Abstract:
Electronic equipment includes a processing apparatus that performs high-speed playback processing depending on an output of a switch pushed by a user of the electronic equipment. The processing apparatus changes the playback speed to a speed that depends on an output value of the switch. A recording medium is used which has a program that changes the playback speed depending on the output value of the switch. A method of generating images and sound senses the pushing pressure applied by a user to a switch by a pressure-sensitive unit to generate a pressure-sensing signal, determines a playback speed according to a pressure-sensing signal, and performs variable-speed playback at the determined playback speed.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to electronic equipment, a recording medium and a method for generating images or sound to make the pushing of simple ON/OFF switches and/or continuous pushing thereof by a user for the purpose of variable-speed playback, into an easier-to-use user interface.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    For the purpose of so-called variable-speed playback wherein, during the playback of media recorded with sound and/or images by electronic equipment, the playback speed is changed from the normal playback speed, specialized switches for variable-speed playback may be provided on the remote control or the front panel of the equipment, for example. These switches may be ON/OFF switches, rotary switches and the like, each of which provides instructions based on the ON period or duration of the ON period to the electronic equipment, which may be a compact disc player, a compact cassette recorder, a digital audio tape recorder, a video tape recorder, a hard disk recorder or the like.  
           [0003]    On the other hand, the so-called pressure-sensitive type controllers are used as input devices for electronic equipment represented by computers, and as input devices for entertainment systems represented by game machines, for example. A pressure-sensitive controller is a unit wherein, when pressure is applied with a finger of a user directly to a control element connected to a pressure-sensitive device of the controller and the pushing pressure of the user applied to the control element is provided as output as a pressure-sensing value. A specific example thereof is, for example, a pressure-sensitive type controller disclosed in the publication of examined Japanese utility model application No. JP-B-H1-40545, wherein pressure-sensitive output is provided as input to a VCO (variable control oscillator) and the output of the VCO is used for repeated fire in a game.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    It is an object of the present invention to make the pushing or continuous pushing of a simple ON/OFF switch by a user for the purpose of variable-speed playback into an easier-to-use user interface.  
           [0005]    This and other objects of the invention are attained by electronic equipment which comprises a switch, pressure-sensing means to which said switch is connected; a processing apparatus that performs high-speed playback processing at a speed depending on a output value of said switch, and output means that outputs the results of processing of said processing apparatus, said processing apparatus changing a playback speed to a speed that depends on the output value of said switch.  
           [0006]    A recording medium according to the present invention on which is recorded a computer-readable and executable software program that performs processing by taking as instructions an output from a controller which has pressure-sensitive means, wherein said software program changes a playback speed depending on the output value of the switch.  
           [0007]    A method of generating images and sound according to the present invention comprises the steps of, sensing a pushing applied by a user on pressure-sensitive means by said pressure-sensing means to generate a pressure-sensing signal, determining a playback speed in accordance with said pressure-sensing signal, and performing variable-speed playback at the playback speed thus determined. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    [0008]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing connection of a controller to an entertainment system;  
         [0009]    FIGS.  2 A- 2 B are diagrams for explaining three kinds of pictures, an I picture, P picture and a B picture;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIGS. 3A and 3B show table used for playback, where FIG. 3A is a table for high-speed playback while FIG. 3B shows a table for low-speed playback;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the processing of a program for performing variable-speed playback;.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the high-speed playback processing routine S 100  shown in FIG. 4;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the low-speed playback processing routine S 200  shown in FIG. 4;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an entertainment system which uses pressure-sensing values for the variable-speed playback of a compact cassette recorder;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the controller connected to the entertainment system;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the entertainment system;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 10 is a top plan view of the controller;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the second control part of the controller;  
         [0019]    FIGS.  12 A- 12 C are cross sectional views of the second control part of FIG. 11;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an equivalent circuit for a pressure-sensitive device;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 14 is a block diagram of the main parts of the controller;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 15 is an exploded perspective view of the first control part of the controller;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 16 is a cross sectional view of the first control part of FIG. 15;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the circuit configuration of a resistor;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 18 is a graph showing the characteristic of the signal output;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing the overall constitution including the resistor;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 20 is an exploded perspective view of the third control part of the controller. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0028]    In a controller that uses a pressure-sensitive device, when the button which is the control element is pushed by a user, not only the presence of pressure-sensing output is detected, for example, as the ON/OFF of a switch, but also a pressure-sensing value output which depends on the pushing pressure of the user is also obtained. On the other hand, in software or games that use pressure-sensing value output, various processing or actions can be entered depending on the pressure-sensing value output. In this embodiment, even when playback is performed by operating a control element by the user, it is possible to change the playback speed depending on the pressure-sensing values based on the pushing operation of various control elements.  
