game can place a bet on the bet area  72  (see  FIG. 5 ) which corresponds to the number predicted by the player during the betting period. The server CPU  81  sends a betting period start signal to the terminal CPU  91  when the betting period counting has been started (step S 102 ). 
     Next, the server CPU  81  determines whether or not the remaining betting period has reached five seconds (step S 103 ). Note that the remaining betting period is displayed on the bet time counter  69  on the display  8  at each of the gaming terminals  4  (see  FIG. 5 ). If it is determined that it has not reached the last five seconds, the processing will be returned to the step S 103 . On the other hand, if it is determined that it has reached the last five seconds, the processing will proceed to the step S 104 . 
     The server CPU  81  sends a control command to the CPU  101  of the roulette unit  2  to start the operation of the roulette unit  2  (step S 104 ). Next, the server CPU  81  determines whether or not the betting period has ended (step S 105 ). If it is determined that the betting period has not ended (NO in step S 105 ), the server CPU  81  suspends the processing until the betting period ends. On the other hand, if it is determined that the betting period has ended (YES in step S 105 ), the server CPU  81  sends a betting period end signal indicating the expiry of the betting period to the terminal CPU  91  (step S 106 ). 
     Next, the server CPU  81  receives the betting information (the information such as a specified bet area  72 , a bet amount of chips and a betting type) input at each of the gaming terminals  4  by players from each of the terminal CPU&#39;s  91  (step S 107 ) and stores it into the betting information storing area in the RAM  83 . 
     Subsequently, the server CPU  81  executes a JP accumulation processing (step S 108 ). In this JP accumulation processing, 0.30% of the total credits which have been bet at all the gaming terminals  4  and received in step S 107  is accumulatively added to a JP amount stored in a “MINI” JP accumulation storing area in the RAM  83 . In addition, in the JP accumulation processing, 0.20% of the total credits which have been bet at all the gaming terminals  4  and received in step S 107  is accumulatively added to a JP amount stored in A “MAJOR” JP accumulation storing area in the RAM  83 . Furthermore, in the JP accumulation processing, 0.15% of the total credits which have been bet at all the gaming terminals  4  and received in step S 107  is accumulatively added to a JP amount stored in the “MEGA” JP accumulation storing area in the RAM  83 . In addition, in the JP accumulation processing, displays in a MEGA counter  73 , a MAJOR counter  74  and a MINI counter  75  are updated based on the accumulated JP amounts. 
     Next, as shown in  FIG. 32 , the server CPU  81  executes a JP bonus game determination processing (step S 109 ). In this processing, the server CPU  81  determines whether or not to execute a JP bonus game at each of the gaming terminals  4  by using random number values sampled by a sampling circuit or the like, which of the gaming terminals  4  would win the JP (or all the gaming terminals  4  are to lose) in the case where the JP bonus game is to be executed and which JP (“MEGA”, “MAJOR” or “MINI”) is to be awarded in the case where the JP is to be awarded. 
     Next, the server CPU  81  sends a JP bonus game determination result to each of the gaming terminals  4  based on the process of step S 109  (step S 110 ). Subsequently, the server CPU  81  sends a control command to the CPU  101  of the roulette device  2  in order for the CPU  101  to detect the number pocket  23  into which the ball  27  has fallen into in the roulette unit  2  (step S 111 ). Then, the server CPU  81  receives a control signal indicating the number pocket  23  into which the ball  27  has fallen from the CPU  101  of the roulette unit  2  (step S 112 ). 
     Next, the server CPU  81  determines whether or not the bet placed at each of the gaming terminals  4  has won based on the betting information of each the gaming terminals  4  received in step S 107  and the control signal indicating the number pocket  23  into which the ball  27  has fallen received in step S 112  (step S 113 ). 
     Next, the server CPU  81  executes a payout calculation processing (step S 114 ). In the payout calculation processing, the server CPU  81  firstly specifies credits bet on the winning number for each of the gaming terminal  4  and then calculates the total payout credits to be paid out for each of the gaming terminals  4  by using odds (a credit amount to be paid out per one chip (one bet)) for each bet area  72  which is stored in an odds storing area in the ROM  82 . 
     Next, the server CPU  81  executes a sending processing of the payout result of credits for a game based on the payout calculation processing of step S 113  and the JP payout result based on the JP bonus game determination processing of step S 109  (step S 115 ). Specifically, the credit data, which corresponds to the payout credits for the game to the terminal CPU  91  of each of the winning gaming terminals  4 , is output and the credit data, which corresponds to the currently accumulated JP credits, is output in the case where the JP is to be awarded. Next, the server CPU  81  sends a request command for collecting the ball  27  on the roulette wheel  22  to the CPU  101  of the roulette unit  2  (step S 116 ). After the process of step S 116 , this subroutine is terminated. 
     Next, the gaming processing of the roulette unit  2  will be explained based on  FIGS. 31 and 32 . To begin with, as shown in  FIG. 31 , the CPU  101  receives the control command for staring the operation of the roulette unit  2  from the server CPU  81  of the server  13  (step S 201 ). 
