Abstract:
Game control section executes a game program on the basis of data relating to an object appearing in a game and a control signal given from a controller, to cause the game to progress and generate an image signal and sound signal. Display and sound generating section visually displays the image signal and audibly reproduce the sound signal. Electronic recording medium, in the form of a trading card, stores the data relating to the object that is caused to vary as the game progresses, and contains a memory capable of rewriting data stored therein. This electronic recording medium has an outer appearance similar to that of ordinary commercially-available trading cards. One object is allocated to a single electronic recording medium. The object-relating data represent values that define the attributes of the object appearing during the progression of a game. The attribute values are designed to vary as the game progresses. Data read/write section writes or reads, on the electronic recording medium, the object-relating data stored in the game control section.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates generally to electronic game systems for carrying out an electronic game based on a trading card that has uses both as a collection and as a game tool, and more particularly to an improved electronic game system which can variably store data on a trading card and carry out a game based on the stored data using a personal computer, game machine or the like.  
           [0002]    For many years, trading card collections have been a favorite pastime for a number of collectors including adults as well as children. Among examples of such trading cards are “sports cards” having a photograph, performance data and personal information of a sports player in baseball, basketball or American football visibly printed thereon, and “character cards” having an animation (animated cartoon) character printed thereon. Recently, more sophisticated trading cards have made their appearance, which have, in addition to a use as a collection, a use or function as a tool for a so-called fight-type game. These trading cards are sold not only for a mere collection purpose but also as an important game tool which can decide a contest or bout or influence progression of the game on the basis of various information specifically written on the card.  
           [0003]    With such trading cards, however, various pictures, patterns, designs and other information are printed in a fixed hard-copy form and thus can not be varied at all. For this reason, it has been conventional to change the characteristics of the trading card by using it in combination with another special card. Thus, once the combination with the special card is cancelled, the changes so far made to the information become invalid, which would undesirably result in the problem that continuity of the game can not be maintained any longer.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an electronic game system which, in accordance with progression of a game, can variously rewrite data recorded on a trading card.  
           [0005]    According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic game system which comprises: a game control section that executes a game program on the basis of data relating to an object appearing in a game and a control signal given from a controller, to cause the game to progress and generate an image signal and a sound signal; a display and sound generating section that visually displays the image signal and audibly reproduce the sound signal; a trading-card-type electronic recording medium that stores thereon the data relating to the object caused to vary as the game progresses; and a data read/write section that writes, onto the electronic recording medium, the data relating to the object stored in the game control section, or reads out, from said electronic recording medium, the data relating to the object.  
           [0006]    The trading-card-type electronic recording medium for use in the present invention is a card containing a rewritable memory (capable of rewriting data stored therein) and is similar in outer appearance to ordinary trading cards commercially available today. For example, the electronic recording medium may be implemented, for example, by a transponder conventionally used in a radio frequency identification (often abbreviated RFID) system. The electronic recording medium has prestored thereon data relating to an object appearing in a game, and one object is allocated to a single electronic recording medium. The object-relating data represents a value that defines an attribute of the object appearing during the progression of the game. The attribute value is caused to vary as the game progresses. The object-relating data (value defining the attribute of the character) varying in accordance with the progression of the game is stored onto the electronic recording medium by means of the data read/write section, so that even when the game is suspended on the way, the data at the suspended point can be stored onto the recording medium. The thus-stored data is read out by the read/write section when the game is to be resumed, and then supplied to the game control section. As a consequence, the data recorded on the trading card can be rewritten variously in accordance with the progression of the game, so that unlike in the traditional electronic game systems, the present invention allows each attribute of the card to be freely changed depending on the progressing state of the game. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]    For better understanding of the above and other features of the present invention, the preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in greater detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an exemplary general hardware setup of an electronic card game system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 2 is a diagram showing data that are sequentially recorded into a memory region of a transponder as a game progresses;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an exemplary data organization during the progression of the game;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of a main routine of the electronic card game system;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the details of an initialization process of FIG. 4;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the details of a card data reading process of FIG. 5;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a controller process of FIG. 4; and  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a game terminating process of FIG. 4. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0016]    [0016]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a general hardware setup of an electronic card game system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment, various operations are carried out under the control of a microcomputer that includes a microprocessor unit (CPU)  11 , a program memory (ROM)  12  and a working memory (RAM)  13 . The CPU  11  is a main CPU which controls the operations in the entire electronic card game system. To the CPU  11  are connected, via a data and address bus  1 K, the program memory (ROM)  12 , the working memory (RAM)  13 , a display circuit  14 , various switches (switch group)  15 , a controller interface (I/F)  16 , a cassette interface  17  and a transmission/reception interface  18 .  