         [0029]    In the present embodiment, playback is performed at a speed depending on the pressure-sensing values output when a controller which has a pressure-sensitive device is operated. Thereby, it is intended to provide a system with a user interface that is improved in comparison to the repetitive or continuous ON action of a simple ON/OFF switch.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the connection of a controller to an entertainment system to enable a user to enjoy game software or video in order to describe an overview of this preferred embodiment. More specific structure is shown in FIG. 8 and other figures.  
         [0031]    As shown in FIG. 1, a controller  200  which has buttons connected to pressure-sensitive devices is connected to an entertainment system  500  used for playing games or enjoying DVD video or other types of video images, and the video output terminals are connected to a television monitor  408 . Here, the analog output from the pressure-sensitive devices is converted by an A/D converter to digital values in the range 0-255 and provided to the entertainment system  500 .  
         [0032]    With reference to FIGS.  2 - 6 , here follows a description of the case of performing variable-speed playback by the operation of the controller  200 . As an example, a case in which video images recorded on DVD are subjected to variable-speed playback by the entertainment system  500  shown in FIG. 1 will be described.  
         [0033]    In order to create a DVD on which video images are recorded, the edited video images to be recorded are compressed and recorded upon a hard disk or the like, and data read out from this hard disk must be used to create the DVD master.  
         [0034]    The MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) standard is used for compression. As is common knowledge, in MPEG, the difference from the previous image and motion vectors are found, and DCT (discrete cosine transform) or other orthogonal transform processing is applied to the differential and holding same, and at the time of playback, IDCT (inverse discrete cosine transform) and motion compensation processing can be applied to obtain the original image.  
         [0035]    As shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B as the types of image or picture, the three types of the I picture, P picture and B picture are defined. An I picture is a basic image to which only an orthogonal transform is applied, while a P picture is a differential image between the previous and subsequent images, and a B picture is an average picture of the previous and subsequent images.  
         [0036]    Normally, at the time of authoring, in order to handle a scene change, namely when a basic image is followed by images of different content, the I picture serving as the basis is grouped with a series of N images.  
         [0037]    As shown in FIG. 2A, such a unit group is called a GOP (Group of Picture).  
         [0038]    In this embodiment, in order to handle variable-speed playback and high-speed playback in particular, only I pictures are used. When P pictures or B pictures are used, it is necessary to perform motion-compensation processing, so there is a high probability that this may not be done in time during high-speed playback.  
         [0039]    Namely, as shown in FIG. 2B, a search is made for only I pictures, and for double-speed playback, it is sufficient to play back and output only every other I picture, in the manner I 1 , I 3 , I 5 , . . . , I 11 , or for half-speed playback, it is sufficient to play back the same I picture twice, in the manner I 1 , I 1 , I 2 , I 2 , . . . , I 11 , I 11 .  
         [0040]    The specific method is described later in detail in reference to the flowcharts in FIGS.  4 - 6 .  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 3A shows a table for high-speed playback used to select the playback speeds 1, 2, . . . , 8 corresponding to pressure-sensing values of 0, 1-32, . . . , 224-255 from the controller.  
         [0042]    In addition, FIG. 3B shows a table for low-speed playback used to select the playback speeds 1, ⅛, . . . , ½ corresponding to pressure-sensing values of 0,1-32, . . . , 224-255 from the controller.  
         [0043]    With reference to FIGS.  4 - 6 , the method of performing playback at a speed depending on the pressure-sensing value will be described. The flowchart shown in FIG. 4 illustrates the processing of a program for variable-speed playback.  
         [0044]    In FIG. 4, in Step S 1 , a decision is made as to whether or not input is present and if “YES” then control moves to Step S 2 , where a decision is made as to whether or not high-speed playback is to be performed and if “YES” then control processing moves to the high-speed playback processing routine in Step S 100 , but if “NO” then control processing moves to Step S 3 , where a decision is made as to whether or not low-speed playback is to be performed and if “YES” then control processing moves to the low-speed playback processing routine in Step S 200 , but if “NO” then control processing moves to another processing routine S 40 .  
         [0045]    Here, the decisions about high-speed playback or low-speed playback may be made by at least the following two conceivable methods. The first method is to provide both a pressure-sensitive switch used for high-speed playback and a pressure-sensitive switch used for low-speed playback, respectively. The second method is to provide a switch for switching between high-speed playback and low-speed playback, and each time this switch is pushed, by a user, the switch switches from high-speed playback to low-speed playback and from low-speed playback to high-speed playback, thereby switching the playback mode.  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the high-speed playback processing routine S 100  shown in FIG. 4.  