     Subsequently, the CPU  101  drives the wheel drive motor  106  to spin the roulette wheel  22  (step S 202 ). 
     Next, after a prescribed time period has elapsed since the roulette wheel  22  starts spinning (YES in step S 203 ), the CPU  101  launches the ball  27  at the time when a launching delay time has elapsed since it receives a detection signal from the pocket position detecting circuit  107  (step S 204 ). 
     Next, as shown in  FIG. 32 , the CPU  101  receives the control command for detecting the pocket  23  into which the ball  27  has fallen from the server CPU  81  of the server  13  (step S 205 ). Next, the CPU  101  determines which of the number pocket  23  into which the ball  27  has fallen by operating the ball sensor  105  (step S 206 ). And then, the CPU  101  sends the detection result indicating the number pocket  23  into which the ball  27  has fallen to the server CPU  81  of the server  13  (step S 207 ). 
     Next, the CPU  101  receives the request command for collecting the ball  27  from the server CPU  81  of the server  13  (step S 208 ). Next, the CPU  101  collects the ball  27  on the roulette wheel  22  by operating the ball collecting unit  108  provided beneath the roulette wheel  22  (step S 209 ). The collected ball  27  will be launched onto the roulette wheel  22  again by the ball launching unit  104  in the next game. After the process of step S 209 , this subroutine is terminated. 
     Next, processes executed by the terminal CPU  91  of the gaming terminal  4  of the roulette gaming machine  1  according to the present embodiment in accordance with the programs stored in the ROM  92  will be explained with reference to  FIGS. 33 to 44 . 
     Here, the flag F in the RAM  93  is set to a default value “1” which indicates during the betting period. In addition, a default bet screen  61  shown in  FIG. 5  is displayed on the display  8  of the gaming terminal  4 . In this state, as shown in  FIG. 33 , the terminal CPU  91  first executes language confirmation processing (step S 300 ), then executes conversation database setting processing (step S 301 ), then executes translating program setting processing (step S 302 ), then executes betting period confirmation processing (step S 303 ), then executes bet acceptance processing (step S 304 ), and then executes conversation sending/receiving processing (step S 305 ). 
     Then, in the language confirmation processing of step S 300 , the terminal CPU  91  confirms whether or not a new smart card has been inserted into the card reader  16  as shown in  FIG. 34  (step S 300   a ). If it is not inserted (NO in step S 300   a ), the language confirmation processing is terminated. If it is inserted (YES in step S 300   a ), the terminal CPU  91  reads, from the inserted smart card, a language type used in a game play by a player who possesses the smart card (step S 300   b ). 
     Next, the terminal CPU  91  outputs a message inquiring whether or not a game is proceeded in the read-out language type (step S 300   c ). The message may be output as sound from the speaker  10  via the sound input circuit  98 , as texts on the display  8  via the LCD drive circuit  95  and so on. 
     For example, if the language type read by the card reader  16  from the smart card is English and a sound message is to be output from the speaker  10 , the terminal CPU  91  outputs sound “English will be used. Is it all right?” 
     If the language type read by the card reader  16  from the smart card is English, the terminal CPU  91  assumes that a sound input “I want to use English. Is it all right?” have been input into the input unit  1100  of the conversation controller  1000  configured by the microphone  15 , and outputs the above-mentioned sound from the speaker  10  served as the output unit  1600  (see  FIG. 9 ) by making the conversation controller  1000  to execute corresponding processing. 
     In addition, if the language type read by the card reader  16  from the smart card is English, the terminal CPU  91  may output sound “English will be used. Is it all right?” from the speaker  10  according to the programs stored in the ROM  92  without using the conversation controller  1000 . 
     Alternatively, if the language type read by the card reader  16  from the smart card is English and a display message is to be output, the terminal CPU  91  displays sentences “English will be used. Is it all right?” on the display  8  together with “YES” and “NO” 1  buttons  64   a  and  64   b  as shown in  FIG. 37 . 
     If the language type read by the card reader  16  from the smart card is English, the terminal CPU  91  assumes that character strings “I want to use English. Is it all right?” have been input into the input unit  1100  of the conversation controller  1000  configured by the touchscreen  50  on the display  8 , and displays the above-mentioned sentences together with “YES” and “NO” buttons  64   a  and  64   b  on the display  8  served as the output unit  1600  by making the conversation controller  1000  to execute corresponding processing. 
     In addition, if the language type read by the card reader  16  from the smart card is English, the terminal CPU  91  may display sentences “English will be used. Is it all right?” on the display  8  together with “YES” and “NO” buttons  64   a  and  64   b  according to the programs stored in the ROM  92  without using the conversation controller  1000 . 
     Next, the terminal CPU  91  determines whether or not an affirmative message has been input in response to the output message in step S 300   c  (step S 300   d ). 
     Here, if the message in step S 300   c  has been output as sound, it can be confirmed whether or not the message has been input in response to the output message by confirming whether or not the input unit  1100  of the conversation controller  1000  configured by the microphone  15  receives an input after the message has been output in step S 300   c . Alternatively, if the message in step S 300   c  has been displayed on the display  8  in English as shown in  FIG. 37 , it can be confirmed whether or not the message has been input in response to the output message by confirming whether or not a player&#39;s operation on the “YES” and “NO” buttons  64   a  and  64   b  displayed on the display  8  has been detected via the touchscreen  50 . 