         [0017]    On the basis of various programs and data stored in the program memory  12  and working memory  13 , the CPU  11  controls the operations in the entire electronic card game system. The working memory  13  receives and stores various programs and data via the controller interface  16 , and a transmission/reception interface  18 . Whereas this embodiment will be described below in relation to the case where a basic game program is read in or introduced through the transmission/reception interface  18 , the game program may be read in using any other external storage device such as a floppy disk drive, hard disk drive, CD-ROM drive, magneto-optical disk (MO) drive, ZIP drive or PD drive. Further, rather than from such a portable recording medium, operating programs and other related information may be downloaded, via a communication interface, from a communication network (personal computer communication network or Internet) to a storage device such as a hard disk device.  
         [0018]    On the basis of the game program and data received via the cassette interface  17  from a cassette  19  and various data received via the cassette interface  17  and various data received from cards  1 A and  1 B via the transmission/reception interface  18  as well as control signals received via the controller interface from controllers  1 C and  1 D, the CPU  11  performs arithmetic operations for processing and advancing a game including image processing to supply image signals to the display circuit  14 , which, in turn, visually demonstrates on a monitor  1 E images or pictures related to a game. Data of music sounds and various effect sounds are supplied from a sound generation processing circuit (not shown) to the monitor  1 E and audibly reproduced through a speaker (also not shown).  
         [0019]    The program memory  12  is a read-only memory (ROM), in which are stored system-related programs for execution by the CPU  11 . The working memory  13  is for temporarily storing various data that are generated as the CPU  11  runs the programs. Predetermined address areas in a random access memory (RAM) are allocated as this working memory  13  for use as various registers and flags. It will be appreciated that the various data generated during execution of the programs include data resulting from arithmetic operations, a game program received from an external source, data related to development or progression of a game and image data relating to characters appearing in the game as well as background pictures.  
         [0020]    The display circuit  14  controls the visual display on the monitor  1 E and includes an image display processor and a sound processor. The monitor  1 E comprises a liquid crystal display (LCD), CRT or the like which is controlled by the display circuit  14 . The switches  15  include a reset switch and a power switch provided on the body of the electronic card game device, and these switches  15  output switch event signals corresponding to their respective operating states. Various operations corresponding to the switch event signals are carried out by the CPU  11 . The controller  16  receives data from the controllers  1 C and  1 D having four direction input keys and various event switches and passes the received data onto the data and address bus  1 K. The cassette interface  17  receives a given game program and data from the cassette  19  and then passes the received data onto the data and address bus  1 K. These data and game program thus introduced via the controller interface  16  and cassette interface  17  are written into the working memory  13  via the CPU  11 .  
         [0021]    The above-described components are common to those employed in the conventionally-known electronic game devices. The electronic card game system in accordance with the present invention is different from the known game devices primarily in that it includes a radio frequency identification (hereinafter, RFID) system which includes data read/write sections  1 H and  1 J and transponders  1 A and  1 B. This RFID system is a well-known system and thus will be explained only briefly. The transponders  1 A and  1 B are each a card-type recording medium that includes a semiconductor integrated circuit with a transmission/reception circuit, control circuit and memory all incorporated in a single chip and a printed antenna for transmitting/receiving an electromagnetic wave. Each of the transponders  1 A and  1 B can generate electric power by the electromagnetic wave received via the printed antenna and uses the thus-generated power to rewrite data stored in the memory or transmit the memory-stored data in a response electromagnetic wave. Each of the data read/write sections  1 H and  1 J exchanges data with the corresponding transponders  1 A,  1 B via the antenna  1 F,  1 G. The data to be transmitted or received are controlled by the CPU  11  via the transmission/reception interface  18 . Note that each of the data read/write sections  1 H,  1 J is arranged to select any one of the corresponding transponders  1 A,  1 B and read or write data onto the selected transponder. For details of the technique relating to the RFID system, see Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. HEI-8-21875.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 2 shows data that are sequentially recorded into a memory region of the transponder  1 A,  1 B as the game progresses. For the purpose of explanation, let&#39;s assume here that the game program read out from the cassette  19  is directed to a role-playing game made up of a total of five stages where four objects, i.e., brave man, a warrior, a wizard, and a priest, are caused to sequentially move in a single party from the first stage to the fifth stage while struggling against each other for a treasure placed in the last chapter of the fifth stage. Whereas the following description is given in relation to a case where two players participate in the game, the game may of course be played among three or more players. Further, the game may be played among a plurality of players through a communication network such as the Internet. According to the game program, each of the objects are supposed to fight against any enemies randomly output by the CPU  11 , and when the players confront each other during the course of the game, they are supposed to get ready for a fight but may either actually fight against each other or avoid fighting.  