         [0047]    In Step S 101 , the pressure-sensing value is acquired from the controller  200 , and in Step S 102  the playback speed PH based on the pressure-sensing value thus acquired is read from the high-speed playback table shown in FIG. 3A and set.  
         [0048]    In Step S 103 , a search for I pictures is performed among the pictures sequentially played back and restored, and in Step S 104  a decision is made as to whether or not it is an I picture, and if “YES” then control processing moves to Step S 105 , but if “NO” then control processing moves back to Step S 103 .  
         [0049]    In Step S 105 , the playback speed PH is decremented by 1, and in Step S 106  a decision is made as to whether or not the decremented playback speed PH is equal to 0, and if “YES” then control processing moves to Step S 107 , but if “NO” then control processing moves back to Step S 103 .  
         [0050]    In Step S 107  the current picture, namely the I picture found in the search, is provided as output.  
         [0051]    In Step S 108 , a decision is made as to whether to end or not. If “YES” then control processing leaves this routine, but if “NO” then control processing moves back to Step S 101 . The order to end may be given by input from a specialized switch or when the pressure-sensing value becomes 0.  
         [0052]    Based on the processing of Steps S 105  and S 106 , playback is performed only once from the I picture indicated by the value of the playback speed PL set initially. Namely, for example, if the value of the playback speed PH set in Step S 102  is 3, for triple-speed playback, then the search first finds the I picture I 1  shown in FIG. 2B and PH becomes 2 in Step S 105 , the search next finds I picture I 2  and PH becomes 1 in Step S 105 , the search next finds I picture I 3  and PH becomes 0 in Step S 105 , so control procedure moves to Step S 107  where the current I picture I 3  is outputted. To wit, in triple-speed playback mode, one out of every three I pictures is outputted.  
         [0053]    [0053]FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the low-speed playback processing routine S 200  shown in FIG. 4. In Step S 201 , the pressure-sensing value is acquired from the controller  200 , and in Step S 202  the playback speed PL based on the pressure-sensing value thus acquired is read from the low-speed playback table shown in FIG. 3B and set.  
         [0054]    In Step S 203 , a search for I pictures is performed among the pictures sequentially played back and restored, and in Step S 204  a decision is made as to whether or not it is an I picture, and if “YES” then control processing moves to Step S 205 , but if “NO” then control processing moves back to Step S 203 .  
         [0055]    In Step S 205  the current picture, namely the I picture found in the search, is provided as an output.  
         [0056]    In Step S 206 , the playback speed PL is decremented by 1, and in Step S 207  a decision is made as to whether or not the decremented playback speed PL is equal to 0, and if “YES” then control processing moves to Step S 208 , but if “NO” then control processing moves back to Step S 205 .  
         [0057]    In Step S 208 , a decision is made as to whether to end or not. If “YES” then control leaves this routine, but if “NO” then control processing moves back to Step S 201 . The order to end may be given by input from a specialized switch or when the pressure-sensing value becomes 0.  
         [0058]    Based on the processing of Steps S 206  and S 207 , playback is performed only once from the I picture indicated by the value of the playback speed PL set initially. Namely, for example, if the value of the playback speed PL set in Step S 202  is 3 (a value corresponding to one-third speed), then the I picture found in Step S 203 , namely the current I picture I 1  is output and PL becomes 2 in Step S 206 , the current I picture I 1  is output and PL becomes 1 in Step S 206 , and the current I picture I 1  is played back and PL becomes 0 in Step S 206 , so control processing moves to Step S 208 . To wit, in one-third speed playback mode, one out of every three I pictures is outputted.  
         [0059]    As described above, with the present embodiment, playback is performed at a speed depending on the pressure-sensing value, so the user interface can be improved compared to the case of variable-speed playback with a simple ON/OFF switch.  
         [0060]    It should be noted that it is also possible to find the percent change from the previous pressure-sensing value to the current pressure-sensing value, and have playback be performed at a speed which depends on this percent change. For example, if the previous pressure-sensing value is 100 and the current pressure-sensing value is 50, then the percent change is 50%, so the playback speed may be made one-half the previous playback speed.  
         [0061]    In addition, tables which are the reverse of those shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, namely the tables wherein low pressure-sensing values are allocated to higher playback speeds may be used.  
         [0062]    [0062]FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another embodiment. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the pressure-sensing value is used in the variable-speed playback of a compact cassette recorder  100 .  