     In addition, it can be confirmed whether or not the input message in response to the output message in step S 300   c  is an affirmative message by analyzing contents of the sound message input into the microphone  15  using the conversation controller  1000 , or detecting which of the “YES” and “NO” buttons  64   a  and  64   b  displayed on the display  8  as shown in  FIG. 37  has been operated by the player. 
     Then, if an affirmative message has been input (YES in step S 300   d ), the terminal CPU  91  displays a bet screen  61  which is displayed on the display  8  during the betting period of the roulette game in the language read by the card reader  16  from the smart card (step S 300   e ). For example, if the language type read by the card reader  16  from the smart card is English, a bet screen  61  presented in English as shown in  FIG. 5  is displayed on the display  8  during the betting period of the roulette game. Subsequently, the terminal CPU  91  terminates the language confirmation processing. 
     On the other hand, if an affirmative message has not been input (NO in step S 300   d ), the terminal CPU  91  outputs a message for selecting the type of language to be used for proceeding the roulette game (step S 300   f ). The message may be output as sound from the speaker  10  via the sound output circuit  96 , or as texts on the display  8  via the LCD drive circuit  95 . 
     For example, when a sound message is to be output, the terminal CPU  91  outputs sound requesting to select the language to be used in a game from the speaker  10 . For example, if the language type read by the card reader  16  from the smart card is English, sound “What language do you want to use?” is output from the speaker  10 . 
     The requesting sound to select the language to be used in a game is output from the speaker  10  with the language type had been read by the card reader  16  from the smart card. If a sound input in the negative has been input to the input unit  1100  of the conversation controller  1000  configured by the microphone  15  in response to the inquiring sound whether or not to proceed the game play in the above-mentioned language, the terminal CPU  91  makes the conversation controller  1000  to execute corresponding processing and then outputs a processing result thereof from the speaker  10  served as the output unit  1600 . 
     Alternatively, if a display message is to be output, the terminal CPU  91  displays a sentence and buttons for selecting the language to be used in a game on the display  8 . For example, if the language type read by the card reader  16  from the smart card is English, a sentence “What language do you want to use?” is displayed together with language selection buttons  63   a ,  63   b ,  63   c ,  63   d ,  63   e  and  63   f , each corresponding to “English”, “Japanese”, “French”, “German”, “Spanish” and “Chinese”, as shown in  FIG. 38 . 
     The sentence or the like for selecting the language to be used in a game are displayed on the display  8  with the language type read by the card reader  16  from the smart card. If an operation on a button indicating a player&#39;s rejection (e.g., the “NO” button  64   b  shown in  FIG. 37 ) has been detected via the touchscreen  50 , the terminal CPU  91  makes the conversation controller  1000  to execute corresponding processing and then displays a processing result thereof on the display  8  served as the output unit  1600 . 
     Then, the terminal CPU  91  confirms whether or not a reply message in response to the output message in step S 300   f  has been input (step S 300   g ). 
     Here, if the message in step S 300   f  has been output as sound, it can be confirmed whether or not the message has been input in response to the output by confirming whether or not the input unit  1100  of the conversation controller  1000  configured by the microphone  15  receives an input after the message has been output in step S 300   e . Alternatively, if the message in step S 300   f  has been displayed on the display  8 , it can be confirmed whether or not the message has been input in response to the output message by confirming whether or not a player&#39;s operation on the language selection buttons (e.g., the buttons  63   a ,  63   b ,  63   c ,  63   d ,  63   e  and  63   f  each corresponding to “English”, “Japanese”, “French”, “German”, “Spanish” and “Chinese” as shown in  FIG. 38 ) displayed on the display  8  has been detected via the touchscreen  50 . 
     Then, if a reply message in response to the output message in step S 300   f  has not been input (NO in step S 300   g ), the terminal CPU  91  repeats step S 300   g  until a reply is input. On the other hand, if a reply message has been input (YES in step S 300   g ), the terminal CPU  91  displays a bet screen  61  on the display  8  during the betting period of the roulette game in the language specified by the input message in step S 300   g  (step S 300   h ). Subsequently, the terminal CPU  91  terminates the language confirmation processing. 
     Here, if the message has been input as sound in step S 300   g , the language selected by the input message can be specified by analyzing contents of the sound message input into the microphone  15  using the conversation controller  1000 . Alternatively, if the message has been input via a display screen on the display  8  in step S 300   g , the language selected by the input message can be specified by detecting contents of a player&#39;s operation onto the language selection buttons displayed on the display  8  by the terminal CPU  91  via the touchscreen  50 . 
     Next, the conversation database setting processing of step S 301  in  FIG. 33  will be explained with reference to a flow chart shown in  FIG. 40 . 
     The terminal CPU  91  of the gaming terminal  4   a  sends a signal for setting the conversation database corresponding to the player&#39;s language (e.g., Japanese) to the server  13  via the network based on the player&#39;s language determined in the language confirmation processing (step S 11 ). 