         [0023]    Part (A) of FIG. 2 shows an initial state where no substantive data has been written in the transponders; the transponders in such initial state have stored therein initial value data, such as ID numbers and initial parameters. In the illustrated example, ID numbers “0”, “1”, “2” and “3” represent the brave man, warrior, wizard and priest, respectively. These ID numbers may either be prestored on the cards or be additionally written onto the cards. The game can be advanced even when all the ID numbers from “0” to “3” are not present, but any of the ID numbers is not allowed to exist redundantly; namely, two or more transponders of a same ID number can not be set in the data read/write sections  1 H and  1 J. In case two or more transponders having a same ID number are detected, an error message is displayed so as to instruct a selection of any one of the transponders.  
         [0024]    Part (B) of FIG. 2 shows how, after the game is started with the initial-state transponders set in the data read/write sections  1 H and  1 J, values representative of four attributes—physical power, intellectual power, fighting power and defensive strength—of one of the objects having evolved on the basis of experiences gained in accordance with the progression of the game are written in the memory region of the corresponding transponder upon completion of the game. Part (C) shows values of the attributes written in the transponder memory region upon completion of a second playing or round of the game, where the attribute values in the second round are written as distinguished from those in the first round of the game by a division mark (). Note that the attribute values are different between the first and second rounds of the game and that fighting outfit  1  newly obtained by the corresponding object has been added as a new attribute value at the value writing for the second round. Further, part (D) shows values of the attributes written in the transponder memory region upon completion of a third round of the game, where the attribute values in the third round are written as distinguished from those in the first and second rounds of the game by division marks (). Note that the attribute values for the third round are different from those for the first and second rounds of the game and that fighting outfit  1  so far possessed by the corresponding object has evolved into fighting outfit  2  at the value writing for the third round. In this way, the attribute values of each of the objects, allocated to one of the transponders, are caused to gradually vary as the game progresses, and the varied attribute values are written into the memory region of the corresponding transponder upon completion of the game. As a consequence, there can be created a transponder, i.e., a card, with the object&#39;s attributes varied in accordance with the progression of the game.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an exemplary data organization in the working memory  13  during the progression of the game. FIG. 3 shows a program area for storing a game program, and a data area for storing current attribute values of the individual objects uniquely identified by their respective unique ID numbers (“Id=0” to “Id=3”). In the data area of the illustrated example, there are being stored the attribute values of the individual objects (“Id=0” to “Id=3”) associated with a first player (“Play=0”) and a second player (“Play=1”). The attribute values being thus stored in the data area are written into the memory regions of the transponders (or cards) corresponding to the objects.  
         [0026]    Now, various operations performed by the CPU  11  in the electronic card game system will be described below merely by way of example, with reference to flow charts of FIGS.  4  to  8 . The “card” in the flow charts of FIGS.  4  to  8  refers to the transponder.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 4 shows an example of a main routine of the card game system. First, upon turning ON of the power switch in the switch group  15  of FIG. 1, the main routine is initiated, where an initialization process is carried out at first step  41  as shown in FIG. 5. Specifically, in the initialization process of FIG. 5, the game program prestored in the cassette  19  is loaded and stored into a predetermined area of the working memory  13 . Upon completion of the game program loading, a card data reading process is carried out, where data relating to the individual transponders now set in the data read/write sections  1 H and  1 J are loaded and stored into a predetermined area of the working memory  13 .  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 6 shows the details of the card data reading process, where a value “0” is set, at first step  61 , to both a player register Play and a character register Char. Then, at step  62 , the value stored in the character register Char is transmitted, as an ID number Id, to the data read/write sections  1 H and  1 J, which in turn ascertain whether or not the corresponding group of transponders  1 A or  1 B contains a transponder of the transmitted ID number Id. If there is such a transponder, then the data read/write section  1 H or  1 J reads out the data of that transponder and transmits the read-out data to the CPU  11 . Therefore, at next step  63 , a determination is made as to whether there has been any response from the card or transponder. If answered in the affirmative (YES) at step  63 , the data of the transponder are received by the CPU  11 , but if not, a message “No Corresponding Card” is displayed on the monitor  1 E to inform the human operator that there is no card of the ID number Id. Then, the value of the character register Char is incremented by one at next step  66 , and it is further determined at step  67  whether the incremented value has now reached “3”. If the incremented value of the character register Char is “1” or “2”, but not “3”, as determined at step  67 , the CPU  11  loops back to step  62  to repeat operations similar to the above-mentioned. If, however, the incremented value of the character register Char has now reached “3”, the CPU  11  proceeds to step  68 .  