         [0063]    A compact cassette recorder  100  shown in FIG. 7 includes a magnetic head  102  that plays back audio signals from a magnetic tape  101 , an amplifier  103  that amplifies the playback signal from the magnetic head  102 , an audio signal processing circuit  104  that performs various types of audio signal processing on the output from the amplifier  103 , an amplification circuit  105  that amplifies the output of the audio signal processing circuit  104 , a speaker  106  that converts the output of the amplification circuit  105  into sound, a reel motor  107  that turns the reel of the magnetic tape  101 , thus moving the magnetic tape  101 , a system controller  109  that controls the amplifiers  103  and  105  and the audio signal processing circuit  104  and also outputs a digital drive signal based on the pressure-sensing value from a controller  110 , an A/D converter  108  that converts the digital drive signal from the system controller  109  into an analog drive signal which is supplied to the reel motor  107 , and a controller  110  that supplies a drive signal to the reel motor  107  via the system controller  109  and A/D converter  108 , thereby obtaining the desired playback speed by moving the magnetic tape  101  at a speed that depends on the pressure-sensing value.  
         [0064]    Since the playback speed at the time that playback of media recorded with sound is freely controlled with a pressure-sensitive switch, the operation by the user becomes direct control, so the user interface is improved in this manner.  
         [0065]    [0065]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of controller  200  connected to entertainment system  500 . The controller  200  is removably connected to the entertainment system  500 , and the entertainment system  500  is connected to television monitor  408 .  
         [0066]    The entertainment system  500  reads the program for a computer game from recording media upon which that program is recorded and by executing the program, displays characters on the television monitor  408 . The entertainment system  500  has various built-in functions for DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) playback, CDDA (compact disc digital audio) playback and the like. The signals from the controller  200  are also processed as one of the aforementioned control functions within the entertainment system  500 , and the content thereof may be reflected in the movement of characters and the like, on the television monitor  408 .  
         [0067]    While this depends also on the content of the computer game program, controller  200  may be allocated functions for moving the characters display on the television monitor  408  in the directions up, down, left or right.  
         [0068]    With reference to FIG. 9, here follows a description of the interior of the entertainment system  500  shown in FIG. 8. FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the entertainment system  500 .  
         [0069]    A CPU  401  is connected to RAM  402  and a bus  403 , respectively. Connected to bus  403  are a graphics processor unit (GPU)  404  and an input/output processor (I/O)  409 , respectively. The GPU  404  is connected via an encoder  407  for converting a digital RGB signal or the like into the NTSC standard television format, for example, to a television monitor (TV)  408  as a peripheral. Connected to the I/O  409  are a driver (DRV)  410  used for the playback and decoding of data recorded upon an optical disc  411 , a sound processor (SP)  412 , an external memory  415  consisting of flash memory, controller  200  and a ROM  416  which records the operating system and the like. The SP  412  is connected via an amplifier  413  to a speaker  414  as a peripheral.  
         [0070]    Here, the external memory  415  may be a card-type memory consisting of a CPU or a gate array and flash memory, which is removably connected via a connector  511  to the entertainment system  500  shown in FIG. 8. The controller  200  is configured such that, when a plurality of buttons provided thereupon are pushed, it gives instructions to the entertainment system  500 . In addition, the driver  410  is provided with a decoder for decoding images encoded based upon the MPEG standard.  
         [0071]    The description will be made now as to how the images will be displayed on the television monitor  408  based on the operation of controller  200 . It is assumed that data for objects consisting of polygon vertex data, texture data and the like recorded on the optical disc  411  is read by the driver  410  and stored in the RAM  402  of the CPU  401 .  
         [0072]    When instructions from the player via controller  200  are provided as an input to the entertainment system  500 , the CPU  401  calculates the three-dimensional position and orientation of objects with respect to the point of view based on these instructions. Thereby, the polygon vertex data for objects defined by X, Y, Z coordinate values are modified variously. The modified polygon vertex data is subjected to perspective conversion processing and converted into two-dimensional coordinate data.  
         [0073]    The regions specified by two-dimensional coordinates are so-called polygons. The converted coordinate data, Z data and texture data are supplied to the GPU  404 . Based on this converted coordinate data, Z data and texture data, the GPU  404  performs the drawing process by writing texture data sequentially into the RAM  405 . One frame of image data upon which the drawing process is completed, is encoded by the encoder  407  and then supplied to the television monitor  408  and displayed on its screen as an image.  