     The server CPU  81  (see  FIG. 6 ) of the server  13  receives the conversation database setting signal transmitted from the gaming terminal  4   a  (step S 21 ) and makes a conversation database corresponding to the specified language activatable among the conversation database corresponding to plural languages in the HDD  34  (step S 22 ). 
     Subsequently, the server CPU  81  sends an activatable signal indicating that the conversation database is being activatable to the gaming terminal  4   a  (step S 23 ). The gaming terminal  4   a  receives the activatable signal (step S 12 ). As a result, the conversation database corresponding to the player&#39;s language is made available in the gaming terminal  4   a  and the conversational processing using the conversation engine is made available. 
     Next, the translating program setting processing of step S 302  in  FIG. 33  will be described with reference to a flow chart shown in  FIG. 41 . 
     The terminal CPU  91  of the gaming terminal  4   a  sends a setting signal of the translating program between the player&#39;s language (e.g., Japanese) and the reference language (e.g., English) to the server  13  via the network based on the player&#39;s language determined in the language confirmation processing (step S 31 ). 
     The server CPU  81  (see  FIG. 6 ) of the server  13  receives the translating program setting signal transmitted from the gaming terminal  4   a  (step S 41 ) and makes a specified translating program (e.g., a “Japanese-English” translating program) activatable among translating programs corresponding to plural languages in the HDD  34  (step S 42 ). 
     Subsequently, the server CPU  81  sends an activatable signal indicating that the translating program is being activatable to the gaming terminal  4   a  (step S 43 ). The gaming terminal  4   a  receives the activatable signal (step S 32 ). As a result, the translating program for translating the player&#39;s language into the reference language is made available in the gaming terminal  4   a.    
     Then, conversations using the conversation engine corresponding to the player&#39;s language are made available by the above-mentioned conversation database setting processing being executed. Therefore, since conversations using the language of the player playing at each of the gaming terminals  4  ( 4   a  to  4   i ) are enabled, games can be processed smoothly. Furthermore, messages for each player can be translated into the player&#39;s language and displayed on the display  8  by the above-mentioned translating program setting processing being executed. Therefore, it becomes easier for the player to understand message contents. 
     Next, the betting period confirmation processing of step S 303  in  FIG. 33  will be explained with reference to a flow chart shown in  FIG. 35 . As shown in  FIG. 35 , the terminal CPU  91  confirms whether or not the betting period start signal has been received from the server CPU  81  (step S 311 ). If the betting period start signal has been received (YES in step S 311 ), the terminal CPU  91  sets the flag F in the RAM  93  to “1” which indicates that it is under the betting period (step S 312 ) and then terminates the betting period confirmation processing. 
     On the other hand, if the betting time start signal has not been received (NO in step S 311 ), the terminal CPU  91  confirms whether or not the betting period end signal has been received from the server CPU  81  (step S 313 ). If the betting period end signal has been received (YES in step S 313 ), the terminal CPU  91  sets the flag F in the RAM  93  to “0” which indicates that it is not under the betting period (step S 314 ) and then terminates the betting period confirmation processing. If the betting period end signal has not been received (NO in step S 313 ), the terminal CPU  91  terminates the betting period confirmation processing. 
     Next, in the bet accepting processing of step S 304  in  FIG. 33 , as shown in  FIG. 36 , the terminal CPU  91  confirms whether or not the flag F in the RAM  93  is set to “0” (step S 321 ). If the flag F is set to “0” (YES in step S 321 ), the terminal CPU  91  terminates the bet accepting processing. 
     On the other hand, if the flag F is not set to “0” (NO in step S 321 ), the terminal CPU  91  accepts a bet by a player. In this case, the terminal CPU  91  outputs a sound message “Bet acceptance starts.” from the speaker  10  using the conversation engine and the translating program. Specifically, the terminal CPU  91  sends a message data “Bet acceptance starts.” in the reference language (e.g., English) to the server  13  shown in  FIG. 6 . The server CPU  81  translates the message data into the player&#39;s language (e.g., Japanese) using the translating program (e.g., a “Japanese-English” translating program) stored in the HDD  34  and sends back the translated data to the gaming terminal  4   a . Then, the terminal CPU  91  receives the translated data and converts the translated data into sound data using the conversation engine to outputs from the speaker  10 . Therefore, the message “Bet acceptance starts.” is output from the speaker in the player&#39;s language (e.g., Japanese). 
     In addition, for example, if a player utters “Tell me how to bet! ” into the microphone  15 , the conversation engine analyzes this uttered sentence using the Japanese conversation database and outputs a sound reply “Please insert medals into a medal insertion slot or press bet buttons.” from the speaker  10  in Japanese. 
     Next, the terminal CPU  91  confirms whether or not the remaining betting period has reached the last five seconds with the remaining time displayed on the bet time counter  69  being “5” (step S 322 ). If the remaining time has reached the last 5 seconds (YES in step S 322 ), the terminal CPU  91  displays a message to preannounce the end of the betting period on the bet screen  61  (step S 323 ). Simultaneously, a sound message “Five seconds left for bets.” is output from the speaker  10  in the player&#39;s language. In addition, for example, if the player&#39;s language were Japanese, a sentence “Betting time will expire soon.” shown in  FIG. 39  would be displayed in Japanese in the bet screen  61  on the display  8 . 
