Patent Publication Number: US-2013252726-A1

Title: System and method for operating game in association with goods-related character/item

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2012-0030460, filed on Mar. 26, 2012 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entirety of which disclosure is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     Embodiments of the present invention relate to a game operating system and method, and more particularly, to a game operating system and method in which a goods-related character/item is acquired through near field communication (NFC) and applied to a game. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Recently, the variety of mobile games executable in a mobile terminal has increased and game quality has been enhanced. Accordingly, a lot of mobile terminals capable of executing various mobile games have been released and performance of the mobile terminal has continuously increased. 
     A display for mobile terminals such as mobile phones provides a small screen only suitable for single-player gaming. However, as a TV-out function has been generalized in recent years, a small screen image on the display can be displayed on a large 
     TV screen such that a plurality of users can play a mobile game simultaneously. 
     Meanwhile, near field communication (NFC) is very short-range contactless data transfer technology associated with radio frequency identification (RFID). In Europe and Japan, NFC has brought commercial success in a point-of-sale purchase and a public transport payment system using a cellular phone with a built-in NFC interface. 
     Accordingly, there is a need for a system and a method for operating a mobile game in association with a tag sticker through NFC or like near field communication. 
     As a related technology, Korean Patent No. 10-0715972 (registered on May 2, 2007) discloses a game operating method, entitled “game method using mobile terminal with near field communication function”. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     Embodiment of the present invention provide a system and method for operating a game in association with a goods-related character/item, in which game information (i.e., a character/item) related to goods is acquired through near field communication between a tag sticker of the goods and a mobile terminal and applied to a game, so that a user can play the game with an updated character/item when the game is executed. 
     In accordance with an aspect, the present invention provides a system for operating a game in association with a goods-related character/item, which includes a tag sticker attached to goods and storing game information related to the goods; and a mobile terminal acquiring and storing the game information from the tag sticker through near field communication, wherein the game information is stored in association with a game a user desires to play, such that the game information is applied to the game in execution of the game. 
     The game information may include at least one of a character and an item related to the goods. 
     The tag sticker may be kept in a security setting state before the goods are sold at a predetermined selling place, and kept in a security release state after the goods are sold at the selling place. 
     The mobile terminal may acquire the game information from the tag sticker when the security setting state of the tag sticker is released. 
     The mobile terminal may include a reader unit acquiring the game information from the tag sticker through near field communication; a memory storing the game information acquired by the reader unit, such that the game information is stored in association with the game a user desires to play; and a game module executing the game according to user manipulation, and controlling the game information to be loaded from the memory and applied to the game in execution of the game. 
     The reader unit may include a near field communication (NFC) reader which performs NFC communication with the tag sticker. 
     The system may further include: a game server which updates the existing game information by receiving the game information from the mobile terminal and storing the game information in association with registration information of a user, and transmits the updated game information to the mobile terminal in response to a connection request from the mobile terminal by execution of the game. 
     In accordance with another aspect, the present invention provides a method for operating a game in association with a goods-related character/item includes: by a reader unit of a mobile terminal, acquiring game information related to goods from a tag sticker through near field communication; by a memory of the mobile terminal, storing the game information acquired by the reader unit such that the game information is stored in association with a game a user desires to play; and by a game module of the mobile terminal, executing the game according to user manipulation, and controlling the game information to be loaded from the memory and applied to the game in execution of the game. 
     The acquiring game information may include acquiring the game information from the tag sticker through near field communication with the tag sticker. 
     The method may further include, by the game server, updating the existing game information by receiving the game information from the mobile terminal and storing the game information in association with registration information of a user; and by the game server, transmitting the updated game information to the mobile terminal in response to the connection request from the mobile terminal by execution of the game. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, game information (character/item) related to goods is acquired through near field communication (NFC) between a tag sticker of the goods and a mobile terminal and applied to a game, so that a user can play the game with an updated character/item when the game is executed. 
     Accordingly, a user can play the game with a desired character, whereby user interest in the game is improved, thereby promoting goods sale. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the following embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  shows a network configuration of a system for operating a game in association with a goods-related character/item according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a mobile terminal of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a method for operating a game in association with a goods-related character/item according to one embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart of a method for operating a game in association with a goods-related character/item according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments and may be embodied in different ways, and that the embodiments are provided for complete disclosure and thorough understanding of the present invention by those skilled in the art. The scope of the invention is defined only by the claims. The same components will be denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the drawings. 
       FIG. 1  shows a network configuration of a system for operating a game in association with a goods-related character/item according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a system  100  for operating a game in association with a goods-related character/item according to one embodiment of the present invention may include a tag sticker  110 , a mobile terminal  120 , and a game server  130 . 
     The tag sticker  110  is attached to goods  101 , and stores game information associated with the goods  101 . Here, the game information may include at least one of a character and an item related to the goods  101 . 
     The tag sticker  110  may include a near field wireless communication module to perform near field wireless communication with the mobile terminal  120 . In this embodiment, it is assumed that the near field wireless communication module is realized by a near field communication (NFC) module. 
     The tag sticker  110  may be kept in a security setting state before the goods  101  are sold at a predetermined selling place. Further, the tag sticker  110  may be kept in a security release state after the goods  101  are sold at a predetermined selling place. 
     For this purpose, the selling place may be provided with a security setting/release device. The security setting/release device may receive a goods-selling signal from a vendor of the selling place when the goods  101  are sold. The security setting/release device may release the security setting state of the tag sticker  110  in response to the goods-selling signal. 
     Thus, the security setting state of the tag sticker  110  is not released until the goods  101  are sold, thereby preventing a user (purchaser) from acquiring the goods-related character/item from the tag sticker  110  through a user&#39;s mobile terminal  120  at the selling place before the goods  101  are sold. 