         [0074]    [0074]FIG. 10 is a top view of controller  200 . The controller  200  consists of a unit body  201  on the top surface of which are provided first and second control parts  210  and  220 , and on the side surface of which are provided third and fourth control parts  230  and  240  of the controller  200 .  
         [0075]    The first control part  210  of the controller is provided with a cruciform control unit  211  used for pushing control, and the individual control keys  211   a  extending in each of the four directions of the control unit  211  form a control element. The first control part  210  is the control part for providing movement to the characters displayed on the screen of the television receiver, and has the functions for moving the characters in the up, down, left and right directions by pressing the individual control keys  211   a  of the cruciform control unit  211 .  
         [0076]    The second control part  220  is provided with four cylindrical control buttons  221  (control elements) for pushing control. The individual control buttons  221  have identifying marks` such as “◯” (circle), “X” (cross), “Δ” (triangle) and “□” (quadrangle) on their tops, in order to easily identify the individual control buttons  221 . The functions of the second control part  220  are set by the game program recorded upon the optical disc  411 , and the individual control buttons  221  may be allocated functions that change the state of the game characters, for example. For example, the control buttons  221  may be allocated functions for moving the left arm, right arm, left leg and right leg of the character.  
         [0077]    The third and fourth control parts  230  and  240  of the controller have nearly the same structure, and both are provided with two control buttons  231  and  241  (control elements) for pushing control, arranged above and below. The functions of these third and fourth control parts  230  and  240  are also set by the game program recorded upon the optical disc, and may be allocated functions for making the game characters do special actions, for example.  
         [0078]    Moreover, two joy sticks  251  for performing analog operation are provided upon the unit body  201  shown in FIG. 10. The joy sticks  251  can be switched and used instead of the first and second control parts  210  and  220  described above. This switching is performed by means of an analog selection switch  252  provided upon the unit body  201 . When the joy sticks  251  are selected, a display lamp  253  provided on the unit body  201  lights, indicating the state wherein the joy sticks  251  are selected.  
         [0079]    It is to be noted that on unit body  201  there are also provided a start switch  254  for starting the game and a select switch  255  for selecting the degree of difficulty or the like at the start of a game, and the like.  
         [0080]    Controller  200  is held by the left hand and the right hand of a user and is operated by the other fingers, of the user, and in particular the user&#39;s thumbs of the user are able to operate most of the buttons on the top surface.  
         [0081]    [0081]FIG. 11 and FIGS.  12 A- 12 C are, respectively, in exploded perspective view and cross-sectional views showing the second control part of the controller.  
         [0082]    As shown in FIG. 11, the second control part  220  consists of four control buttons  221  which serve as the control elements, an elastic body  222 , and a sheet member  223  provided with resistors  40 . The individual control buttons  221  are inserted from behind through insertion holes  201   a  formed on the upper surface of the unit body  201 . The control buttons  221  inserted into the insertion holes  201   a  are able to move freely in the axial direction.  
         [0083]    The elastic body  222  is made of insulating rubber or the like and has elastic areas  222   a  which protrude upward, and the lower ends of the control buttons  221  are supported upon the upper walls of the elastic areas  222   a . When the control buttons  221  are pressed, the inclined-surface portions of these elastic areas  222   a  flex so that the upper walls move together with the control buttons  221 . On the other hand, when the pushing pressure on the control buttons  221  is released, the flexed inclined-surface portions of elastic areas  222   a  elastically return to their original shape, pushing up the control buttons  221 . The elastic body  222  functions as a spring means whereby control buttons  221  which had been pushed in by a pushing action are returned to their original positions. As shown in FIGS.  12 A- 12 C, conducting members  50  are attached to the rear surface of the elastic body  222 .  
         [0084]    The sheet member  223  consists of a membrane or other thin sheet material which has flexibility and insulating properties. Resistors  40  are provided in appropriate locations on this sheet member  223  and these resistors  40  and conducting member  50  are each disposed such that they face one of the control buttons  221  via the elastic body  222 . The resistors  40  and conducting members  50  form pressure-sensitive devices. These pressure-sensitive devices consisting of resistors  40  and conducting members  50  have resistance values that vary depending on the pushing pressure received form the control buttons  221 .  
         [0085]    To describe this in more detail, as shown in FIGS.  12 A- 12 C, the second control part  220  is provided with control buttons  221  as control elements, an elastic body  222 , conducting members  50  and resistors  40 . Each conducting member  50  may be made of conductive rubber which has elasticity, for example, and has a conical shape with its center as a vertex. The conducting members  50  are adhered to the inside of the top surface of the elastic areas  222   a  formed in the elastic body  222 .  