     On the other hand, if the remaining time has not reached the last five seconds (it remains more than five seconds) (NO in step S 322 ), the terminal CPU  91  proceeds to the step S 324 . 
     The terminal CPU  91  detects a bet placed by a player (step S 324 ). A chip betting is detected by the player&#39;s touching on the bet area  72  in the betting board  60  or on the bet buttons  66  via the touchscreen  50 . In addition, a bet can be accepted by way of a player&#39;s utterance into the microphone  15  and recognition of this utterance by the conversation engine. For example, a player makes an utterance “I will bet fifty credits.” after having selected a desired bet area  72  on the touchscreen  50 . As a result, the utterance is detected via the microphone  15  and its sound data are analyzed by the conversation engine, and thereby a fifty-credit bet is confirmed. Furthermore, a reply sentence “Fifty credits have been bet!” is output from the speaker  10 . After a bet with a chip(s) has been detected, a chip mark  71  with an amount of the bet chip(s) is displayed on a specified bet area  72  on the display  8 . 
     Next, the terminal CPU  91  confirms whether or not the player&#39;s bet has been confirmed (step S 325 ). The betting confirmation is detected by the player&#39;s touching on the bet confirmation button  65  on the display  8  via the touchscreen  50 . 
     If it is confirmed that the player&#39;s bet has not been confirmed (NO in step S 325 ), the terminal CPU  91  confirms whether or not the flag F in the RAM  93  is set to “0” (step S 326 ). If the flag F is not set to “0” (NO in step S 326 ), the terminal CPU  91  returns the processing to step S 322 . 
     On the other hand, if the flag F is set to “0” (YES in step S 326 ), the terminal CPU  91  fixes the player&#39;s bet forcibly (step S 327 ) and then sifts the processing to after-mentioned step  329 . 
     Alternatively, if it is confirmed that the player&#39;s bet has been confirmed (YES in step S 325 ), the terminal CPU  91  confirms whether or not the flag F in the RAM  93  is set to “0” or not (step S 328 ). If the flag F is not set to “0” (NO in step S 328 ), the terminal CPU  91  repeats step S 328 . On the contrary, if the flag F in the RAM  93  is set to “0” (YES in step S 328 ), the terminal CPU  91  proceeds to step S 329 . 
     The terminal CPU  91  closes acceptation of betting operations via the touchscreen  50  (step S 329 ). Thereafter, the terminal CPU  91  sends the player&#39;s betting information (the specified bet area  72 , the number of bet chips (bet amount)) of the gaming terminal  4   a  to the server CPU  81  (step S 330 ). 
     Next, the terminal CPU  91  changes the screen image on the display  8  (step S 331 ). Specifically, the terminal CPU  91  firstly switches the screen image on the display  8  to the bet screen  61  including an indication of the betting period expiry. 
     Thereafter, the terminal CPU  91  receives the result of the JP bonus game determination processing executed by the server CPU  81  from the server CPU  81  (step S 332 ). The result of the JP bonus game determination includes the information which indicates: whether or not to execute the JP bonus game at any of the gaming terminals  4 ; which of the nine gaming terminals  4  ( 4   a  to  4   i ) is to win the JP (or all of the gaming terminals  4  are to lose) in the case where it is determined to execute the JP bonus game; and which JP (“MEGA”, “MAJOR” or “MINI”) is to be awarded in the case of the JP winning. 
     Next, the terminal CPU  91  determines whether or not to execute the JP bonus game based on the result of the JP bonus game determination processing received in step S 332  (step S 333 ). In the case where it is determined to execute the JP bonus game in the gaming terminal  4   a , the terminal CPU  91  executes a prescribed selection-type JP bonus game. And then, the terminal CPU  91  displays the bonus game result (whether or not the JP has been awarded) in the bet screen  61  on the display  8  (step S 334 ) based on the determination result received in step S 332 . 
     In the case where it is determined not to execute the JP bonus game in the gaming terminal  4   a  in step S 333 , or after the processing in step S 334 , the terminal CPU  91  receives the payout result of credits from the server CPU  81  (step S 335 ). Note that the payout result of credits includes the payout result for the game and the JP payout result for the JP bonus game. Here, in case of the payout of five hundred medals to be awarded for example, the terminal CPU  91  will output a sound message “Five hundred medals is awarded” from the speaker  10  in the player&#39;s language (for example, in Japanese). 
     Next, the terminal CPU  91  awards a payout according to the payout result received in step S 335  (step S 336 ). Specifically, the terminal CPU  91  stores, in the RAM  93 , the credit data corresponding to the payout for the game and the credit data corresponding to the currently accumulated JP credits if the JP is awarded in the gaming terminal  4   a . Then, when the payout button  5  has been touched, medals corresponding to the credits stored in the RAM  93  (usually, one medal per one credit) are paid out from the medal payout chute  12 . Thereafter, the terminal CPU  91  terminates the bet accepting processing. 