     The mobile terminal  120  acquires and stores the game information (i.e., the goods-related character/item) from the tag sticker  110 . At this time, the mobile terminal  120  stores the game information in connection with a game a user desires to play, such that the game information is applied to the game in execution of the game. 
     The mobile terminal  120  performs NFC communication with the NFC module of the tag sticker  110  to acquire the game information from the tag sticker  110 . Here, the mobile terminal  120  may acquire the game information from the tag sticker  110  when the security setting state of the tag sticker  110  is released. 
     The mobile terminal  120  may execute a game without accessing the game server  130  when the game is executable in the mobile terminal. That is, the mobile terminal  120  stores the game information therein and loads the stored game information as the game is executed, thereby updating (changing) the character/item of the game. 
     On the other hand, the mobile terminal  120  may transmit the game information to the game server  130  when the game is not executable in the mobile terminal but executable through electronic connection. Detailed configurations of the mobile terminal  120  will be described with reference to  FIG. 2 . 
     The game server  130  may receive the game information from the mobile terminal  120 . The game server  130  may store the received game information in association with registration information of a user. Thus, the game server  130  may update the game information. 
     Here, the registration information may include membership information input when a user joins a web site linked to the game server  130 . 
     In response to a connection request from the mobile terminal  120  due to execution of the game, the game server  130  may connect with the mobile terminal  120  and transmit the updated game information to the mobile terminal  120 . 
     Then, a user can play the game with the updated game information when the game is executed. Particularly, if a user is a child, the child can play the game with a desired character (for example, Hello Kitty, Doraemon, Pororo, etc.) in execution of the game, whereby user interest in the game is improved, thereby promoting goods sale. 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a mobile terminal of  FIG. 1 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the mobile terminal  120  may include a reader unit  210 , a memory  220 , a game module  230 , and a controller  240 . 
     The reader unit  210  acquires game information from the tag sticker  110 . Here, the game information may include at least one of a character and an item related to the goods as described above. 
     The reader unit  210  may include an NFC reader which performs NFC communication with the tag sticker  110 . In this embodiment, the NFC reader is used to perform the NFC communication with the tag sticker  110 . 
     The memory  220  stores the game information acquired by the reader unit  210 . At this time, the memory  220  may store the game information in association with a game a user desires to play. 
     For this purpose, a user selects a desired game through a menu on the mobile terminal  120  and stores the game information in the memory  220  by matching the game information with the selected game. 
     The game module  230  executes the game according to user menu manipulation of the mobile terminal  120 . The game module  230  loads the game information from the memory  220  and applies the information to the game in execution of the game. 
     That is, the game module  230  may use the loaded game information to update the character or the item of the data related to the game. Thus, a user can play the game using the updated character or item. 
     Meanwhile, the game module  230  accesses the corresponding game server  130  in execution of the game and transmits the game information stored in the memory  220  to the game server  130 . Then, the game module  230  receives game execution data, to which the updated (changed) game information is applied, from the game server  130 , and uses the received game execution data to continue to execute the game. 
       FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a method for operating a game in association with a goods-related character/item according to one embodiment. In particular,  FIG. 3  shows the method of operating the game that is executed by the mobile terminal. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , in operation  310 , a distributer  301  sells goods to which a tag sticker is attached. 
     Next, in operation  320 , the distributer  301  releases a security setting state of the tag sticker attached to the goods. 
     Next, in operation  330 , the mobile terminal  120  acquires game information (character/item) related to the goods from the tag sticker. 
     Next, in operation  340 , the mobile terminal  120  stores the acquired game information in association with the game. 
     Next, in operation  350 , the mobile terminal  120  executes the game according to user manipulation. 
     Next, in operation  360 , the mobile terminal  120  loads the game information to apply the information to the game. Accordingly, a user can play the game through the updated game information. 
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart of a method for operating a game in association with a goods-related character/item according to another embodiment. In particular,  FIG. 4  shows the method of operating a game that is executed through electronic connection of a mobile terminal. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , in operation  410 , a distributer  301  sells goods to which a tag sticker is attached. 
     Next, in operation  420 , the distributer  301  releases a security setting state of the tag sticker attached to the goods. 
     Next, in operation  430 , the mobile terminal  120  acquires game information (character/item) related to the goods from the tag sticker. 
     Next, in operation  440 , the mobile terminal  120  transmits the acquired game information to the game server  130 . 
     Next, in operation  450 , the game server  130  receives the game information and stores the received game information in association with registration information of a user. 
     Next, in operation  460 , the mobile terminal  120  executes a game according to user manipulation. 
     Next, in operation  470 , the game server  130  connects with the mobile terminal  120  and transmits updated game information to the mobile terminal  120 . Thus, a user can play the game based on the updated game information. 
     Thus, according to one embodiment of the invention, the game information (character/item) related to the goods is acquired through near field communication (NFC) between the tag sticker of the goods and the mobile terminal and applied to the game, so that a user can play the game with the updated character/item in execution of the game. 
     Accordingly, a user can play the game with a desired character in execution of the game, whereby user interest in the game is improved, thereby promoting goods sale. 
     The above-described exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be recorded in computer-readable media including program instructions to implement various operations embodied by a computer. The media may also include, alone or in combination with the program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like. Examples of computer-readable media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks and DVD; magneto-optical media such as optical disks; and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher level code that may be executed by a computer using an interpreter. The described hardware devices may be configured to act as one or more software modules in order to perform the operations of the above-described exemplary embodiments of the present invention. 
     Although some embodiments have been described herein, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that these embodiments are given by way of illustration only, and that various modifications, variations, and alterations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the disclosure should be limited only by the accompanying claims and equivalents thereof.