         [0086]    In addition, the resistors  40  may be provided on an internal board  204 , for example, opposite the conducting members  50 , so that the conducting members  50  come into contact with resistors  40  together with the pushing action of the control buttons  221 . The conducting member  50  deforms, depending on the pushing force on the control button  221  (namely the contact pressure with the resistor  40 ), so as shown in FIG. 12B and 12C, the surface area in contact with the resistor  40  varies depending on the pressure. To wit, when the pressing force on the control button  221  is weak, as shown in FIG. 12B, only the area near the conical tip of the conducting member  50  is in contact. As the pressing force on the control button  221  becomes stronger, the tip of the conducting member  50  deforms gradually so the surface area in contact expands.  
         [0087]    [0087]FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an equivalent circuit for a pressure-sensitive device consisting of a resistor  40  and conducting member  50 . As shown in this diagram, the pressure-sensitive device is inserted in series in a power supply line  13 , where the voltage V cc  is applied between the electrodes  40   a  and  40   b . As shown in this diagram, the pressure-sensitive device is divided into a variable resistor  42  that has the relatively small resistance value of the conducting member  50 , and a fixed resistor  41  that has the relatively large resistance value of the resistor  40 . Among these, the portion of the variable resistor  42  is equivalent to the portion of resistance in the contact between the resistor  40  and the conducting member  50 , so the resistance value of the pressure-sensitive device varies depending on the surface area of contact with the conducting member  50 .  
         [0088]    When the conducting member  50  comes into contact with the resistor  40 , in the portion of contact, the conducting member  50  becomes a bridge instead of the resistor  40  and a current flows, so the resistance value becomes smaller in the portion of contact. Therefore, the greater the surface area of contact between the resistor  40  and conducting member  50 , the lower the resistance value of the pressure-sensitive device becomes. In this manner, the entire pressure-sensitive device can be understood to be a variable resistor. It should be noted that FIGS.  12 A- 12 C show only the contact portion between the conducting member  50  and resistor  40  which forms the variable resistor  42  of FIG. 13, but the fixed resistor  41  of FIG. 13 is omitted from FIG. 12A- 12 C.  
         [0089]    In the preferred embodiment, an output terminal is provided near the boundary between the variable resistor  42  and fixed resistor  41 , namely near the intermediate point of the resistors  40 , and thus a voltage stepped down from the applied voltage V cc  by the amount the variable resistance is extracted as an analog signal corresponding to the pushing pressure by the user on the control button  221 .  
         [0090]    First, since a voltage is applied to the resistor  40  when the power is turned on, even if the control button  221  is not pressed by the user, a fixed analog signal (voltage) V min  is provided as the output from the output terminal  40   c . Next, even if the control button  221  is pressed, the resistance value of this resistor  40  does not change until the conducting member  50  contacts the resistor  40 , so the output from the resistor  40  remains unchanged at V min . If the control button  221  is pushed further and the conducting member  50  comes into contact with the resistor  40 , the surface area of contact between the conducting member  50  and the resistor  40  increases in response to the pushing pressure on the control button  221 , and thus the resistance of the resistor  40  is reduced so the analog signal (voltage) output from the output terminal  40   c  of the resistor  40  increases. Furthermore, the analog signal (voltage) output form the output terminal  40   c  of the resistor  40  reaches the maximum V max  when the conducting member  50  is most deformed.  
         [0091]    [0091]FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing the main parts of the controller  200 .  
         [0092]    An MPU  14  mounted on the internal board of the controller  200  is provided with a switch  18 , an A/D converter  16 . The analog signal (voltage) output from the output terminal  40   c  of the resistor  40  is provided as the input to the A/D converter  16  and is converted to a digital signal.  
         [0093]    The digital signal output from the A/D converter  16  is sent via an interface  17  provided upon the internal board of the controller  200  to the entertainment system  500  and the actions of game characters and the like are executed based on this digital signal.  
         [0094]    Changes in the level of the analog signal output from the output terminal  40   c  of the resistor  40  correspond to changes in the pushing pressure received form the control button  221  (control element) as described above. Therefore, the digital signal outputted from the A/D converter  16  corresponds to the pushing pressure on the control button  221  (control element) from the user. If the actions of the game characters and the like are controlled based on the digital signal that has such a relationship with the pushing pressure from the user, it is possible to achieve smoother and more analog-like action than with control based on a binary digital signal based only on zeroes and ones.  