     It is obvious from the above-mentioned description that the controller of the present invention is configured by the terminal CPU  91  in the roulette gaming machine  1  of the first embodiment. 
     Next, the conversation sending/receiving processing of step S 305  in  FIG. 33  will be explained.  FIG. 42  is a flow chart showing a process flow of the conversation sending processing. Note that operational procedures in the gaming terminal  4   a  are shown in  FIG. 42 . A number “1” is assigned to the gaming terminal  4   a . Similarly, numbers “2” to “9” are assigned to the gaming terminals  4   b  to  4   i . In addition, the player&#39;s language of the gaming terminal  4   a  is Japanese. 
     As shown in  FIG. 42 , the terminal CPU  91  determines whether or not the conversation send button  77  (see  FIGS. 5 and 39 ) displayed on the display  8  has been touched (step S 51 ). If the conversation send button  77  has been touched, a destination terminal setting screen shown in  FIG. 49  is displayed (step S 52 ). Specifically, displayed on the display  8  are “2” to “9” images for specifying a destination gaming terminal  4  ( 4   b  to  4   i ), an “All” image for specifying all of the gaming terminals  4  ( 4   b  to  4   i ), a “SHOP” image for specifying the shop terminal  86  and an “OK?” image for completing an input. Furthermore, a “Please select a destination. (in Japanese)” image is displayed. 
     A player can specify a conversation destination gaming terminal with reference to these images. For example, when the gaming terminal  4   b  numbered “2” has been specified, the terminal CPU  91  flashes the “2” image surroundingly to notify the player that the number “2” terminal has been selected by touching on the “2” image (YES in step S 53 ). 
     Next, the terminal CPU  91  confirms the player&#39;s language on the gaming terminal  4   b  had been set as the destination (step S 54 ). Details of this language confirmation processing will be explained later. 
     The terminal CPU  91  starts accepting a sound input (step S 55 ). Specifically, the microphone  15  is made active to accept the player&#39;s conversation input. In this case, a “Now accepting a message input. (in Japanese)” image and a “Please input a message into a microphone. (in Japanese)” image are displayed on the display  8  as shown in  FIG. 50 . Furthermore, an “OK?” image is displayed. In this state, the player can input a conversation into the microphone  15 . For example, if “This is terminal No. 1. Let me buy you something. (in Japanese)” has been uttered, the utterance is detected by the microphone  15  (step S 56 ). The “OK?” image will be touched when the input has been completed (step S 57 ). 
     If the “OK?” image has been touched (YES in step S 57 ), the terminal CPU  91  completes the sound input. Subsequently, the input utterance is analyzed and a “[This is terminal No. 1. Let me buy you something.] (in Japanese)” image is displayed on the display  8  (step S 58 ) as shown in  FIG. 51 , and furthermore, a “2” image indicating the destination gaming terminal  4   b  is also displayed. Concurrently, an “A message shown below has been accepted. (in Japanese)” image and an “OK?” image are also displayed to request a confirmation of the sentence. The player can confirm conversation contents had been input by himself or herself with reference to this display screen. If the displayed contents is not correct, the sound data input processing is executed again by touching a “RETRY (in Japanese)” image displayed at a lower-right corner. 
     Then, if the “OK?” image has been touched, the conversation contents are translated into the player&#39;s language of the destination gaming terminal  4   b  (step S 59 ). Specifically, the conversation contents are translated into the player&#39;s language of the gaming terminal  4   b  confirmed in the process of step S 54 . For example, if the player&#39;s language of the gaming terminal  4   b  is Chinese, the “Japanese-English” and “Chinese-English” translating programs prepared in the server  13  are used to translate the sentences “This is terminal No. 1. Let me buy you something. (in Japanese)” into Chinese. Note that, if a “Japanese-Chinese” translating program were prepared, this translating program could be used. 
     Subsequently, the sentences had been translated into Chinese are transmitted to the gaming terminal  4   b  via the network (step S 60 ). After the transmission, a “The message has been sent (in Japanese)” image is displayed on the display  8  as shown in  FIG. 52  to notify that the input sound by the player has been sent to the destination gaming terminal  4   b . In this manner, the conversation sending processing is terminated. 
     Next, the confirmation processing of the destination terminal language of step S 54  in  FIG. 42  will be explained with reference to a flow chart shown in  FIG. 43 . 
     The terminal CPU  91  sends a language requesting signal to the destination gaming terminal  4   b  (step S 71 ). The language requesting signal is received by the gaming terminal  4   b  and then the gaming terminal  4   b  sends a player&#39;s language setting signal. For example, if the player&#39;s language on the gaming terminal  4   b  is Chinese, the language setting signal indicating that the language is Chinese is transmitted to the gaming terminal  4   a.    
     Then, the terminal CPU  91  receives the language setting signal (YES in step S 72 ) and confirms that the player&#39;s language on the destination gaming terminal  4   b  is Chinese (step S 73 ). In this manner, the terminal CPU  91  can confirm the player&#39;s language on the destination gaming terminal  4   b.    