         [0029]    At step  68 , the value of the player register Play is incremented by one, and it is determined at step  69  whether the incremented value of the player register Play is “2”.If the incremented value of the player register Play is still “1”, the CPU  11  reverts to step  62  in order to read out the data from the second player&#39;s transponder and then repeat operations similar to the above-mentioned. Step  6 A, shown in FIG. 6 as being taken when a negative determination is made at step  69 , is performed where only one data read/write section  1 H or  1 J is provided in the game system. Step  6 A is directed to displaying on the monitor  1 E an instruction to the human operator that the combination (stack) of the transponders, currently set in the data read/write section, should be replaced with another stack. By such an operation of step  6 A, it is possible to sequentially read out data associated with two or more players even where the game system includes only one data read/write section. Thus, in the case where two separate data read/write sections  1 H and  1 J are provided for two players as in the example of FIG. 1, the stack replacement instructing operation of step  6 A may be omitted. After completion of the above-mentioned operations, the CPU  11  proceeds to the last step of FIG. 5 in order to set the individual objects to a predetermined start point of the game with predetermined contents of the first stage. Thus, the initialization process at step  41  of FIG. 4 has been completed and the electronic card game system has now been placed in a standby state and waits for a start of the game.  
         [0030]    At step  42  of the main routine, the CPU  11  carries out a controller process in response to signals from the controllers  1 C and  1 D, as more fully shown in FIG. 7. First, the player register Play is set to a value “0” at first step  71  of the controller process. Then, it is determined at step  72  whether any signal has been received from the controller  1 C or  1 D, i.e., whether there has been any controller input. If answered in the affirmative (YES), the CPU  11  moves to step  73 , but if not (NO), the CPU  11  repeats the operation of step  72  until a signal is received from the controller  1 C corresponding to the first player (Play- 0 ), here, the controller  1 D outputs a signal corresponding to the second player (Play- 1 ). At step  73 , it is ascertained whether or not the controller input is based on actuation of one of the four direction cursor keys on the controller  1 C,  1 D. If so, i.e., if the controller input is a cursor input (YES), the CPU  11  goes to step  74 ; otherwise, the CPU  11  branches to step  75 . At step  74 , one or a plurality of (up to four) objects, i.e., characters, set in the initialization process of step  41  are moved on the monitor  1 E over a distance corresponding to the amount of movement of the direction cursor key.  
         [0031]    Then, at step  75 , a determination is made as to whether the input from the controller  1 C,  1 D is based on actuation of an attack switch or an defense switch. If the controller input is based on the actuation of the attack switch as determined at step  75 , then the CPU  11  changes the display of the objects into an attack-mode display. If, on the other hand, the controller input is based on the actuation of the defense switch, the CPU  11  changes the display of the objects into a defense-mode display. This display mode change sets the objects in an appropriate attack or defense position, and the thus-set current fighting condition is displayed at step  78 .  
         [0032]    At next step  79 , the CPU  11  calculates values of the attributes (physical power, intellectual power, fighting power and defensive strength) of the individual objects having varied through the object moving operation of step  74  or the fighting condition displaying operation of step  78 , with which the CPU  11  rewrites the corresponding data stored in the working memory  13 . One example of the thus-rewritten data in the working memory  13  is shown in FIG. 3. It will be appreciated that mere movement of the objects on the monitor screen does not always change the attribute values. The value of the player register Play is incremented by one at step  7 A following step  79 , and then it is ascertained at step  7 B whether the incremented value of the player register Play has now reached “2”. If the incremented value of the player register Play is still “1” as ascertained at step  7 B, operations similar to the above-mentioned are repeated depending on presence or absence of a controller input from the controller  1 D of the second player. If the incremented value of the player register Play has reached “2”, the CPU  11  moves on to step  43  of FIG. 4.  