         [0095]    The configuration is such that the switch  18  is controlled by a control signal sent from the entertainment system  500  based on a game program recorded on an optical disc  411 . When a game program recorded on optical disc is executed by the entertainment system  500 , depending on the content of the game program, a control signal is provided as output to specify whether the A/D converter  16  is to function as a means of providing output of a multi-valued analog signal, or as a means of providing a binary digital signal. Based on this control signal, the switch  18  is switched to select the function of the A/D converter  16 .  
         [0096]    [0096]FIGS. 15 and 16 show an example of the configuration of the first control part of the controller.  
         [0097]    As shown in FIG. 15, the first control part  210  includes a cruciform control unit  211 , a spacer  212  that positions this control unit  211 , and an elastic body  213  that elastically supports the control unit  211 . Moreover, as shown in FIG. 16, a conducting member  50  is attached to the rear surface of the elastic body  213 , and the configuration is such that resistors  40  are disposed at the positions facing the individual control keys  211   a  (control elements) of the control unit  211  via the elastic body  213 .  
         [0098]    The overall structure of the first control part  210  has already been made public knowledge in the publication of unexamined Japanese patent application No. JP-A-H8-163672. The control unit  211 , however, uses a hemispherical projection  212   a  formed in the center of the spacer  212  as a fulcrum, and the individual control keys  211   a  (control elements) are assembled such that they can push on the resistor  40  side (see FIG. 16).  
         [0099]    Conducting members  50  are adhered to the inside of the top surface of the elastic body  213  in positions corresponding to the individual control keys  211   a  (control elements) of the cruciform control unit  211 . In addition, the resistors  40  with a single structure are disposed such that they face the individual conducting members  50 .  
         [0100]    When the individual control keys  211   a  which are control elements are pushed, the pushing pressure acts via the elastic body  213  on the pressure-sensitive devices consisting of a conducting member  50  and resistor  40 , so that its electrical resistance value varies depending on the magnitude of the pushing pressure.  
         [0101]    [0101]FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the circuit configuration of the resistor. As shown in this diagram, the resistor  40  is inserted in series in a power supply line  13 , where a voltage is applied between the electrodes  40   a  and  40   b . The resistance of this resistor  40  is illustrated schematically, as shown in this diagram; the resistor  40  is divided into first and second variable resistors  43  and  44 . Among these, the portion of the first variable resistor  43  is in contact, respectively, with the conducting member  50  that moves together with the control key (up directional key)  211   a  for moving the character in the up direction, and with the conducting member  50  that moves together with the control key (left directional key)  211   a  for moving the character in the left direction, so its resistance value varies depending on the surface area in contact with these conducting members  50 .  
         [0102]    In addition, the portion of the second variable resistor  44  is in contact, respectively, with the conducting member  50  that moves together with the control key (down directional key)  211   a  for moving the character in the down direction, and with the conducting member  50  that moves together with the control key (right directional Key)  211   a  for moving the character in the right direction, so its resistance value varies depending on the surface area in contact with these conducting members  50 .  
         [0103]    Moreover, an output terminal  40   c  is provided intermediate between the variable resistors  43  and  44 , and an analog signal corresponding to the pushing pressure on the individual control keys  211   a  (control elements) is providing as output from this output terminal  40   c.    
         [0104]    The output from the output terminal  40   c  can be calculated from the ratio of the split in resistance value of the first and second variable resistors  43  and  44 . For example, if R1 is the resistance value of the first variable resistor  43 , R2 is the resistance value of the second variable resistor  44  and V cc  is the power supply voltage, then the output voltage V appearing at the output terminal  40   c  can be expressed by the following equation.  
           V=V   cc   ×R 2/( R 1+ R 2)  
         [0105]    Therefore, when the resistance value of the first variable resistor  43  decreases, the output voltage increases, but when the resistance value of the second variable resistor  44  decreases, the output voltage also decreases.  
         [0106]    [0106]FIG. 18 is a graph showing the characteristic of the analog signal (voltage) outputted from the output terminal of the resistor.  
         [0107]    First, since a voltage is applied to the resistor  40  when the power is turned on, even if the individual control keys  211   a  of the control unit  211  are not pressed, a fixed analog signal (voltage) V 0  is provided as output form the output terminal  40   c  (at position 0 in the graph).  
         [0108]    Next, even if one of the individual control keys  221   a  is pressed, the resistance value of this resistor  40  does not change until the conducting member  50  contacts the resistor  40 , and the output from the resistor  40  remains unchanged at V 0 .  