     Next, conversation receiving processing on the gaming terminal  4   b  will be explained with reference to a flow chart shown in  FIG. 44 . When the conversation transmitted from the gaming terminal  4   a  has been received (step S 81 ), the terminal CPU  91  of the gaming terminal  4   b  converts the conversation into sound data using the conversation engine (step S 82 ). Then, the sound data are output from the speaker  10  (step S 83 ). 
     For example, if a conversation “This is terminal No. 1. Let me buy you something. (in Chinese)” has been received, the conversation is converted into the sound data and output from the speaker  10 . As a result, the player at the gaming terminal  4   b  can recognize the conversation contents transmitted from the gaming terminal  4   a  in Chinese as the player&#39;s language. 
     Then, if the player at the gaming terminal  4   b  uttered “I&#39;ll have beer. (in Chinese)” in response to the above-mentioned conversation, this utterance is converted into a conversation “I&#39;ll have beer. (in Japanese)” and transmitted to the gaming terminal  4   a  according to the procedures shown in  FIG. 42 . Sound data of the conversation are output from the speaker  10  of the gaming terminal  4   a.    
       FIG. 45  is a flow chart showing alternative processes of the conversation receiving processing in the gaming terminal  4   b.    
     When the conversation transmitted from the gaming terminal  4   a  has been received (step S 91 ), the terminal CPU  91  of the gaming terminal  4   b  converts the conversation into document data (step S 92 ). Then, the document data are displayed on the display  8  (step S 93 ). 
     For example, if a conversation “This is terminal No. 1. Let me buy you something. (in Chinese)” is received, the conversation is converted into the document data and displayed on the display  8 . As a result, the player at the gaming terminal  4   b  can recognize the conversation contents transmitted from the gaming terminal  4   a  as the document data. 
     Then, if the player at the gaming terminal  4   b  uttered “I&#39;ll have beer. (in Chinese)” in response to the above-mentioned conversation, this utterance is converted into a conversation “I&#39;ll have beer. (in Japanese)” and transmitted to the gaming terminal  4   a  according to the procedures shown in  FIG. 42 . As shown in  FIG. 53 , “A message shown below has been received. [I&#39;ll have beer.] (in Japanese)” images are displayed on the display  8  of the gaming terminal  4   a  and a “2” image indicating a sending source is also displayed. Concurrently, a “NEXT” image is displayed at a lower-right corner to input a sound response thereto. If the “NEXT” image has been touched, the display screen shown in  FIG. 49  is displayed for the above-mentioned conversation sending processing shown in  FIG. 42 . 
     Subsequently, a conversation “Please serve a beer to the terminal No. 2. I&#39;ll pay by my credits. (in Japanese)” shown in  FIG. 54  will be sent to the shop terminal  86  from the gaming terminal  4   a  by the above-mentioned conversation sending processing shown in  FIG. 42 . This conversation is sent after being translated into the language (e.g., English) of the shop terminal  86 . As a result, a shop manager can recognize the conversation. Furthermore, as shown in  FIG. 55 , “A message shown below has been received. [Your order has been received.] (in Japanese)” images are displayed on the display  8  and a “SHOP” image indicating a sending source is also displayed. As a result, a beer is delivered to the player at the gaming terminal  4   b  and a beer fee is paid from the gaming terminal  4   a . In this manner, a conversation between the gaming terminal  4  ( 4   a  to  4   i ) and the shop terminal  86  can be done. 
     In this manner, a player&#39;s language is confirmed by the conversation engine and a conversation with a player is done in the language in the gaming system according to the first embodiment. For example, if the player uses Japanese, information relating to a game will be given to the player as a sound message(s) in Japanese. In addition, a conversation uttered in Japanese by the player is analyzed to proceed a game. Furthermore, a message(s) on the display  8  will be displayed in the player&#39;s language. Therefore, the player can understand the sound message(s) output in the player&#39;s language and also play a game by an utterance(s) in the player&#39;s language. 
     In addition, since a conversation between the plural gaming terminals  4  ( 4   a  to  4   i ) can be sent and received, players using different languages can easily have a conversation. 
     Next, a second embodiment of the game execution processing will be explained. In the second embodiment, conversation data of the conversation database corresponding to the player&#39;s language are transmitted to the gaming terminal  4   a  among the conversation database corresponding to plural languages stored in the HDD  34  of the server  13 . In addition, the translating program to be used is transmitted to the gaming terminal  4   a  among plural translating programs stored in the HDD  34 . Then, the gaming terminal  4   a  downloads the conversation data and the translating program that have been transmitted to the second external storage unit  76 . The terminal CPU  91  of the gaming terminal  4   a  executes a roulette game with the conversation data and the translating program that have been downloaded and also sends/receives a conversation to/from another gaming terminal  4  ( 4   b  to  4   i ). 
     Hereinafter, the game execution processing according to the second embodiment will be explained with reference to a flow chart shown in  FIG. 46 . As shown in  FIG. 46 , the terminal CPU  91  first executes the language identifying processing (step S 300 ), then executes conversation data download processing (step S 301   a ), then executes translating program download processing (step S 302   a ), then executes the betting period confirmation processing (step S 303 ), then executes the bet acceptance processing (step S 304 ), and then executes the conversation sending/receiving processing (step S 305 ). 