         [0033]    At step  43  of the main routine, a determination is made as to whether the game has progressed to the last section of the currently played stage. If so, the CPU  11  goes to next step  44 , but if not, the CPU  11  jumps to step  47 . At step  44 , it is determined whether the currently played stage is the last or fifth stage. If so, it means that the game has now come to the end of the game, and the CPU  11  displays an ending picture on the monitor  1 E and proceeds to step  48  in order to terminate the game. If, on the other hand, the currently played stage is not the fifth stage as determined at step  44 , the individual objects are set, at following step  45 , to a predetermined start point of the next stage. At step  47 , a determination is made as to whether or not there has been an instruction to terminate the game. If answered in the negative, the CPU  11  loops back to step  42  to repeat operations similar to the above-mentioned. If, however, there has been such an instruction as determined at step  47 , the CPU  11  moves to step  48  in order to terminate the game through a game terminating process.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 8 shows the details of the game terminating process of step  48 , where a value “0” is set, at first step  81 , to the player register Play and character register Char. Then, at step  82 , the value stored in the character register Char is transmitted, as an ID number Id, to the data read/write sections  1 H and  1 J, which in turn ascertain at step  83  whether or not the corresponding group of transponders  1 A or  1 B contains a transponder of the transmitted ID number Id. If there is no such transponder, the CPU  11  goes to step  84  to display a message “No Corresponding Card” on the monitor  1 E in order to inform the human operator that there is no card of the ID number Id. If, on the other hand, there is such a transponder, then the CPU  11  ascertains at step  85  whether the transponder of the ID number in question has an empty space sufficient for storing the transmitted data. If so, the CPU proceeds to step  86 , where it reads out, from the working memory  13 , those data corresponding to the respective attribute values of the individual objects rewritten at step  79  of FIG. 7 and transmits the read-out data to the data read/write section  1 H,  1 J for storage on the transponder in question. If there is not a sufficient empty space in the transponder, the transmitted data can not be written onto the transponder and it means that the object of that transponder is dead, so that the CPU  11  displays a message indicative of the death of the object on the monitor  1 E. Then, the value of the character register Char is incremented by one at next step  88 , and it is determined at step  89  whether the incremented value has now reached “3”. If the incremented value of the character register Char is “1” or “2”, but not “3”, as determined at step  89 , the CPU  11  loops back to step  82  to repeat operations similar to the above-mentioned. If, however, the incremented value of the character register Char has now reached “3”, the CPU  11  proceeds to next step  8 A now that the data rewriting operation has been completed for all of the objects.  
         [0035]    At step  8 A, the value of the player register Play is incremented by one, and it is determined at step  8 B whether the incremented value of the player register Play is “2”. If the incremented value of the player register Play is still “1”, the CPU  11  reverts to step  82  in order to read out the data from the second player&#39;s transponder and then repeat operations similar to the above-mentioned. Step  8 C, shown in FIG. 8 as being taken when a negative determination is made at step  8 B, is performed where only one data read/write section  1 H or  1 J is provided in the game system. Step  8 C is directed to displaying on the monitor  1 E an instruction to the human operator that the combination (stack) of the transponders, currently set in the data read/write section  1 H or  1 J, should be replaced with another stack. By such an operation of step  8 C, it is possible to sequentially read out data associated with two or more players even where the game system includes only one data read/write section. Thus, in the case where two separate data read/write sections  1 H and  1 J are provided for two players as in the example of FIG. 1, the stack replacement instructing operation of step  8 C may be omitted.  
         [0036]    In the above-described embodiment, each of the transponders has a unique ID number and any same ID number can not be allocated to two or more transponders redundantly. However, a same ID number may be allocated redundantly to two or more transponders having same attributes, as long as these transponders are made distinguishable from each other by adding thereto unique sub ID numbers or additional attributes such as players&#39; initials or by increasing the number of digits in the ID number. Thus, even these objects with the same ID can be varied in their attributes in accordance with the progression of the game (or values of various experiences gained during the playing of the game).  
         [0037]    Further, whereas the preferred embodiment has been described in relation to a role-playing game, the present invention is applicable to any other games than the role-playing game, such as a car rally or car race game. In such a case, data of the car parts and the driver may be recorded on the card, and a set of different ID numbers may be used to identify each car and its driver.  
         [0038]    Further, the present invention may use cards each having recorded thereon data of a player in sports such as tennis or soccer. In this case, a different ID number may be allocated to each player. For instance, if cards of 100 sports players are prepared, a stack may be created by 11 cards out of these 100 cards and a player list may be created using 11 ID numbers extracted by the game machine checking all of the 100 ID numbers.  
         [0039]    Furthermore, whereas the preferred embodiment has been described in relation to the case where each transponder is a write-once memory card, the transponder may be implemented by a rewritable memory card so that the stored data can be replaced or updated with new data at the end of the game.  
         [0040]    Moreover, whereas the preferred embodiment has been described in relation to the case where only the data stored on the transponder are rewritten or updated, the character design on the surface of the transponder may be varied in accordance with the updated data values. For example, the design on the transponder may itself be changed by making an adhesive seal having printed thereon a character design corresponding to the data values read out from the transponder and sticking the seal onto the transponder.  
         [0041]    In summary, the present invention arranged in the above-described manner affords the superior benefit that it can rewrite the data recorded on a trading card variously in accordance with progression of a game.