         [0109]    Furthermore, if the up-directional key or left-directional key is pushed until the conducting member  50  comes into contact with the first variable resistor  43  portion of the resistor  40  (at position p in the graph), thereafter the surfaced area of contact between the conducting member  50  and the first variable resistor  43  portion increases in response to the pushing pressure on the control key  221   a  (control elements), and thus the resistance of that portion is reduced so the analog signal (voltage) output from the output terminal  40   c  of the resistor  40  increases. Furthermore, the analog signal (voltage) output form the output terminal  40   c  of the resistor  40  reaches the maximum V max  when the conducting member  50  is most deformed (at position q in the graph).  
         [0110]    On the other hand, if the down-directional key or right-directional key is pushed until the conducting member  50  comes into contact with the second variable resistor  44  portion of the resistor  40  (at position r in the graph), thereafter the surface area of contact between the conducting member  50  and the second variable resistor  44  portion increases in response to the pushing pressure on the control key  211   a  (control elements), and thus the resistance of that portion is reduced, and as a result, the analog signal (voltage) output from the output terminal  40   c  of the resistor  40  decreases.  
         [0111]    Furthermore, the analog signal (voltage) output form the output terminal  40   c  of the resistor  40  reaches the minimum V min  when the conducting member  50  is most deformed (at position s in the graph).  
         [0112]    As shown in FIG. 19, the analog signal (voltage) output from the output terminal  40   c  of the resistor  40  is provided as input to an A/D converter  16  and converted to a digital signal. It is to be noted that the function of the A/D converter  16  is shown in FIG. 19 is as described previously based on FIG. 14, so a detailed description shall be omitted here.  
         [0113]    [0113]FIG. 20 is an exploded perspective view of the third control part of the controller.  
         [0114]    The third control part  230  consists of two control buttons  231 , a spacer  232  for positioning these control buttons  231  within the interior of the controller  200 , a holder  233  that supports these control buttons  231 , an elastic body  234  and an internal board  235 , having a structure wherein resistors  40  are attached to appropriate locations upon the internal board  235  and conducting members  50  are attached to the rear surface of the elastic body  234 .  
         [0115]    The overall structure of the third control part  230  also already has been made public knowledge in the publication of unexamined Japanese patent application No. JP-A-H8-163672. The individual control buttons  231  can be pushed in while being guided by the spacer  232 , the pushing pressure when pressed acts via the elastic body  234  on the pressure-sensitive device consisting of a conducting member  50  and resistor  40 . The electrical resistance value of the pressure-sensitive device varies depending on the magnitude of the pushing pressure it receives.  
         [0116]    It is noted that the fourth control part  240  has the same structure as that of the third control part  230  described above.  
         [0117]    Within the aforementioned description, FIG. 4 shows a flowchart for variable-speed playback. This program may be supplied either recorded alone upon an optical disc or other recording medium, or recorded upon said recording medium together with the game software as part of the game software. These programs are run by the entertainment system  500  and executed by its CPU.  
         [0118]    Here, the meaning of supplying the program for setting parameter values recorded individually on a recording medium has the meaning of preparing it in advance as a library for software development. As is common knowledge, at the time of developing software, writing all functions requires an enormous amount of time. However, if the software functions are divided by the type of function, for example, for moving objects and the like, they can be used commonly by various types of software, so more functions can be included.  
         [0119]    To this end, a function such as that described in this preferred embodiment that can be used commonly may be provided to the software manufacturer side as a library program. When general functions like this are supplied as external programs in this manner, it is sufficient for the software manufacturers to write only the essential portions of the software.  
         [0120]    While an embodiment was described above, the present invention may also assume the following alternative embodiment. In the described, the pressure-sensing value as pushed by the user is used as is. However, in order to correct for differences in the body weights of users or differences in how good their reflexes are, it is possible to correct the maximum value of the user pressure-sensing value to the maximum game pressure-sensing value set by the program, and intermediate values may be corrected proportionally and used. This type of correction is performed by preparing a correction table. In addition, the user pressure-sensing value can be corrected based upon a known function. Moreover, the maximum value of the user pressure-sensing value rate of change may be corrected to the maximum game pressure-sensing value rate of change set in the program, and intermediate values can be proportionally corrected and used. For more details about this method, refer to the present inventors&#39; Japanese patent application No. 2000-40257 and the corresponding PCT application JP/(Applicant&#39;s file reference No. SC00097).  
         [0121]    Due to this invention, the pushing of a simple ON/OFF switch or holding it down for variable-speed playback can be made an easier-to-use interface for the user. In addition, by means of this invention, the user can use a pressure-sensitive switch to freely control the playback speed at the time of playback of media recorded with sound, achieving direct control based on the operation of the user. As a result, the user interface can be improved.