     Since the language confirmation processing of step S 300 , the betting period confirmation processing of step S 303 , the bet acceptance processing of step S 304  and the conversation sending/receiving processing of step S 305  are similar to those of the above-described first embodiment, their description is omitted. Hereinafter, the conversation data download processing of step S 301   a  will be explained with reference to a flow chart shown in  FIG. 47 . 
     The terminal CPU  91  of the gaming terminal  4   a  sends a conversation data setting signal corresponding to the player&#39;s language (e.g., Japanese) to the server  13  via the network based on the player&#39;s language determined in the language confirmation processing (step S 101 ). 
     The server CPU  81  (see  FIG. 6 ) of the server  13  receives the conversation data setting signal transmitted from the gaming terminal  4   a  (step S 111 ) and then acquires the conversation data of the specified conversation database among conversation database corresponding to plural languages in the HDD  34  to send it to the gaming terminal  4   a  via the network (step S 112 ). 
     The gaming terminal  4   a  receives the conversation data (step S 102 ). Furthermore, the gaming terminal  4   a  downloads the received conversation data to the second external storage unit  76  (step S 103 ). 
     Next, the translating program download processing of step S 302   a  in  FIG. 46  will be explained with reference to a flow chart shown in  FIG. 48 . 
     The terminal CPU  91  of the gaming terminal  4   a  sends a setting signal of the translating program between the player&#39;s language (e.g., Japanese) and the reference language (e.g., English) to the server  13  via the network based on the player&#39;s language determined in the language confirmation processing (step S 121 ). 
     The server CPU  81  (see  FIG. 6 ) of the server  13  receives the translating program setting signal transmitted from the gaming terminal  4   a  (step S 131 ) and reads out the specified translating program (e.g., a “Japanese-English” translating program) among plural translating programs in the HDD  34  to send it to the gaming terminal  4   a  via the network (step S 132 ). 
     The gaming terminal  4   a  receives the translating program (step S 122 ). Furthermore, the gaming terminal  4   a  downloads the received translating program to the second external storage unit  76  (step S 123 ). 
     In this manner, since the conversation data used in the conversation engine is downloaded to the second external storage unit  76 , a conversation with the player using this conversation data can be done. Furthermore, the translating program to be used for sending/receiving conversations between the gaming terminals  4  ( 4   a  to  4   i ) is similarly downloaded to the second external storage unit  76 . Therefore, for example, in the case where the player&#39;s language of the gaming terminal  4   a  is Japanese and the player&#39;s language of the gaming terminal  4   b  is Chinese, a conversation input at the gaming terminal  4   a  is once translated into English by the translating program downloaded in the gaming terminal  4   a  and then the conversation which has been translated into English is transmitted to the gaming terminal  4   b . Then, the conversation in English is translated into Chinese at the gaming terminal  4   b  by the translating program downloaded in the gaming terminal  4   b  to output as a sound. As a result, players using different languages can easily have a conversation. 
     Although embodiments of the present invention have been described as above, they are only presented as concrete examples, without particularly limiting the present invention. Concrete arrangements of respective units may be changed in design as appropriate. In addition, the effects set forth in the embodiments of the present invention are merely an enumeration of the most preferred effect which occurs from the present invention, and the effects by the present invention is not limited to those set forth in the embodiments of the present invention. 
     For example, the roulette gaming machine is explained as examples in the above-mentioned first and second embodiments. However, the present invention can be applied to a gaming machine for another game such as a bingo game and a slot game. 
     In the above detailed description, mainly characteristic portions have been set forth so that the present invention can be understood more easily. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth in the above detailed description and can be applied to other embodiments, with a wide range of applications. In addition, terms and wordings used in the present specification are used to precisely explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the interpretation of the present invention. Also, those skilled in the art will easily conceive, from the concept of the invention set forth in the present specification, other arrangements, systems or methods included in the concept of the present invention. Therefore, it should be appreciated that the scope of the claims includes equivalent arrangements without deviating from the scope of technical ideas of the present invention. In addition, the purpose of the abstract is to facilitate the Patent Office and general public institutions, or engineers in the technological field who are not familiar with patent and legal terms or specific terms to quickly evaluate technical contents and the essence of this application by simple investigation. Therefore, the abstract is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which should be evaluated by descriptions of the scope of the claims. Furthermore, it is desirable to take into consideration the already disclosed literatures sufficiently in order to completely understand the objects and specific effects of the present invention. 
     The above detailed description includes processes executed by a computer. The aforementioned descriptions and expressions are described with a purpose that those skilled in the art will understand them most efficiently. In the present specification, each step used for deriving one result should be understood as a self-consistent process. Also, transmission, reception and recording of electric or magnetic signals are executed in each step. In the processes in respective steps, although such signals are expressed as bits, values, symbols, characters, terms or numerals, it should be noted that these are merely used for convenience of explanation. Additionally, although the processes in respective steps may be described using an expression common to human activities, the processes described in the present specification are executed, in principle, by a variety of devices. Furthermore, other arrangements required to execute respective steps are self-evident from the aforementioned description.